# verses

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


text:
 Persecution is Coming for Followers of Jesus (Mk 13:9-13; Lk. 21:12-19) At that time people are going to betray you, and you’ll be persecuted. People are going to kill you, and you’re going to be hated inh every nation because of my name.


text:
 At that time lots of people are going to get tripped up, and they’re going to betray one another and hate one another.


text:
 And this good news of the God’s Reignj is going to be preached throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations. Then the end will come.


text:
 The “Horror That Causes Abandonment” (Mk 13:14-23; Lk. 17:23-24, 27; 21:20-24) So when you see “the horror that causes abandonment”k that Daniel the prophet talked about, set up “in the holy place” (the reader should understand!),l


text:
 Because at that time there will be terrible trouble—unlike anything that has ever happened before, or could ever happen again!m


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 If that time weren’t cut short, not one living soul would be saved.n But for the sake of God’s chosen ones, that time will be cut short.


text:
 At that time, if anyone says to you, “Look! The Messiah is here!” or “No, over here!” —don’t believe it.


text:
 Because false messiahs and false prophets are going to get up and show huge miracleso and won­ders. If possible, they’d even fool God’s chosen ones.


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 So if they say to you, “Look! He’s out in the desert!” don’t go out there. Or if they say, “Look! He’s in the banks!”p don’t believe it.


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 After all, you know how lightning goes across the sky and shines all the way from the east to the west. That’s just how the appearance of the Human One will be.


text:
 The Coming of the Human One (Mk 13:24-27; Lk. 21:25-28) Right after that time of trouble, The sun will go dark, And the moon won’t shine,q. The stars will fall out of heaven, And the heavenly powers will be shaken.r


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 Then the sign of the Human One will appear in heaven. All the families on earth will be crying, when they sees the Human One coming on the clouds, up in the sky,t with power and intense glory.


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 And he’ll send out his angels with a huge trumpet blast. They’ll gather together his chosen ones from the four winds—from one end of the skies to the other.


text:
 The Parable of the Fig Tree (Mk 13:28-31; Lk. 21:29-33) However, you should all learn the parable of the fig tree. After its branches get tender shoots, and it puts out leaves, you know summer is nearly here.


text:
 I’m telling you seriously: this generation will not go away until every single one of these things happens!


text:
 Nobody Knows the Exact Day and Hour! (Mk 13:23-37; Lk. 17:26-27, 34-35; 21:34-36) But as for the exact day and hour, no one knows that—not even the angels in heaven, and not even the Son. Only the Father knows.


text:
 Because in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, getting married and making marriage arrangements—right up to the day that Noah went into the ark.


text:
 They didn’t recognize what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away.v It’ll be the same at the coming of the Human One.


text:
 At that time two people will be out in the field, and one will be taken and one will be left behind.


text:
 And know this: if the owner of a house knows what time of night the burglar is coming, they’ll keep watch and won’t let their house be broken into.


text:
 The Parable of the Reliable Slave and the Abusive Slave (Lk. 12:41-48) So who is the reliable slave, the smart one? Suppose the owner has put the slave in charge of his household, to give out food to everyone at the right times.


text:
 He’ll cut that slave in two with the whip, and he’ll put the person over with the play-actors. Over there, people are going to be crying and grind­ing their teeth.


text:
 The Parable of the Ten Young Women At that time Heaven’s Reign will be like this: Ten young women each took their own lamps, and were going off to the ceremony of welcoming the groom and bride.a


text:
 And the stupid ones said to the smart ones, “Give us some of your fuel, because our lamps are going out!”


text:
 But the smart ones said back to them, “There’s probably not going to be enough for us and for you. So you should go over to the vendors and buy some for yourselves.”


text:
 But when they went off to buy more fuel, the groom came. The ones who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was locked.


text:
 The Parable of the Talents (Lk. 19:11-27) It’s just like a man who is going out of town. He calls his slaves over and gives them responsibility for his properties.


text:
 He gives five talents to one, he gives two talents to another, and he gives one talent to another.b Each one gets an amount in line with their own ability. And he leaves town.


text:
 The person with five talents comes up to him and presents five more, and says, “Master, you gave me five talents. See, I’ve made five more talents.”


text:
 The master says, “Well done! You’re a good and trustworthy slave. You’ve been trustworthy in charge of a few things; I’m going to put you in charge of a lot of things! Come in and celebrate with your master!”d


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 Then the one with the two talents comes up and says, “Master, you gave me two talents. See, I’ve made two more talents.”


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 The master says, “Well done! You’re a good and trustworthy slave. You’ve been trustworthy in charge of a few things; I’m going to put you in charge of a lot of things! Come in and celebrate with your master!”e


text:
 Finally the slave that received one talent comes up and says, “Master, I know you—you’re a tough businessman. You harvest where you didn’t plant, and you gather in places where you didn’t scatter seed.


text:
 But the master says back to him, “You bad, cow­ardly slave! You already knew that I harvest where I haven’t planted, and gather in places where I haven’t scattered seed!


text:
 So you should have put my money in the bank. That way,g when I came I would have gotten my money back with interest.


text:
 As the saying goes,h ‘Everyone who has will get more,i and they’ll have more than enough. But the one who doesn’t have will even get what they have taken away from them.’


text:
 Nowj throw that useless slave out there in the darkness! There are going to be people crying and grinding their teeth out there.”


text:
 When the Human One Comes to Judge All Nations When the Human One comes in his glory, all his angels will be with him too. Then he’s going to sit on his glorious throne.


text:
 All the nations are going to be assem­bled there in front of him. He’ll sort them out from one another, just like a shepherd sorts the sheep out from the goats.


text:
 Then the King will say to the ones on his right, “Come, all of you who have my Father’s blessing! Come inherit the Reign that has been prepared for you ever since the creationk of the world!


text:
 Because I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink; I was a foreigner,l and you welcomed me in;


text:
 I was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you looked after me; I was in prison, and you came to visit me.”


text:
 Then the people of integritym will say back to him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?


text:
 And the King will answer them, “I’m telling you seriously: whatever you did for the most insignificant one of my brothers and sisters here, you did it for me.”


text:
 Then he will say to the ones on his left, “Get away from me, all of you cursed ones! Go away into the age-longn fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.


text:
 Because I was hungry, and you didn’t give me anything to eat; I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me anything to drink;


text:
 I was a foreigner, and you didn’t welcome me in; I was naked, and you didn’t clothe me; I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t look after me.” Then those ones will also say back to him,


text:
 “Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or as a foreigner, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and not serve you?”


text:
 Then he will say to them, “I’m telling you seriously: whatever you didn’t do for the most insignificant one of my brothers and sisters here, you didn’t do it for me either.”


text:
 And that group will go off into age-long punishment. But the people of integrity will go off into age-long life.


text:
 The Chief Priests and Elders Meet to Plan a Trap (Mk 14:1-2; Lk. 22:1-2; Jn 11:45-53) When Jesus had finished saying all this, he said to his followers,


text:
 “You know, the Passovera is two days away. The Human One is going to be betrayed and then hung on a cross.”b


text:
 At that time the chief priests and the elders of the nation met together in the courtyard of the High Priest (his name was Caiaphasc.).


text:
 A Woman Anoints Jesus’ Head with Scented Oil (Mk 14:1-2; Jn 12:1-8) Meanwhile,e Jesus was staying in Bethany at Simon the Leper’s house.


text:
 While he was there, a woman came up to him. She had an alabaster bottle of scented oil, super-expensive stuff. She poured it over his head as he was lying there at dinner.


text:
 But when his followers saw that, they were offended. They were thinking, “What’s the point of throwing it away like that?f


text:
 But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to them, “Why are you making trouble for this woman? She’s just done something kind for me.


text:
 I’m telling you seriously: wherever the good news is preached throughout the world, the thing she just did will also be told, as her memorial.”g


text:
 Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus (Mk 14:10-11; Lk. 22:3-6) Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot,h went to the chief priests.


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 He said, “What are you willing to give me if I betray Jesus for you?” And they put up thirty silver coins.i


text:
 Jesus Has a Passover Meal with his Closest Followers (Mk 14:12-21; Lk. 22:7-13) On the first day of Unleavened Bread,j Jesus’ followers came up to him and said, “Where do you want us to get the Passoverk meal ready for you?”


text:
 Jesus said, “Go into the city to such and such a man. Say to him, ‘The teacher says, “My time has almost come.l I’m keeping the Passover at your house with my followers.”’”


text:
 “One of you is Going to Betray me!” (Mk 14:18-19; Lk. 22:21-23; Jn 13:21-30) When the sun went down, Jesus ate dinnerm with the twelve.


text:
 Jesus said, “The person who’s been dipping his hand in the dipp­ing bowl with me is the very same person who’s going to betray me.


text:
 It’s true that the Human One is going to go like scripture says he will; n but it’s going to be horrible for the person responsible for his betrayal! It would have been better for that person if he’d never been born!”


text:
 And Judas, the one who betrayed him, said, “I’m not the one, am I, Teacher?” Jesus said to him, “You just said it.”o


text:
 The Lord’s Supper (Mk 14:22-26; Lk. 22:14-23; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) As they were eating dinner, Jesus took a loaf of bread, said a blessing over it, and broke it, and gave it to his follow­ers. He said, “Here, eat this.p It’s my body.”


text:
 Then he took a cup of wine, said a prayer of thanks, and gave it to them. He said, “Everybody drink some of this.


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 Be­cause it’s my blood, that seals the covenant. It’s going to be poured out for lots of people, for forgiveness of their sins.q


text:
 I’m telling you—from now on, I’m never going to drink from the fruits of the grape vine again, until that special day when I drink it new with you all, in the Reign of my Father.”


text:
 Jesus Prophesies That Peter Will Disown him (Mk 14:27-31; Lk. 22:31-34; Jn 13:36-38) After they sang a hymn, they went off to the Mount of Olives.


text:
 Then Jesus said to them, “You’re all going to be offended at mer tonight. Because scripture says:s. I’m going to strike down the shepherd, And his flock of sheep will be scattered.t


text:
 Peter said back to him, “Even if everyone else gets offended at you, I’ll never get offended at you!”


text:
 Jesus said to him, “I’m telling you seriously: tonight the rooster’s not going to crow before you disown me three times!”


text:
 Peter said to him, “Even if I have to die with you, I’ll never disown you!” And all his followers said the same.


text:
 Jesus Prays in Gethsemane (Mk 14:32-42; Lk. 22:39-46) Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane.u He said to his followers, “Have a seat right here, while I go off over there and pray.”


text:
 And he took Peter, and the two Zebedee brothers with him. Jesus started to get really upset and distressed.


text:
 Jesus went on a little further and fell on his face, and was praying, “My Father, if it’s possible, let this cup pass me by! But still, not what I want, but what you want.”


text:
 He came over to his followers and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, you weren’t strong enough to keep watch for one hour with me?


text:
 Keep watch! And, all of you, pray that you don’t have to face the test!w Your spirit’s willing enough,x but your flesh is weak.”


text:
 He went off again a second time and prayed. He said, “My Father, if it isn’t possible for this cup to go by me without me drinking it, then whatever you want, so be it.”


text:
 Then he came to his followers and said to them, “So, are you going to keep on sleeping and taking it easy? Look! The time has almost come.y The Human One has just been betrayedz into the hands of sinners.


text:
 Jesus is Betrayed and Arrested (Mk 14:43-52; Lk. 22:47-53; Jn 18:1-11) While Jesus was still talking, suddenly Judas, one of the twelve, came. A big crowd was with him, carrying swords and clubs—they were from the chief priests and the elders of the nation.


text:
 The one who betrayed Jesus had given them a signal. He said, “The person that I kiss is the one. Grab him.”


text:
 But Jesus said to him, “Friend, what are you doing here?”bb Then people came up and grabbed Jesus and held him.


text:
 Suddenly one of the people with Jesus reached down and drew his sword. He struck the high priest’s slave, and cut his ear off.


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 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back where it belongs! People who take up the sword will get killed by the sword!


text:
 Or do you think I couldn’t call for help from my Father, and he’d send me more than twelve legionscc of angels right now?


text:
 At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out to arrestdd me with swords and clubs, as though you were after an armed robber? I was sitting there every day in the Temple, teaching. And you never laid a hand on me.ee


text:
 But this whole thing has happened so that the prophetic scriptures will be fulfilled.” Then all his followers left him and ran away.


text:
 Jesus is Brought before Caiaphas the High Priest (Mk 14:53-65; Lk. 22:66-71; Jn 18:12-14, 19-24) The people who were holding Jesus led him off to Caiaphasff the High Priest. The scripture experts and the elders of the nation had already come together at his house.


text:
 Now, Peter was following Jesus at a distance, right up to the wall of the High Priest’s courtyard. He went in and sat down with the attendants, to see what the outcome was going to be.


text:
 The chief priests were there, along with the whole High Council. They were trying to come up with a certain kind of false testimony against Jesus that would allow them to put him to death.


text:
 And they couldn’t come up with any, despite lots of people coming up and lying under oath. But finally two people came up


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 and said, “That man said, ‘I have the power to destroy the Temple of God, and rebuild it in three days.’”


text:
 And the High Priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Don’t you have any response to that? What are these people saying against you?”


text:
 But Jesus just kept quiet.gg The High Priest said to him, “I command you to tell us the truthhh in the name of the Living God! Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?”


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 Jesus said to him, “From now on, you will see …The Human One, sitting on the right of the Powerful One, and coming on the clouds in the sky!”ii


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 Then the High Priest tore his robes. He said, “He just blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? See, you’ve heard the blasphemy yourselves, now.


text:
 Peter Denies That he Knows Jesus (Mk 14:66-72; Lk. 22:54-62; Jn 18:15-18, 25-27) Meanwhile,kk Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the servant girls came up to him and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean too!”


text:
 Another servant girl came in the gate and saw him. She said to the people there, “That man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”


text:
 A little while later, the people standing there came up and said to Peter, “You’re definitelyll one of them too! After all, even your accent gives you away!”


text:
 And Peter remembered the words Jesus had said: “Before the rooster crows, you’re going to disown me three times.” He went outside and cried in anguish.


text:
 Jesus is Handed Over to the Roman Governor, Pilate (Mk 15:1; Lk. 23:1; Jn 18:28) When it got to be early morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the nation plotted against Jesus, to put him to death.


text:
 Judas Commits Suicide (Acts 1:18-19) Then Judas, the one who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus had been con­demned, and he felt bad about what he had done.c He returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and elders.


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 He said, “I’ve sinned! I’ve betrayed an innocent man to death!”d But they said, “What’s that got to do with us? Look after your­self.”


text:
 When the chief priests got the silver coins, they said, “It’s against the rules to put them in the Temple treasury, because it’s the price of somebody’s blood.”


text:
 When they’d talked it over, they bought a place called Potter’s Field with the money. They made it into a cemetery for foreigners.


text:
 At that moment, Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled—the one that says,e. If took the thirty silver coins, The price set on the One prized more than the children of Israel,


text:
 Pilate Questions Jesus (Mk 15:2-5; Lk. 23:2-5; Jn 18:29-38a) Jesus stood in front of the governor. The governor asked him, “You—you’re the king of the Jews?” Jesus said, “It’s you saying it.”h


text:
 And when accusations were made against him by the chief priests and elders, he didn’t say anything back.


text:
 The Crowd Shouts for Jesus to be Hung on a Cross (Mk 15:6-14; Lk. 23:13-24; Jn 18:39-40) At each feast, the governor had a custom of releasing one prisoner—whoever the crowd wanted.


text:
 So when they got all together, Pilate said to them, “Who do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus, who’s being called Messiah?”


text:
 And as Pilate was sitting there on the judgment bench, his wife sent him a message that said, “That good man is no business of yours! I had a lot of distress in a dream today because of him.”


text:
 The gov­ernor said back to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” They said, “Barabbas.”


text:
 Pilate said to them, “So what should I do with Jesus, who’s being called Messiah?” They all said, “Hang him on a cross!”


text:
 And he said, “But whatk has he done wrong?” But they started shouting even more, “Hang him on a cross!”


text:
 Pilate Washes his Hands—And Gives the Crowd What it Wants (Mk 15:15; Lk. 23:25; Jn 19:16) Pilate saw that he wasn’t accom­plishing anything—in fact, it was getting more and more like a riot.l So he took some water, and washed his hands in front of the crowd. He said, “I’m innocent of this person’s death!m Look after yourselves!”


text:
 Pilate’s Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus (Mk 15:16-20) At that point Pilate released Barabbas for them. He had Jesus whipped, and handed him over to be hung on a cross.


text:
 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into his official residence.o The whole cohortp gathered around him.


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 And they wove a crown out of thorn bush branches, and put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand, and they knelt in front of him and made fun of him. They were saying, “Hello, King of the Jews!”


text:
 When they’d had their fun with him, they off took the robe and put on his own clothes. And they led him off to be hung on a cross.


text:
 Jesus is Hung on a Cross (Mk 15:21-32; Lk. 23:26-43; Jn 19:16b-27) As they were going out, they found a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene.q They grabbedr this man and made him carry Jesus’ cross.


text:
 They gave Jesus a drink of wine mixed with bitter stuff.s But when he tasted it, he didn’t wouldn’t drink.


text:
 And they put up, over his head, the charge against him. It read,u THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS


text:
 and saying, “Here’s the one who’s going to tear down the Temple and rebuild it in three days!” “He should save himself, if he’s the Son of God, and come down off the cross!”


text:
 The chief priests said the same sort of thing, and were joking with the scripture experts and elders. They were saying,


text:
 “He saved other people, but he can’t save himself!” “He’s ‘The King of Israel’w. —so now let him come down off the cross, and we’ll believe in him!”


text:
 “He believes in God, so let God save him, if God wants him—after all, he said he was the Son of God!”x


text:
 Jesus Dies on the Cross (Mk 15:33-41; Lk. 23:44-49; Jn 19:28-30) From noon on, it got dark across the whole country, until about three o’clock.


text:
 Around three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice. He said, Eli, Eli! Lema sabachthani?y Which means, “My God, My God! Why have you abandoned me?”z


text:
 One of them quickly ran and got a sponge filled with vinegar. He stuck it on a reed and gave it to him to drink.


text:
 Suddenly the great veil in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The ground shook, and rocks were being split apart.


text:
 They went out of the tombs after Jesus was raised, and went into the holy city and appeared to a lot of people.


text:
 The Roman officer,cc and the men guard­ing Jesus with him, saw the earthquake and the other things that happened. They were terrified,dd and were saying, “This man really was the Son of God!”


text:
 There were a lot of women there, watching from a distance. These women had followed Jesus from Galilee and had been ministering to him.


text:
 Mary Magdaleneee was one of them; so was Mary, James and Joseph’s mother, as well as the mother of the Zebedee brothers.ff


text:
 Jesus is Buried in a Tomb (Mk 15:42-47; Lk. 23:50-56; Jn 19:38-42) When it got to be evening, a wealthy man from Arimatheagg came, whose name was Joseph. He himself had become a follower of Jesus.


text:
 This man came up to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate then gave the order to hand the body over.


text:
 He laid it in his own newly-constructed tomb, that he had cut into a rock face. When he had rolled a large stone door across the opening,hh he went away.


text:
 Guards are Posted at the Tomb The next morning, that is, the morn­ing after the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees got together in front of Pilate.


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 They said, “Sir, we remem­ber how that deceiver, when he was still alive, said, ‘After three days I’ll rise up.’


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 So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. That way, his followers won’t come and steal him, and say to the people, ‘He’s been raised from the dead.’ Otherwise, the last deception will be worse than the first.”


text:
 The Resurrection of Jesus (Mk 16:1-8; Lk. 24:1-12; Jn 20:1-10) Aftera the Sabbath, at sunup on the first day of the week, Mary Magdaleneb and the other Mary came to have a look at the tomb.


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 Suddenly there was a big earthquake. An angel of the Sovereign One had come down from heaven andc rolled away the stone door! And he was sitting on top of it.


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 But the angel said to the women, “Don’t you be afraid. I know that you’re looking for Jesus, who was hung on a cross.


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 He isn’t here, because he was raised, just like he said. Come here!e You can see the place where he was lying.


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 Now,f quickly—go tell his followers that he’s been raised from among the dead. And look! He’s going ahead of you to Galilee. You’ll see him there—see, I’ve told you.”


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 Suddenly, Jesus met them! He said, “Blessings!h And they bowed down and hugged him tight around his ankles.i


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 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid—go and tell my brothers and sisters to go up to Galilee, and they’ll see me there.” And they went on their way.


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 The Guards Get a Big Bribe to Say That Jesus’ Followers Stole his Body Meanwhile,j some people from the guard unit went into the city and reported all these events to the chief priests.


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 When the chief priests had met and discussed it with the elders, they gave the soldiers a fair amount of money.k


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 If the story gets around to the governor, we’ll win him over and make sure you don’t have anything to worry about.”l


text:
 And they took the money and did what they had been coachedm to do. And that explan­ation has been spread around among the Jews to this day.


text:
 Jesus Sends his Followers to the Whole World (Mk 16:14-18; Lk. 24:36-49; Jn 20:19-23; Acts 1:6-8) But the eleven followers went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.


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 Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, “I’ve been given com­plete authority:n both in heaven, and on earth.


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 So go and teach all the nations to follow me!o Baptize them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,


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 and teach them to obey all the things that I’ve commanded you. And look! I’m with you all the time,p right up to the wrapping up of the age."


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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 “Whoever accepts one child like thisy in my name, accepts me. And whoever accepts me, isn’t accepting me, but the one who sent me.”


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 Whoever isn’t against us is for us (Mt. 10:40-42; Lk. 9:49-50) John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone kicking out demons in your name, and we were trying to stop him, because he wasn’t one of our followers.”z


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 Jesus said, “Don’t stop him. After all, no one who does a display of power in my name is also going to be able to say nasty things about me right away.


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 In fact,aa whoever gives you a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah,bb I’m telling you seriously, they will never lose their reward.”


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 The Grave Seriousness of Tripping People Up-Including Yourself (Mt. 18:6-9; Lk. 17:1-2) And suppose someone trips up one of these little ones who believe in me.cc It’s better for them to have had a millstonedd put around their neck and to have been thrown into the ocean.


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 And if your hand trips you up, cut it off. It’s better for you to go into life with a disabilityee than to have two hands, and go into Gehenna-into the fire that can’t be put out.ff


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 And if your foot trips you up, cut it off. It’s better for you to go into life with a disability than to have two feet, and get thrown into Gehenna.


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 And if your eye trips you up, tear it out. It’s better for you to go into the Reign of God with one eye, than to have two eyes, and get thrown into Gehenna-


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 Salt is good. But if salt ever loses its saltiness, what are you going to season it with? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.


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 Jesus Teaches about Divorce (Mt. 19:1-9) Jesus got up from there, and came into the area of Judea east of the Jordan River.a And crowds gathered to him again. As usual, he was teaching them.


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 And some people were asking himb whether it was allowed for a man to divorce his wife. They were testing him.


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 And Jesus was saying to them, “It was because of the stubbornnessd of your hearts that Moses wrote you that command.


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 Jesus said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries someone else, is breaking his marriage vows.


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 Jesus Blesses Some Little Children (Mt. 19:13-15; Lk. 18:15-17) People started bringingh children up to Jesus, for him to touch them-but his followers gave them a hard time.i


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 But when Jesus saw that, he was angry. He said to them, “Let the children come to me! Don’t be stopping them! After all, the Reign of God belongs to ones like these.


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 I’m telling you seriously: whoever doesn’t accept the Reign of God like a child will never go into it.”


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 A Rich Man Comes to Jesus (Mt. 19:16-30; Lk. 18:18-30) As Jesus was walking along from there, a man ran up to him and knelt in front of him. He started to ask him, “Good teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”


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 You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t break your marriage vows,j don’t steal, don’t give false testimony against anyone, don’t cheat people, honor your father and mother.k


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 And as Jesus looked at him, he loved him. He said to him, “You’re missing one thing. Go and sell everythingl you have, and give to the poor. Thenm you’ll have treasure in heaven. And come follow me.”


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 But he was shocked by that statement. He went away deeply depressed, because he had lots of possessions.


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 Rich People are Going to Find it Painful to Enter Heaven’s Reign (Mt. 19:23-30; Lk. 18:24-30) Jesus looked around and said to his followers, “It will be so painful for people who have wealth to enter God’s Reign!”


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 And his followers were just astonished by the things he was saying.n But Jesus said to them again, “Children, it’s so painfulo to enter God’s Reign!


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 It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Reign of God.”


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 Jesus looked at them and said, “It’s impossible for human beings, but not for God. Everything’s possible for God.”


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 Jesus was saying, “I’m telling you seriously: there’s no one who has left a home, or brothers or sisters, or mother or father, or a child, or properties for me and the good news,


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 who won’t receive a hundred times as much now in this age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and properties-with persecutions. And in the age that’s coming, eternal life.


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 But a lot of those who are first are going to be last, and a lot of those who are last are going to be first.”


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 Jesus Says for the Third Time That he is Going to be Killed (Mt. 20:17-19; Lk. 18:31-34) They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading them. They were amazed, but the people following behind were feeling scared. Jesus took the twelve aside again and started telling them the things that were about to happen to him.


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 “Look, we’re going up to Jerusalem, and the Human One is going to be handed over to the chief priests and the scripture experts. They’re going to condemn him to death and hand him over to the Gentiles.


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 They are going to make fun of him, and spit on him, and whip him, and kill him. And after three days he’s going to rise up.”


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 James and John Ask Jesus for a Favor (Mt. 20:20-28) James and John, the sons of Zebedee, walked up to Jesus. They said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do something for us, that we’re going to ask you.”


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 They said to him, “Give us this favor: that one of us will sit on your right, and one on your left, in your glory.”


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 Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking. Can you drink the cup that I’m drinking, or go through the baptism that I’m going through?”q


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 They said to him, “We can.” And Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup that I’m drinking, and you will go through the baptism I’m going through.


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 But to sit on my right and my left-that’s not for me to grant. No, it’s for whoever it has been prepared for.”


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 And Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who supposedlyr rule the Gentiles wield power over them, and that the great people among them wield authority over them.


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 But it’s not like that with you. No-the person who hopess to be great among you will be a servant to you all;


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 After all, even the Human One didn’t come to be served, but to serve-and to give his life to buy many people out of bondage.”t


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 Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Jericho (Mt. 20:29-34; Lk. 18:35-43) They came to Jericho. As Jesus was leaving Jericho-along with his followers and a good-sized crowd-there was a blind man: Timaeus’s son, known as Bartimaeus.u He was sitting by the side of the road, begging.v


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 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he started to shout, “Jesus, Son of David,w please have mercy on me!”


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 And although lots of people were telling him off, and saying to be quiet, he was shouting all the more, “Son of David, please have mercy on me!!”


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 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called out to him. They were saying to him, “Cheer up!x Get up, he’s calling you!”


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 Jesus said to him,y “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Teacher, I’d like to see again!”


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 And Jesus said to him, “Go—your faith has healed you.” Right away he could see again, and began following Jesus on the road.


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 The Crowds Celebrate as Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Mt. 21:1-11; Lk. 19:28-40; Jn 12:12-19) When they got close to Jerusalem, at Bethphagea and Bethany,b next to the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his followers on a mission.


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 He said to them, “Go into the village across from you. Right as you’re going into it, you’ll find a colt tied up. It will never have been ridden before.c Untie it and bring it.


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 If anyone asks you ‘Why are you doing that?’ say, ‘The Teacher needs him,d and he’s sendinge him back here right away.’”f


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 And they went off. They found the colt tied up out in the street in front of a door, and they untied him.


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 Lots of people threw their robes in the street,g and others threw branches they had cut from the fields.


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 And the people walking ahead, and the people following behind, were shouting, Hosanna!h Bless the onei who comes in the name of the Sovereign One!j


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 They came into Jerusalem, and went into the Temple. Jesus looked around at everything, but it was already about sundown, so he went out to Bethany with the twelve.


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 Jesus Curses a Fig Tree (Mt. 21:18-19) The next day, as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus felt hungry.


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 He saw a fig tree a long ways away, with leaves on it. He went to it, in case he might findl some figs on it.m When he came, he didn’t find anything on it but leaves-because it wasn’t the right season for figs.


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 Jesus said to it, “From now on, may nobody ever eat from your fruit again!” And his followers were listening.


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 Jesus Goes to the Temple-And Knocks Over Some Tables (Mt. 21:12-17; Lk. 19:45; Jn 2:12-25) They came to Jerusalem. When they went into the Temple, he started kicking out the people who were buy­ing and selling in the Temple. Jesus turned over the tables of the money-changers, and the chairs of the people selling doves.


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 He was teaching, and was saying to them, “Doesn’t scripture sayo that ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?p But you’ve made it a hideout for armed robbers!”q


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 The chief priests and the scripture experts heard that, and they were looking for a way to kill him,r because they were afraid of him. Because the whole crowd kepts being astounded by his teaching.


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 A Lesson about Faith from the Fig Tree (Mt. 21:20-22) As they were walking by early the next day, they saw the fig tree had dried up right from the roots up.


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 And Peter remembered it. He said to Jesus, “Teacher, look! The fig tree that you cursed-it’s all dried up.”


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 I’m telling you seriously: whoever says to this mountain, ‘Get up and throw yourselfv in the ocean,’ and doesn’t doubt in their heart, but believes that what they say is happening, it will happen for them.”


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 So I’m telling you: all the things you pray for and ask for-believe that you’ve received them and it will be that way for you.


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 And whenever you’re standing there praying,w forgive whatever you are holding against somebody. That way, your Father in heaven will forgive your offenses.x


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 The Religious Leaders Question Jesus’ Authority (Mt. 21:23-27; Lk. 20:1-8) They came to Jerusalem again, and Jesus was walking around in the Temple. The chief priests, the scripture experts, and the elders came up to him.


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 They were saying to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you the authority to do all this?”y


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 Jesus said to them, “I’ll ask you one thing, and you answer me. Thenz I’ll tell you by what authority I’m doing these things.


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 And they started discussing it amongst themselves. They were saying, “If we say it was from heaven, he’ll say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’


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 But should we say it was just from human beings?” (They were afraid of the crowd, because everybody regarded John as really being a prophet.aa.)


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 And they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.” Jesus said to them, Then I’m not going to tell you by what authority I’m doing these things.


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 The Parable of the Evil Tenant Farmers (Mt. 21:33-46; Lk. 20:9-19) Jesus started to talk to them in parables: A man planted a vineyard and put up a fence. He dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower.a Then he leased it out to farmers, and moved away.


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 And he sent another, and they killed that one. He sent lots more-some they beat up, and others they killed.


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 He still had one person left: a son that he loved. He sent him to them last. He thought,c “They’ll respect my son.”


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 But those farmers said to one another, “This is the heir! Come on, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!”


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 So what will the owner of that vineyard do? He’ll come and kill those farmers and give the vineyard to somebody else.


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 Haven’t you even read this scripture- This stone, Which the builders rejected, Has become the cornerstone!


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 They were looking for a way to arrestf Jesus, butg they were afraid of the crowd. Because they knew he’d told that parable against them. They left him alone and went away.


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 Jesus Answers a Trick Question about Paying Taxes to Caesar (Mt. 22:15-22; Lk. 20:20-26) They sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus, to trap him in what he said.h


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 They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are sin­cere,i and that you don’t pay attention to who anybody is, because you don’t go by outward appearances.j None of that—you teach God’s way truthfully. Is it all right to pay the tax to Caesar, or not?


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 Should we give it to them or not?” But Jesus knew they were just acting,k and said, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denariusl so I can look at it.”


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 And they brought him one. He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.”


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 Jesus said to them, “Give Caesar’s things to Caesar, and God’s things to God.” And they were totally amazed by him.


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 Jesus Answers a Trick Question about the Resurrection (Mt. 22:23-33; Lk. 20:27-40) Some Sadducees came up to him-the ones who say there’s no resurrection. They asked him this question:m


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 “Teacher, Moses wrote us this command: Suppose somebody’s brother dies, and he leaves a wife behind, butn doesn’t leave a child. His brother should marryo the wife and raise up offspring for his brother.p


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 At the resurrection, when they rise,s which one’s wife will she be? Because all seven had been married to her.”t


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 Jesus was saying to them, Isn’t this why you’re way off? You don’t know the scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.


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 Because when they rise from among the dead, people aren’t married, and they don’t get married. No, they’re like angels in the heavens.


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 But as for the fact that the dead rise,u haven’t you read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him and said: I’m the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob!v


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 Jesus Answers a Question about the First Commandment (Mt. 22:34-40; Lk. 10:25-28) One of the scripture experts came up and listened to them arguing. When he saw how well Jesus had answered them, he asked him, “What’s the number one commandment of all?”w


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 Jesus answered, “The number one commandment is this: Hear, Israel! The Sovereign One your God, the Sovereign One is One!x


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 and, Love the Sovereign One your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your understanding, and with all your strength.y


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 Number two is this: Love your neighbor, just as you love yourself.z. There is no other commandment greater than these.”


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 And the scripture expert said to Jesus, “Well said, Teacher! You’ve rightly said that God is One, and that there’s no other god but God.


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 And loving God with your whole heart and understanding and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself, is more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”


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 When Jesus saw that he’d answered wisely, he said to him, “You’re not far from the Reign of God.” After that, nobody dared to question him anymore.aa


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 Jesus Asks a Question of his Own (Mt. 22:41-46; Lk. 41-44) Jesus went on to do more teaching in the Temple.bb “How is it that the scripture experts say that the Messiah is the son of David?cc


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 David himself said in the Holy Spirit, The Sovereign One said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right side until I put your enemies under your feet.’dd


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 David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ soee where does it come from that he’s David’s son?”ff And a large crowd was eagerly listening to him.gg


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 Jesus Criticizes the Scripture Experts (Mt. 23:1-7; Lk. 20:45-47) In his teaching, Jesus was saying: “Watch out for the scripture experts. They want to walk around in long robes and be greeted with respect in public places.hh


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 These people gobble up widows’ houses-while making a show of praying long prayers! They’re going to faceii all the more judgment!”


text:
 Jesus Praises a Poor Widow’s Offering (Lk. 21:1-4) As Jesus sat across from the offering box, he was watching how the crowd was putting coins in the box. And a lot of rich people threw in a lot of coins.


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 Jesus called his followers over. He said to them, “I’m telling you seriously, that poor widow put in more than all the people putting money in the offering box.


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 Because they all put in out of what they had left overjj.-but she, out of her shortage of money, put in everything she had-all of her savings!”


text:
 Jesus Prophesies the Destruction of the Temple (Mt. 24:1-8; Lk. 21:5-6) As Jesus walked out of the Temple, one of his followers said to him, “Teacher, look what amazing stones and buildings!”


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 Jesus said to him, “Do you see these big buildings? There won’t be one stone left on top of another here-they’ll all be torn down!”a


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 Later,b Jesus sat down at the Mount of Olives, across from the Temple. Peter, James, John, and Andrew were asking him about it privately.


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 “Tell us, when will these things happen? Also, what’s the signc to look for, when all these things are about to come about?”d


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 And Jesus began saying to them: Signs of the Wrapping Up of the Age (Mt. 24:3-8; Lk. 21:7-11) Make sure nobody fools you.e


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 Lots of people are going to come using my name. They’re going to be saying, “I’m him!” And lots of people will be fooled by them.


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 And when you hear of wars, and rumors about wars, don’t panic. It has to happen, but it’s definitely not the end yet.


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 For example, one nation is going to get up and make war againstf another nation, and one kingdom against another kingdom. And are going to be earthquakes in various places. There’ll be famines. These are the start of the labor pains.


text:
 Persecution is Coming for Followers of Jesus (Mt. 24:9-14; Lk. 21:12-19) And watch out for yourselves. They’re going to hand you over to the courts,g and you’ll be beaten in synagogues. You’ll stand in front ofh governors and rulers because of me. It’ll bei a testimony to them.


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 And whenever they put you under arrest, don’t memorize what you’re going to say ahead of time. Just say whatever is given to you at the time.k Because it won’t be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.


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 But brothers and sisters will turn each other in to be killed, and parents will turn in their children. Children will turnl against their parents and get them killed.


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 And you’ll be hated by everyone because of my name. But it’s the person who stays with mem to the end that will be saved.


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 The “Horror That Causes Abandonment” (Mt. 24:15-28; Lk. 21:20-24) So when you see “the horror that causes abandonment”n set up where it doesn’t belong (the reader should understand!),o then the people in Judea should run away into the mountains.


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 It’ll be a time ofp trouble unlike anything that’s ever happened-from the original creation that God made up to now-or could ever happen again!


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 If the Sovereign One didn’t cut that time short, not one living soul would be saved.q But for the sake of the Sovereign One‘s chosen ones,r that time will be cut short.


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 During that time, if anyone says to you, “Look! The Messiah is here!” or “Look, there he is!"—don’t believe it.


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 Because false messiahs and false prophets are going to get up and do miracless and won­ders. They’ll try to mislead the chosen ones, if possible.


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 The Coming of the Human One (Mt. 24:29-31; Lk. 21:25-28) But at that time, after that trouble, The sun will go dark, And the moon won’t shine,u


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 Then he’ll send out his angels, and he’ll gather together his chosen ones from the four winds-from the far end of the earth to the far end of the sky.x


text:
 The Parable of the Fig Tree (Mt. 24:32-35; Lk. 21:29-33) However, you should all learn the parable of the fig tree. After its branches get tender shoots, and it puts out leaves, you know summer is nearly here.


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 In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that he’sy nearly at your door­steps.


text:
 Nobody Knows the Exact Day and Hour, so Stay Awake! (Mt. 24:36; Lk. 21:34-36) But as for the exact day or hour, no one knows that-not even the angels in heaven, and not even the Son. Only the Father knows.


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 It’s like a man who has gone away from home, who has given each of his slaves authority to do their jobs. And he tells the doorkeeper to keep watch.


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 So you should keep watch, because the master of the house is coming. Maybe it’ll be in the evening, maybe at midnight, maybe at first light,aa or maybe at dawn.


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 Religious Leaders Look for a Way to Kill Jesus (Mt. 26:1-5; Lk. 22:1-2; Jn 11:45-53) Now, the Passovera and the Festival of Unleavened Breadb was coming up in two days. And the chief priests and the scripture experts were looking for a sneaky way to kidnapc and kill Jesus.


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 A Woman Anoints Jesus’ Head with Scented Oil (Mt. 26:6-13; Jn 12:1-8) Jesus was staying in Bethany, at Simon the Leper’s house. While he was having dinner,d a woman came. She had an alabastere jar of scented pistachiof oil-very expensive stuff. She broke the alabaster jar open and poured it over his head.


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 After all, the perfume could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii,g and the money given to the poor.” And they were angry with her.


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 After all, you’ll always have the poor with you. You can do something good for them whenever you like. But you don’t always have me.


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 I’m telling you seriously, wherever the good news is preached throughout the whole world, what she did will also be told, as her memorial.j


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 Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus (Mt. 26:14-16; Lk. 22:3-6) Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve,k went off to the chief priests to betray Jesus.


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 They were very happy when they heard what he had to say, and they promised to give him money. And Judas began looking for a good moment to betray him.


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 Jesus Has a Passover Meal with his Closest Followers (Mt. 26:17-25; Lk. 22:7-13; Jn 13:21-30) On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread,l when the Passoverm lamb was offered, Jesus’ followers said to him, “Where do you want us to go and get things ready, so that you can eat the Passover meal?”


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 And Jesus sent two of his followers. He told them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a water jar. Follow him.


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 Wherevern he goes indoors, say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher says, “Where is the guest room for me, where I can eat the Passover meal with my followers?”’


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 And the two followers left. They went into the city and found things exactly as he’d told them, and they got the Passover meal ready.


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 “One of you is Going to Betray me!” (Mt. 26:21-25; Lk. 22:21-23; Jn 13:21-30) As they were relaxingo and eating, Jesus said, “I’m telling you seriously, one of you is going to betray me-somebodyp eating here with me.”


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 Because the Human One is going to go like the scriptures say he will;r but it’s going to be horrible for the person responsible for his betrayal! It would have been better for that person if he’d never been born!”


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 The Lord’s Supper (Mt. 26:26-29; Lk. 22:14-23; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) As they were eating dinner, Jesus took a loaf of bread, said a blessing over it, and broke it. He gave it to them and said, “Here, this is my body.”s


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 Then he took a cup of wine, said a prayer of thanks, and gave it to them, and they all took a drink.


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 He said, “This is my blood, that seals the covenant. It’s going to be poured out for lots of people.t


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 I’m telling you seriously, I’m never going to drink from the fruits of the grape vine again, until that special day when I drink it new in the Reign of God.”


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 Jesus Prophesies That Peter Will Disown him (Mt. 26:30-35; Lk. 22:31-34; Jn 13:36-38) When they’d sung a hymn, they left for the Mount of Olives.


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 Jesus said to them, “You’re all aboutu to get tripped up. Because scripture says:v. I’m going to strike down the shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered.w


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 Jesus said to him, “I’m telling you seriously: right today, in fact tonight, Peter, before the rooster crows twice, you’re going to disown me three times!”


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 But he started saying all the more, “Even if I have to die alongside you, I’ll never disown you!” And they all were saying that sort of thing.


text:
 Jesus Prays in Gethsemane (Mt. 26:36-46; Lk. 22:39-46) They came to a place called Gethsemane.x Jesus said to his followers, “Have a seat here, while I pray.”


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 Jesus went on a little further and fell on the ground. He was praying, if it was possible, for the moment to pass him by.


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 He was saying, “Abba, Father, everything’s possible for you. Take this cup away from me! But still, not what I want, but what you want.”


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 And he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Weren’t you strong enough to keep watch for one hour?


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 Keep watch, and pray, all of you-pray that you don’t have to face the test!”z Your spirit’s willing enough,aa but your flesh is weak.”


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 Jesus came back again and found them sleeping, because their eyelids had gotten really heavy. They didn’t know what to saybb to him.


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 Jesus came back the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking it easy? Enough. The time has come. Look, the Human One has just been betrayedcc into the hands of the sinners.


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 Jesus is Betrayed and Arrested (Mt. 26:47-56; Lk. 22:47-53; Jn 18:1-11) Right while he was still talking, Judas, one of the twelve, showed up. A crowd was with him, carrying swords and clubs-they were from the chief priests, the scripture experts and the elders.


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 And the one who betrayed Jesus had given them a signal. He’d said, “The person that I kiss is the one. Grab him and take him away under guard.”ee


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 But one of the people there drew his sword, and he struck the high priest’s slave and cut his ear off.


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 Jesus said to them, “Have you come out to arrest me with swords and clubs, as though you were after an armed robber?


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 I’ve been there every day in the Temple, teaching, and you never laid a hand on me.ff But the scriptures have to be fulfilled.gg


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 And a certain young man had been following him, wearing a linen robe with nothing on under it.hh They grabbed him,


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 Jesus is Brought before the High Court (Mt. 26:57-68; Lk. 22:66-71; Jn 18:12-14, 19-24) They led Jesus off to the High Priest. All the chief priests, elders and scripture experts were assembling.


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 And Peter was following him at a distance, until he got inside the High Priest’s courtyard. He was sitting with the attendants and warming himself by the fire.


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 The chief priests were there, along with the whole high court. They were trying to come up with false testimony against Jesus, in order to condemnii him to death. They weren’t coming up with any,


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 because lots of people had been giving false testimony against him, but their accounts didn’t agree.jj


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 “We heard him say, ‘I am going to destroy this Temple that was made by human hands, and within three days I’m going to build another one, that’s not built by human hands.’”


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 And the High Priest stood up in front of everyone.ll He asked Jesus, “Don’t you have any response at all? What are these people saying against you?”


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 But he just kept quietmm and didn’t respond at all. The High Priest questioned him again, and said to him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”


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 Jesus said, “I am! And you will see …The Human One, sitting on the right of the Powerful One, and coming with the clouds in the sky!nn


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 Then some of them started spitting on him. They covered his face and were hitting him, and they were saying to him, “Prophesy!”oo And the attendants were hitting him as they took custody of him.pp


text:
 Peter Denies That he Knows Jesus (Mt. 26:69-75; Lk. 22:54-62; Jn 18:15-18, 25-27) Meanwhile, Peter was downstairs in the courtyard. A young woman, one of the priest’s servants, came


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 and saw Peter keeping warm. She looked hard at him and said, “You were with the Nazarene, Jesus, as well.”


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 But he denied it. He said, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”qq Peter went out into the outer court.rr


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 And the young servant woman saw him. She started talking to the people there again: “This is one of them.”


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 But he denied it again. After a little while, the people there began saying to Peter, “You really are one of them-after all, you’re a Galilean too.”


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 Right then a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter rememberedss how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you’re going to disown me three times. And he hid his facett and cried.


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 Jesus is Handed Over to the Roman Governor, Pilate (Mt. 27:1-2, 11-14; Lk. 23:1-5; Jn 18:28-38a) First thing in the morning, the chief priests held a council with the elders, the scripture experts and the whole High Council.a They bound Jesus and handed him over to Pilate.b


text:
 Pilate asked him again, “Aren’t you going to say anything back to them? Look how many accusations they’re making against you.”


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 The Crowd Shouts for Jesus to be Hung on a Cross (Mt. 27:15-26; Lk. 23:18-25; Jn 18:38b-19:16) Now, at every festival Pilate used to set one prisoner free for them, whoever they would ask for.


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 And there was a man named Barabbas,f who was imprisoned with the insurgentsg who had committed murder in the insurgency.


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 Again Pilate began saying back to them, “So what do you want me to do with the one you call ‘the king of the Jews’?”


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 And Pilate was saying to them, “Buti what has he done wrong?” But they shouted even more, “Hang him on a cross!”


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 Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, so he released Barabbas to them, and he handed Jesus over to be whipped and hung on a cross.


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 Pilate’s Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus (Mt. 27:27-31) The soldiers began leading Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s residence.j And they called out the whole cohort.k


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 And they were hitting him over the head with a reed and spitting on him,l and kneeling and bowing to him.


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 When they’d had their fun with him, they off took the purple robe and put on his own clothes. Jesus is Hung on a Cross (Mt. 27:32-44; Lk. 23:26-43; Jn 19:16b-27) Thenm they led Jesus out to hang him on a cross.


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 As they were going out, they grabbedn a man who was walking by as he came in from the countryside. It was Simon of Cyrene,o Alexander and Rufus’s father.p They made Simon carry the cross for him.q


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 Then they hung Jesus on a cross. And they divided up his clothes by drawing lots for them,s to see who got what.


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 And the people going by were saying abusive things towards him. They were shaking their heads at him and saying, “How horrible for you! Weren’t you going to tear down the Temple and rebuild it in three days?”w


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 The chief priests said the same sort of thing. They were joking amongst themselves along with the scripture experts. They were saying, “He saved other people, but he can’t save himself!”


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 “Let ‘the Messiah,’ ‘the king of Israel,’x come down off the cross right now, so we can see it and believe in him!” And the men hanging on crosses next to him were taunting him too.


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 Jesus Dies on the Cross (Mt. 27:45-56; Lk. 23:44-49; Jn 19:28-30) When it got to be noon, it got dark across the whole country, until about three o’clock.


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 At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice. He said, Eloi, Eloi! Lema sabachthani?y Which means, “My God, My God! Why did you abandon me?”z


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 Some of the people standing there heard it. They were saying, “Listen!aa He’s shouting for Elijah.”


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 And somebody quickly ran and got a sponge soaked in vinegar. He stuck it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. He said, “Hold off-let’s see if Elijah will come and take him down from the cross.”


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 When the Roman officercc standing across from Jesus saw the way he had died, he said, “This man really was thedd Son of God!”


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 There were some women watching from a distance: Mary Magdaleneee was one of them; so was Mary, the mother of the younger James and Joses; and so was Salome.ff


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 These women had followed Jesus when he was in Galilee, and had been ministering to him. These women, and many others, had come downgg with him to Jerusalem.


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 Jesus is Buried in a Tomb (Mt. 27:57-61; Lk. 23:50-56; Jn 19:38-42) It had already gotten to be evening. Since it was the Day of Preparation (the day before the Sabbath),


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 Joseph from Arimatheahh went to Pilate. Joseph was a respectable member of the High Council, and was himself looking forward in hope to the Reign of God. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.


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 But Pilate was amazed that he had already died. He called over the officerii and asked him if Jesus had been dead for long.


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 Now,mm Joseph had bought some linen cloth, and he took him down and wrapped him the linen. And he laid him in a tomb that was cut into a rock face, and he rolled a stone door across the opening of the tomb.


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 The Resurrection of Jesus (Mt. 28:1-10; Lk. 24:1-12; Jn 20:1-10) When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary James’s mother, and Salome bought spices, so they could come and anoint him.


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 They were saying to one another, “Who’s going to roll the stone door away from the entrancea of the tomb?


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 When they went into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting to the right. He had a white robe on. They were completely shocked.


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 The angel said to them, “Don’t be shocked. You’re looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was hung on a cross. He’s been raised. He’s not here. Look, here’s the place where they laid him.


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 Now, go! Tell his followers and Peter that he says, ‘I’m going ahead of you to Galilee.’ You’re going to see him there, just like he told you.”


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 When they went outside, they ran away from the tomb, because they were shaking all over with amazement. And they didn’t say anything to anyone, because they were afraid.c The Longer Ending (vv. 9-19)


text:
 Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene (Jn 20:11-18) [[After Jesus had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene. (He’d kicked out seven demons from her.)


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 Jesus Appears to Two Followers (Lk. 24:13-43; Jn 20:19-23) But later he appeared to two of them as they were walking along out in the countryside.


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 Jesus Sends his Followers to the Whole World (Mt. 28:16-20; Lk. 24:36-49; Jn 20:19-23; Acts 1:6-8) Last of all he appeared to the eleven, while they were eating dinner.f He told them off for their lack of faith and for the stubbornnessg of their hearts, because they hadn’t believed the people who had seen him when he’d been raised.h


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 The person who believes and gets baptized will be saved; but the person who doesn’t believe will be condemned.


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 These miraclesi are going to go along with those who believe: They’ll kick out demons in my name, they’ll speak in new languages,j


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 they’ll hold snakes,k and if they drink some deadly poison, it won’t harm them. And they’ll lay their hands on sick people and they’ll get better.


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 Jesus Goes up to Heaven (Lk. 24:50-53) After the Lord Jesusl had spoken with them, he was received up into heaven and sat at the right side of God.


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 And they went out and preached everywhere. The Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the miraclesm that followed.]] The Shorter Ending (takes up after v. 8) They gave a quick report of all the instructions to the people who were with Peter. Later Jesus himself sent them out from the east to the west, withn the holy and incorruptible message of eternal salvation.


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 LUKE'S ACCOUNT Introduction Most honored Theophilus:a Lots of people have already worked at putting together an account of the events that have happenedb among us-


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 And it seemed like a good idea to me too. I’ve followed everything from the beginning, and I’ve written things in an accurate and orderly way for you.


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 An Angel Foretells the Birth of John the Baptizer During the reignd of Herode as king of Judea,f there lived a Jewish priest named Zechariah. He was from the priestly division of Abijah.g His wife was a descendent of Aaron too;h her name was Elizabeth.


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 Both of them were people of integrityi before God. They followedj all the commands and judgments of the Sovereign One faultlessly.


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 But they didn’t have a child, because Elizabeth was unable to have children.k They were both getting well on in years.l


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 In line with the usual priestly procedure, he was chosen by lottery to go into the Temple of the Sovereign One and offer incense.


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 “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! Your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth is going to give you a son. You’re going to call his name “John.”


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 Because he’s going to be great in the presence of the Sovereign One. He’s never going to drink wine or anything with alcohol in it.p He’s going to be filled with the Holy Spirit right from his mother’s womb.


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 And he’ll be a forerunner in God’s presence,r in the spirit and power of Elijah. He’ll turn the hearts of parentss back to their children,t and he’ll turn disobedient people back to right thinking.u In that way, he’ll prepare for the Sovereign One a people made ready.”


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 Zechariah said to the angel, “How am I going to know this is true? After all, I’m an old man, and my wife is getting well on in years.”v


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 And the angel said back to him, “I’m Gabriel, who stands in God’s presence. God has sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news.


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 Now, look: you’re going to be silent, and you won’t be able to talk until the day when all this happens. Because you didn’t believe the things I said.w All of themx will come true in their own time.


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 Meanwhile,y the people were waiting for Zechariah. They were amazed at how long he was in the Temple.


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 When he came out, he couldn’t speak to them. And they realized that he had seen a vision in the Temple. And he was making signs to them but keeping mute.


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 After that timeaa his wife Elizabeth conceived a child. And she stayed in seclusion for five months. She said,


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 “The Sovereign One has done this for me. This timebb God has seen fit to take away my shame in front of people.”


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 An Angel Foretells the Birth of Jesus In her sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth.


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 He came to a girlcc who was formally engaged to a man named Joseph, who was a descendent of David.dd The name of the girl was Mary.


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 The angel came in the house to her and said, “Hello, favoredee one! The Sovereign One is with you.”


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 But she was startled by that statement. And she was considering what sort of greeting that could possibly be.


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 This child will be great, and he’ll be called “Son of the Most High.” And the Sovereign God will give him the throne of his fathergg David.


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 And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit is going to come upon you: the power of the Most High is going to cover you. And so the holy child that is born will be called the Son of God.ii


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 Now listen—your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son herself, in her old age. And this is the sixth month for her, a woman who’d been called ‘infertile’-because


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 Nothing will be impossible for God!jj. Mary said, “Look, I’m the Sovereign One’s servant. Let it happen just as you’ve said.”kk And the angel left her.


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 Mary Visits Elizabeth Not long afterwards, Mary set outll and quickly made her way up into the hill country, to a village in Judah.


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 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby actually jumped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,


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 and she shouted out loud: “Blessings on you, above all women! And blessings on the offspring of your womb!nn


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 And bless you for believing that there will be a fulfillment of the Sovereign One’s message to you!”qq


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 Mary said,rr. Mary’s Song of Praise (the Magnificat) My soul praises the greatness of the Sovereign One,


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 Because I’m God’s servant, and God has looked kindly on my low position.ss. Because from now on, all generations will call me blessed.


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 God’s arm displays God’s power!vv. God scatters people who are arrogant in the thoughts of their hearts;


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 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Sovereign One had shown great mercy to her, and they celebrated with her.


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 Then, on the eighth day, it came time to circumciseyy the child. And they started calling him Zechariah, after his father.zz


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 And all their neighbors were in awe.ccc All these things were being discussed all around the hill-countryddd of Judah.


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 And everyone who heard it kepteee it in their hearts. They were saying, “So, what is this child going to be? Because the hand of the Sovereign One is with him.”


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 Zechariah’s Prophecy about John And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied. He said,


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 That God will keep the promise of mercy made to our ancestors,lll and remember God’s holy covenant,mmm


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 That we’d be rescued from the powerooo of our enemies,ppp and God would give us the gift of serving God without fear,qqq


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 And little child, you’re going to be called a prophet of the Most High! Because you’re going to go ahead of the Sovereign One, to prepare the way for God.sss


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 It will shine on the people who are in darkness, who sit in death’s shadow;vvv. It will guide our feet onto the path of peace.


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 And the little boy grew, and got strong in spirit. He was in the wilderness until the day of his presentation in front of Israel.


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 The Birth of Jesus (Mt. 1:18-25) Now, as it happened, a decree went out at that timea from Caesar Augustus:b the whole world was to be registered in a census.


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 Joseph went too-he went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea-to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. That’s because he was from the family lined of David.


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 And she gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him up in strips of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough-because there hadn’t been room for them in the local inn.g


text:
 Angels Announce Jesus’ Birth to Some Shepherds There were shepherds in that area who were sleeping out in the fields. They were taking turns that night guarding their flock of sheep.


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 And an angel of the Sovereign One came and stood in front of them, and the Sovereign One’s glory shone all around them. And they were terrified.h


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 The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I havei good news for you, that’ll be a great joy to the whole nation.j


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 And this’ll be the sign for you: you’ll find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.


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 Thenm the angels went away from them into heaven. And the shepherds started saying to each other, “Come on! Let’s go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that’s happened, that the Sovereign One has told us about.


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 And the shepherds went back to the fields, and were glorifying and praising God for all the things they’d heard and seen. It had turned out exactly as they’d been told.p


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 Jesus is Named When eight days had gone by, it was time to circumcise him. He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given himq before he was conceived in the womb.


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 Simeon Prophesies over Jesus and his Mother in the Temple When their purification days were doner according to the Law of Moses,s they took him up to Jerusalem. They had to present him to the Sovereign One,


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 just as it’s written in the Sovereign One’s Law, Every first-born son is to be holy to the Sovereign One.t


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 And they had to give an offering, in line with what it says in the Sovereign One’s Law: A pair of doves or two young pigeons.u


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 Now,v there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.w He was a man of integrity and spiritual devotion.x He was hoping that Israel would be saved.y And the Holy Spirit was on him.


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 He’d been clearly told by the Holy Spirit, that he wouldn’t diez until he saw the Sovereign One’s Messiah.


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 Led byaa the Spirit, he came to the Temple. And then Jesus’ parents brought him in. They were going to do the presentation ceremony with him, as the Law says.


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 And Simeon blessed them, and he said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the fall and rise of lots of people in Israel. He’s going to be a sign that’ll be spoken against-


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 and a sword will even go through your own soul. Through him, a lot of people’s true thoughts are going to be brought out into the open.”cc


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 The Prophet Anna Praises God for Jesus There was a prophet named Anna there too. She was Phanuel’s daughter, from the tribe of Asher. She was well up there in years.dd She’d married young and lived with a husband for seven years,ee


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 thenff she was a widow until she was eighty-four.gg She’d never leave the Temple. She used to serve God night and day with fasting and prayers.


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 Right thenhh she came up and began praising God. And she was talking about Jesus to everyone who was hoping for Jerusalem to be set free.ii


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 Joseph and Mary Return to Nazareth with Jesus When Joseph and Mary finished doing everything that the Sovereign One’s Law requires, they went back to Galilee, to their town, Nazareth.


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 The Boy Jesus in the Temple Now,jj his parents used to go to Jerusalem every year for the Passoverkk festival.


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 Something happened when he was twelve years old. They’d gone up to Jerusalem for the festival as usual.


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 When they returned at the end of the festival, Jesusll stayed behind in Jerusalem. And his parents didn’t realize it:


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 they thought he was with the group of travelers. When they’d gone a day’s journey, they started searching for him among their relatives and friends.


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 And it turned out that they found him three days later-he was in the Temple. He was sitting there with the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.


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 When his parents saw him, they were astounded. His mother said to him, “Child, why did you treatmm us that way? Look—your father and I have been in agony looking for you!”


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 He said to them, “So why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that my Father’s house was the only place I could be?”nn


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 He went back with them and came home to Nazareth, and was always obedientoo to them. And his mother kept all these things safe in her heart.


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 John the Baptizer Preaches in the Wilderness (Mt. 3:1-12; Mk 1:2-8) In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar,a when Pontius Pilateb was governor of Judea and Herodc was tetrarch of the region of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of Ituread and Trachonitis,e and Lysaniasf was tetrarch of Abilene,g


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 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,h God’s message came to John, Zechariah’s son, in the wilderness.


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 He went into the whole area around the Jordan river, preaching a baptism for a change of hearti for the forgiveness of sins.


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 As it saysj in the book of the words of Isaiah the Prophet, There is a sound of someone calling out in the wilderness: ”Prepare the Sovereign One’s way! Straighten up God’s pathways!”k


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 Every valley is going to be filled in, Every mountain and hill is going to be leveled, What’s crooked is going to get straight, And the rough roads are going to be made smooth-


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 Now, John used to say to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of poison­ous snakes,n who warned you to run from God’s anger that’s about to come?


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 Bear fruit worthy of a change of heart.o And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’


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 Because I’m telling you: God can to raise up children for Abraham out of these stones! And the ax is already laid to the root of the trees, and every tree that doesn’t bear good fruit is going to be chopped out and thrown in the fire.”


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 And he would give them this answer: “If you have two shirts, share with the person who doesn’t have one. And if you have things to eat, do the same.”


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 And soldiers would ask him, “And what should we do?” He told them, “Don’t extort money from people, don’t accuse people falsely, and be satisfied with your pay.”


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 And the people were expectant-and everybody was wondering in their hearts about John: could he possibly be the Messiah?


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 John answered by telling all of them, “I’m baptizing you with water, but somebody more powerful than me is coming. I’m not even worthy to untie the laces of his sandals. He is the one who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.


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 His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he’ll clean his threshing floor well, so that he can collect his wheat for stor­age.q But he’ll burn the chaff with fire that can’t be put out.”


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 Now, Herods the tetrarch had been confronted by John about Herodias,t his brother’s wife,u and about all the other evil things that Herod did.


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 Jesus is Baptized by John (Mt. 3:13-17; Mk 1:9-11; Jn 1:29-34) Now it came about, as all the people were getting baptized, that Jesus got baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven opened up,


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 and the Holy Spirit came down on him, in the physical shape of a dove.w And there was a voice from heaven: “You’re my son! I love you! I’m pleased with you!”x


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 The Family Line of Jesus the Messiah And so Jesus himself got started at about thirty years old too.y He was the son of Joseph (supposedly), son of Heli,z


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 Jesus is Tested by Satan (Mt. 4:1-11; Mk 1:12-13) Jesus came back from the Jordan full of the Spirit.


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 And he was being led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tested by the devil. He didn’t eat anything during that time, and at the end of it he was hungry.a


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 And the devil said to him, “If you’re the Son of God, tell this stone here to turn into a loaf of bread.”


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 The devil said to him, “I’m going to give you this total authority, and the glory of these kingdoms-because it’s been given to me, and I give it to whoever I want.


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 Jesus said back to him, “Scripture says:e. You are to worship the Sovereign One your God, And you are to serve God alone.f


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 And the devil led him to Jerusalem, and stood him on the pinnacle of the Temple building. And he said to him, “If you’re the Son of God, jump down from here!g


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 And it says that They’ll lift you with their hands so that you never hit your foot against a stone.k


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 Jesus Begins his Ministry in Galilee (Mt. 4:17; Mk 1:14-15) Jesus came back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit. Word about him spread through the whole region around there.


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 Jesus is Rejected at Nazareth (Mt. 13:54-58; Mk 6:1-6) And he went to Nazareth, where he’d grown up. As usual,o on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue and stood up to read the scriptures.


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 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He openedp the book and found the place where it was written:


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 The Spirit of the Sovereign One is on me, Because God has anointed me to announce good news to the poor. God has sent me to announce release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind. God has sent me to let the oppressed go free,q


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 Jesus closed the book and gave it to the attendant, and sat down. All the peoples in the synagogue were staring at him.


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 Everybody was saying good things about him, and they were amazed by the grace of the words coming out of his mouth. They started saying, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”


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 And he said to them, “No doubt you’re going to quote me this proverb: ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ ‘What we heard happened in Capernaum,u do here in your home town, too.’”


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 And I’ll tell you something true: there were lots of widows in Israel in Elijah’s time,v when the sky was shut up for three years and six months-to the point that there was a major famine over the whole land.


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 And there were lots of lepers in Israel in the prophet Elisha’sy time-and none of them was cleansed except for Naamanz the Syrian.aa


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 They got up and threw him out of their town. They took him to the edge of the cliffcc that their town was built on, and were just about to throw him off.


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 Jesus Kicks Out an Unclean Spirit (Mk 1:21-28) Jesus went down to the Galileandd town of Capernaum.ee And he was teaching them on the Sabbath.


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 And there was a man in the synagogue who had a demonic unclean spirit. He cried out with a loud voice,


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 “Go away! What do we have to do with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God!”


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 Jesus spoke sharply to him, and said, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And the demon threw him down in front of everybody,gg and came out of him without hurting him at all.


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 Everybody there was completely amazed. They started saying to each other: “What a teaching!hh He tells unclean spirits what to do with authority and power-and they come out!”


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 Jesus Heals Many People at Simon’s House (Mt. 8:14-17; Mk 1:29-34) Jesus leftii the synagogue and went to Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him to help her.jj


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 And he stood over her and told off the fever, and it went away.kk Right away she got up and started serving them.


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 At sunset, everyone began bringing him loved ones suffering from various kinds of illnesses.ll And Jesus was laying his hands on each one and healing them.


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 Demons were coming out of lots of people too. They would cry out and say, “You are the son of God!” And he’d strictly forbid them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.


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 Jesus Preaches in the Synagogues (Mt. 4:23-25; Mk 1:35-39) At dawn the next day Jesus went out and walked to a deserted place. The crowds were searching for him. And they finally reached him, and were trying to hold onto him. They were trying to keep him from leaving them.


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 But Jesus said to them, “I have to preach the good news of God’s Reign to the other towns too-that’s why I came.”


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 Jesus Calls his First Followers (Mt. 4:18-22; Mk 1:16-20) One time, Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret,a with the crowd pressing in on him and listening to the message of God.


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 And he saw two boats sitting on the lake. The fishermen had gotten out of them, and were washing their nets.


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 Jesus got into one of them, which was Simon’s. He asked him to put out a little way from the shore, and sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.


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 When he’d finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.”


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 Simon said back to him, “Teacher, we worked hard all night and didn’t get anything. But if you say so,b I’ll let down the nets.”


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 And they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled up both boats to the point that they were nearly sinking.


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 When Simon Peter saw that, he threw himself down at Jesus’ feetd and said, “Go away from me-I’m a sinful man, Teacher!”


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 Because he and all his companions were completely amazed about the catch of fish that they’d taken.e


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 So were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid-from now on, you’re going to be catching people.”


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 Jesus Makes a Leper Clean (Mt. 8:1-4; Mk 1:40-45) Once, when Jesus was in one of the towns, there was a man covered with leprosy.f When he saw Jesus, he fell face-down on the ground and pleaded with him: “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean.”


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 Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. He said, “I do want to. Be clean.” And right away, his leprosy went away.


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 And Jesus told him not to tell anyone. “Just go off and present yourself to the priest. Then offer a gift for your cleansing, just as Moses prescribed.g It’ll be a testimony to them.”


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 But the word about him went around all the more. And big crowds came together to hear him and get healed from their illnesses.


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 Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man (Mt. 9:1-8; Mk 2:1-2) One day,h when Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law were sitting there. They’d come from all the villages of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the Sovereign One’s power was there for him to heal people.


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 And there were some men carrying a person on a sleeping mat. He was paralyzed, and they were looking for a way to bring him in lay him in front of Jesus.


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 But they couldn’t find any way to bring him in because of the crowd. So they got up on the roof and let him down through the tiles-sleeping mat and all, right in the middle in front of Jesus.


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 The scripture experts and Pharisees started arguing, “Who is this person who says such blasphemous things? Who can forgive sins except for God alone?”


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 But so that you’ll know that the Human Being hask authority to forgive sins on earth"—he said to the paralyzed man, “I have something to say to you: get up, pick your sleeping mat, and go home.”


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 And he quickly got up in front of them, picked up the sleeping mat that he’d been lying on, and went off home glorifying God.


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 Everyone was totally amazed, and was glorifying God. They were filled with awe, and were saying, “We’ve seen incredible things today!”


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 Jesus Calls Levi to be a Follower (Mt. 9:9-13; Mk 2:13-17) Afterwards, Jesus left, and he noticed a tax collector named Levil sitting in the tax collection office. He said to him, “Come with me.”m


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 Levi arranged a big reception at his house, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others, who were there at dinner with them.n


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 The Pharisees and their law experts started to grumble. They said to Jesus’ followers, “Why are you eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners?”


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 An Argument about Fasting (Mt. 9:14-17; Mk 2:18-22) And they said to him, “John’ followers often fast and pray, just like the followers of the Pharisees.p But yours eat and drink.”


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 Jesus said to them, “Can you make the members of the wedding celebration fast while the groom is with them?


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 Jesus started telling them a parable. “Nobody tears a patch from a new piece of clothing and puts it on an old one. Otherwise, not only do you tear the new one, but the patch from the new piece isn’t going to match the old one.


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 And nobody puts up new wine in old wine­skins. Otherwise the new wine will burst the skins. It’ll spill out, and the skins will be ruined.


text:
 Picking Heads of Grain on the Sabbath Day (Mt. 12:1-8; Mk 2:23-28) One Sabbath day, Jesus happened to be walking through some fields. And his followers were picking the heads of grain and eating them, after rubbing them between their hands.a


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 Jesus said back to them, “Haven’t you read about what David did when he and his companions were hungry?c


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 How he went into the house of God, and got the Loaves of the Presence d and ate them, and gave them to his companions? No one is allowed to eat those except the priests!”


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 Jesus Heals a Man with a Shriveled-Up Arm (Mk 3:1-6) On another Sabbath Jesus happened to go into a synagogue and preach. And there was a person there whose right arm was shriveled up.


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 The law experts and the Pharisees were watching him closely, to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a way of accusing him.e


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 But he knew what they were thinking.f He said to the man with the shriveled up arm, “Come up and stand in front.”g And he got up and stood there.


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 Jesus said to them, “I want to ask you something. Is it allowed on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? Can you save a life, or kill someone?”


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 And he looked around at them all. He said to the man, “Hold out your arm.” And he held it out, and his arm was restored to normal.


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 Jesus Names his Closest Twelve Followers “Apostles"—That is, “Sent Ones” (Mt. 10:1-4; Mk 3:13-19a) Around that time, Jesusi went off up the mountain to pray. He spent all night in prayer to God.


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 When morning came, he called his followers over. And he chose twelve of them, which he named “apostles.”j There was


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 Jesus Teaches and Heals a Big Crowd (Mt. 4:23-25; Mk 1:35-39) Jesus came down with them and stood on a flat place. There was a big crowd of his followers, and a huge number of people from all of Judea and Jerusalem and the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.l


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 They were coming to hear him and to get healed from their illnesses. People who were troubled by unclean spirits were getting healed too.


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 The whole crowd was trying to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing everybody.


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 Who is Really Blessed? (Mt. 5:1-12) And Jesus looked out on his followers and began saying, You who are poor are blessed, because God’s Reign is yours.


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 You who are hungry now are blessed, because you’re going to be satisfied. You who are crying now are blessed, because you’re going to be laughing.


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 You’re blessed whenever people hate you, and whenever they exclude you and blame you and trashm your name as evil because of the Human One.


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 Be happy then,n even jump for joy! Because look, you have a big reward in heaven.o After all, that’s how the ancestors used to treat their prophets.p


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 It’s going to be horrible for you who are full now, because you’re going to be hungry. It’s going to be horrible for you who are laughing now, because you’re going to be grieving and crying.


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 It’s horrible whenever everybody speaks well of you-after all, that’s how ther ancestors used to treat the false prophets.


text:
 Loving your Enemy (Mt. 5:33-48) But I want to say something totally different to you listeners: s Love your enemies. Act kindly to people who hate you.


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 If someone hitst you on the cheek-offer the other one too. And don’t hold back your shirt from the person who takes your coat.


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 If you love the people who love you, what thanks do you deserve?v After all, even sinners love people who love them.


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 If you do kind things for people who do kind things for you, what thanks do you deserve? Even sinners do the same.


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 If you lend to people that you expect to be repaid by, what thanks do you deserve? Sinners lend to sinners too, to get the same amount back.


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 No, love your enemies; do kind things, and lend without expecting anything back. Then you’ll have a big reward,w and you’ll be children of the Most High. Because God is good to people who are ungrateful and evil.


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 Don’t Judge Other People (Mt. 7:1-5) And don’t judge, and you won’t ever get judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t ever get condemned. Forgive, and you’ll be forgiven.


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 Give, and it’ll be given to you. They’ll give you a good measure, pressed down and shaken down and overflowing, right into your lap. Because the measure you measure out is going to be measured back to you.


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 And Jesus told them a parable: Can a blind person lead another blind person? Won’t they both fall in a hole?y


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 And how is it that you see the speck of sawdust that’s in your friend’saa eye, but you don’t notice the board in your own eye?


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 How can you say to your friend, “Friend, let me get that speck out of your eye"— yet you don’t see the board in your own eye? You play-actor!bb First get the board out of your own eye, and then you’ll see well enough to get the speck of sawdust out of your friend’s eye.


text:
 The Parable of the Tree and its Fruit (Mt. 7:15-20; 12:33) Because a good tree doesn’t bear rotten fruit, and for that matter, a rotten tree doesn’t bear good fruit.


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 After all, each tree is known from its own fruit. Because they don’t pick figs from thorn bushes, and they don’t gather grapes off of thorn bushes.


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 The good person brings good things out from their good heart’s storage place, and the evil person brings out evil from their evil storage place. Because their mouth is going to speak out of what fills their heart.cc


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 Hearing and Doing-The Parable of the Two Builders (Mt. 7:21-27) Why do you call me “Master, Master,”dd and don’t do the things I say?


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 Everybody that comes to me, and listens my teachings,ee and puts them into practice-I’ll show you what that person is like.


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 They’re like a person building a house, who digs down deep, and lays a foundation on rock. The river floods, and crashes against that house,ff and it isn’t strong enough to shake it.


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 But the person that listens and doesn’t do anything, they’re like a person that builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. The floodwaters crash against it, and it collapses right away with one big flop.gg


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 Jesus Heals a Roman Officer’s Servant (Mt. 8:5-13) After Jesus had finished saying all these things to the people,a he went to Capernaum.b


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 And a certain Roman officer’sc slave, that he thought very highly of, was sick and just about to die.


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 When they got to Jesus, they reallyd pleaded with him, saying, “He’s worthy of you doing this for him!


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 Soe Jesus went with them. But when he was not far from the house, the Roman officerf sent his friends to tell Jesus, “Sir, please don’t go to any more trouble.g After all, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof.


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 That’s why I didn’t even regard myself as worthy to come to you in person. No, just say the word for my slave to be healed.h


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 After all, I’m a person who operates under orders, and I have soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go!,’ and he goes. I say to that one, ‘Come!,’ and he comes. And I say to my slave, ‘Do this!,’ and he does it.”


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 When Jesus heard that, he was amazed at him. He turned to the crowd that was following him and said, “I’m telling you, I haven’t even seen this kind of faith in Israel!”


text:
 Jesus Interrupts a Funeral and Raises a Widow’s Son After that, Jesus went into a town called Nain. His followers came with him, along with a big crowd.


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 As he got close to the city gate, there was a woman’sj only son being carried out, and she was a widow. A good-sized crowd from the town was with her.


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 And he came up and touched the stretcher with the young man on it. The people carrying him stood still. Jesus said, “Young man, I’m talking to you. Get up.”


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 Everybody was awestruck,k and was glorifying God. They were saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited God’s people!”


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 Jesus and John the Baptizer (Mt. 11:12-19) John’s followers told him about all these things. And John called over two of his followers,


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 and sent them to the Lord with this message:l “Are you the One who is coming,m or are we supposed to be look­ing for another person?”


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 When the men got to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptizer sent us to you. He says, ‘Are you the One who is coming, or are we supposed to be look­ing for someone else?’


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 At that time,n Jesus healed lots of people of illnesses and terrible chronic pains and evil spirits. And he gave lots of blind people the gift of sight.


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 And he gave them this answer:o “Go tell John the things that you’ve seen and heard. Blind people are seeing again, people with disabilities are walking, lepers are getting cleansed, the dead are being raised, and poor folks are getting good news.p


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 When John’s followers had left, Jesus started talking to the crowd about John. “What did you go out in the wilderness to look at? A cattail blowing in the wind?


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 Come on!q What did you go out there to see? A person dressed in finer clothes? Look, the people dressed in fine clothes and living in luxury are in royal palaces.


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 Come on,s what did you go out there to see? A prophet? Yes! I’m telling you, even more than a prophet.


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 It’s about him that Scripture says:t. Look! I’m sending my messenger ahead of you. He’ll repair the roadu in front of you.v


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 I’m telling you-of all the people ever born,w there’s nobody greater than John. Yet even a minor person in God’s Reign is greater than he is.” (


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 Now, the whole populationx.-even the tax collectors-had admitted that God was just, because they’d been baptized with John’s baptism.


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 But the Pharisees and the law experts refused what God wanted for them, and weren’t baptized by him.)y


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 They’re like children sitting around in the marketplace. They shout over to each other. They say, ‘We played the flute for you, but you didn’t dance! We wailed for you, but you didn’t cry!’


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 After all, John has come and hasn’t been eating bread or drink­ing wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’


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 The Human One has come, and is eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look! This man eats too much, drinks, and likes tax collectors and sinners!’


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 Jesus Forgives a Woman for her Sins One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have a meal with him. And he went to the Pharisee’s house and had dinner.bb


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 There was a certain woman in that town who was a sinner. She learned that Jesus was eating dinner at the Pharisee’s house. She brought and alabastercc bottle of scented oil,


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 and stood behind Jesus at his feet. She was crying, and began to wet his feet with her tears. And she was wiping his feet dry with her hair, and kissing them, and putting the oil on them.


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 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw that, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he’d have known who she was, and what kind of woman was touching him-that she’s a sinner.”


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 Jesus responded to him and said, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he said, “Say it, Teacher.”


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 “There were once two people in debt to a certain lender. The one owed five hundred denarii,dd and the other owed fifty.


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 Since neither one of them could pay him back, he forgave them. So which of them will love him more?”


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 Simon answered, “I suppose the one that he forgave more.” Jesus said to him, “You’re right about that.”ee


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 And he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came to your house, and you didn’t give me water for my feet-but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.


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 So I’m telling you, her sins (and she has many)ff are forgiven-she loves a lot. But the person who’s forgiven only a little, loves only a little.”


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 Women among Jesus’ Close Followers Now after this, Jesus was traveling around from town to town and from village to village. He was preaching and telling the good news of God’s Reign, and the twelve were with him.


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 A number of women were with him too: some were healed from evil spirits and illnesses, such as Mary, known asa the Magdalene.b (Seven demons had gone out of her.)


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 And there was Joanna, Chuza’s wife (Chuzac was Herod’s household manager). And there was Susanna, and lots of other women, who helped them out of their own resources.


text:
 The Parable of the Farmer who Scatters Seed (Mt. 13:1-9; Mk 4:1-9) A big crowd was gathering, and the people from the city were coming out to Jesus too.


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 And he told this parable:d. A farmer went out to scatter seed in his field.e In scattering the seed, some fell on the path. It got stepped on, and the birdsf came and gobbled it up.


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 Other seed fell on the good soil, and grew up and bore fruit, a hundredfold.g Jesus Explains Why he Teaches in Parables (Mt. 13:10-17; Mk 4:10-12) After Jesus said these things, he’d say real loud: “If anyone has ears to hear, let ’em hear!”h


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 He said, It’s your gift to know the secret of God’s Reign. But to everybody else, it comes in parables. That way, They’ll look but not see; They’ll hear but not understand.i


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 Jesus Explains the Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed (Mt. 13:18-23; Mk 4:13-20) But this is the parable. The seed is the messagej of God.


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 The ones along the path are the ones that hear it, then the devil comes and snatches the message from their hearts-that way, they don’t believe it and get saved.


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 Others (the ones on rock) are the ones who gladly accept the message when they hear it, but they don’t have any root. They believe for a while, but when a time of testing comes, they disappear.


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 The seed that falls into the prickly weeds-that’s the people that hear, but as they go along in life, they get suffocated by worries, and money, and life’s pleasures. They never get to the point of bearing fruit.


text:
 But the seed on the good soil-that’s everybody who hears the message with a good and faithful heart. These people hold onto it and keep on until they bear fruit.k


text:
 The Parable of the Lamp (Mt. 4:21-25) Nobody lights a lamp, and then covers it with a pot, or puts it under the bed. No, they put it on the lamp stand, so that people who come in the room can see by its light.


text:
 Because there’s nothing hidden that won’t become visible. And there’s nothing that’s been hidden away that won’t become known, and come out into the light.


text:
 So beware how you listen. Because the person that has will get more,l and the person that doesn’t have will even get what they think they havem taken away from them.


text:
 Jesus’ Real Family (Mt. 12:46-50; Lk. 3:31-35) Jesus’ mother and brothers and sisters came to see him. But they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd.


text:
 He was told, “Your mother and brothers and sisters are standing outside, and they want to see you.”


text:
 But he said back to them, “My mother and brothers and sisters are the people that hear the message of God and put it into practice.”


text:
 Jesus Calms the Storm (Mt. 8:23-27; Mk 4:35-41) On one of those days, Jesus got into a boat with his followers, and he said to them, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” And they set out.


text:
 As they were sailing, he fell asleep. And a big wind storm hitn the lake. And they started to get swamped, and were in danger.


text:
 And they came over and woke him up. They were saying, “Teacher, Teacher! We’re going down!” But he woke up and told off the wind and the big waves-and they stopped, and it became calm.


text:
 And he said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were frightened and amazed. They were saying to each other, “Who is this, anyway? He even tells the winds and the water what to do, and they obey him!”


text:
 Jesus Heals a Man from Thousands of Demons (Mt. 8:28-9:1; Mk 5:1-20) And they sailed over to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across from Galilee.


text:
 As Jesus stepped out of the boat onto the shore,o a man from the city there met him. He had demons-and he’d gone without clothes for a fair amount of time, and wouldn’t stay in a house at all, but only in a cemetery.p


text:
 When he saw Jesus, he screamed and fell down in front of him. He shouted, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of God Most High? Please, please, don’tq torment me!” (


text:
 Because Jesus had told the unclean spirit to come out of the man.) Now,r lots of times the spirit had taken control of him:s he’d be bound with chains and leg-irons and kept under guard, butt he’d tear off his restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.


text:
 And Jesus asked him, “What’s your name?” He said, “Thousands,”u because lots of demons had gone into him.


text:
 Now, there was a good sized herd of pigs grazing there on the mountainside. And the demons pleaded with Jesus to let them go into the pigs. He gave them permission.


text:
 And the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs-and the herd rushed over a cliff and into the lake, and drowned.


text:
 And they came out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and found the man that the demons had come out of. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, with clothes on, and in his right mind. They were afraid.


text:
 The whole crowd of people from the Gerasenes region asked Jesus to go away from them-they were very afraid.v Sow he got into a boat and went back.


text:
 Now, the man that the demons had gone out of had been begging to stay with Jesus,x but he sent him away. He said,


text:
 “Go back home and tell the story of what God has done for you.” And he went off, and proclaimed all over the city what Jesus had done for him.


text:
 Jesus Brings a Dead Girl to Life and Heals a Woman (Mt. 9:18-26; Mk 5:21-43) On Jesus’ return, the crowd welcomed him back, because they’d all been waiting for him.


text:
 Theny a man came, whose name was Jairus.z He was the current leader of their synagogue. He threw himself down at Jesus’ feet and started begging him to come to his house.


text:
 Because his daughter, his only child, was about twelve years old, and she was dying. Now, while Jesus was on the way, the crowds were crushing in on him.


text:
 And there was a woman who’d been bleeding for twelve years non-stop. She’d spent all she had on doctors, but hadn’t been able to be cured by anybody.aa


text:
 Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” And when everybody denied it, Peter said, “Teacher, the crowds are packed around you, pressing in on you.”


text:
 When the woman saw that she’d been found out,bb she came up trembling, and threw herself down in front of Jesus. In front of everyone,cc she told the story of why she’d touched him, and how she’d been healed right away.


text:
 While Jesus was saying that, somebody came from the synagogue leader’s house. They said, “Your daughter has died. Don’t trouble the teacher any more.”


text:
 When he came to the house, he didn’t let anyone come inside with him except Peter, John and James, the child’s father, and her mother.


text:
 Everyone was crying and mourning over her. But Jesus said, “Don’t cry. She’s not dead-she’s just sleeping.”


text:
 And her spirit returned, and she stood up right away. And he told them to give her something to eat.


text:
 Jesus Sends his Closest Twelve Followers on a Mission (Mt. 10:5-15) Jesus called the twelve together, and he gave them power and authority-over all demons, and to heal diseases.


text:
 He said to them, “Don’t take anything for the journey. Don’t even take a walking stick, or a bag, or food, or money-don’t even have two shirts.


text:
 And wherever they don’tc accept you, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that city, as your testimony against them.”


text:
 And they went out, and began to go through the villages. They were telling the good news and healing people everywhere.


text:
 Herod Wonders if Jesus is John the Baptizer Back from the Dead (Mt. 14:1-12; Mk 6:14-29) Now, when Herodd the tetrarch heard all the things that were going on, he didn’t know what to think. Because some people were saying,e “John has risen from among the dead!”


text:
 And some were saying, “Elijah has appeared!” Others said, “One of the old prophets has risen from the grave!”


text:
 But Herod said, “I cut off John’s head-so who’s this that I’m hearing all this about?”f And he kept trying to see him.g


text:
 Jesus Feeds More Than 5,000 People (Mt. 14:13-21; Mk 6:30-44; Jn 6:1-13) When the apostlesh came back, they told Jesus all the things they’d done. And he took them with him and went off privately to a town called Bethsaida.i


text:
 But the crowds found out about it, and followed him. And he welcomed them. He started talking to them about God’s Reign, and he was healing those that needed it.j


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 And it started to get late.k The twelve came up and said to Jesus, “Send the crowd off, so they can go to the villages and farms around here. That way they can rest and find themselves something to eat.”


text:
 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “There are no more than five loaves of bread and two fish herel.-unless we’re supposed to go buy food for this whole crowd of people.”


text:
 (Because there were about five thousand men.m.) He said to his followers, “Sit them downn in groups of about fifty.”


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 And he took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, and looked up to heaven, and blessed them. And he broke up the loaves, and was giving them to his followers, so they could serve the crowd.


text:
 Peter Calls Jesus “God’s Messiah” (Mt. 16:13-21; Mk 8:27-30) Later, when Jesus was praying by himself,q his followers joined him. And he asked them something. He said, “Who do the crowds say I am?”


text:
 They said to him, “John the Baptizer. But others say Elijah, and others say that one of the old prophets has risen from the grave.”


text:
 Jesus Tells his Followers that He is Going to be Killed (Mt. 16:24-28; Mk 8:31-9:1) But he warned them not to say that to anybody.


text:
 He was saying that the Human One had to be treated very badly bys the elders, chief priests, and scripture experts, and be rejected by them. And he had to be killed, and rise on the third day.


text:
 Pick up your Cross Every Day and Follow Me! (Mt. 16:24-28; Mk 8:34­-9:1) Jesus was saying to everyone, “If anyone wants to come after me, let them deny themselves, pick up their cross every day, and follow me.


text:
 After all, what good is it if a person has gained the whole world, but has destroyed or lost themselves?


text:
 Because if someone is ashamed of me and my words, then the Human One will also be ashamed of them, when he comes in his and his Father’s glory, along with the holy angels.


text:
 I’m telling you the truth: there are some of you standing right here who won’t diet until they’ve seen God’s Reign.”


text:
 Jesus is Transformed in Front of Peter, James, and John (Mt. 17:1-8; Mk 9:2-8; 2 Pet. 1:16-18) About a week after Jesus had said these things, he took Peter and James and John with him, and went up the mountain to pray.


text:
 They appeared in glory, and were talking about his departure,v which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.


text:
 But Peter and his companions had fallen asleep.w When they woke up, they saw his glory, and the two men standing there with him.


text:
 As they were about to leave him, Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it’s good that we’re here-we can even make three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (He didn’t know what he was saying.)


text:
 But as he was saying that, a cloud came and covered them, and they got frightened as they went into the cloud.


text:
 As the voice spoke, Jesus appeared all by himself.x And they kept quiet, and at that timey they didn’t tell anybody anything of what they’d seen.


text:
 Jesus Heals a Boy who Has a Demon (Mt. 17:14-21; Mk 9:14-29) Now, on the sixth day, when they came down from the mountain, a big crowd met Jesus.


text:
 Suddenly a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, please, I’m begging you: look at my son-he’s my only child!


text:
 And a spirit takes him over, and suddenly it screams, and makes him shakez violently with foaming at the mouth. It bruises him, and barely goes away.


text:
 Jesus answered, “What a faithless and perverse generation you are! How long am I going to be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here to me.”


text:
 As he was coming up, the demon tore into the boy, and violently shook him. But Jesus told off the unclean spirit and healed the child, and he gave him back to his father.


text:
 And everyone was astounded at the greatness of God. Jesus Tells his Followers Again That he is Going to be Killed (Mt. 17:22-23; Mk 9:30-32) They were all saying how amazed they wereaa over all the things Jesus had been doing.


text:
 Then he said to his followers, “You should tuck these words into your ears: the Human One is about to get betrayed to the authorities.”bb


text:
 But they didn’t understand that-it had been hidden from them, so they wouldn’t get it. And they kept being afraid to ask him about it.cc


text:
 Who is the Greatest Follower of Jesus? (Mt. 18:1-5; Mk 9:33-37) An argument came up between them: which of them was the greatest.


text:
 And he said to them, “Whoever accepts this child in my name accepts me. And whoever accepts me accepts the One who sent me. Because the least assuming one of all of you-that’s the one who’s great.”


text:
 Whoever isn’t against us is for us (Mk 9:38-41) John said back to him, “Teacher, we saw somebody kicking out demons in your name. And we were trying to get them to stop, because they aren’t following along with us.”


text:
 James and John Suggest the Elijah Approach (see 2 Kgs 1:10, 12)-And Get Told Off As the time got near for Jesus to be taken up into heaven, he became determined to head for Jerusalem.dd


text:
 And he sent messengers ahead of him. They walked along and came into a Samaritanee village, to get things ready for him.


text:
 When his followers James and John saw that, they said, “Teacher, do you want us to say for fire to come down from heaven and wipe them out?”gg


text:
 “I’m Going to Follow You!” (Mt. 8:18-22) As they were going along the road, somebody said to Jesus, “I’m going to follow you wherever you go.”


text:
 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birdshh have nests. But the Human One doesn’t have anyplace to rest his head.”


text:
 He said to another person, “Come with me!” But the person said, “Let me go off and bury my father first.”


text:
 Somebody else said, “I’m going to follow you, Teacher. But first let me give some instructions to the people on my estate.”


text:
 But Jesus said, “No one who grabs the plow handle and then looks backwards is fit for God’s Reign.”ii


text:
 Jesus Sends Out Seventy People on a Mission Later, the Lord appointed seventy-twoa others. He sent them ahead of himb two by two, to every town and place where he was about to come.


text:
 He’d say to them, There’s a big harvest, but there are only a few workers. So really plead with the owner of the harvest field, to send workers out to the harvest.c


text:
 And if there is a peaceful persone there, then your peace will rest on them. But if not, it’ll return to you.


text:
 Stay in that house, and eat and drink what they give you.f After all, “Workers deserve their pay.”g Don’t move around from house to house.


text:
 But if you go into another city and they don’t accept you, go out into the main streets therei and say,


text:
 “We’re even wiping off the dust of this city that’s stuck to our feet, in protest against you. But know this: God’s Reign is nearly here!”j


text:
 Jesus Tells Off the Cities That Haven’t Changed their Hearts (Mt. 11:20-24) It’s going to be horrible for you,m Chorazin!n It’s going to be horrible for you, Bethsaida!o Because if the displays of power had happened in Sodom that happened in you, they would have sat themselves down in sacking and ashesp and changed their heartsq a long time ago!


text:
 And you too, Capernaum!r. Are you going to be lifted up to heaven? No, you’re going to fall downs to Hades!t


text:
 The person who listens to you listens to me, and the person who rejects you rejects me. And the person who rejects me rejects the One who sent me.


text:
 The Seventy Followers Report Back The seventy-two came back full of happiness. They were saying, “Teacher, even the demons submit to us in your name!”


text:
 Look, I’ve given you the authority to step on snakes and scorpions, and on all the power of the enemy.u Nothing’s ever going to hurt you.


text:
 Still, don’t be happy that the spirits submit to you-be happy that your names are written down in heaven.v


text:
 Jesus Praises his Father (Mt. 11:25-27) Right thenw Jesus began to celebrate in the Holy Spirit, and he said, “I want to honor you,x Father, Sovereign of heaven and earth. Because you’ve hidden these things from wise and understanding people, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father! Because that’s just how you wanted it to be.y


text:
 Every­thing has been given to me by my Father. No one really knows who the Son is except the Father. And no one knows who the Father is except the Son-and the person the Son wants to reveal him to.”


text:
 And Jesus turned to his closest followers privately and said, “Your eyes are blessed to see what they’re seeing.


text:
 Because I’m telling you, lots of prophets and kings wanted to see the things you’re seeing, and they didn’t get to.z They also wanted to hear the things you’re hearing and didn’t get to.aa


text:
 The Parable of the Priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan (Mt. 22:34-40; Mk 12:28-34) Right thenbb a lawyer stood up and started trying to test Jesus out.cc He was saying, “Teacher, what should I do so that I’ll inherit eternal life?”


text:
 He answered, You are to love the Sovereign One your God with all your heart,ff all your soul, all your strength, and all your understanding.gg And: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.hh


text:
 Jesus gave this reply: “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and unfortunately he came on some muggers. They stripped him and beat him up, and went off-leaving him half dead.


text:
 Now, by chance a priest came down that road. When he saw him, he went by on the other side of the road.


text:
 A Levitejj did the same too: when he came to that place and looked, he also went by on the other side.


text:
 Now, a Samaritankk was traveling along, and came to the same place. When he looked, he felt compassion for him.


text:
 He came over and poured oil and wine on his wounds, and bandaged them up. Thenll he set him on his own donkey,mm and took him to an inn, and looked after him.


text:
 The next day, he got out two denarii.nn He gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Look after him, and whatever extra you spend, I’ll pay you back when I return.’”


text:
 “In your opinion, which of these three has turned out to be the neighbor of the person who came on the muggers?”


text:
 The lawyer said, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same yourself.”


text:
 Jesus Visits Martha and Mary On their journey, Jesus came to a village, and a woman by the name of Martha took him in as a guest.


text:
 But Martha was distracted with a lot of hosting work.oo She stoppedpp and said, “Teacher, doesn’t it matter to you that my sister has left me to do the hosting all alone?qq Tell her to help me.”


text:
 But only one thing is really necessary.rr Mary has chosen the good part, and it’s not going to be taken away from her.”


text:
 Jesus teaches his Followers How to Pray (Mt. 6:9-15) Once Jesus was prayinga somewhere, and when he finished, his followers said to him, “Teacher, teach us to pray, like John taught his followers.”


text:
 And forgive us our sins, because we ourselves have also forgiven those who’ve done us wrong.b And please don’t make us face temptation.c


text:
 The Parable of the Friend at Midnight (Mt. 7:7-11) Jesus said to them, “Let’s say one of you will have a friend, and you’ll to come to them in the middle of the night and say to them, ‘Please lend med three loaves of bread!


text:
 A friend of mine who’s traveling has just come to visit me, and I don’t have anything to put in front of them.’e


text:
 That friend might reply from inside, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked for the night, and the children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you.’f


text:
 I’m telling you, even if they won’t get up and give it to you because you’re friends,g they’ll at least get up and give you whatever you need because of your shamelessness in asking.


text:
 Soh I’m telling you: ask, and it’ll be given to you. Search, and you’ll find. Knock, and it’ll be opened for you.


text:
 Because everybody who asks receives, the person who searches finds, and the person who knocks has iti opened for them.


text:
 And is there any father out therej whose son will ask for a fish-but instead of a fish, he’ll give him a snake?


text:
 So if you, bad as you are, know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”


text:
 Jesus Kicks Out a Demon and is Accused of Being with the Devil (Mt. 12:22-32; Mk 3:19b-30) Oncel Jesus was kicking out a demon that that was mute.m And when the demon had gone out, the mute person spoke, and the crowds were amazed.


text:
 But some of them said, “He’s kicking out demons by the power of the devil,n the ruler of the demons.”


text:
 But he knew what they were thinking. He said to them, “Every kingdom that’s divided against itself is ruined,q and every house that’s against itself falls.


text:
 Sor if Satan is divided against himself too, how is his kingdom going to hold up? Because you’re saying that I kick out the demons by the power of the devil.s


text:
 But if I kick out the demons by the devil’s power,t whose power do your folks use to kick them out?u So they’re the ones who’ll be your judges.


text:
 But supposew somebody stronger than him comes along and defeats him. That person takes the armor that he relied on, and gives out his things to others.


text:
 The Return of the Wandering Unclean Spirit (Mt. 12:43-45) “When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it wanders around dry desert places looking for someplace to rest. When there isn’t any,x it says, ‘I’m going to go back to my house, that I left.’


text:
 Then it goes and gets seven other spirits more evil than itself. They go in and live there, and it turns out that the person’s final condition is worse than they started.y It’ll be the same way with this evil generation.”


text:
 As Jesus was saying that, a woman shouted out to him. She said, “The womb that carried you and the breasts that nursed you are blessed!”


text:
 The Sign of Jonah the Prophet (Mt. 12:38-42) When the crowds got bigger, Jesus started saying, “This is an evil generation. It’s looking for a sign-and one’s not going to be given to it, except for the sign of Jonah.


text:
 Because Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh.z In just the same way, the Human One is going to be a sign to this generation.


text:
 The Queen of Shebaaa will be called to testifybb against the men of this generation, and she’s going to condemn them. Because she came from the far corners of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And look, there’s something bigger than Solomon here.


text:
 The men of Nineveh are going to rise up in the judgment along with this generation and condemn it. Because they changed their heartscc on the basis of Jonah’s preaching-and look, there’s something bigger than Jonah here.”


text:
 Sayings about Light (Mt. 6:22-23) “No one lights a lamp to put it in a hiding place.dd No, they put it on the lamp stand, so people who come in the room can see its light.


text:
 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light inside. But when your eye is evil,ee then your body is dark inside as well.


text:
 In other words, if your whole body is full of light inside, without any dark part, then your whole body will be full of light just like when a lamp shines its light on you.”


text:
 Jesus Criticizes the Pharisees and the Scripture Experts (Mt. 23:1-36; Mk 12:38-40) While Jesus was saying that, a Pharisee asked Jesus if he’d have dinner with him. And he went in and took his place at the table.ff


text:
 But the Lord said to him, “Now, you Pharisees clean the outside of cups and plates. But the inside of you is full of violent thievery and evil.


text:
 No, it’s going to be horrible for you, Pharisees! Because you titheii your mint and rue, and every little herb-yet you’ve ignored God‘s justice and love.jj And it was these things that were necessary to practice, without ignoring the others.


text:
 It’s going to be horrible for you, Pharisees! Because you love the seat of honor in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in public places.kk


text:
 It’s going to be horrible for you, because you’re like unmarked graves, that people walk over without knowing it.”ll


text:
 One of the scripture experts said back to him, “Teacher, by saying these things, you’re insulting us too.”


text:
 And Jesus said, “It’s going to be horrible for you scripture experts too! Because you load people down with hard-to-carry loads, and you yourselves don’t touch those loads with a single one of your fingers.


text:
 It’s going to be horrible for you! Because you build monuments for the prophets-but your ancestors killed them.


text:
 So you’re witnesses of it, and you agree with the actions of your ancestors: they’ve killed them, and you build the monuments.mm


text:
 That’s why the wisdom of God said, ‘I’m going to send them prophets and messengers,nn and some they’ll kill, some they’ll persecute.


text:
 That way, the blood of all the prophets that’s been spilled since the creationoo of the world will be able to be traced back topp this generation.


text:
 That includesqq the blood of Abel, all the way to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary.’rr Yes, I’m telling you, it’s all going to be traced back toss this generation.


text:
 It’s going to be horrible for you scripture experts! Because you’ve taken the key of knowledge-yet you haven’t gone in yourselves, and you’ve stopped other people from going in.”tt


text:
 When Jesus left there, the scripture experts and the Pharisees started holding a nasty grudge. And they started trying to get him to talk about more things.


text:
 Jesus Warns about the “Yeast of the Pharisees” (Mt. 10:26-27; Mk 8:15) A crowd of tens of thousands was gathering-to the point that they were stepping on each other. Then Jesus started out by saying to his followers, Watch yourselves for the yeast of the Pharisees, which is play-acting.


text:
 What that means is, that whatever you’ve said in the dark is going to be heard in the light, and what you’ve whispered in somebody’s ear behind closed doorsa is going to get announced from the housetops.


text:
 Stand Up for me-And Don’t be Afraid of People (Mt. 10:26-33) And I’m saying to you friends of mine, don’t be afraid of those that can kill your body, but after that there’s nothing more they can do.


text:
 I’ll show you who you should be afraid of-be afraid of the One who, after killing you, has the authority to throw you in Gehenna.b Yes, I’m telling you, be afraid of that One.


text:
 Aren’t five sparrows sold for two copper coins? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s presence.c


text:
 No, even the hairs on your head have all been counted. Don’t be afraid—you’re worth more than lots of sparrows.


text:
 I’m telling you, every person that stands up ford me in front of people, the Human One will stand up for them, in the presence ofe the angels of God.


text:
 But the person that denies me in front of people, they’ll be denied in the presence off the angels of God.


text:
 And everybody that says something against the Human One will be forgiven for it.g But for the person who blasphemes the Holy Spirit,h there’s not going to be forgiveness.


text:
 And whenever they bring you into the synagogues, and in front of rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how or what you’re going to say in your defense.


text:
 The Parable of the Mindless Rich Person-A Warning about Greed Someone from the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”


text:
 And he said to them, “Look out, and protect yourselves from every kind of greed. Because it’s not true that a person who gets wealthy gets life from their possessions.”j


text:
 Jesus told them a parable. He said, A rich man’s fields produced a good crop, and he was thinking it through in his mind.k


text:
 And he finally said, “I’ll do this: I’ll tear down my storage sheds, and I’ll build bigger ones, and I’ll store all the wheat and my other goods there.


text:
 I’ll say to myself, l ‘You have a lot of good things laid up for a lot of years. Have a rest! Eat! Drink! Be happy!’”


text:
 But God said to him, “You mindless person! Tonight they’re demanding your life from you. The things you’ve got all ready-whose are they going to be?”


text:
 Stop Worrying and Trust God to Provide for You (Mt. 6:19-21, 25-34) And Jesus said to his followers, So I’m telling you, don’t worry about what you’re going to eat, or what you’re going to clothe your bodies with.


text:
 Take a close look at the ravens: they don’t plant or harvest; they’ve got no storerooms or sheds, and God feeds them. How much more important are you than the birds?


text:
 Take a close look at the wildflowers, how they grow. They don’t work hard, and they don’t make cloth.n But I’m telling you, even Solomon, with all of his glory, wasn’t adorned like one of these.


text:
 If God gives clothes like that too the grass out in the field-which is there today, and tomorrow is thrown in your oven-how much more will God clothe you? You have so little faith!


text:
 And don’t keep focusing onp what you’re going to eat and what you’re going to drink, and don’t be worrying.


text:
 After all, these are the things that all the nations of the world chase after. Yet your Father knows that you need them.


text:
 Sell your possessions and give to charity. Make yourselves coin purses that don’t wear out. Get yourselves a permanent safer in heaven, where a burglar can’ts get near it and a moth can’t ruin it.


text:
 You should be like people looking for their master, who’s coming back from a wedding. That way, when he comes and knocks at the door, they open up for him right away.


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 Those slaves are in great shape,v whose master comes and finds them keeping watch. I’m telling you seriously: he’ll put on an apron, have them take their places at the table,w and go around serving them.


text:
 Even if he comes in the middle of the night, or before dawn the next morning,x if he finds them ready,y they’re in great shape.z


text:
 And know this: “If the owner of the house had known what time the burglar was coming, he wouldn’t have let his house be broken into.”aa


text:
 The Parable of the Reliable Slave and the Abusive Slave (Mt. 24:45-51) Peter said, “Teacher, are you saying this parable to us, or to everybody else too?”


text:
 And the Lord said, Well, who’s the reliable, intelligent head slave? The one that the master’s going to put in charge of his household servants, to give out the food rations on time?


text:
 But supposecc that slave says in his heart, “My master is taking a long time in coming,” and he starts beating the male and female servants, and sits around eating and drinking and getting drunk.


text:
 That slave’s master is going to come on a day that he doesn’t expect, and at a time that he doesn’t know. And he’ll cut that slave in two with the whip, and put him with the unreliabledd ones.


text:
 The slave that knows what their master wants, butee doesn’t get ready or do what the master wants,ff will get a lot of lashes.gg


text:
 But the one who doesn’t know, and does things that deserve a whipping, will get only a few lashes. If you’ve received a lot, a lot is going to be expected of you. If you’ve been given a lot of responsibility, they’re going to demand more from you.hh


text:
 “I’ve Come to Set Fire to the Earth” (Mt. 10:34-39) I’ve come to set fire to the earth-and somehow I’m glad if it’s already been lit.ii


text:
 Do you think I’ve come to bring peace to the earth? No! I’m telling you, it’s just the opposite: I’ve come to bring division.


text:
 Because from now on, there’ll be five people in one home, split up three against two and two against three.


text:
 A father will be set against his son, and a son against his father. A mother will be set against her daughter, and a daughter against her mother. A mother-in-law will be against her daughter-in-law, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.kk


text:
 The Parable of Reading the Weather (Mt. 16:1-4) Jesus was saying to the crowds, When you see a cloud coming up in the west, right away you say, “Rain’s coming,” and so it turns out.


text:
 You play-actors! You know how to readll the appearance of the earth and the sky, somm how come you don’t know how to read these times?nn


text:
 The Parable of Settling your Lawsuit out of Court Also, how is it that on your own you don’t judge what’s right?


text:
 For example, as you’re on your way to courtoo with someone who has a lawsuit against you, make an effort to be reconciled with them. Otherwise, they might drag you off to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the bailiff, and the bailiff will throw you in prison.


text:
 You’ll Die If you Don’t Change your Hearts Now, some people arrived at that moment. They were telling Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilatea had mixed in with their sacrifices.


text:
 Jesus said back to them, “Do you folks think that those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because this happened to them?


text:
 Or how about the eighteen people that the Siloamc tower fell on and killed them? Do you folks think they were more guilty than everybody else that lives in Jerusalem?


text:
 Not at all-far from it. I’m telling you, unless you change your hearts,d you’ll all die just the same.”


text:
 The Parable of the Fig Tree with No Fruit And he was telling them this parable. “A person had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. And he came looking for fruit on it, but didn’t find any.


text:
 He said to the person that worked in the vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I’ve come to look for fruit on this fig tree, and I’m not finding any. Chop it down. Why is it wasting the soil?’


text:
 But the worker said back to him, ‘Boss, leave it for this year too-until I dig around it and put some manure on it.


text:
 Jesus Heals a Woman who Can’t Stand Up Now, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.


text:
 And there was a woman there who’d had a spirit of illness for eighteen years. She was bent over and couldn’t stand up all the way.


text:
 But the head of the synagogue reacted-he was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. He was saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which you’re supposed to do work! So come get healed on one of them-and not on the Sabbath day!”


text:
 But the Lord said back to him, “Play actors-doesn’t each of you untie your ox or donkey from its feeding trough on the Sabbath, and lead it out to give it a drink?


text:
 Yet this is a daughter of Abraham! Look, Satan has bound her for eighteen years-isn’t it important for her to be freed from that bondageg on the Sabbath day?”h


text:
 When he said that, all the people who were against him were ashamed, and the whole crowd was celebrating all the glorious things he was doing.


text:
 The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast (Mt. 13:31-33; Mk 4:30-32) Jesus went on to say, “What is God’s Reign like? What can we compare it to?


text:
 It’s like a mustard seed that a person took and planted in their garden. And it grew up and got to be a tree-and the birdsi nested in its branches.”


text:
 It’s like yeast that a woman took and kneadedk into three measures of dough, so that it all rose.”l


text:
 The Parable of the Narrow Door (Mt. 7:13-14) Jesus was traveling through the cities and villages, teaching and making his way toward Jerusalem.


text:
 And somebody said to him, “Teacher, are the people being saved just a small minority?”m He said to them,


text:
 “Try your hardest to go in through the narrow doorway. Because I’m telling you, a lot of people are going to try to go in, and they’re not going to be able to.


text:
 After the owner of the house gets up and locks the door, then you’ll start showing up outside to knock on the door. You’ll be saying, ‘Sir, open up for us!’ And he’ll say back to you, ‘I don’t know where you’re from.’


text:
 Then you’ll start saying, ‘We used to eat and drink right there with you!n You taught in our public places!’o


text:
 And he’s going to be saying to you, ‘I don’t know you, or where you’re from. Stay away from me, all you who keep doing wrong!’p


text:
 There’s going to be crying and teeth-grinding out there, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets in God’s Reign-and yourselves excluded outside.q


text:
 People are going to come from east and west and north and south, and they’re going to be given a banquetr in God’s Reign.


text:
 And yets.-there are some people who are last who are going to be first, and there are some who are first who are going to be last.”


text:
 Jesus Cries Out in Grief over Jerusalem (Mt. 23:37-39) Right then some Pharisees came up to Jesus saying, “You should leave- move on from here. Because Herodt wants to kill you.”


text:
 And Jesus said to them, “Tell that old fox: ‘See, I’m kicking out some demons and finishing up some healings today and tomorrow and the next day. On the third day I’ll be done.


text:
 But I have to travel today, tomorrow and the next day. Because it won’t do for a prophet to get killed outside of Jerusalem.’


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 Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone the people sent to you! How many times have I wanted to gather your children together-just like a hen with her chicks under her wings? And you didn’t want it!


text:
 Look! Your house is being abandoned to you!u I’m telling you: you’ll never see me until the day comes when you say, “Bless the one who comes in the name of the Sovereign One!”v


text:
 Jesus Heals a Man with Edema Once Jesus went to a leading Pharisee’s house for a meal on the Sabbath. And they were watching him closely.


text:
 Jesus spoke to the scripture experts and Pharisees and said,b “Is it allowed to heal on the Sabbath or not?”


text:
 Jesus said to them, “Suppose your child, or your ox, falls down a well. Is there any one of you that wouldn’t immediately lift them out on the Sabbath day?”c


text:
 Jesus Teaches about Humility and Hospitality Jesus began telling a parable to the dinner guests, when he noticed how they’d been choosing the best places. He was saying to them,


text:
 “When you’re invited to a wedding by somebody, don’t taked the best place. Because somebody with higher status than you might have been invited.


text:
 And then the one who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give up your place to this person.’ Then you’ll begin to be ashamed, as you go to take the lowest place.e


text:
 Instead, when you’re invited, go takef the last place. That way, when the one who invited you comes, they’ll say to you, ‘Hey, friend! Come on up higher.’ Then you’ll be honored in front of all the people at the meal with you.g


text:
 Because all the people who lift themselves up are going to be humbled, and those that humble themselves are going to be lifted up.”h


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 And Jesus was saying to the person that invited him, “Whenever you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers and sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors. Becausei they’ll invite you in return.


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 Instead, when you have a party,j invite poor people, people with disabilities, people that can’t walk, blind people.


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 Thenk you’ll be blessed, because they don’t have a way to pay you back, andl you’ll be paid back in the resurrection of the just.”m


text:
 The Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Mt. 22:1-14) When one of the dinner guestsn heard that, he said to Jesus, “Anyone who’s going to dine in God’s Reign is blessed!”


text:
 At dinner time, he sent his slave to say to the people who’d been invited, “Come-it’s all readyo now.”


text:
 And from the very first one, they all started to make excuses.p The first one told him, “I’ve bought a piece of land, and I need to go out and see it. Please let me be excused.”q


text:
 Another one said, “I’ve bought five pairsr of oxen, and I’m going over to test them out. Please let me be excused.”


text:
 And the slave came back and told his master all this.t Then the owner was furious. He said to his slave, “Quickly! Go out to the public places and city streets. Bring in the poor, people with disabilities, the blind, and people who can’t walk.”


text:
 The master said to the slave, “Go out on the roads and along the fences, and make them come! That way, my house will be full.


text:
 Because I’m telling you all, none of those peopleu who were invited is going to taste this dinner of mine.”v


text:
 A Warning about Counting the Cost of Following Jesus (Mt. 10:34-39 + Mt. 5:13; Mk 9:50) Large crowds of people were walking along with Jesus. And he turned and said to them,


text:
 If somebody comes to me and doesn't hate their own father and mother and spousew and children and brothers and sisters-and even their own life-they can’t be my follower.


text:
 After all, suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and figure out the cost?x


text:
 That’ll avoid laying your foundation and not being able to finish. If that happens, everybody looking on is going to start making fun of you.


text:
 Or take another example. What king, who’s going out to meet another king in battle, isn’t first going to sit down and plan it out-and ask if he’s strong enough, with ten thousand, to come against the one who’s coming at him with twenty thousand?


text:
 And if he isn’t, he’ll send a delegation to ask the terms of peace while the other king’s still a long ways from him.


text:
 So in the same way, every one of you that doesn’t give up everything they havey can’t be my follower.


text:
 Now, salt is goodz.-but suppose even salt itself has lost its flavor. What’s it going to be seasoned with?


text:
 The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Mt. 18:10-14) All the tax collectors and “sinners” used to show upa to hear Jesus.


text:
 And the Pharisees and scripture experts would be grumbling. They’d say, “This guy welcomes sinners, and eats with them!”b


text:
 Let’s say one of you has a hundred sheep, and has lost one of them. Wouldn’t any of you leave the ninety-nine out in the middle of nowhere, and go after the lost one until you found it?


text:
 And when you came home, wouldn’t you get your friends and relatives together, and say to them, “Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!”


text:
 I’m telling you, that’s the kind of joy that’s going to be in heaven over one sinner that changes their heartd.-more than over ninety-nine people of integrity that don’t have any need for a change of heart.e


text:
 The Parable of the Lost and Found Coin Or suppose there’s a woman who has ten silver coins. If she loses one silver coin, won’t she light a lamp and sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?


text:
 And when she’s found it, she’ll get her friends and relatives together, and says, “Celebrate with me! I’ve found the silver coin that I lost!”


text:
 I’m telling you, that’s the kind of joy there is in the presence of God’s angels, over one sinner changing their heart.f


text:
 The younger one said to his father, “Father, give me the portion of the estate that’s coming to me.” And the father divided his savings between the two sons.


text:
 Not long afterwards, the younger son packed up everythingg and went off to a faraway land. Over there, he wasted his savings through fast living.h


text:
 And when he’d spent it all, there was a severe famine all over that land, and he started to go short.


text:
 He went and joined on with one of the citizens of that land, and that man sent him out to his fields to take care of the pigs.


text:
 And he kept wishing he could fill his stomachi with the carob pods that the pigs used to eat. And no one was giving him anything.


text:
 As he went out, he said to himself, “How many of my father’s hired laborers have more than enough to eat-and I’m here dying of hunger!


text:
 I’m going to get up and go to my father. And I’m going to say to him, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and in front of you.


text:
 And he got up and went to his father. Now, while he was still a long ways away, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him. And he ran and threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.


text:
 And his son said to him, “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and in front of you. I’m not worthy to be called your son anymore.”


text:
 But the father said to his slaves, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him! Bring a ring for his finger,j and sandals for his feet.


text:
 Because my son herek used to be dead, and he’s come alive; he used to be lost, and he’s found!” And they started the celebration.l


text:
 Now, his older son had been out in the field. And when he came back and got close to the house, he heard music and dancing.


text:
 The servant said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the grain-fattened calf, because he got him back safe and sound.”


text:
 But he said back to his father, “Look! All these years I’m serving you, and have never disobeyed a command of yours. And me—you’ve never given me a little goat to have a good time with my friends.


text:
 But when this son of yours comes-the one who has eaten through all of your savings with prostitutes—you kill the grain-fattened calf for him!”


text:
 But we had to celebrate and have a good time! Because your brother here had been dead, and came alive. He’d been lost, and has been found.”


text:
 The Parable of the Dishonest Manager Jesus was saying to his followers, There was once a rich man who had a household manager. This man was accused to him of wasting his property.


text:
 And he called him over and said to him, “What’s this I hear about you? Hand over the records of your management job. You can’t manage my property anymore.”


text:
 The manager said to himself, “What am I going to do? My boss has taken the management job away from me! I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m embarrassed to beg.


text:
 I know what I’ll do, so that when I’m removed from management people will welcome me into their homes.”


text:
 And he sent for each one of the people that owed his boss things. He saida to the first one, “How much do you owe my boss?”


text:
 And he said, “Eight hundred gallons of oil.”b And he said to him, “Here’sc your bill. Quick-sit down and write four hundred.”


text:
 Then he said to another person, “And you-how much do you owe?” And he said, “Thirty tons of wheat.”d And he said to him, “Here’se your bill. Sit down and write twenty-four tons.”f


text:
 And the boss complimented his dishonest manager for acting wisely.g Because the peopleh of this world are wiser towards their own kind than the people of light.


text:
 I’m telling you, make friends for yourselves using unjust wealth.i That way, when it disappears, people will welcome you into the eternal dwelling places.j


text:
 The person who’s faithful in relation to something really smallk is faithful in relation to big things too. And the person who’s unfaithful in relation to something really small is unfaithful in relation to big things too.


text:
 So if you haven’t been faithful in relation to unjust wealth, who’s going to trust you with the real thing?


text:
 No slave can serve two masters. They’ll either hate the one and love the other, or they’ll be loyal to the one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and wealth.l


text:
 God’s Thinking versus Human Thinking Now, the Pharisees (who love money) would hear all these sayings, and they’d laugh at Jesus.m


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 And he said to them, You’re justifying yourselvesn in front of human beings, but God knows your hearts: what’s highly respected by human beings is totally disgusting to God.o


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 The Law and the Prophets have been there up until John. From that point on,p God’s Reign is being preached-and everybody’s shoving their way into it.


text:
 Everybody who divorces his wife, and marries another woman, breaks his mar­riage vows. And the man who marries a woman who’s divorced from her husband breaks his mar­riage vows.


text:
 The Tale of Lazarus and the Rich Man There was once a rich man. He used to wear clothes with expensive dyes and fine material,q and he’d eat glorious meals every day.


text:
 And there was a poor man called Lazarus, who used to flop downr outsides his door, all covered with open sores.


text:
 And he’d be desperate to fill his stomach with the things that were tossed out from the rich man’s kitchen.t But instead, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.


text:
 Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried off by the angels into the arms of Abraham. The rich man died too, and was buried.


text:
 And in Hadesu he was in torture. He looked up and saw Abraham from a long ways away, and Lazarus in his arms.


text:
 He shouted out, “Father Abraham! Have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, so he can dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue! I’m in terrible pain in this fire!”v


text:
 But Abraham said, “Child, remember, you got the good thingsw in your life, and likewise, Lazarus got the bad things. But now he’s here being comforted, and you’re in terrible pain.


text:
 However,x a deep canyon has been put in place between us and all of you. So people that want to go across to you can’t do it, and people can’t cross from there to us either.”


text:
 And the rich man said, “Then I want to ask you something, Father. Send Lazarus to my father’s house.


text:
 Because I have five brothers. That way he can warn them, so that they don’t come to this place of torture.”


text:
 But he said, “Please, no, father Abraham! But if somebody goes to them from among the dead, then they’ll change their hearts.”y


text:
 But he said to him, “If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t pay attention even if somebody rises from among the dead.”


text:
 Tripping People Up-Or Watching Out for them (Mt. 18:6-7, 21-22; Mk 9:42) Jesus said to his followers, “There’s no avoiding it-things are going to come that trip people up.a Still, it’s going to be horrible for whoever causes them.b


text:
 They’d be better off to have a millstone hung around their neck and be thrown into the sea, than for them to trip up one of these little ones.


text:
 Watch yourselves. If your friendc sins, tell them off. And if they change their heart,d forgive them.


text:
 And if they sin against you seven times in a day, and seven times say, ‘I intend to be different,’e you’re to forgive them.”


text:
 The Power of Faith the Size of a Mustard Seed The apostlesf said to the Lord, “Give us more faith!”


text:
 And the Lord said to them, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could have said to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea’-and it would’ve obeyed you.”g


text:
 Jesus Suggests a Cure for Spiritual Self-Congratulation “Suppose you have a slave that plows your field or tends your sheep. When they come back from the field, would any of you say to them, ‘Quick, come over and have dinner with me’?


text:
 Hardly! Wouldn’t you say to them, ‘Get me something for dinner, and put on your apron and serve me while I eat my mealh.-and afterwards you can eat your meal’?i


text:
 The same with you. Whenever you’ve done everything you’re told to do, say, ‘We’re no great use as slaves. We’ve just done what we were supposedj to have done.’”


text:
 Jesus Heals Ten Men with Leprosy-And Only One Thanks him As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he ended up going along between Samariak and Galilee.


text:
 When Jesus saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And it turned out that as they went, they were made clean.


text:
 The Coming of God’s Reign (Mt. 24:23-28, 37-41) Jesus was asked by the Pharisees, “When is God’s Reign coming?” He answered them by saying, God’s Reign doesn’t come so you can see it.p


text:
 And they’re not going to be saying, “Look, it’s here!” or, “There it is!” Because look, it’s inside each of you.”


text:
 And he said to his followers, “Timesq are coming when you’ll be desperate to see the dayr of the Human One, and you’re not going to see it.


text:
 And they’re going to be saying to you, “Look, there he is!” or “Look, he’s here!” Don’t go off or chase after them.


text:
 Because you know how lightning flashes: it lights up the underside of the sky from one end to the other. That’s how the Human One is going to be.s


text:
 They were eating and drinking, marrying and getting married-right up to the day that Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.


text:
 It’ll also be just like what happened in Lot’s day.w They were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting their fields, and building their houses.


text:
 But on the day that Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.


text:
 On that day, if you’re on the roofy and your things are in the house, don’t go down to get them.z And if you’re in the field, it’s the same. Don’t turn around behind you-


text:
 If you try to save your life, you’re going to lose it, but if you lose it, you’ll give birth to it.bb


text:
 I’m telling you, on that night, two people will be sharing a bed-one will be taken along and the other will be left.


text:
 There’ll be two women be grind­ing flour togethercc.-one will be taken along, and the other will be left.dd


text:
 They said back to him, “Where, Teacher?” And he said to them, “Where the body is, that’s where the vultures will gather.”ee


text:
 The Parable of the Widow who Wouldn’t Give Up Jesus was telling them a parable about the need to be praying all the time, and not to give up.


text:
 He was saying, “There was a judge in a certain city, who had no fear of God or respect for human beings.


text:
 And there was a widow in that city, and she used to go to him and say, ‘Get me justice in my legal dispute!’a


text:
 And for a while he didn’t want to. But later he said to himself, ‘It may be that I have no fear of God or respect for human beings.


text:
 But because this widow keeps bothering me, I’m going to get justice for her. That way, she won’t finally wear me out with her visits.’”b


text:
 But won’t God definitely get justice for God’s chosen ones,c who cry to God day and night? Surely God won’t let things go on indefinitely for them!


text:
 I’m telling you, God will get justice for them right away. Still, when the Human One comes, will he find faith here on the earth?”


text:
 The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector Jesus told this parable for people who were confident about themselves that they were people of integrity,d and despised everybody else.


text:
 The Pharisee was standing there praying to himself, ‘God, thank you that I’m not like everybody else-violent, lacking in integrity,e unfaithful to their marriage vows-or even like this tax collector.


text:
 Now, the tax collector was standing a long ways away. And he wouldn’t even look up towardsg heaven-far from it. He was hitting his chest and saying, ‘God, forgive me, I’m a sinner!’h


text:
 I’m telling you, this one went home right with Godi rather than the other one. Because all those that lift themselves up are going to be humbled, and those that humble themselves are going to be lifted up.”j


text:
 Jesus Blesses Some Little Children (Mt. 19:13-15; Mk 10:13-16) People were bringing their babies to Jesus, so that he’d touch them. And when his followers saw it, they were giving them a hard time.k


text:
 But Jesus called them over to himself. He was saying, “Let the children come to me! Don’t be stopping them! After all, God’s Reign belongs to ones like these.


text:
 I’m telling you seriously: whoever doesn’t accept God’s Reign like a child, will never go into it.”


text:
 A Rich Leader Comes to Jesus (Mt. 19:16-30; Mk 10:17-31) A leader asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”


text:
 You know the commandments: Don’t break your marriage vows, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t testify falsely against anyone, honor your father and mother.”l


text:
 When Jesus heard that, he said to him, “There’s still one thing left for you to do. Sell everything you have, and hand over the money to the poor, and you’ll have wealth storedm in heaven. Thenn come, follow me.”


text:
 And Jesus looked at himo and said, “It will be so painful for people who have wealth to enter God’s kingdom!


text:
 Because it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter God’s Reign.”


text:
 And Jesus said to them, “I’m telling you seriously: there’s no one who has left a home, or a spouse,q or brothers or sisters, or parents, or children for the sake of God’s Reign,


text:
 Jesus Says for the Third Time That he is Going to be Killed (Mt. 20:17-19; Mk 10:32-34) Jesus took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we’re going up to Jerusalem. And everything written in the prophets about the Human One is going to be fulfilled.


text:
 Because he’s going to be handed over to the Gentiles, and he’s going to be made fun of, treated outrageously, and spat on.


text:
 They didn’t understand any of that, and its stayed hidden from them. They weren’t getting the message.t


text:
 Jesus Heal a Blind Man at Jericho (Mt. 20:29-34; Mk 10:46-52) As Jesus got close to Jericho, it happened that there was a blind man who sat there next to the road begging.


text:
 The people in front told him off and tried to get him to be quiet. But he was shouting all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!!”


text:
 And Jesus stopped and gave orders for the blind man to be brought to him.v When the man came up to him, Jesus asked him,


text:
 And immediately he could see again, and he followed him, glorifying God. And all the people saw it and gave praise to God.


text:
 And he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree so that he could see him-Jesus was coming through that way.


text:
 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up. He said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down. Because I have to stay at your house today.


text:
 When everybody saw it, they were grumbling. They were saying, “He’s gone to stay at the house of a man who’s a sinner.”


text:
 But Zacchaeus stood in front of the Lord and said, “Look, Teacher-I’m giving away half of what I own to the poor. And if I’ve made anything dishonestly at someone’s expense,e I’m giving back four times as much.”


text:
 Because he too is a child of Abraham. After all, the Human One came to search for and save the lost.”f


text:
 The Parable of the Ten Servants who are Given Ten Coins (Mt. 25:14-30) As people were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell a parable. Because he was right near Jerusalem, and they were thinking that God’s Reign was going to appear right away.


text:
 So he said, “A certain princeg traveled to a faraway country, so he could be made king.h And then he was supposed to come back.


text:
 Before he left, he called ten of his slaves, and gave each of them a valuable coin.i He said to them, ‘Do business until I come back.’


text:
 Now, the people of his city used to hate him. And they sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be king over us.’


text:
 He was made king, and when he came back, he said to call over the slaves that he’d given the money to. He wanted to knowj what business they’d done with it.


text:
 He said to him, ‘Well done—you’re a good slave: you’ve been faithful in relation to something really small.k You’re to have authority over ten cities!’


text:
 And another one came and was saying, ‘Look, Master-here’s your coin. I was keeping it hidden in a piece of cloth.


text:
 Because I was afraid of you, because you’re a hard man. You draw out what you haven’t deposited,l and you harvest what you haven’t planted.’


text:
 And he said to him, ‘I’m going to judge you out of your own mouth, you bad slave. You knew that I’m “a hard man, who draws out what he hasn’t deposited, and harvests what he hasn’t planted.”


text:
 So why didn’t you hand my money over to the bank? Then when I came, I’d have collected it with interest.’


text:
 And he said to the people standing there, ‘Take the coin away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten coins.’


text:
 ‘I’m telling you, everyone who has will get more,m but the person who doesn’t have will even get what they have taken away.


text:
 But as for these enemies of mine, who didn’t want me to be king over them-bring them here and execute them in front of me.’”


text:
 The Crowd Celebrates as Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Mt. 21:1-11; Mk 11:1-11; Jn 12:12-19) When Jesus had said that, he went ahead on his way up to Jerusalem.


text:
 And as he was coming up on Bethphagen and Bethany,o at the foot of the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his followers on a mission.


text:
 He said to them, “Go into the village across from you. As you’re going into it, you’ll find a colt tied up. It will never have been ridden before.p Untie it and bring it.


text:
 And they brought him to Jesus. And they put their robes over the colt, and got Jesus sitting on him.


text:
 Right as Jesus came over the topu of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of his followers started celebrating. They were praising God in a loud voice for all the displays of power they’d seen.


text:
 They were saying, Bless the king who comes in the name of the Sovereign One!v Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!


text:
 Some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher-warn your followers not to say such things!”w


text:
 Jesus Cries in Grief over Jerusalem (Mt. 23:37; Lk. 13:34-35) When Jesus got close enough to see the city of Jerusalem, he cried over it.


text:
 He was saying, “If you knew on this day-yes, you!-what leads to peace!y But now it’s hidden from your eyes.


text:
 Because days are coming towardsz you when your enemies will set up siege works around you-and they’ll surround you and crush in on you from all sides.


text:
 They’ll level you to the ground—you and your children in you. They won’t leave one stone on anotheraa in you, because you didn’t recognize it when God visited you.bb


text:
 Jesus Goes to the Temple-And Knocks Over Some Tables (Mt. 21:12-17; Mk 11:15-19; Jn 2:12-25) When Jesus went into the Temple, he started kicking out the people who were selling things.


text:
 He was saying to them, “Scripture says:cc ‘My house is going to be called a house of prayer.’dd But you’ve made it a hideout for armed robbers!”ee


text:
 The Religious Leaders Question Jesus’ Authority (Mt. 21:23-27; Mk 11:27-33) Jesus was teaching every day in the Temple. And the chief priests, the scripture experts, and the most powerful people in the countryff were looking for a way to kill him.


text:
 But they weren’t finding a way to do it, because the whole population was intent on listening to him.


text:
 One day Jesus was teaching in the Temple and preaching the good news. And the chief priests and scripture experts, together with the elders, came up.


text:
 They said to him, “Tell us: by what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you the authority to do all this?”a


text:
 And they discussed it amongst themselves. They were saying, “If we say it was from heaven, he’ll say, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’


text:
 But if we say it was just from human beings, then the whole population will stone us to death. Because they’re convinced that John is a prophet.”


text:
 And Jesus said to them, “Then I’m notb going to tell you by what authority I’m doing these things.”


text:
 The Parable of the Evil Tenant Farmers (Mt. 21:33-46; Mk 12:1-12) And Jesus started telling the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard. He leased it out to farmers, and left the country for a long time.


text:
 In time, he sent the farmers a slave, so that they’d give him a portion of the harvestc of the vineyard. But the farmers sent him away empty-handed, after beating him up.


text:
 And the man went on to send another slave to them. That one they also beat up and humiliated, and they sent him away empty-handed.


text:
 The owner of the vineyard thought,d ‘What am I going to do? I’m going to send my son, that I love. Maybe they’ll respect him.’


text:
 But when they saw him, the farmers started discussing it amongst themselves. They were saying, “This is the heir! Let’s kill him, so the inheritance will be ours!”


text:
 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. So what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?


text:
 He’ll come and kill those farmers and give the vineyard to somebody else.” And when the people heard that, they said, “Never!”e


text:
 But Jesus looked right at them and said, “Then what’s this scripture? This stone, which the builders rejected, Became the cornerstone! This was from the Sovereign One, And it’s amazing to us!f


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 Everybody that falls on that stone will be broken in pieces; and if it falls on somebody, it will crush them to powder.”


text:
 And the scripture experts and the chief priests looked for a way to get their hands on Jesus at that very moment,g but they were afraid of the people. Because they knew he’d told that parable against them.


text:
 Jesus Answers a Trick Question about Paying Taxes to Caesar (Mt. 22:15-22; Mk 12:13-17) They looked for an opportunity,h and sent spies who pretended to be people of integrity.i They were hoping to catch him in something he said. That way, they could turn him over to the government and the authority of the Roman governor.


text:
 And they asked Jesus this question: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach things straight-that you don’t give anyone special treatment. Far from it: you truly teach the ways of God.


text:
 And they weren’t able to catch him in what he said in front of the people. They were amazed at his answer, and went silent.


text:
 Jesus Answers a Trick Question about the Resurrection (Mt. 22: 23-33; Mk 12:18-27) Some Sadducees came up to Jesus-the ones who deny that there’s a resurrection.


text:
 They asked him this question: “Teacher, Moses wrote us this command: Suppose somebody’s brother dies, and has a wife but he’s childless. He is to marryl the wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.m


text:
 So, this woman-at the resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? Because all seven had been married to her.”o


text:
 But those who’ve been considered worthy to take part inq that age, and in the resurrection from among the dead-they don’t marry, and they don’t get married. And they can’t die anymore.


text:
 But that the dead rise-Moses revealed that in the passage about the burning bush, when he says, ‘the Sovereign One, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’s


text:
 Jesus Asks a Question of his Own (Mt. 23:1-7; Mk 12:35-37) But Jesus said to them, “How do they say that the Messiah is the son of David?


text:
 After all, David himself said in the book of Psalms, The Sovereign One said to my Lord, ”Sit at my right side


text:
 Jesus Preaches against the Scripture Experts (Mt. 23:1-7; Mk 12:38-40) As all the people werew listening, Jesus said to his followers,


text:
 “Watch out for the scripture experts. They want to walk around in long robes-and they love respectful greetings in public places,x the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at banquets.


text:
 These people gobble up widows’ houses-while making a show of praying long prayers! They’re going to facey all the more judgment!


text:
 Jesus Praises a Poor Widow’s Offering (Mk 12:41-44) Jesus looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the collection box.


text:
 Because they all put in gifts out of what they had left overa.-but she, out of her shortage of money, put in all the savings that she had!”


text:
 Signs of the Wrapping Up of the Age (Mt. 24:3-14; Mk 13:3-8) Some people were saying that the Temple was beautiful, with its stones and its treasures dedicated to God. Jesus said,


text:
 “All this that you’re looking at-days are coming when one stone won’t be left on another,b that won’t be knocked down.”


text:
 And Jesus’ followers asked him about it. They said, “So, Teacher-when will thatc be? What’s the signd that it’s about to happen?”


text:
 He said, “Make sure nobody fools you.e Lots of people are going to come using my name. They’re going to be saying, ‘I’m him!’ and ‘The time’s near!’ But don’t follow them.


text:
 And when you hear of wars and social unrest, don’t be frightened. Because these things have to happen first, but the end doesn’t come right away.”


text:
 Then Jesus was saying to them, One nation is going to get up and make war againstf another nation, and one kingdom against another kingdom.


text:
 And there’ll be big earthquakes. And in various places there’ll be plagues and famines. There’ll be terrifying events,g and massive signs from heavenh as well.


text:
 But before all these things, they’re going to arrest you and persecute you. They’ll turn you over to the synagogues and prisons. And you’ll be brought before kings and governors because of my name.


text:
 Because I’m going to give you such an ability to speak,j and such wisdom, that none of the people who are against you will be able to resist it or contradict it.


text:
 But you’ll even be turned in by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives, and friends. And they’ll have some of you put to death.k


text:
 Jesus Prophesies the Invasion and Occupation of Jerusalem (Mt. 24:15-28; Mk 13:14-23) When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then you should know that the moment of its abandonment is near.m


text:
 Then the people who live in Judea should flee into the hills, and the people of integrityn in the city should leave. And the people who live out in the countryside shouldn’t go into the city.o


text:
 It’ll be bad for preg­nant women and nursing mothers in those days. Because there’s going to be terrible distress on the earth, and wrath on this country.p


text:
 And people are going to die by the swordq and be taken captive to all the nations, and Jerusalem is going to be trampled by the nations, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.


text:
 The Coming of the Human One (Mt. 24:29-31; Mk 13:24-27) There are going to be signs in the sun and the moon and the stars. And on the earth, there’ll be stress and anxiety among the nations about the roaring and heaving of the ocean.


text:
 People are going to be fainting from fear and dread of the things that are coming on the world. Because the powers of the heavens are going to be shaken up.


text:
 But when these things are starting to happen, look up and lift your heads-because your release from captivity is getting close.


text:
 The Parable of the Fig Tree (Mt. 24:32-35; Mk 13:28-31) And Jesus told them this parable: Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.


text:
 When they put out leaves, you see it for yourselves, and you know that summer is nearly here already.


text:
 I’m telling you seriously: this generation is never going to go away until all these things happen!


text:
 Stay Awake! (Mt. 24:36; Mk 13:32-37) Watch yourselves, that your hearts don’t get weighed down with partyings and getting drunk, and with everyday concerns. Otherwise, that day will come on you unexpectedly,


text:
 But be wide awake at all times. Be praying that you’ll overcome and escape all these things that are about to happen, and that you’ll stand unashamed in front of the Human One.


text:
 In the daytime, Jesus was teaching in the Temple, and at night, he’d go out and spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives.


text:
 The Leaders Look for a Way to Kill Jesus (Mt. 26:1-5, 14-16; Mk 14:1-2, 10-11; Jn 11:45-53) The festival of Unleavened Breada was getting close, which is called the Passover.b


text:
 And the chief priests and the scripture experts were looking for a way to kill Jesus-because they were afraid of the people.c


text:
 He went off and talked with the chief priests and the officers of the Temple Guard, about how he could turn Jesus over to them.


text:
 And he agreed to it.d He began looking for a good opportunity to hand Jesus over to them, without the crowd there.


text:
 Jesus Has a Passover Meal with his Closest Followers (Mt. 26:17-19; Mk 14:12-16) The day of Unleavened Breade came, when they have to sacrifice the Passoverf lamb.


text:
 Jesus sent Peter and John on a mission. He said, “Go get the Passover meal ready for us, so we can eat it.”


text:
 He told them, “Listen:g as you go into the city, a man’s going to meet you, carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house that he goes to.


text:
 And say to the owner of the house, ‘The teacher says,h “Where’s the guest room, where I can eat the Passover meal with my followers?” ’


text:
 The two followers went off, and they found things exactly as he had told them. And they got the Passover meal ready.


text:
 The Lord’s Supper (Mt. 26:20-30; Mk 14:17-26; Jn 13:21-30; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) When it was time, Jesus had dinneri with his disciples.


text:
 And when he’d taken a cup and said thanks over it, he said, “Take this, and share it with one another-


text:
 I’m telling you, I’m never going to drink from the fruits of the grape vine again until the time when God’s Reign comes.k


text:
 And he took a loaf of bread, said thanks over it, and broke it. And he gave it to them. He was saying, “This is my body, that’s given for you. Do this in memory of me.”


text:
 He did the same with the cup after the meal. He was saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, that’s poured out for your sake.


text:
 Because the Human One walks the path that’s been marked out for him, but it’s going to be horrible for the person responsible for his betrayal!”


text:
 And they started discussing it with each other: which of them could be the one who was planning to do that.


text:
 “Which of us is the Greatest?” There also got to be an argument between them about which of them was seen as being the greatest.


text:
 But Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles rule over them. And the people in control over them are called ‘benefactors.’


text:
 But don’t you be like that. Just the opposite. The greatest one of you should be like the youngest, and the person that leads should be like the person that serves.


text:
 After all, who’s greater? The person eating dinner, or the person serving? Yet I’m here with you as the one who serves.”m


text:
 I’m giving you the right to eat and drink at my table in my kingdom. And I’m giving you the right to sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”


text:
 Jesus Prophesies That Peter Will Disown him (Mt. 26:31-35; Mk 14:27-31; Jn 13:36-38) “Simon, Simon! Look. Satan has demanded to sift youo all like wheat.


text:
 But I’ve prayed for you,p that your faith won’t fail. And you, when you’ve come back, strengthen your brothers and sisters.”


text:
 But he said, “I’m telling you, Peter, the rooster’s not going to crow today until you’ve denied that you know me three times.”


text:
 Get Ready for Trouble Jesus said to them, “When I sent you on a mission without money pouches, backpacks, or sandals, did you ever go short of anything?” They said, “Not a thing.”


text:
 And he said to them, “Now it’s the opposite. The person that has a money pouch should take it, and their backpack too. And if they don’t have a sword, they’d better sell their robe and buy one.


text:
 Because I’m telling you, this scripture has to be fulfilled in me: “He was regarded as an outlaw.”q Because even this scripture about me has a fulfillment.


text:
 Jesus Prays at the Mount of Olives (Mt. 26:36-46; Mk 14:32-42; Jn 18:1) Jesus went out and walked to the Mount of Olives, as usual, and his followers went with him.


text:
 He was saying, “Father, if you’re willing, take this cup away from me. But still, not what I want, but what you want. That’s what should happen.”r


text:
 And he got up from his prayer and went to his followers. He found them sleeping because of their sorrow.


text:
 He said to them, “How is it that you’re sleeping? Get up and be praying, so that you don’t come into a time of testing.”s


text:
 Jesus is Betrayed and Arrested (Mt. 26:47-56; Mk 14:43-52; Jn 18:1-11) While Jesus was still speaking, a crowd appeared, along with the person named Judas-one of the twelve. He went ahead of the others, and came up to Jesus to kiss him.


text:
 Jesus said to the chief priests and Temple guards and elders who were there against him, “Have you come out against me with swords and clubs, as though you were after an armed robber?


text:
 While I’ve been with you every day in the Temple, you’ve never even touched me.v But no, this is your time-this is the authority of darkness.”w And they arrested him.


text:
 Peter Denies That he Knows Jesus (Mt. 25:69-75; Mk 14:66-72; Jn 18:15-18, 25-27) They led Jesus along to the High Priest’s house, and went in. Now, Peter was following him at a distance.


text:
 A servant girl saw him sitting in front of the fire. She looked closely at him and said, “He was with him too!”


text:
 After a while, somebody else saw him, and was saying, “You’re one of them too.” But Peter was saying, “Man, I am not.”


text:
 About an hour later, another person started insisting: “He was definitelyy with him-after all, he’s a Galilean!”


text:
 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Right away, while he was still saying that, a rooster crowed.


text:
 The Lord turned and looked right at Peter. And Peter remembered the Lord’s words-how Jesus had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you’re going to disown me three times.”


text:
 Jesus is Beaten and Insulted (Mt. 26:67-68; Mk 14:65) The men who were holding Jesus were making fun of him as they beat him.


text:
 Jesus is Brought before the High Court (Mt. 26:57-68; Mk 14:61-64; Jn 18:12-14, 19-24) As it started to get light,z the council of the elders of the people got together, including the chief priests and the scripture experts. And the guards led Jesus off to their High Council.aa


text:
 But he said to them, “If I tell you, you’ll never believe me. And if I ask you, you’ll never answer.


text:
 Jesus is Handed Over to the Roman Governor, Pilate (Mt. 27:1-2; Mk 15:1; Jn 18:28) Then the whole councila got up and brought Jesus in front of Pilate.b


text:
 And they started accusing him of things. They were saying, “We’ve found this person misleading our nation and stopping people from paying taxes to Caesar. He also claims that he’s ‘Messiah,’ a king.”


text:
 Pilate asked him, “You’re the king of the Jews?” And he answered him by saying, “You’re saying it.”


text:
 Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” But they kept insisting.


text:
 They were saying, “He’s shaking up the people by teaching all over Judea. He started from Galilee, and came all the way down here.”


text:
 Once he’d figured out that Jesus was from the region that Herodc was responsible for,d he sent him off to Herod.


text:
 (Herod was also in Jerusalem at that time.) And Herod was extremely happy to see Jesus-he’d been trying to see him for quite some time, because he’d heard about him. And he’d been hoping to see some sort of miraclee be done by him.


text:
 And Herod despised him,g and he made fun of him by putting a beautiful robe on him. Then he sent him back to Pilate with his guards.


text:
 And Pilate and Herod got to be friends with each other that day. (Before that they’d been enemies.)


text:
 Under Pressure, Pilate Condemns Jesus to Death (Mt. 27:15-26; Mk 15:6-14; Jn 18:39-40) Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people.


text:
 He said to them, “You’ve brought me this person as somebody who’s turning the people against the government. Look-I’ve questioned him right in front of you. Despiteh your accusations against him, I haven’t found one thing about this person that’s a basis for a charge.


text:
 Just the opposite. And neither has Herod-because he has sent him back to me.i Look! He’s done nothing that deserves death.j


text:
 For the third time, Pilate said to them, “But what evil has he done? I’ve found nothing against him that deserves death. So I’m going to punish him and release him.”


text:
 But they kept at it, demanding with loud voices that Jesus should be hung on a cross. Their voices were getting overpowering.o


text:
 He released the person they’d asked for, who’d been thrown in prison because of the riot and murder. But he handed Jesus over to the punishment that they wanted.p


text:
 Jesus is Hung on a Cross (Mt. 27:32-344; Mk 15:21-32; Jn 19:16b-27) As they led Jesus off, they grabbed a Simon of Cyrene,q who was coming in from the countryside. They put the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.


text:
 A large crowd of people was following them. And there were women, who were mourning and wailing for him.


text:
 Jesus turned around to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me, but cry for yourselves and your children.


text:
 Because look-days are coming when they’ll say, ‘Women who are unable to have children are blessed, and so are wombs that have never borne a child, and breasts that have never nursed.’


text:
 When they came to the place called “The Skull,” they hung Jesus on a cross there, together with the criminals.


text:
 [[And Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them-they don’t know what they’re doing.”]]s And they were “dividing up his clothes by drawing lots.”t


text:
 The people were standing there looking on, and the leaders were scoffing as well. They were saying, “He saved other people-let him save himself, if he’s God’s chosen Messiah.”


text:
 One of the criminals who’d been hung on crosses was insulting him too. He was saying, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself, and us!”


text:
 But the other one was telling him off and saying, “Don’t you even respectv God? Because after all, you’re under the same sentence-


text:
 and we got it justly. Because we’ve done things that deserve what we’re getting. But he didn’t do anything wrong.”


text:
 Jesus Dies on the Cross (Mt. 27:45-56; Mk 15:33-41; Jn 19:25-30) It was now about noon.x And it got dark over the whole land until three in the afternoon.y


text:
 And Jesus called in a loud voice, “Father, I’m entrusting my spirit into your hands!” When he’d said that, he died.z


text:
 And when the Roman officeraa saw what happened, he was giving God glory.bb He was saying, “This man really was innocent!”cc


text:
 Crowds of people were standing around, looking at what was going on. When they saw what happened, they all started going away, beating on their chests.dd


text:
 And all the people who knew Jesus,ee including women who’d come with him from Galilee, stood watching everythingff from a long ways away.


text:
 Jesus is Buried in a Tomb (Mt. 27:57-61; Mk 15:42-47; Jn 19:38-42) Now, there was also a man named Joseph, who was a good and just member of the High Council.gg


text:
 He hadn’t agreed with the High Council and what they’d done. He was from the Jewish city of Arimathea,hh and had been hoping for God’s Reign.


text:
 He took it down and wrapped in fine linen cloth, and he laid him in a tomb that was cut into a rock face-no one had been buried in it yet.


text:
 And they went back home to prepare spices and scented oils. And they rested on the Sabbath, in obedience to the commandment.jj


text:
 The Resurrection of Jesus (Mt. 28:1-10; Mk 16:1-8; Jn 20:1-10) But before dawn on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were bringing the spices they’d prepared.


text:
 The women were frightened, and bowed down with their faces to the ground. The two menb said to them, “Why are you looking for the Living One here with the dead? He’s not here-he’s risen!


text:
 the Human One had to be betrayed to the authorities,c and had to be hung on a cross, and had to rise again on the third day.”


text:
 They went back from the tomb and told everything to the eleven, and to all the rest of the followers.


text:
 Now, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary, James’s mother, and the other women with them, were telling the apostlesd these things.


text:
 But Peter got up and ran over to the tomb, and he ducked in and saw the linen cloths there by themselves.h And he went off wondering to himself about what had happened.i


text:
 Meeting Jesus on the Road to Emmaus (Mk 16:12-13) Also, that very same day, two of Jesus’ followersj were walking to a village about seven miles away from Jerusalem. It was named Emmaus.k


text:
 While they were talking and discussing it, Jesus himself came up and started walking along with them.


text:
 He said to them, “What’s this discussion you’re having back and forth between youl as you’re walking along?” And they stood there looking miserable.


text:
 One of them-named Cleopasm.- said back to him, “Are you the only person staying in Jerusalem that doesn’t know the things that have been going on there these days?”


text:
 He said to them, “Like what?” And they said to him, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth. The man was a prophet-he was powerful in what he did and what he said, both in the eyes ofn God and of all the people.”o


text:
 It’s about how the chief priests and our leaders gave himp the death sentence and hung him on a cross.


text:
 We’d been hoping that he was the one destined to set Israel freeq from bondage. But that’s not all.r This is the third day since all this happened.


text:
 And now some of the women in our groups have totally amazed us. They were at the tomb at dawn this morning,


text:
 and they didn’t find his body. They came and told us they’d also seen a vision of angels-who say he’s alive!


text:
 And some of the people with our groupt went over to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said. But they still didn’t see Jesus.”


text:
 Jesus said to them, “You’re really not thinking! And your hearts are so slow to believeu all the things the prophets have said!


text:
 And he started from Moses and all the prophets, and explained to them all the things in the scriptures about himself.


text:
 Finallyw they got close to the village they were walking to, and he acted as though he was going to go on further.


text:
 But they held him back. They were saying, “Stay with us! Because it’s getting on towards evening, and the daylight’s already gone. And he went in to stay with them.


text:
 While he was having dinnerx with them, he took the loaf of bread, said the blessing over it, broke it, and gave it to them.


text:
 And they said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning inside usy as he was talking to us along the way-as he was opening up the scriptures for us?


text:
 And they got up that very moment and went back to Jerusalem. They found that the eleven, and the others with them, were in a meeting.


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 And the two from Emmausbb told the story of what had happened on the road, and how they recognized himcc when he broke the bread.


text:
 Jesus Shows himself to his Followers (Jn 20:19-23; Acts 1:3-5; 1 Cor. 15:5) As they were saying these things, Jesus himself stood right there with them. He said to them, “Peace be with you!”dd


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 Look at my hands and my feet-it’s really me!ee Touch me and see: a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you can see I do.”


text:
 While they still couldn’t believe it for joy, and were in a state of amazement, he said to them, “Do you have something to eat here?”


text:
 Jesus Goes up to Heaven (Mk 16:19-20; Acts 1:9) Jesus said to them, “These are the things I said to yougg while I was still with you: that all the scriptures about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, had to be fulfilled.”


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 And he said to them, “This is how it’s written in the scriptures: the Messiah is to suffer and rise from among the dead on the third day.


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 And a change of heart hh andii forgiveness of sins is to be preached in his name to all the nations-starting from Jerusalem.


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 Now, look-I’m sending my Father’s promise on you! Stay in the city until you’re equipped with power from heaven.”kk


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 JOHN'S ACCOUNT The Word of Life Becomes Flesh In the beginning, was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.a


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 Everything came to be through the Word-and without the Word not even one thing came to be. What came to be in the Wordb was Life.c


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 The Worde was in the world, and the world came into being through him, butf the world didn’t know him.


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 But whoever did accept him-he gave them the authority to become children of God. Those are the ones who believe in his name.


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 They’re not born from human procreation,h or physical desire, or a man’s desire. They’re born from God.


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 The Word became flesh, and he lived with us. And we’ve seen his glory-like the glory of a father’s only son-full of grace and truth.


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 John testifies about him. He shouts out, “It was about him that I said, ‘The one who comes after me is actually before me,i because he was before I was.’”


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 Nobody has ever seen God. [God,]k the one and only Son-who’s in the Father’s arms-he’s the one who has explained him.


text:
 John the Baptizer Gives his Testimony (Mt. 3:1-2; Mk 1:1-8; Lk. 3:1-20) Now, this is John’s testimony. This is what he said when the Jewish leadersl of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?”


text:
 And they asked him, “So what are you? Are you Elijah?”m He said, “No, I’m not.” “Are you the Prophet?”n And he answered, “No.”


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 So they said to him, “Who are you? We have to give an answer to the people who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”


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 He would say, “I’m A voice calling out in the wilderness: Make a straight path for the Sovereign One!o. -just like Isaiah the prophet said.”


text:
 They asked him this question: “So why do you baptize people, if you’re not the Messiah, and you’re not Elijah, and you’re not the Prophet?”


text:
 John gave them this answer: “I baptize people in water. Right there among you stands someone that you don’t know.


text:
 “Look, the Lamb of God!” (Mt. 3:13-17; Mk 1:9-11; Lk. 3:21-22) The next day, he saw Jesus coming towards him, and he said, “Look-the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!


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 This is the person I was talking about when I said, ‘There’s a man coming after me who’s actually before me,q because he was before I was.


text:
 Even I hadn’t known him.r But that’s exactly why I’ve been baptizings people in water: so that he’ll be revealed to Israel.”


text:
 John also gave this testimony: “I’ve seen the Spirit coming down like a dove from heaven, and it stayed on him.


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 Even I hadn’t known him! However, the One who sent me to baptize people in water said to me, ‘If you see the Spirit coming down from heaven and staying on a person, that’s the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’


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 “Come and See”: Jesus’ First Followers The next day John was standing there with two of his followers,


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 When Jesus turned and saw them following him, he said to them, “What’re you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi (which means ‘Teacher’), where are you staying?”


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 He said to them, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying. And they stayed with him that day. (It was about four in the afternoon.)t


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 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two people standing next to John and listening, who followed Jesus.


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 The first thing Andrew did was find his brother Simon. He said to him, “We’ve found the Messiah (which means ‘the Anointed One’)!


text:
 He led him to Jesus. Jesus saw Simon and said, “You are Simon, John’s son. You’re going to be called Cephasu (which means ‘Rock’).”


text:
 Jesus Calls Philip and Nathaniel The next day, Jesus wanted to go off to Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Come with me.”


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 Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, “We’ve found the person that Moses wrote about in the Law,w and that the prophets wrote about.x It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, from Nazareth.”


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 Nathaniel said to him, “Is it possible for anything good to come out of Nazareth?” And Philip said to him, “Come and see!”


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 Jesus saw Nathaniel coming up to him, and said, “Look! A true Israelite, who doesn’t have any dishonesty in him!”


text:
 Nathaniel said to him, “Where do you know me from?” Jesus replied, “Before Philip called out to you, you were under the fig tree. I saw you there.”


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 Jesus replied, “Are you believing because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You’re going to see greater things than that!”y


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 And he said to him, “I’m telling you very seriously: you’re going to see heaven opened up and God’s angels going up and down on the Human One.”


text:
 Water into Wine: Jesus Does a Miracle at a Wedding in Cana Two days later,a there was a wedding in Canab in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,


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 Now six stone water jars were standing there, which the Jews use for purification. They each held twenty or thirty gallons.d


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 He said to them, “Now draw some out, and bring it to the person running the banquet.”e And they brought some to him.


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 When the person running the banquet tasted the water, which had become wine, he didn’t know where it had come from. But the servers, who had drawn the water, did know.f The person running the banquet called the groom over,


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 and said to him, “Everybody puts out the good wine first, and then puts out the poorer stuff when people are getting drunk. You’ve kept the good wine for now!”


text:
 Jesus did this, the first of his miracles,g in Cana in Galilee. He displayed his glory, and his followers believed in him.


text:
 After that, Jesus went down to Capernaumh with his mother and his brothers and his followers, and he stayed there for a few days.


text:
 Jesus Goes to the Temple-And Knocks Over Some Tables (Mt. 21:12-17; Mk 11:15-19; Lk. 19:45) It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover,i and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.


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 And he found people sitting in the Temple who were changing moneyj and selling cattle and sheep and doves.


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 Jesus made a whip out of pieces of rope, and kicked them all out of the Temple, including the sheep and the cattle. And he poured out the money-changers’ coins, and tipped over their tables.


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 And he said to the people selling doves, “Get these out of here! Stop making my Father’s house into a market!”


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 The Jewish leaders said back to Jesus, “What miraclem are you going to show us, since you’re doing these things?”


text:
 So the Jewish leaders said back to him, “This Temple was built over a period of forty-six years. And you’re going to raise it up in three days??”


text:
 So when he rose from among the dead, his followers remembered that he’d been saying that-and they believed in the scripture and in the statement that Jesus had made.


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 Jesus’ Deep Knowledge of People While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Passovern festival, lots of people believed in him.o They were seeing the miraclesp that he was doing.


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 He didn’t need for somebody to tell him about a person, because he’d understand what was inside a person.


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 “You Have to be Born Over Again”: Nicodemus Visits Jesus There was a man from the Pharisees, whose name was Nicodemus.a He was a Jewish leader.


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 He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you’ve come from God as a teacher. After all, nobody can do the miraclesb that you do unless God is with them.”


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 Jesus said back to him, “I’m telling you very seriously: unless a person is born over again,c they’re not going to seed God’s Reign.”


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 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a person be born when they’re old? Surely they can’t go back into their mother’s womb for a second time and be born!”


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 Jesus replied, “I’m telling you very seriously: unless somebody is born from water and the Spirit,e they can’t enter God’s Reign.


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 The wind of the Spiritg blows wherever it wants, and you hear the sound of it, but you don’t know where it’s coming from and where it’s going. Everybody who’s been born from the Spirit is just like that.”


text:
 I’m telling you very seriously: we’re saying what we know, and we’re testifying about what we’ve seen. And you don’t accept our testimony.


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 If I’ve told you folks earthly things and you don’t believe, how are you going to believe if I tell you heavenly things?


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 Just like Moses lifted up the snake in the desert,j the Human One has to be lifted up just the same way.


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 Because God has loved the world to the point of giving God’s one and only Son. That way, nobody who believes in him will be lost-they’ll all have eternal life.


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 After all, God didn’t send the Son into the world to judge the world-just the opposite: it was so that the world would be saved through him.


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 The person who believes in him isn’t judged. But the person who doesn’t believe is already convicted, because they haven’t believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.


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 Sok that’s the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people have loved the darkness more than the light. After all, they’ve been doing evil things.l


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 Everybody that does bad things hates the light, and doesn’t come towards the light. That way, the things they do won’t get shown up as wrong.


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 But people who act honestly come to the light,m so that it’ll be clear that the things they’ve done have been in God.”


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 Jesus and John the Baptizer After this, Jesus and his followers went out into the Judeann countryside. He was staying out there with them and baptizing.


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 John was baptizing too, at Aenono near Salimp.-because there was plenty of water there. And people were coming and getting baptized.


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 So thenq there got to be an argument between John’s followers and the Jewish leaders about purification.


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 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, remember the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan-the one that you’ve testified to? Look-he’s baptizing, and everybody’s going to him.”


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 John answered them by saying, “Nobody can get a single thing unless it’s been given to them from heaven.


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 You yourselves are my witnesses: I said I’m not the Messiah. No, I said that I’ve been sent ahead of him.


text:
 It’s the groom who has the bride! The groom’s friend, who waits and listens for him,r is totally happy when he hearss the groom’s voice. That’s the complete happiness that I have.


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 The One who Comes from Above The One who comes from above is over everyone. The one who’s from the earth is from the earth, and so he speaks from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is over everyone.


text:
 The person who believes in the Son has eternal life. But the person who disobeys the Son isn’t going to see life-just the opposite. God’s anger remains on that person.


text:
 Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining more followers and baptizing more people than John.


text:
 (But actually,a Jesus himself wasn’t baptizing people-it was his followers.) So when Jesus realized that,


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 So he went to a Samaritan town called Sychar.c It’s near the plot of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.


text:
 “Jacob’s Well” was there. So, Jesus was exhausted from the journey, and was sitting there at the well. It was about noon.d


text:
 So the Samaritane woman said to him, “You’re a Jew. How is it that you’re asking a Samaritan woman for a drink?” (She said that because Jews don’t associate with Samaritans.)


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 Jesus said back to her, “If you’d known the gift of God, and who was asking you, you’d have asked him, and he’d have given you living water.”f


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 The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you have this “living water” from?


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 Are you really greater than our ancestor, Jacob? He gave us this well, and he and his children and his flocks drank from it.”


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 But everybody that drinks from the water that I’m going to give them will never be thirsty forever. Becauseg the water that I’ll give them will become a spring of water inside them that keeps welling up for eternal life.”


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 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me that water! That way, I won’t get thirsty or come here to draw water.


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 The woman said back to him, “I don’t have a husband.” Jesus said to her, “That was well put: ‘I don’t have a husband.’


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 Because you’ve had five husbands, and now the person you’re withi isn’t your husband. What you said was true.”


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 Our ancestors worshiped God on this mountain. Butj you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where people have to worship.”


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 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, dear woman-there’s coming a time when people will neither worship the Father here on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.


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 You Samaritans don’t know what you’re worshiping. We Jews know what we’re worshiping, because salvation comes from the Jews.


text:
 However, a time is coming-and it’s here now-when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Because the Father’s looking for people who’ll worship him that way.


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 The woman said to Jesus, “I know that Messiah is coming, who’s called ‘The Anointed One.’k When he comes, he’s going to tell us everything.”


text:
 As Jesus said that, his followers came up. They were shocked that he was talking with a woman. (But nobody said, “What’re you after?” or “Why are you talking with her?”)


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 “Come see a man who told me all the things that I’ve done! This couldn’t be the Messiah, could it?”


text:
 So his followers were saying to each other, “Somebody didn’t bring him something to eat, did they?”


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 Don’t you say, ‘There are still four months to go before harvest time comes’? Look, I’m telling you: open your eyesn and see the fields-they’re golden,o ready for the harvest.


text:
 The harvest worker is already getting paid, and is gathering the harvest for eternal life. That way, the person who plants can be just as happy as the person that harvests.


text:
 Because in this situation, the saying holds true: ‘One person does the planting, and another person does the harvesting.’”


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 I’ve sent you to harvest what you haven’t done the hard work on. Others have done the hard work, and you’re joining in their labor.”


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 “This is Really the Savior of the World”: Many Samaritans Believe in Jesus Now, there were a lot of Samaritans from that city who believed in Jesus, because of the testimony of the woman who said, “He told me all the things that I’ve done.”


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 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days.


text:
 They’d say to the woman, “We don’t believe because of your story anymore. Because we’ve heard him ourselves, and we know that this is really the savior of the world.”


text:
 (After all, Jesus himself testified that prophets don’t get any respect in their ownp home territory.)


text:
 So when he went to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They’d all seen the things he’d done in Jerusalem at the festival, because they’d gone to the festival themselves.


text:
 So Jesus went back to Canaq in Galilee, where he’d made the water into wine. In Capernaumr there was an official whose son was sick.


text:
 When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went off to see him. He asked him to come down and heal his son, because he was about to die.


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 Jesus said, “Go on home. Your son’s alive.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and was going home.


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 So he asked them what time it was when he got better. Then they told him, “Yesterday at one o’clocku the fever went away.”


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 So the father knew: that had been the time when Jesus had said to him, “Your son is alive.” He believed, and so did his whole household.


text:
 Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Mana. Later on,b there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.


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 Now, by the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem, there’s a pool. In Hebrew it’s called Bethesda.c It has five sheltered porches.d


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 A crowd of people with illnesses used to lie on those porches-people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed.e


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 Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he’d been ill for a long time. Jesus said to him, “Do you want to get well?”


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 The sick man answered, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. So while I’m on my way, somebody else gets in the waterf ahead of me.”


text:
 Immediately the man got well, and he picked up his sleeping mat and walked. Jesus Gets in Trouble for Healing on the Sabbath-And for Calling God his Father Now, it was the Sabbath day.


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 So the Jewish leaders said to the man who’d been healed, “It’s the Sabbath, and you’re not allowed to carry your sleeping mat.”


text:
 But he said back to them, “The man who made me well was the one who told me, ‘Pick up your sleeping mat and walk.’”


text:
 But the man who’d been healed didn’t know who it was, since Jesus had disappeared into the crowd there.


text:
 Later on,g Jesus found him in the Temple. He said to him, “See, you’ve been made well now. Don’t sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.”


text:
 So for saying that, the Jewish leaders started looking even harder for a way to kill him-because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he even called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.


text:
 But Jesus said back to them, The Parable of the Son who Imitates his Father-Jesus Talks about his Authority I’m telling you very seriously: the son can’t do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing. Whatever the father does, the son does the same.


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 Because the father loves the son, and shows him all the things that he does.i He’s going to show him even greater things to do than these, so that you’ll be amazed.


text:
 Because just as the Father raises the dead, and brings them to life, so the Son also brings to life whoever he wants.


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 That way, everybody gives the same honor to the Son as they do to the Father.j The person that doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father that sent him.


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 I’m telling you very seriously: the person that hears my messagek and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. They don’t come to judgment-no, they’ve crossed over from death to life.


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 I’m telling you very seriously: There’s a time coming-and it’s here now-when the dead are going to hear the voice of the Son of God. And the ones who who’ve heard are going to live.


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 Because just as the Father has life in himself, so he’s also given the Son life to have in himself.


text:
 Don’t be shocked by that. Because a time is coming when those who are in their graves are going to hear his voice,


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 and they’re going to come out. Those who’ve done good things are going to come out for a resurrection of life; those who’ve done bad things are going to come out for a resurrection of judgment.


text:
 Where to Look for Evidence That Jesus is from God I can’t do anything in and of myself.n I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I’m not trying to get my own way,o but I’m looking for the will of the One who sent me.


text:
 Somebody else is the one who testifies about me-and I know that the testimony that he brings about me is true.


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 But the testimony I have is greater than John.s Because there are things my Father has given me to finish, and they’re the things I’m doing. These things testify that my Father has sent me.t


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 And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You haven’t ever heard his voice or seen what he looks like.u


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 Search the scriptures-after all,w you think they have eternal life in them. They testify about me too,x


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 I’ve come in my Father’s name, and you don’t accept me. If somebody else comes in their own name, you’ll accept that person.


text:
 How can you believe, while you’re accepting praise from each other, and you’re not seeking praise from the One God?


text:
 Don’t think that I’m going to accuse you in front of the Father. The one accusing you is Moses-he’s the one you’ve put your hope in.


text:
 Jesus Feeds More Than 5,000 People (Mt. 14:12-21; Mk 6:30-44; Lk. 9:10-17) Later on,a Jesus went off across Lake Galilee (that is, Tiberiasb.).


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 A big crowd was following him, because they were witnessing the miraclesc that he was doing for the sick.


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 So when Jesus looked oute and saw that there was a big crowd coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where are we going to buy food for these people to eat?”


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 Philip said back to him, “Two hundred denariig wouldn’t buy enough loaves of bread for each of them to get a little something.”


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 “There’s a young boy here that has five loaves of barley bread and two fish. But what use are they for so many people?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.”h


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 So Jesus took the loaves, and gave thanks. Then he gave them out to the people who were sitting down. The same with the fish-as much as people wanted.


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 When they’d all gotten full, he said to his followers, “Gather up the leftover pieces, so that nothing’s wasted.j


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 So they gathered them up-and they filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves, which were left over when people had eaten.k


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 So when people saw the miracle that Jesus had done, they started saying, “This is really the Prophetl that’s coming to the world!”m


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 Jesus knew that they were about to come and kidnap him and make him king, so he went away again up the mountain by himself.


text:
 Jesus Walks on the Water (Mt. 14:22-33; Mk 6:45-52) When evening came, Jesus’ followers went down to the lake.


text:
 They got into a boat, and were going across the lake to Capernaum.n It had already gotten dark, and Jesus hadn’t come to them yet.


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 Now, when they’d rowed three or three and a half miles,o they saw Jesus walking on the lake and getting near the boat. They were frightened.


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 So thenp they were happy to let him come in the boat.q Right away the boat got to the shore they were headed for.


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 The Living Bread The next day came. The crowd had stayed on the other side of the lake. They’d seen that there was no other boat there besides the one. Andr Jesus hadn’t gotten into the boat with his followers-his followers had gone off alone.


text:
 However, boats came from Tiberias, and landed near the place where people had eaten the bread after the Lord’s giving of thanks.


text:
 Now, when the crowd saw that Jesus wasn’t there, and neither were his followers, they got in the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.


text:
 Jesus said back to them, “I’m telling you very seriously: you’re not looking for me because you saw miracles-it’s because you ate those loavess of bread and got a good meal!


text:
 Don’t work for perishable food-work for the food that lasts right to eternal life. That’s the food that the Human One is going to give you, because God has set God’s seal on him.”


text:
 So then they said to him, “So what miracle are you going to do, so that we can see it and believe in you? What are you doing?


text:
 Our ancestors ate manna in the desert,v just as scripture says:w He gave them bread from heaven to eat.x


text:
 Then Jesus said to them, “I’m telling you very seriously: it wasn’t Moses that gave you the bread from heaven. No, my Father is giving you the bread that really comes from heaven.


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 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The person that comes to me will never be hungry, and the person that believes in me will never, ever be thirsty.


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 Everythingz that my Father gives to me is going to come to me. And I’ll never kick out the one that comes to me.


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 And this is what the One who sent me wants: that I won’t lose anything from what he gave me, but raise it all up on the last day.


text:
 Because this is what my Father wants: for everyone who sees the Son and believes in him to have eternal life. I’m going to raise that person up on the last day.”


text:
 The Jewish Leaders Get Offended at Jesus So thenaa the Jewish leaders were whisperingbb about him because he said, “I’m the bread that has come down from heaven.”


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 They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus Joseph’s son, whose father and mother we know? How can he now be saying, ‘I’ve come down from heaven’?”


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 Nobody can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I’m going to raise them up on the last day.


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 It’s written in the Prophets,dd. They’re all going to be taught by God.ee. Everyone that hears from the Father, and learns, comes to me.


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 It’s not that anybody’s seen the Father, other than the one who’s with God-that One has seen the Father.)ff


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 I’m the living bread that came down from heaven. If somebody eats this bread, they’ll live forever. The bread that I’m going to give is also my flesh, given for the life of the world.”


text:
 So thengg the Jewish leaders started arguing with each other. They were saying, “How can this person give his fleshhh to eat?”


text:
 So Jesus said to them, “I’m telling you very seriously: unless you eat the flesh of the Human One and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves.


text:
 The person that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I’m going to raise them up on the last day.


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 The Living Father has sent me, and I live because of him. In the same way, the person that eats me will live because of me.


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 That’s the bread that has come down from heaven. It’s not like what the ancestors ate, and died. The person that eats this bread will live forever.”


text:
 “That’s a Hard Message!” Now, lots of Jesus’ followers, when they heard that, said, “That’s a hard message! Who can listen to it?”


text:
 But Jesus knew in himself that his followers were whisperingkk about this. He said to them, “Is this tripping you up?


text:
 The Spirit is the one that brings people to life. The flesh is no use at all. The things that I’ve said to you are the Spirit talking-Life talking.ll


text:
 But there are some of you that don’t believe. (Jesus said that because he’d known from the beginning which people didn’t believe, and who was going to betray him.)


text:
 He was saying, “That’s why I’ve said to you that nobody can come to me unless it’s been given to them from the Father.”


text:
 At that point, lots of Jesus’ followers distanced themselves from him,mm and weren’t going around with him anymore.


text:
 Simon Peter said back to him, “Teacher, who are we going to go to? Your words have eternal life in them!nn


text:
 (Jesus was talking about Judas, Simon Iscariot’sqq son, because he was going to betray Jesus to the authorities, and he was one of the twelve.)


text:
 Jesus’ Brothers Don’t Believe in Him Now, after that, Jesus was traveling in Galilee. That was because he didn’t want to travela in Judea because the Jewish leaders were trying to kill him.


text:
 So Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, so that your followers can see the things you’re doing.


text:
 After all, nobody does something secretly, and then expects to be publicly recognized. If you’re doing these things, reveal yourself to the world.


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 The world can’t hate you, but it hates me. That’s because I’m testifying about it-that its waysc are evil.


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 You go up to the festival. I’m not going up to this one, because my time hasn’t quite arrived yet.”d


text:
 Jesus Teaches at the Festival of Tabernacles When his brothers had gone up to the festival, then Jesus went up too-not openly, but secretly.


text:
 And there was a lot of whispering in the crowd about him. Some were saying, “He’s good,” and others were saying, “No, definitely not. He’s leading the crowd astray.”


text:
 When the festival was already at the halfway point, Jesus went up to the Temple and started teaching.


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 So the Jewish leaders kepte being amazed. They were saying, “How does he have learning? He hasn’t studied!”


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 If somebody wants to do what God wants, they’ll know whether my teaching is from God, or whether I’m just speaking from myself.


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 People who speak from themselves look for their own glory. But the person that looks for the glory of the one that sent them-that person is genuine, and there’s no wrong in them.


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 Isn’t that why Moses has given you circumcision, and you circumcise a person on the Sabbath? (Not that it’s from Moses-it’s from the ancestors.)h


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 If a person receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses won’t be broken, why are you angry with me because I made a whole person well on the Sabbath?


text:
 Can This be the Messiah? Now, some people from Jerusalem were saying, “Isn’t this the person they’re trying to kill?


text:
 And look-he’s talking openly and they’re not saying anything to him.” “The leaders couldn’t really know that he’s the Messiah, could they?”


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 So Jesus shouted out as he was teaching in the Temple, “So you know me, and you know where I’m from! I’m not here on my own initiative.j Far from it. The One who sent me is real, and you don’t know him.


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 They were trying to arrest him because of that, but nobody put a hand on him, because his time hadn’t come yet.


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 Lots of people in the crowd were starting to believe in him, and were saying, “When the Messiah comes, he won’t do more miracles than this man, will he?”


text:
 The Jewish Leaders Send Guards to Arrest Jesus The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering those things about him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent guards to arrest him.


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 So the Jewish leaders said to each other, “Where is he going to go, so that we won’t be able to find him?”


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 “He’s not going to the places where Jews live among non-Jews,l and teach the non-Jews,m is he?” “What was that about, when he said,n ‘You’re going to look for me and not find me’? And what was that about ‘You can’t come where I am going’?”


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 Jesus Will Open the Flowing Spring of the Spirit in People Now on the last day, the biggest day, of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted out, “If somebody’s thirsty, let them come to meo and drink!


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 Just as scripture says, streams of living water will flow out from the corep of the person that believes in me.”q


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 (Now, he said that about the Spirit, that the people who believedr in him were going to receive. Because the Spirit hadn’t been received yet, because Jesus wasn’t glorified yet.)


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 People in the Crowd Argue about Jesus So then some people in the crowd who heard all thiss were saying, “He really is the Prophet!”t


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 Others were saying, “He’s the Messiah!” But others were saying, “Surely the Messiah can’t come from Galilee, can he?


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 Doesn’t the scripture say that the Messiah comes from “the offspring of David,”u and “from Bethlehem,”v David’s village?”


text:
 The Leaders Refuse to Believe in Jesus So then the Temple guardsx went to the chief priests and the Pharisees. They said to the guards, “Why didn’t you bring him?”


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 They said back to him, “You’re not from Galilee too, are you? Look through the scriptures and see-no prophet comes from Galilee!”


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 He came back to the Temple early in the morning, and everybody therea was coming to him. Jesus sat down and was teaching them.


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 And the scripture experts and the Pharisees brought a woman who’d been caught breaking her marriage vows.b They stood her in front of everyonec


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 (They were saying that to test Jesus, so that they’d have something to accuse him with.)e But Jesus stooped down and began writing in the dirt with his finger.


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 When they kept on asking him, he stood up. He said to them, “The one of you who’s sinless should throw the first stone at her.”


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 And the people listening began to leave one by one-starting withf the elders. Finally,g he was left there alone with the woman who’d been brought in front of everyone.h


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 She said, “Nobody did, sir.” And Jesus said, “Well, I don’t condemn you either. Go on, and don’t sin anymore from now on.]]


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 “I am the Light of the World!”j. So then Jesus spoke to them again. He was saying, “I’m the light of the world. The person that follows me will never walk in the dark. Just the opposite: they’ll have the light of life.”


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 Jesus said back to them, “Even if I testify about myself, my testimony is valid, because I know where I came from, and I know where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going.


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 And even if I do judge, my judgment is valid,m because it’s not just me. No, it’s me and my Father, who sent me.


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 So they were saying to him, “Where is your father?” Jesus replied, “You don’t know me, and you don’t know my Father. If you’d known me, you’d have known my Father too.”


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 He said these things while he was teaching in the treasury in the Temple. And nobody arrested him, because his time hadn’t come yet.


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 “Where I’m Going, you Can’t Come.” So then Jesus said to them again, “I’m leaving. And you’re going to look for me, buto you’re going to die in your sins. Where I’m going, you can’t come.”


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 So the Jewish leaders started saying, “He’s not going to kill himself, is he? Because he’s saying, “Where I’m going, you can’t go.”


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 And Jesus was saying to them, “You’re from down here; I’m from above.p You’re from this world; I’m not from this world.


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 That’s whyq I said to you that you’re going to die in your sins: ifr you don’t believe that I am who I am,s you’re going to die in your sins.”


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 So then they were saying to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “What’ve I been telling you from the beginning?t


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 I’ve got lots of things to say about you, lots of things to criticize.u But the One who sent me is truthful,v and what I’m saying in the world is what I’ve heard from him.”


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 So then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Human One, then you’re going to know that I am who I am, and that I don’t do anything on my own.w No, I what I say is exactly what the Father taught me.x


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 And the One who sent me is with me. He hasn’t left me on my own, because I always do what’s pleasing to him.”


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 So then Jesus was saying to the Jewish people who’d come to believe in him, “If you hold to my teaching,y you’ll really be my followers.z


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 They said back to him, “We’re Abraham’s descendents, and we’ve never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say that ‘we’re going to be free’?”


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 I know you’re Abraham’s descendents. But you’re trying to kill me, because my message isn’t going into you.aa


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 I’m saying what I’ve seen with the Father. And so you should do what you’ve heard from the Father.”bb


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 “Before Abraham Ever was, I Am!” They said back to him, “Abraham is our father!” Jesus said to them, “If you’re Abraham’s children, you’d be doing what Abraham did.cc


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 But now you’re trying to kill me-a person who’s spoken the truth to you, that I heard from God. Abraham never did that!dd


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 You’re doing what your father does.”ee So then they said to him, “We weren’t born from sexual immorality. We have one Father-God.”


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 Jesus said to them, “If God were your father, you’d love me, because I’ve come here from God. After all, I haven’t come for myselfff at all: he sent me.


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 You’re from your father, the Devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires.gg He was a murderer from the beginning. And he doesn’t stand for the truth,hh because the truth isn’t in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he’s speaking his own language, because he’s a liar, and he’s every liar’s father.ii


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 The person that’s from God listens to God’s words. Here’s why you don’t listen: because you’re not from God.”


text:
 The Jewish leaders said back to Jesus, “Aren’t we right to saykk that you’re a Samaritan, and that you have a demon?”


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 Jesus answered, “I don’t have a demon. Just the opposite: I’m honoring my Father. And you’re dishonoring me.


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 I’m telling you very seriously: if somebody holds onto my message, they’ll never see death forever.”


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 So then the Jewish leaders said to him, “Now we know you have a demon!” Abraham died, and so did the prophets. And you say, ‘If somebody holds onto my message, they’ll never facell death forever.”


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 Are you really greater than our father Abraham,mm who died? Even the prophets died! Who do you think you are?”nn


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 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory’s nothing. My Father is the One that glorifies me. He’s the one that you call ‘our God,’


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 and you don’t know him! But I know him. If I said ‘I don’t know him,’ I’d be a liar like you. But I know him, and I hold onto his message.


text:
 Abraham, your father, was happy that he would see my day. In fact,oo he has seen it, and he was happy.”


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 Jesus answered, “He didn’t sin, and neither did his parents. No, it was so that God’s worka could be brought to light in him.


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 Web have to keep doing the workc of the One who sent me while it’s still light out.d Night is coming, when nobody can work.


text:
 When he said that, he spat on the ground, and made mud from the spit. Then he smeared it on his eyes,


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 and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means “Sent.”) So he went off and washed, and he left seeing.


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 So thene his neighbors, who’d known him before as a beggar,f were saying, “Isn’t that the person that sits and begs?”


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 Some people were saying, “Yes, it’s him.” Others were saying, “No, no, he just looks like him.” He was saying, “It is me.”


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 He answered, “A man called Jesus made mud, and he smeared it on my eyes, and he told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I could see.”


text:
 The Pharisees Try to Disprove the Healing They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees.


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 So the Pharisees asked him again how he started being able to see. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I can see.”


text:
 So then some of the Pharisees were saying, “That man isn’t from God, because he doesn’t obey the Sabbath law.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner do miracles like that?” And there was a split between them.


text:
 So then they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he healedi your eyes?” And he said, “He’s a prophet.”


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 So the Jewish leaders didn’t believej that he’d been blind and started being able to see-not until they sent for his parents.k


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 So his parents answered, “We know that he’s our son, and that he was born blind. But how he can see now, we don’t know.


text:
 His parents said that because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Because they’d already agreed that if anybody saidn that Jesus was the Messiah, they’d get kicked out of the synagogue.


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 So, for the second time they called the man who’d been blind. They said to him, “Tell the truth in front of God!o We know that this man’s a sinner!”


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 So then he said back to them, “I don’t know if he’s a sinner, but I do know one thing: I was blind, and now I can see.” S


text:
 He said back to them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to be his followers too, do you?”


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 The man said back to them, “Well, that’s a surprise: you don’t know where he’s from, and he healedq my eyes.


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 We all know that God doesn’t listen to sinners. But if somebody respects God, and does what God wants, God hears them.


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 Ever since the beginning, it’s never been heard that somebody healedr the eyes of a person born blind.


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 They said back to him, “You were totally born in sin, and you’re trying to teach us?” And they kicked him out.


text:
 God’s Judgment: Some Will See for the First Time and Some Will Go Blind Jesus heard that they’d kicked him out, and found him. He said to him, “Do you believe in the Human One?”


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 Jesus said, “I’ve come to this world for judgment: so that those who can’t see will see, and those who can see will go blind.”


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 Some of the Pharisees were with him and heard that, and they said to him, “We’re not blind too, are we?”


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 Jesus said to them, “If you admitted you were blind, you wouldn’t be holding onto sin.u But now you’re saying, ‘We can see.’ So your sin is still there.”


text:
 The Parables of the Shepherd and the Sheep Gate “I’m telling you very seriously: the person that doesn’t come into the sheep enclosure through the gate, but climbs over someplace else, is a thief and a rustler.a


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 The person guarding the gate opens to him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.


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 Whenever he puts his own sheep out to pasture, he goes out ahead of them. And his sheep follow him, because they know his voice.


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 They’ll never follow a stranger-just the opposite. They’ll run away from him, because they don’t know strangers’ voices.”


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 I’m the gate. A person can come in through me to be saved, and then come in and go out and find pasture.


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 The thief doesn’t come around except to steal and slaughter and destroy. I’ve come so that they’ll have life, and have more than enough of it.


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 The hired workers aren’t the shepherd, and the sheep aren’t their own. They see a wolf coming, and they leave the sheep behind and run away. The wolf attacks the sheepe and scatters them,


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 Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, so I know my own, and my own know me. And I lay my life on the linef for the sheep.


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 And I have other sheep that don’t come from this enclosure. I have to lead them too, and they’re going to listen to my voice. They’re going to turn into one flock, with one shepherd.


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 Here’s whyg my Father loves me: because I lay my life on the line, so that I’ll end up receiving it back again.


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 Nobody is taking it away from me: I’m laying it on the line on my own initiative.h I have authority to lay it on the line, and I have authority to receive it back. I got this command from my Father.”


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 Other people were saying, “These aren’t the words of a demonized person. Surely a demonized person couldn’t heali a blind person’s eyes?”


text:
 So thenk the Jewish leaders surrounded him and started saying to him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you’re the Messiah, tell us publicly.”


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 Jesus said back to them, “I’ve told you, and you don’t believe. The things I’m doing in my Father’s name are the things that testifyl about me.


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 and I give them eternal life. They’ll never be lost, forever: nobody is going to steal them while they’re in my care.n


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 What my Father has given me is greater than anything.o And nobody can steal what’s in the Father’s care.p


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 Jesus said back to them, “I’ve shown you lots of good deeds from the Father. Which of them is the deed you’re stoning me for?”


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 The Jewish leaders said back to him, “We’re not stoning you for a good deed, but because of blasphemy: because you’re a human being, and you make yourself out to be God.”


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 Didn’t he refer to those addressed by God’s word as ‘gods’? (And that scriptures can’t be erased!)t


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 Yet you say, ‘You’re blaspheming,’ to the one God set apart for holy service, and sent into the world, because I said, ‘I’m the Son of God’!”u


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 But if I am doing them, don’t even believe in me-believe in the things I’m doing. That way, you’ll know and understand that the Father is in me and I’m in the Father.”


text:
 Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and he was staying there.


text:
 And lots of people came to him. They were saying, “John didn’t do a single miracle, but everything John said about him was true.”


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 Jesus’ Friend Lazarus Dies Now, a person named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived.a


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 Mary was the one who poured perfumed oil on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair;b it was her brother Lazarus who was sick.


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 But when Jesus heard that, he said, “This sickness isn’t going to kill him.d No, it’s for the glory of God, so that the Son of God will be glorified through it.”


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 His followers said to him, “Rabbi, the Jewish leaders have just been trying to stone you, and you’re going over there?”


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 Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? If somebody walks in the daylight, they don’t trip, because they see this world’s light.


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 He said that,f then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep-but I’m going over to wake him up.”


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 And I’m glad for your sake that I wasn’t there when it happened, so that you’ll believe. Now let’s go to him.”


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 So then Thomas, known as “the Twin,” said to the other followers,i “Let’s go ourselves, andj die with him!”


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 “I am the Resurrection, and I am Life” So then, when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days already.


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 Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and I am Life.m The person that believes in me will live even if they die,


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 She said to him, “Yes, Teacher! I’ve come to believe that you’re the Messiah-the Son of God who comes to the world.”


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 When she said that, she went and whispered to her sister Mary,n “The Teacher is here, and he’s calling for you.”


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 The Judeanso in the house with Mary (who were there comforting her) saw that she got up in a hurry and left. So they followed her-they thought she was going to the tomb, to cry over there.


text:
 Jesus in Tears So then Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him. She threw herself at his feet and said to him, “Teacher, if you’d been here, my brother wouldn’t have died!”


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 Jesus was intensely exasperated and upset in his spirit as he watched her crying, and the Judeans who’d come out with her crying.p


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 And some of them said, “He’s the one that healed the blind man’s eyes. Couldn’t he also have made it so Lazarus wouldn’t have died?”


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 Jesus Brings Lazarus Back to Life So then Jesus, furious in himself again, came to the tomb. Now, it was a cave, and a stone door lay across the opening.q


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 Jesus said, “Take the stone door off.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said, “Teacher, he already smells bad-it’s been four days.”


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 So they took off the stone door. And Jesus looked straight upr and said, “Father, I thank you that you’ve heard me.


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 Now, I know that you always hear me. But I only said that because of the crowd standing around me, so they’ll believe that you’ve sent me.”


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 The man who’d died came out, his feet and hands bound with cloth strips, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go home.”


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 The Pharisees and Chief Priests Decide to Kill Jesus (Mt. 26:1-5; Mk 14:1-2; Lk. 22:1-2) So then lots of Judeans, who’d come to visit Mary, and saw what Jesus did, believed in him.


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 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the High Council together.s They were saying, “What are we doing? Because this person’s doing a lot of miracles!


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 If we let him go on this way, everybody’s going to believe in him-and the Romans are going to come and take our land away and remove the whole nation of us!”t


text:
 One of them, named Caiaphas,u was the chief priest that year. He said to them, “You don’t know anything.


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 Haven’t you even considered that it’s better for youv for one person to die instead ofw the people, so thatx the whole nation won’t be lost?”


text:
 But he didn’t say that on his own. As high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation-


text:
 and not only for the nation, but so that he could gather together the scattered children of God into one people.


text:
 So Jesus wasn’t going around openly in Judeay anymore. Instead, he went away from there to a place near the wilderness, into a village named Ephraim. And he stayed there with his closest followers.


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 Now, was nearly time for the Jewish Passover.z And lots of people went up to Jerusalem from that place before the Passover, to purify themselves.


text:
 So they were looking for Jesus. They’d say to each other as they were standing there in the Temple, “What do you think? Is there any chance at all that he’ll come to the festival?”aa


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 And the Pharisees and chief priests had given an order: that if anybody knew where he was, they were to report it, so they could arrest him.


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 Mary Anoints Jesus with Scented Oil (Mt. 26:6-13; Mk 14:3-9) So then,a six days before the Passover,b Jesus went to Bethany. That’s where Lazarus lived-the man Jesus had raised from among the dead.


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 So they put on a dinner there, and Martha was serving, and Lazarus was one of the people eating dinnerc with him.


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 So then Mary took a full bottle of fine perfumed oil, very expensive, and poured it on Jesus’ feet. And she wiped his feet off with her hair. The whole house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.d


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 (He didn’t say that because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. He held the money bag, and he used to take what was put into it.) So


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 The Chief Priests Want to Kill Lazarus Eventuallyg a large crowd of people from Judea found out that Jesus was there, and they came. Not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he’d raised from among the dead.


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 The Crowd Celebrates as Jesus Enters Jerusalem (Mt. 21:1-11; Mk 11:1-10; Lk. 19:28-40) The next day, the large crowd that was going to the Temple heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.


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 They took palm branches and went out to meet him. They were shouting, Hosanna! Bless the oneh who comes in the name of the Sovereign One!i


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 His followers didn’t realize these connections at first, but when Jesus was glorified, they remembered that those things had been written about him and that they’d done theml for him.


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 So then the crowd was testifying-those who’d been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from among the dead.


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 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See? You’re not doing any good! Look, the whole world has gone off after him!”


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 Some Non-Jews Ask to See Jesus Now, there were some Greeksm in the crowd of people going up to worship in the festival.


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 So these Greeks came up to Philip, who’s from Bethsaida in Galilee. They asked him, “Sir, we’d like to see Jesus.”


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 I’m telling you very seriously: unless a wheat seed falls to the ground and dies, it’ll always just be one seed.o But if it dies, it produces many seeds.p


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 The person that loves their life will lose it, and the person that hates their life in this world will protect it for eternal life.


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 If somebody wants to serve me, they should follow me. And wherever I am, that’s where my servant will be too. If somebody serves me, my Father’s going to honor them.”


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 Jesus Talks about Facing his Own Death “I’m deeply upset right now.q Butr what can I say? ‘Father, save me from this moment’?s No-it’s the whole reason I’ve come to this moment.t


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 Father, glorify your name!” So thenu a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I’m going to glorify it again.”


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 So then the crowd standing there, who heard it, started saying, “It’s just thundered.” Other people were saying, “An angel’s just spoken to him.”


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 So the crowd said back to him, “We’ve heard it read from the Law that the Messiah stays for the coming age.w So how is it that you’re saying the Human One has to get lifted up? Who is this Human One?”


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 Keep movingx while you have the light, so that the dark doesn’t overtake you. The person that walks around in the dark doesn’t know where they’re going. While you have the light, believe in the light. That way, you’ll be people who belong to the light.”y. People Refuse to Believe in Jesus When he’d said those things, Jesus went off and hid from them.


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 It had to be, so that the statement of Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled. He said, Sovereign One, who has believed our news? Who’s had the arm of the Sovereign One revealed to them?z


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 He hasaa blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, So that they won’t see with their eyes, And understand with their heart, and turn around for me to heal them.bb


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 However, there were even a lot of the leaders who believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, they didn’t admit it, so they wouldn’t get kicked out of the synagogue.


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 “I Didn’t Come to Judge, But to Save!” Then Jesus shouted out, “The person who believes in me isn’t believing in me, but in the One who sent me!


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 Sodd I don’tee judge the person that hears my words but doesn’t obey them. Because I didn’t come to judge the world, but to saveff the world.


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 If a person thinks nothing of me, and doesn’t accept my words, they have their judge.gg It’s the word that I’ve spoken. That will judge them on the last day.


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 Because I haven’t spoken from myself. No, the One who sent me, the Father himself, has told mehh what to talk about and what to say.


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 And I know that his command is eternal life. So what I say is what the Father has said to me. That’s exactly what I say.


text:
 Jesus Washes his Followers’ Feet It was before the Passovera festival. Jesus knew that his timeb had come to leave this world and go to the Father. He’d loved his own who were in the world, and he loved them right to the end.


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 The evening meal was ready,c and the Devil had already given Judas, Simon Iscariot’sd son the idea of betraying Jesus.e


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 Jesus knew that the Father had given everything over to him,f and that he’d come from God and was going to God.


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 Then he put water in the washing bowl and started washing his followers’ feet, and he was drying them on the towel that he had around him.


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 Peter said to him, “You’ll never, ever wash my feet!” Jesus said back to him, “If I don’t wash you, you’re not with me.”


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 Jesus said to him, “The person who has had a bath only needs their feet washed. Their whole body is clean. You’re clean too-but not all of you.”


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 So then, when he’d washed their feet, he put his outer clothes back on, and took his placei again. He said to them, “Do you understand what I’ve just done for you?


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 So if I, your Master and Teacher, have washed your feet, then you havej to wash one another’s feet too.


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 I’m telling you very seriously: a slave isn’t greater than their master, and a messenger isn’t greater than the person that sent them.


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 I’m not talking about all of you. I know who I’ve chosen. But still, the scripture has to be fulfilled: The person that eats bread with me has lifted his heal against me.k


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 I’m telling you at this point, before it happens. That way, when it does happen, you’ll believe that I am who I am.


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 I’m telling you very seriously: the person that accepts whoever I’m going to send accepts me, and the person that accepts me accepts the One that sent me.”


text:
 “One of you is Going to Betray me!” (Mt. 26:21-25; Mk 14:18-19; Lk. 22:21-23) As Jesus said these things, he got very upset in his spirit and said with total conviction,l “I’m telling you very seriously: one of you is going to betray me.”


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 Jesus answered, “It’s the person I’m going to give the piece of bread to when I’ve dipped it.” So thenm Jesus dipped the piece of bread and gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot’sn son.o


text:
 After he got the piece of bread, then Satan went into him. So then Jesus said to him, “That thing you’re doing-do it quickly.”


text:
 For example, some people thought Jesus had told him, “Buy some things we need for the festival,” because he used to have the money bag. Or they thought he was supposed to give something to the poor.


text:
 “Love One Another!” So when he left, Jesus said,p “Now the Human One’s glorified, and God’s glorified in him.q


text:
 If God’s been glorified in him,r God’s also going to glorify him in God, and he’s going to glorify him right away.


text:
 Children, I’m still with you for a little while. You’re going to look for me, and just like I said to the Jewish leaders, ‘where I’m going you can’t come,’ I’m also saying it to you now.


text:
 Jesus Prophesies That Peter Will Disown him (Mt. 26:31-35; Mk 14:27-31; Lk. 22:31-34) Simon Peter said, “Teacher, where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I’m going you can’t follow now. But you’re going to follow later.


text:
 Jesus answered, “You’re going to lay down your life for me? I’m telling you very seriously: the rooster won’t crow until you’ve denied me three times.”


text:
 In my Father’s house, there are lots of places to stay. If that weren’t true, I would have told you. Becausea I’m going to get a place ready for you.


text:
 If I go and get a place ready for you, I’ll come back and take you with me. So where I am, you’ll be too.


text:
 Jesus said to him, “I am the way. And I’m Truth and Life. Nobody comes to the Father except through me.


text:
 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, and you haven’t gotten to know me, Philip? The person that sees me sees the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?


text:
 Don’t you believe that I’m in the Father and the Father’s in me? The things that I say to you aren’t coming from me!d No, the Father, who livese in me, is at work.f


text:
 Believe me: I’m in the Father and the Father’s in me. If you’re not able to do that, believe simply because of the things I’ve done.g


text:
 I’m telling you very seriously: if somebody believes in me, they’re going to do the same thingsh that I do-they’re even going to do greater things than I’ve done,i because I’m going to the Father.


text:
 the Spirit of Truth. The world can’t accept the Spirit, because it doesn’t perceive the Spirit or know the Spirit. You know the Spirit, because the Spirit’s alwaysl with you-and the Spirit’s going to be in you.m


text:
 In just a little while, the world isn’t going to see me anymore. But you’re going to see me. Because I’m alive, you’re going to be alive too.n


text:
 If a person has my commands and keeps them, that’s the person that loves me. They’re going to be loved by my Father, and I’m going to love them, and I’m going to reveal myself to them.”


text:
 Judas (not Judas Iscariotp.) said to Jesus, “Teacher, how is itq that you’re going to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”


text:
 Jesus said back to him, If somebody loves me, they’ll obey my teaching, and my Father will love them. We’ll come and make our home with them.


text:
 The person that doesn’t love me doesn’t obey my teachings-and the teaching you’ve heard isn’t mine at all. It’s from the Father, who sent me.


text:
 But the Defender is coming: the Holy Spirit, that the Father’s going to send in my name. The Spirit is going to teach you everything, and remind you of everything I’ve said to you.


text:
 I’m leaving you my peace. I’m giving you my own peace. I’m not giving you peace like the world gives it. Don’t let your hearts be upset, and don’t be afraid.


text:
 You heard me say to you, “I’m going, and I’m coming back to you.” If you loved me, you’d be happy thats I’m going to the Father, because the Father’s greater than I am.


text:
 I’m not going to be talking with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me.u


text:
 But I’m doing just as my Father has instructed me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come on, let’s go.v


text:
 He takes off every branch of mine that doesn’t bear fruit, and he trimsb every branch that does bear fruit, so that it’ll bear more fruit.


text:
 Stay connected to me, and me to you.d Just as a branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it stays connected toe the grape vine, you won’t either, unless you stay connected tof me.


text:
 I’m the grape vine, you’re the branches. The person that stays connected tog me, and me to them, bears lots of fruit. Because you can’t do anything apart from me.


text:
 If a person doesn’t stay connected toh me, they get thrown away as a branch and dry up. And the workers gather up the dead branchesi and throw them into the fire, and they get burned up.


text:
 If you stay connected to me, and my words stay in you, ask whatever you want, and it’ll happen for you.


text:
 If you obey my commands, you’ll stay connected tol my love-just as I’ve obeyed my Father’s commands and stay connected tom his love.


text:
 I’m not calling you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what the master’s doing. But I’ve called you friends, because I’ve told you about everything that I’ve heard from the Father.


text:
 You didn’t choose me; I chose you. I’ve appointed you to go and bear fruit. And your fruit is going to last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.


text:
 “If they Persecuted me, they’ll Persecute you Too” If the world hates you, understand that it already hates me first.p


text:
 If you were from the world, the world would love its own. But it’s because you’re not from the world at all: I’ve chosen you out of the world. That’s why the world hates you.


text:
 Remember what I said to you:q “A servant isn’t greater than their master.”r If they’ve persecuteds me, they’ll persecute you too. If they’ve obeyed my teaching,t they’ll obey yours too.


text:
 But they’re going to do all thisu to you because of my name,v because they don’t know the One that sent me.


text:
 If I hadn’t come and spoken to them, they wouldn’t be in sin.w But now they don’t have an excuse for their sin.


text:
 If I hadn’t done things nobody else has done in front of them,x they wouldn’t be in sin. But now they’ve seen me, and they’ve hated both me and my Father.


text:
 When the Defender comes, that I’m going to send you from the Father, the Defender’s going to testify about me. That’s the Spirit of Truth, who comes from the presence of the Father.


text:
 They’re going to kick you out of the synagogue. Worse than that, a time is coming when everybody that kills you will think they’re offering service to God.


text:
 But I’ve said all thisc to you so that, when their time comes, you’ll remember about them, because I’ve told you.d I haven’t told you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.


text:
 The Coming of the Defender, the Spirit of Truth But I’m telling you the truth: it’s better for you for me to go away, because if I don’t go away, the Defender won’t come to you. But if I go, I’ll send the Defender to you.


text:
 But when the Defender comes, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit is going to lead you into all the truth. Because the Spirit’s not going to speak independently. No, whatever the Spirit hears, the Spirit will speak, and will tell you what’s going to happen.g


text:
 Everything that my Father has belongs to me. That’s why I’ve said that the Spirit’s going to tell you things from me.i


text:
 “A Little While, and you’re Going to See me Again” Just a little while, and you you’re not going to see me anymore, and then a little while, and you’re going to see me again.


text:
 So some of Jesus’ followers said to one another, “What’s this he’s saying to us- ‘Just a little while, and you’re not going to see me anymore, and then a little while, and you’re going to see me again’? And that other thing, ‘I’m going to the Father’?”


text:
 Jesus knew they wanted to ask him. He said to them, “Are you discussing with each other the thing that I said, ‘Just a little while, and you’re not going to see me anymore, and then a little while, and you’re going to see me again’?”


text:
 I’m telling you very seriously: you’re going to be crying and pouring out your sorrow,k but the world’s going to be celebrating. You’ll be grieving, but your grief is going to turn into joy.


text:
 When a woman gives birth to a child, she’s in pain, because it’s her time. But when her child is born, she doesn’t remember her distress-because of her joy that a human being has been born into the world.


text:
 So that’s why you’re feelingl grief now. But you’re going to see mem again, and your hearts are going to celebrate, and nobody’s going to take your joy from you.n


text:
 On that day, you won’t ask me anything. I’m telling you very seriously: whatever you ask the Father in my name, he’ll give you.


text:
 Up to now you haven’t asked anything in my name. Ask, and you’ll receive, so that your joy will be complete.


text:
 Time to Speak Plainly I’ve said all thiso to you in riddles. A time’s coming when I won’t be speaking to you in riddles anymore. Just the opposite: I’ll tell you about the Father openly.


text:
 On that day you’re going to ask in my name. I’m not saying to you that I’m going to ask the Father for you-


text:
 because the Father loves you himself. Because you’ve loved me, and you’ve believed that I come from God.


text:
 I’ve left the Father’s side, and I’ve come into the world. Now I’m leaving the world again, and I’m going to the Father.


text:
 Now we know that you know everything, and you don’t need somebody to ask you. That’s howp we know you’ve come from God.”


text:
 Look, there’s a time coming-and it’s already hereq.-when you’re all going to scatterr to your own families, and leave me all alone. Buts I’m not alone, because the Father is with me.


text:
 I’ve told you all thist so that you’ll have peace in me. In the world, you have distress-but keep up your courage: I’ve conquered the world.”


text:
 Jesus Prays for his Followers Jesus said that, and looking upa to heaven, he said, Father, the time has come. Glorify your son, so that your son can glorify you.


text:
 Becauseb you’ve given him authority over all humanity,c so that he’ll give eternal life to everyone you’ve given him.


text:
 (And eternal life is this: for them to know you, the only real God, and Jesus the Messiah, whom you’ve sent.)d


text:
 And now glorify me, Father, in your own presence, with the glory I used to have with you before the world ever was.


text:
 I’ve made your name known to the people that you’ve given me from the world. They were yours, and you’ve given them to me. They’ve obeyed your teaching.


text:
 Because I’ve given them the things you gave me to say, and they’ve accepted them-and they’ve really known that I come from you, and they’ve believed that you sent me.


text:
 I’m asking for their sake. I’m not asking for the world’s sake at all, but for the ones you’ve given me, because they’re yours.


text:
 I’m not in the world anymore; they’re in the world, and I’m coming to you. Holy Father, hold them in your name-the name that you’ve given me, so that they’ll be one, just as we are.


text:
 While I’ve been with them, I’ve been holding them in your name, which you’ve given me, and I’ve protected them. And none of them has been lost except the one destined to be lost,f so that the scripture will be fulfilled.


text:
 Now I’m coming to you, and I’m saying all thisg in the world, so that they’ll have my full joyh in them.


text:
 I’ve given them your message, and the world has hated them, because they’re not from the world, just as I’m not from the world.


text:
 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world at all: I’m asking you to protect them from the evil one.


text:
 May they all be one, just as you’re in me, Father, and I’m in you. That way they’ll be in us too,j so that the world will believe that you’ve sent me.


text:
 I’ll be in them, and you in me, so that they’ll be completely unified.k That way, the world will always know that you’ve sent me, and that you’ve loved them just as you’ve loved me.


text:
 Father, what you’ve given me, I want for them too: that they’ll be with me where I am.l That way, they’ll see my glory-the glory that you’ve given me, because you’ve loved me from before the creationm of the world.


text:
 Fair and just Father,n the world doesn’t know you, but I know you. And these people know that you’ve sent me.


text:
 I’ve revealedo your name to them, and I’m going to reveal it, so that the love you have for me will be in them, and I will be in them.


text:
 Jesus is Betrayed and Arrested (Mt. 26:47-56; Mk 14:43-52; Lk. 22:47-53) After Jesus said this, he left with his followers. They went across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden.a Jesus and his followers went into it.


text:
 Now, Judas, the person betraying him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his followers.


text:
 So Judas took the guard unit, and some guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and he came over there with torches and lanterns and weapons.


text:
 Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to him, so he went out and said to them, “Who are you looking for?”


text:
 They said back to him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I’m him.”b (Judas, the one who betrayed him, was also standing there with them.)


text:
 That was so the statement he made would be fulfilled: “I haven’t lost one of the people that you’ve given me.”


text:
 So then Simon Peter drew the sword that he had,d and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.e.)


text:
 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword back in its sheath. Don’t I have to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”f


text:
 Jesus is Taken to the High Priest So theng the guard unit, and its commander, and the guards from the Jewish leadership, arrested Jesus and bound him.


text:
 They brought him first to Annas, because he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,h who was the high priest for that year.


text:
 (It had been Caiaphas who had advised the Jewish leaders that it was better for one person to die instead of the nation.)


text:
 Peter Denies That he Knows Jesus (Mt. 26:69-75; Mk 14:66-72; Lk. 22:54-62) Now Peter, together with another follower, was following Jesus. That follower was an acquaintance of the high priest, and he went into the chief priest’s courtyard with Jesus,


text:
 but Peter had been left standing outside by the gate. So the other follower, who was the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and talked to the doorkeeper, and let Peter in.


text:
 So theni the servant who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “Aren’t you one of that man’s followers?” He said, “I’m not.”


text:
 Now, the servants and guards standing there had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were keeping warm. And Peter was also standing there with them, keeping warm.


text:
 The High Priest Questions Jesus So then the high priestj asked Jesus about his followers and about his teaching.


text:
 Jesus said back to him, “I’ve always talked openly to the world. I’ve always taught in synagogues, and in the Temple, where all the Jewish leadersk get together. I haven’t said anything in secret.


text:
 Why are you asking me? Ask those who heard me what I said to them. Obviously they know what I said.”l


text:
 When he said that, one of the guards standing there slapped Jesus. He said, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”


text:
 Jesus said to him, “If I said something wrong, testify about what I did wrong. But if what I said was right, why did you hit me?”


text:
 Peter Twice More Denies That he Knows Jesus Now, Peter was still standing there keeping warm. So they said to him, “Aren’t you one of his followers?” He denied it, and said, “I’m not.”


text:
 One of the high priest’s servants was a relative of the person whose ear Peter cut off. He said, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?”


text:
 Jesus is Handed Over to the Roman Governor, Pilate (Mt. 27:1-2; Mk 15:1; Lk. 23:1) So then they brought Jesus from Caiaphasn to the governor’s mansion.o Now, it was early in the morning, and they didn’t actually go into the mansion. That way they wouldn’t become ritually unclean, and they’d be able to eat the Passoverp feast.q


text:
 They said back to him, “If he weren’t doing something wrong,s we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.”


text:
 So then Pilate said to them, “You take him, and judge him according to your own Law.” So the Jewish leaders said to him, “It’s not allowed for us to kill anyone.”


text:
 That was so that Jesus’ statementt would be fulfilled-the one that indicated what kind of death he was going to die.u


text:
 So then Pilate went back into the mansion again and called for Jesus. He said to him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”


text:
 Jesus answered, “Are you saying that independently,v or have other people said that to you about me?”


text:
 Pilate answered, “I’m not a Jew, am I? Your nation and its chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”


text:
 Jesus replied, “My kingdom isn’t from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my helpersw would have fought so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jewish leaders. But as it is, my kingdom isn’t from here.”


text:
 So then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus replied, “You say I’m a king.x I’ve been born to this, and it’s for this that I came into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone that’s ofy the truth hears my voice.”


text:
 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” Pilate and the Jewish Leaders Condemn Jesus to Death (Mt. 27:15-26; Mk 15:6-14; Lk. 23:13-25) When Pilate said that, he went outside again to the Jewish leaders, and said to them, “I don’t find any basis for a charge against him.z


text:
 Now, you have a custom, that I release one person for you at the Passover.aa So do you want me to release the ‘king of the Jews’ for you?”


text:
 And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorn bush branches, and put it on his head. And they put a purple robe on him,


text:
 Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you, so that you’ll know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”b


text:
 So then Jesus came outside, wearing the thorny crown and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Look at this man!”


text:
 So when the chief priests and their guards saw him, they shouted out, “Hang him on a cross! Hang him on a cross!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and hang him on a cross. I find no basis for a charge against him.”c


text:
 The Jewish leaders replied, “We have a Law, and according to the Law he deserves to die, because he made himself out to be the son of God.”


text:
 He went into the mansion again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus didn’t give him an answer.


text:
 So Pilate said to him, “You’re not speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have authority to let you go, and authority to hang you on a cross?”


text:
 Jesus said back to him, “You wouldn’t have any authority over me unless it had been given to you from above. Because of that, the person that handed me overd to you is guilty ofe the greater sin.”


text:
 Because of that statement, Pilate started trying to let him go. But the Jewish leaders were shouting out, “If you let this man go, you’re no friend of Caesar! Every person that makes himself out to be a king is challenging Caesar!”


text:
 So when Pilate heard those things, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judgment bench at the place called “the Stone Pavement.” (In the Jewish language, it’s called “Gabbatha.”f.)


text:
 Now, it was about noon on the Day of Preparation for the Passover.g Pilate said to the Jewish leaders, “Look, your king.”


text:
 So they shouted out, “Execute him! Execute him!h Hang him on a cross!” Pilate said to them, “I’m supposed to hang your king on a cross?” The chief priests answered, “We don’t have any king except Caesar!”i


text:
 So then he handed him over to them to be hung on a cross. Jesus is Hung on a Cross (Mt. 27:32-56; Mk 15:21-32; Lk. 23:26-43) So they led Jesus away.


text:
 He was carrying his own cross, as he went out to what’s called “the Skull Place.” In the Jewish language, it’s called “Golgotha.”j


text:
 They hung him on the cross there-with two other people on either side of him, and Jesus in the middle.


text:
 Pilate also had had a sign madek and put on the cross. It read,l JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS


text:
 So lots of Jews read the sign, because the place where Jesus was hung on the cross was near to the city, and it was written in the Jewish language, in Latin, and in Greek.


text:
 So then the Jewish chief priests started saying to Pilate, “Don’t write ‘The King of the Jews’! Write that he said ‘I am the King of the Jews.’”


text:
 So thenm the soldiers, when they hung him on the cross, took his outer clothes and divided them up into four pieces. Each soldier got a piece. And then there was his undershirt. But the undershirt was all in one piece,n woven from the top right through.


text:
 So they said to each other, “Let’s not tear it, but draw lotso for it instead, to see whose it will be.” That happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled that says, They divided up my clothes between them, And they drew lotsp for my clothing.q


text:
 So that’s what the soldiers did. Now, Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, and Clopas’s wife Mary, and Mary Magdalene, were all there standing by the cross.


text:
 So Jesus saw his mother and the follower that he loved standing nearby. He said to his mother, “See, dear woman: your son!”


text:
 Then he said to that follower, “See: your mother.” And that follower took her into his family from that moment on.


text:
 After that, Jesus knew that everything was finished now. So the scripture would be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.”r


text:
 A jar full of vinegars was sitting there. So they put a sponge full of the vinegar on a hyssopt stalk, and brought it up to his mouth.


text:
 So then, when he’d taken the vinegar, Jesus said, “It’s done.”u He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.


text:
 A Soldier Pierces Jesus’ Side with a Spear So then, because it was the Day of Preparation, the Jewish leaders talked to Pilate so that the bodies wouldn’t stay on the cross on the Sabbath. (Because that was a very important Sabbath day.) They asked Pilate to break the men’s legs and take them off the crosses.v


text:
 So the soldiers came and broke the first person’s legs, then the other person’s, who was being hung on a cross there with him.


text:
 Instead, one of the soldiers stabbed him in the side with his spear. Right away blood and water came out.w


text:
 The person who sawx it has always testified to this. His testimony is truthful, and he knows he’s telling the truth: you can believe it too.y


text:
 Because all thisz happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: They are not to break any of his bones.aa


text:
 Jesus is Buried in a Tomb (Mt. 27:57-61; Mk 15:42-47; Lk. 23:50-56) Now after that, Joseph from Arimatheacc asked Pilate if he could take Jesus’ body off the cross. (He was a secret follower of Jesus, out of fear of the Jewish leaders.) And Pilate gave him permission. So he went and took his body off the cross.


text:
 Nicodemusdd came too-the man who came to Jesus at night before.ee He was bringing a mixtureff of myrrhgg and aloes, weighing about seventy-five pounds.hh


text:
 So then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in strips of linen cloth with the perfumes. (That’s the Jewish way to prepare someone for burial.ii.)


text:
 Now, in the place where he had been hung on a cross, there was a garden. In that garden there was a new tomb, that no one had been buried injj yet.


text:
 So since the tomb was close by, they put Jesus there-because the Jewish Day of Preparation was about to start.


text:
 The Resurrection of Jesus (Mt. 28:1-10; Mk 16:1-8; Lk. 24:1-12) On the first day of the week,a Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone door had been removed from the tomb.


text:
 So she ran and came to Simon Peter and the other follower that Jesus loved. She said to them, “They’ve taken our Teacher out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him!”


text:
 So thenb Simon Peter came along after himc and went into the tomb. He saw the linen strips lying there,


text:
 and the towel that had been around his head. The towel was not lying with the linen strips, but was rolled up separately in one place.d


text:
 So then the other follower came in too-the one who’d come to the tomb first-and he saw it and believed.


text:
 Jesus Shows Mary Magdalene That he’s Alive Now, Mary had been standing outside, in front of the tomb, crying.e So then as she was crying, she stooped to look in the tomb.


text:
 She saw two angels sitting there in white, where Jesus’ body had been lying. One was at the head, and one was at the foot.f


text:
 They said to her, “Ma’am,g why are you crying?” She said to them, “They’ve taken away my Teacher,h and I don’t know where they’ve put him!”


text:
 When she’d said that, she turned around behind her, and saw Jesus standing there, and she didn’t know it was him.


text:
 Jesus said to her, “Ma’am,i why are you crying? What’re you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener, and said to him, “Sir, if you’ve taken him,j tell me where you’ve put him, and I’ll get him.”


