# verses

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‘A slave cannot work for two masters at the same time. He will not like one of the masters, but he will love the other master. He will always say good things about one of the masters and say bad things about the other master. You cannot have God as a master and have money also as your master.’


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Jesus said to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘What I say is true. Do not be <i>anxious</i> about food and drink to stay alive. Do not be <i>anxious</i> about clothes to wear either. Your life is more important than your food, and your body is more important than your clothes. 


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Think about the wild birds. They do not plant seeds in the ground. They do not cut down plants to eat. And they have no buildings to store food. God gives them food. And you are much more valuable than the birds. 


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Perhaps you are <i>anxious</i> about how long you will live. But you cannot live one hour longer, even if you are always thinking about it. No, you cannot do even a small thing like that. So do not be <i>anxious</i> about all these other things.


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You should not be <i>anxious</i> about your clothes. Think about how the wild flowers grow. They do not work or make clothes for themselves. 


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But this is true. King Solomon wore very beautiful clothes. But even one wild flower is more beautiful than he was. 


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God gives beautiful clothes to the grass and to the wild flowers. They are alive in the field today, but tomorrow people will burn them. God will certainly give you clothes to wear. You should know that God will take <n>care</i> of you.’ <n>People burned dry grass and wild flowers on fires to cook their food. 


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Then Jesus said, ‘Do not always be thinking about where you will find your food and drink and clothes. Do not be <i>anxious</i>. 


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People who do not know about God are always thinking about these things. God, your Father in <i>heaven</i>, knows that you need them. 


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Instead, think about the things that are important in the <i>Kingdom</i> of God. You should do everything that you can to obey God. Then God will also give you the other things that you need. 


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So do not be <i>anxious</i> about what might happen tomorrow. Tomorrow there will be enough problems for you to be <i>anxious</i> about. It is enough for you to be <i>anxious</i> each day about the problems of that day.’


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Jesus was still speaking to the people. ‘Do not say to anybody, “You are a bad person.” Then God will not say to you, “You are a bad person.” 


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God will speak to you in the same way that you speak to other people. He will use the same rules for you as you use for other people.


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Do not look at the small piece of wood dirt that is in your brother’s eye. You should first see the big piece of wood that is in your own eye. 


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You should not say to your brother, “Please let me take the small piece of wood dirt out of your eye.” But you yourself have not seen the big piece of wood that is in your own eye. 


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You think that you are better than your brother. But you are not. First, you must take the big piece of wood out of your own eye. Then your eyes will be clear and you will see well. After that, you can take the small piece of wood dirt out of your brother’s eye.’ <n>Jesus tells us to make our own mistakes right. After that, we can tell our friends about their mistakes. Jesus uses the word brother. This includes our friends. 


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‘Do not give really good things that are for God to dogs. The dogs will turn round and attack you. Do not throw valuable things to pigs. The pigs will only stand on them and bury them in the dirt.’ <n>We do not give valuable things to pigs and dogs. They would not take <n>care</i> of them. People who do not want God are like that. The things that God gives are not valuable to them. <n>Jesus teaches his <i>disciples</i> more about God</n>


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‘Go on asking God for what you need. And then you will receive. Go on looking for what you need. And then you will find it. Go on knocking at the door. And then God will open it for you. 


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Everyone who asks for something will receive it. Everyone who looks for something will find it. God will open the door for everyone who knocks on it.


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Even if you are bad, you know how to give good things to your children. Your Father above knows much better than you do how to give good things. So he will give good things to those people who ask him.’ <n>Jesus is teaching his <i>disciples</i> that they must pray. And they must continue to pray. God will hear them. He will give them the good things that they ask for. The most important things to pray for are the special gifts from God. 


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‘In the same way that you want other people to do things to you, do things to other people. This is what the <i>Law</i> of Moses teaches us. It is also what the <i>prophets</i> wrote in their books.’ <n>Jesus teaches people how to get true life</n>


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‘You should go in through the narrow gate to get true life. The wide gate is easy to go through. The wide path is easy to travel on. Many people find that wide gate, but it is the way to <i>hell</i>. 


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It is difficult to go through the small gate. It is difficult to walk on the narrow road. But when you do go that way, you will get true life. Not many people find that narrow gate.’ <n>Jesus teaches the story about a tree and its fruit</n>


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‘Watch out for <i>prophets</i> who tell you wrong things about God. These people seem to be like sheep that are not dangerous. But they are really like hungry wild dogs. What they teach will hurt you.


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You will know these people by what they do. People do not pick good fruit from weeds. And they do not pick fruit to eat from wild plants.’ <n>The <i>prophets</i> are like fruit trees. The things that they do are like the fruit on the trees. If they do good things, then the fruit is good. And the people will know that they are real <i>prophets</i>. If they do wrong things, then that is like bad fruit. And the people will know that they are not real <i>prophets</i>. 


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So you will know if a person is good or bad. Look at what they do. And look at what they say. A good person does good things. And a bad person does bad things.


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Some people say to me, “Master, Master!” But not all of them will come into the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>. Only the people who obey God, my Father in <i>heaven</i>, will come in. They do what he wants them to do. 


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On the day when God <i>judges</i>, people will say, “Master, Master! We used your authority and we told people a message from you. We used your authority and we caused bad <i>spirits</i> to come out of people. We used your authority to do many powerful things.” 


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Then I will say to these people, “I never knew you. You do not obey God; you are bad. So go away from me.” ’ <n>Jesus tells a story about two men who each built a house</n>


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‘I will tell you about a man. He hears my message and he obeys it. Now, this person understands my words. He is like a man who built his house on rock. 


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Then a storm came and brought a lot of water. The water hit the house and strong winds blew hard against that house. But the house did not fall down because the man had built it on rock. 


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Another man hears my message and he does not obey it. He is like a man who built his house on sand. 


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Then a storm came and brought a lot of water. The water hit the house and strong winds blew hard against it. The house fell down. The storm destroyed it completely.’ <n>Jesus tells us that our life is like a house. We should obey God. Then our life will be like the first house. It continued to stand when troubles came. If we do not obey God, our life will be like the second house. That house fell down. So our life will have a sad end. 


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Jesus did not teach them in the same way as the teachers of the <i>Law</i>. Jesus had his own authority when he taught them.


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Then a man with an illness of the skin came to meet Jesus. The illness was called leprosy. The man went down on his knees in front of him. ‘Sir, if you want’, he said, ‘you can make me well. Please do it.’


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Jesus put out his hand towards him and touched him. ‘I do want to help you. Be well’, he said. Immediately, the illness left the man. 


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‘You must not tell anyone about this’, Jesus said to him. ‘Instead, go and show yourself to the <i>priest</i>. Take him a gift for God, as Moses said. “Do this to thank God for what has happened. And this will also show everyone that you are now well.” ’ [Leviticus 14:1-32] <n>An officer in the army believes that Jesus can help him</n>


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When Jesus went into Capernaum, an officer in the army came to meet him. He asked Jesus to help him. <n>The officer was a soldier in the army of King Herod Antipas. He had authority over 100 men. The officer was a good man and he took <n>care</i> of his men. The officer was not a <i>Jew</i>, but the <i>Jews</i> said good things about him. The <i>Jews</i> did not usually say good things about those who were not <i>Jews</i>. 


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Jesus said to the officer, ‘I will go with you to your house and I will make your servant well again.’


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But the officer said to Jesus, ‘Sir, you are too important to come into my house. You have authority. Instead, you can say that he will be well. And I know that my servant will be well again. 


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Someone has authority over me. I also have authority over other soldiers. I say to this soldier, “Go!” and he goes. I say to that soldier, “Come!” so, he comes. I say to one of my servants, “Do this!” so, he does it.’


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Jesus heard what the officer said. And Jesus was very surprised. He spoke to the crowd that was following him. ‘What I say is true. I have not found anybody like this man in <i>Israel</i>. Nobody else believes so well in me.’ <n>The officer was not a <i>Jew</i>. Jesus would have thought that the <i>Jews</i> should have believed in him. They should have believed in him more than other people did. 


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‘What I say is true. Many people will come from all over the world. They will take their place in the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>. They will sit down to eat with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 


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Some people were born to belong to the <i>Kingdom</i>. But God’s <i>angels</i> will throw them into the dark places outside his <i>kingdom</i>. There the people will cry. And they will bite their teeth together because they are angry.’ <n>Jesus was talking about many of the <i>Jews</i>. God chose the <i>Jews</i> to be his own people. But many of them did not obey God, so they could not be part of his <i>kingdom</i>. 


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Then Jesus said to the officer, ‘Go home. You believed that I would make your servant well again. So I will do it for you.’ And at that moment, Jesus made the servant well again. <n>Jesus makes many people well again</n>


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Jesus went into Peter’s house. There, he saw the mother of Peter’s wife. She was ill in bed and she felt very hot. 


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Jesus touched her hand and immediately she did not feel hot any longer. She got up and she prepared food and drink for Jesus.


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That evening, some people brought other people to see Jesus. Bad <i>spirits</i> lived in many of these people. Jesus spoke a word and he caused the bad <i>spirits</i> to leave them. He made everybody who was ill well again. 


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Jesus did all this to cause the <i>prophet</i> Isaiah’s words to become true: <n>‘He took away all our weaknesses. <n>He took away everything that makes us sick.’ [Isaiah 53:4] 


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One day, Jesus saw a large crowd round him. So he said to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.’ 


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A teacher of the <i>Law</i> came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Teacher, I want to become one of your <i>disciples</i>. I will go with you everywhere that you go.’


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Jesus said to him, ‘Wild dogs have a place to live. Wild birds also have their own places to live. But the Son of Man has no regular place to lie down and sleep.’


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Another man who was already a <i>disciple</i> of Jesus spoke to him. ‘Sir, I will come with you. But first, let me go home to bury my father. After that, I will come with you.’


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Jesus said to him, ‘Let those people who are dead bury their own dead people.’ <n>The man wanted to wait until his father had died. Then he would go with Jesus and be his <i>disciple</i>. People who did not believe in Jesus could bury the dead people. Jesus needed people now to tell the good news about the <i>Kingdom</i> of God. <n>Jesus stops a storm</n>


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A great storm soon started on the lake. Water began to fill the boat, so that soon the boat was almost under the water. Jesus was sleeping. 


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The <i>disciples</i> went to him and they woke him. ‘Save us, Master’, they said. ‘We will soon die in the water.’


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‘You should not be so frightened. You do not believe in me very much!’ Jesus said. Then he stood up and he spoke to the wind and the water. ‘Be quiet!’ he said. ‘Stop moving!’ Then the wind stopped and the water became flat again.


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The <i>disciples</i> were very surprised. ‘What kind of man is this?’ they asked each other. ‘Even the wind and the water obey him!’ <n>Jesus makes two men well again</n>


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Jesus arrived at the other side of Lake Galilee. He was in the part of the country called Gadara. The people who lived there were called Gadarenes. Jesus arrived near the place where they buried dead people. Two men came to meet Jesus. Bad <i>spirits</i> lived in these two men. The men were very dangerous. Everyone was too afraid to walk near this place because of them. 


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When the two men saw Jesus, they immediately shouted to him, ‘What are you going to do with us? You are the Son of God. Have you come to <i>punish</i> us before the right time?’ <n>This place is across the lake from Galilee on the east side of the lake. About 2 kilometres (one mile) from the shore there is a small village called Khersa. There were some big holes in the rocks there. The people from the village buried dead people in the holes. Some people also lived in the big holes as houses. They were not <i>Jews</i>. <n>The bad <i>spirits</i> were speaking to Jesus. They knew who Jesus was. They knew that one day God would <i>judge</i> them. 


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The bad <i>spirits</i> asked Jesus, ‘If you cause us to leave these men, please send us to those pigs. Let us go into them.’


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‘Go!’ said Jesus to the bad <i>spirits</i>. So the bad <i>spirits</i> came out of the men and went into the pigs. All the pigs rushed down the hill. They ran into the lake and they all died in the water. 


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There were some men there, who took <n>care</i> of the pigs. Those men ran away into the town, when this happened. They told people there everything that had happened to the men with bad <i>spirits</i>. 


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So everybody came out of the town to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they said, ‘Please leave our part of the country.’


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Jesus then climbed back into the boat and he sailed across to the other side of the lake again. He returned to Capernaum, the town where he was living.


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Some men from the town came to see Jesus. They brought another man with them who could not move his legs. He was lying on a flat piece of wood. Jesus saw the men. And he knew what they were thinking. They believed that Jesus could cause the man on the bed to be well again. Jesus said to the man who could not move, ‘Do not be afraid, my friend. I <i>forgive</i> you for all the wrong things that you have done.’


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Then some teachers of the <i>Law</i> began to speak to each other. ‘This man should not have said this’, they said to themselves. ‘He is speaking as if he is God.’


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Jesus knew what the teachers were thinking. So he said to them, ‘You should not think these bad things. 


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I said to this man, “I <i>forgive</i> you for all the wrong things that you have done.” I could have said to him, “Stand up and walk.” 


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But I want you to know this. The Son of Man has authority on earth. He can <i>forgive</i> people for all the wrong things that they have done.’ Then he said to the man who could not move his legs, ‘Stand up. Pick up the bed where you are lying. And go home.’ 


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The people saw what had happened. They were very surprised and afraid. They saw that God had given much authority to men. So they said, ‘God, how great and powerful you are.’ <n>Jesus often called himself the Son of Man. He did this so that people would remember about some messages in the Bible. We can read about the Son of Man in the book called Daniel. (See Daniel 7:13-14.) <n>Jesus asks Matthew to come with him</n>


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Jesus walked away from that place. While he walked, he saw a man called Matthew. He was one of the men who received <i>taxes</i> for the government. He was sitting in his office. ‘Come with me and be my <i>disciple</i>’, Jesus said. So Matthew stood up and he went with Jesus.


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Later, Jesus went into the house. Many other men who received money for the government came to the house. Jesus was eating a meal there. Many people who had done bad things also came. All these people came to eat a meal with Jesus and his <i>disciples</i>. <n>These people were <i>Jews</i> who did not obey everything in God’s <i>Law</i>. The <i>Pharisees</i> did not like them. They thought that they were bad people. The <i>Pharisees</i> thought that they themselves obeyed everything in God’s <i>Laws</i>. They thought that they themselves were better than other people. 


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Some <i>Pharisees</i> saw all these people eating a meal with Jesus. They asked Jesus’ <i>disciples</i>, ‘Why does your teacher eat a meal with these people? They are people who have done bad things. And some of them take <i>tax</i> money.’


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Jesus heard what the <i>Pharisees</i> were saying. ‘People who are well do not need a doctor’, he said to them. ‘People who are ill need a doctor. 


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Go. And learn what the <i>prophets</i> wrote down in God’s book. God says, “I want people to be kind to each other. I do not only want them to give me gifts in my house.” Some people think that they have not done anything wrong. I do not ask such people to be my <i>disciples</i>. Many people know that they have done wrong things. It is these people that I am asking be my <i>disciples</i>.’


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Then some of the <i>disciples</i> of John the <i>Baptist</i> came to meet Jesus. They asked him, ‘We, and the <i>disciples</i> of the <i>Pharisees</i>, often stop eating so that we can pray. Why do your <i>disciples</i> never do that?’ <n>Some people stop eating for hours or days so that they can have more time with God. This causes them to feel closer to God when they pray. 


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Jesus answered them with a picture story. ‘When the friends of a <i>bridegroom</i> are with him at his marriage, they do not stop eating. The time will come when people will take the <i>bridegroom</i> away from his friends. Then his friends will stop eating.’ <n>This kind of a picture story shows how two things are almost the same or not almost the same. In this story, Jesus is like the <i>bridegroom</i>. Those who follow him are like his friends at the marriage. Jesus will not always be with them. That will be the time when they will stop eating for some time to pray. 


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Then Jesus said, ‘Nobody uses a piece of new cloth to repair an old coat. If he did, the hole would grow bigger. When someone washed the coat, the new piece of cloth would become smaller. The new cloth would tear the old cloth again and it would make a bigger hole than before.


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Nobody pours new <i>wine</i> into an old <i>wineskin</i>. If he does, then the new <i>wine</i> will tear the old <i>wineskin</i>. The <i>wine</i> will run out and he will lose it. And he will destroy the <i>wineskin</i>. Instead of this, you must put new <i>wine</i> into a new <i>wineskin</i>. Then there will be nothing to destroy the <i>wine</i> or the <i>wineskin</i>.’ <n><i>Wine</i> is a strong drink made from fruit. Some people kept <i>wine</i> in bottles made from an animal skin. <i>Wine</i> grows as it gets older, but old bottles become hard. New <i>wine</i> would cause them to break. <n>Jesus is teaching the people that the old bottles are like the old <i>Law</i>. The new <i>wine</i> and the new cloth are like the new things that Jesus was teaching them. They could not mix the old things and the new things. <n>Jesus causes a dead girl to become alive again</n>


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While Jesus was saying these things to the people, an important <i>Jew</i> came to him. The man went down on his knees in front of Jesus and said to him, ‘My daughter has just died. Come to my house. Touch her with your hand and then she will be well again.’ 


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A woman was in the crowd near to Jesus. She had lost blood every day for 12 years. She came close behind Jesus and she touched the edge of his coat. 


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Jesus turned round and he saw the woman. ‘Young woman, do not be afraid’, he said. ‘You are well again because you believed in me.’ And immediately the woman became well again.


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Then Jesus walked on until he arrived at the house of the important <i>Jew</i>. He went into the man’s house. People there were making music with pipes made out of wood. The crowd in the house was also making a loud noise. <n><i>Jewish</i> people made music in the house after somebody had died. They also made music while people buried that person. 


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Jesus spoke to everybody in the house. ‘Get out of here’, he said. ‘This girl is not dead. She is only sleeping.’ The people <i>laughed</i> at Jesus. 


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But the family sent the crowd out of the house. Then Jesus went into the room where the girl was lying. He held her hand, and she stood up. 


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After that, people began to tell about what had happened. They told other people in all that part of the country. <n>Jesus causes two men to see again</n>


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Jesus left the house. While he walked along, two men began to follow him. They could not see. They were shouting out to him, ‘Son of David, be kind to us and help us.’ <n>King David was an <i>ancestor</i> of Jesus. 


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Jesus went into a house. And the men who could not see came to him. Jesus asked them, ‘Do you believe that I can cause your eyes to become well?’ <n>The men replied, ‘Yes, Master, we believe that you can do this.’


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So Jesus touched the men’s eyes and he said, ‘Because you believed in me, your eyes will become well again.’ 


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Then immediately the men could see again. Jesus said to them, ‘You must not tell anybody about this.’ 


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So the men went away. But then they told everybody in that part of the country all about what Jesus had done for them. <n>Jesus causes a man to speak again</n>


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While those two men were leaving Jesus, some people brought another man to him. This man could not talk because a bad <i>spirit</i> was living inside him. 


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Jesus said to the bad <i>spirit</i>, ‘Leave this man.’ The <i>spirit</i> left him, and the man began to speak. Everybody there was very surprised. They said, ‘Nobody has seen anything like this happen in <i>Israel</i> before.’


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The <i>Pharisees</i> said, ‘Because <i>Satan</i> makes him powerful, this man can send bad <i>spirits</i> out of people.’ 


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Jesus went to visit many towns and villages in that part of the country. He taught the people in the places where they met to talk to God. He taught the good news about the <i>Kingdom</i>. He also caused sick people to become well again from all their illnesses. <n>Jesus wants God to send out more <i>disciples</i></n>


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When Jesus saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them. The people were <i>anxious</i>. They had nobody to help them. Jesus thought, “These people are like sheep with nobody to take <n>care</i> of them.” 


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Then Jesus said to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘These people are like many good plants in the fields. The plants are ready for the workers to cut down. But there are not many workers. 


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You should ask the master of these fields to send out more workers. Then they can bring in all the plants.’ <n>In this story, the master of the fields is like God. The fields are like the world. The plants that are growing in the fields are like the people in the world. The workers are like the people who know the Good News about the <i>Kingdom</i> of God. They must tell other people about how God rules. Then all these other people can also ask God to rule them. 


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One day, Jesus asked 12 of his <i>disciples</i> to come to him. He gave them authority over bad <i>spirits</i> that were living in people. These <i>disciples</i> could then cause the <i>spirits</i> to leave people. Jesus also gave them authority to cause sick people to become well again. They could remove all their illnesses.


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These are the names of the 12 <i>apostles</i>: <n>The first <i>apostle</i> is Simon, who is also called Peter. <n>Then next is Simon’s brother called Andrew. <n>There were James and his brother John, who were Zebedee’s sons.


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There were Philip and Bartholomew. <n>There were Thomas and Matthew. (Matthew received <i>tax</i> money before he became a <i>disciple</i>.) <n>And there was James who was the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus.


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Simon, who was called the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot. <n>Judas Iscariot helped the leaders of the <i>Jews</i> to take hold of Jesus. <n>Jesus had many <i>disciples</i>. He chose 12 of them to be with him so that he could teach them. He also called these 12 men <i>apostles</i>. The word <i>apostle</i> means ‘someone whom his master sends out to do a job’. Their job was to tell other people about Jesus. In his book, John calls Bartholomew, Nathanael (John 1:45). Matthew is another name for Levi. In Matthew 10:3 and Mark 3:18, Judas, son of James is called Thaddaeus. <n>A Zealot was a man who wanted to fight against the <i>Roman</i> ruler. The Zealots wanted the <i>Jews</i> to rule <i>Israel</i> again. <n>Jesus sends out his 12 <i>apostles</i></n>


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Jesus sent out these 12 men. Before they left, he said to them, ‘Go only to places where <i>Jews</i> live. Do not go to any place where the people are not <i>Jews</i>. And you must not go to any towns where only <i>Samaritans</i> live.’ <n>The <i>Samaritan</i> people and the <i>Jews</i> did not like each other. Some of the <i>Samaritans</i>’ <i>ancestors</i> were <i>Jewish</i> and some of them were not. 


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‘Instead, you must go to the people of <i>Israel</i>’, he said. ‘They are like lost sheep with nobody to take <n>care</i> of them. 


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While you travel, you must tell people about the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>. You must tell them that it has become near. 


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Make sick people well again. Cause dead people to become alive again. And cause people with an illness of the skin to become well again. Say to bad <i>spirits</i> that are living in a person, “Come out of him.” Then they will leave the person. I gave you the authority to do all these things. Now, go and do all these things for other people. This authority did not cost you anything. So do not ask them to pay you any money for what you do. 


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Do not take a bag with you, or an extra set of clothes. Do not take shoes or a stick. People should give a worker everything that he needs.’ <n>Jesus would give his <i>apostles</i> what they needed. He wanted them to believe that. 


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‘When you are travelling, go into towns and villages. Look for a good person who will take <n>care</i> of you. You should live in his house until you leave that town. 


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If the master of the house accepts you, then everyone in the house will be well. But there may not be anybody in the house that accepts you. Then ask God not to cause them to be well. 


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Sometimes you will go into a home or a town and the people will not accept you. And they will not listen to your message. Then you should leave that home or that town. And say to the people, “There is dirt from your town on our feet. We will clean it off before we leave.” 


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I am speaking what is true’, Jesus said to his <i>disciples</i>. ‘One day God will <i>punish</i> the people who refuse me. God will <i>punish</i> them more than he will <i>punish</i> the people from Sodom and Gomorrah.’ <n>We can read about the cities called Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis, chapters 18 and 19. The people who lived in those towns were very bad. And they did not obey God. 


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‘Listen well. I am sending you to people who will want to kill you. Your journey will be dangerous. You will be like sheep among wild dogs. You must watch carefully, like a snake watches. But you must also be good and kind like a quiet bird.


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Watch carefully! People will take hold of you and they will cause you to stand in front of the important <i>Jews</i>. They will take you into the places where they meet to talk to God. Then they will hit you with a <i>whip</i>. 


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People will cause you to stand in front of kings and rulers. This will happen because of me. This is the moment to tell them and those who are not <i>Jews</i> about me. Tell them the Good News about me. 


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When the people cause you stand in front of kings and rulers, do not be afraid. Do not think about what you should say. Do not be afraid about how you will say things. At that moment, God will tell you the right words to speak. 


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Men will cause their own brothers to stand in front of kings and rulers. And these men will say, “Kill him because he believes in Jesus.” Fathers will do the same to their own children. Some children will be against their parents. The children will cause their parents to stand in front of kings and rulers and they will say, “Kill my parents because they believe in Jesus.” 


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Many people will not like you because you believe in me. But you should never stop believing in me. Then God will save you. 


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If people in one town hurt you because of me, you should leave that town immediately. You should go to another town. What I say is true. You will not have enough time to speak your message in all the towns of <i>Israel</i>. No, not before the Son of Man comes again.


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A <i>disciple</i> is not more important than his teacher is. A servant is not more important than his master is. 


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A <i>disciple</i> should be happy if he knows as much as his teacher. A servant should be happy if he is as important as me, his master. Some people call the master of the house Beelzebub (that is “<i>Satan</i>”). These people will call the people in his house even worse names.


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Do not be afraid of these people. God will remove the cover from everything that people have covered. He will tell everybody all the secrets. 


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I tell you secret things. But you must tell these things to the whole world. They must not be secret any longer. I have said things to you that other people did not hear. But now you must shout all these things from the tops of the houses.’ <n>At that time, the top of a house was flat. Sometimes people wanted everyone to hear what they said. So they shouted from the top of their house. 


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‘Do not be afraid of those people who can only kill your body. These people cannot kill your <i>soul</i>. I say to you that you should be afraid of God. He can kill your body, and then he can also kill your <i>soul</i> in <i>hell</i>. 


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Think about this. People sell two small birds for a small coin of little value. One small bird may fall to the ground. But this can only happen if God lets it happen. 


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If a person says to everybody, “I believe in Jesus”, then I will speak to God, my Father in <i>heaven</i>. I will say, “I know that person; he is one of my <i>disciples</i>.” 


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If someone else says to everybody, “I do not believe in Jesus”, I will then speak to God, my Father in <i>heaven</i>. I will say, “I do not know that person; he is not one of my <i>disciples</i>.”


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I will tell you why I have come into the world. I did not come so that everyone would agree with each other. I came to cause people to be in separate groups that fight against each other.


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A man will fight against his father. <n>A daughter will fight against her mother. <n>A woman will fight against her husband’s mother.


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A man’s family will fight against him.’ <n>Jesus came to the world to bring men and God close together. He wanted people to believe in God and to obey him. But to do this he had to fight against bad things and against <i>Satan</i>. People who obey <i>Satan</i> will fight people who obey God. 


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‘A man must love his own father and mother less than he loves me’, said Jesus. ‘Then he can be my <i>disciple</i>. He must also love his own son or daughter less than he loves me. If he does not do this, then he cannot be my <i>disciple</i>.’ 


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Jesus then spoke to the crowd and to his <i>disciples</i>. ‘Perhaps some of you want to be my <i>disciples</i>’, he said. ‘If you do, then you cannot think first about yourself. And you cannot think about what you want to do. You must only do what God wants you to do. You must do this every day. You might even have to die. Then you can be one of my <i>disciples</i>. 


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If a person wants to keep himself safe, then he will never have true life. But instead, he may die because he believes in me. And then he will have true life for always.’ <n>Jesus teaches the people about God’s gifts</n>


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‘If anyone accepts you in his home, then he also accepts me. Anyone who accepts me in his home also accepts God. 


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A person accepts a <i>prophet</i> into his home because the visitor is a <i>prophet</i> of God. God will give him the same gift that he gives to a <i>prophet</i>. A person accepts into his home a good man who obeys God. He only does this because the good man obeys God. God will give that person the same gift that he gives to the good man. 


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A person gives a drink of cold water to one of my least important <i>disciples</i>. He only does this because that person is one of my <i>disciples</i>. But it is also true that God will give that man good gifts.’


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When Jesus had finished telling all these things to his <i>disciples</i>, he went away from that place. And he went to teach people in their towns.


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At that time, John the <i>Baptist</i> was in prison. But people told him about all the things that Jesus Christ was doing. So John sent some of his own <i>disciples</i> to ask Jesus some questions.


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Then some of the <i>disciples</i> of John came to Jesus. They said to him, ‘John the <i>Baptist</i> has sent us to you. He wants us to ask you a question. Are you the special person that God has sent to us? If you are not that person, should we wait for someone else?’


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People who could not see can see again. People who could not walk can now walk again. Some people who were ill with an illness of the skin are now well again. Some people who could not hear can now hear again. Some people who were dead now live again. Poor people are hearing the good news. 


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If people are sure about me, they will be happy.’ <n>John was alone in prison. He was afraid and <i>anxious</i>. He was thinking about Jesus. Everyone was waiting for God to send a special person. John had told everyone about that person. He thought that Jesus was that person. But now he was not sure. So he sent some of his <i>disciples</i> to ask Jesus about himself. 


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John’s <i>disciples</i> went away again. Then Jesus spoke to the crowd about John. ‘You went out to the <i>desert</i>. You certainly did not go to see the wind blowing against a tall piece of grass. No, you did not go to see that. 


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You certainly did not go to see a man who was wearing expensive soft clothes. No, people like that have many beautiful things and they live in the houses of kings. 


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You went to see a man who receives messages from God’s <i>Holy Spirit</i>. And John was even more important than that. 


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A long time ago, God said this about him: <n>“I will send someone before you. <n>He will tell you my message. <n>He will prepare the road in front of you.” ’ [Malachi 3:1] <n>We can read about this in the Bible in the book called Malachi. John the <i>Baptist</i> was a very important man. He brought a message from God. He told all the people that Jesus was coming soon. God had promised that he would send a special person to save them. <n>John was not a weak man, like a piece of grass. He did the job that God had given him. He told everyone that Jesus was coming. He told them how to get ready. But he told King Herod that Herod had done wrong things. So King Herod had put John in prison. 


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Jesus said, ‘John is a very important man. He is greater than any man who has ever lived. But a person who is not great in the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>, is more important than John.’ <n>The people who believed John’s message about Jesus now knew God as their king. They are in the <i>Kingdom</i> of God. This means that they are very important to God. They are all even more important than John was. 


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‘From the time that John the <i>Baptist</i> began to teach until now’, Jesus said, ‘the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is becoming very strong. Strong people who really believe God are taking hold of it. 


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All the <i>prophets</i> and the books of the <i>Law</i> spoke God’s word. They spoke until the time that John the <i>Baptist</i> came. 


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The <i>prophets</i> wrote that Elijah would come back again. They were writing about John, if you can believe it. 


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Jesus said, ‘I will talk to you about the people who are alive today. They are like children who are sitting in the market place. They shout to each other,


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“We played happy music on a pipe for you, but you did not dance. <n>We sang a sad song but you did not cry.” ’ <n>People often play happy music with a pipe. 


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‘John the <i>Baptist</i> often stopped eating for some time. He never drank <i>wine</i>. So you said that a bad <i>spirit</i> was living inside him. 


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And I, the Son of Man, both eat and drink. So you say about me, “He eats too much and he drinks too much. He is a friend of men who receive <i>taxes</i> and other bad people.” God is good and he understands everything. People who understand my words know this. And they agree with God.’ <n>John and Jesus were very different. But they both lived as God wanted them to live. The <i>Pharisees</i> thought about themselves as men who understood God’s word. But they would not agree with either John or Jesus. 


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Jesus had done many powerful things for the people to see. But some people in the cities did not believe in him. These people did not want to stop doing wrong things. And they did not want to start obeying God. 


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So Jesus said to them, ‘Things will be bad for you, people in Chorazin. And things will be bad for you, people in Bethsaida. I have done great and powerful things in your cities. I did not do them a long time ago in the towns called Tyre and Sidon. If I had done them, the people there would have listened to me. They would then have put on clothes made out of goat’s hair. They would also have put ash on their heads. This would have shown God that they were sorry. They would have stopped doing wrong things. And they would have started to obey God. 


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Yes, when God <i>judges</i> everyone, he will <i>punish</i> the people from Tyre and Sidon. But he will <i>punish</i> much more the people from Chorazin and Bethsaida. 


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I will tell you what will happen to the people in Capernaum. They try to lift themselves up to <i>heaven</i>. He will throw them down to <i>hell</i>. If I had done these powerful things in Sodom, Sodom would still be standing today. 


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What I say is true. God will <i>punish</i> the people from Sodom. But he will not <i>punish</i> them as much as he will <i>punish</i> the people from Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum.’ <n>One day, God will <i>punish</i> those people who do wrong things. God will <i>punish</i> some people more than he will <i>punish</i> other people. Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum were towns and cities in <i>Israel</i>. God will <i>punish</i> the people from these towns more than he will <i>punish</i> the people from Sodom. The people in Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum had heard Jesus speak. But they did not believe him. The people in Sodom had never seen Jesus or heard his message. So God will <i>punish</i> the people who refuse his message more than them. 


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At this moment, Jesus said, ‘Father, you rule over everything in the sky and on the earth! You have taught people who do not know many things. And so I thank you. But you have kept these things a secret from some other people. These people think that they know a lot. And they think that they understand everything. 


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‘My Father has given me all things. And only he knows who I am. Nobody else really knows that I am the Son. Only I know who my Father is. Nobody else knows him. But I choose to tell some people about him.


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Come to me all of you who are tired. You are like people who have worked for a long time. You are like people who have carried heavy things. Come to me and you will find a place to rest.


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Do what I teach you to do. Learn from me everything that is true. I am very kind and I obey God. Then you will have true life and you will not be <i>anxious</i>. 


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I will only ask you to do good things. I will not ask you to carry anything that is too heavy for you. And I will not ask you to do things that are too difficult.’


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On one <i>Sabbath</i> day, Jesus was walking through some fields where <i>wheat</i> was growing. His <i>disciples</i> were hungry. So they began to pick some of the seeds of <i>wheat</i> and to eat them. 


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Some <i>Pharisees</i> were with them. And they saw Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> eating the <i>wheat</i> seeds. ‘Look at what your <i>disciples</i> are doing’, they said to Jesus. ‘It is against God’s <i>Law</i> to do this on the day that we rest.’


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Jesus said to the <i>Pharisees</i>, ‘King David and his friends were hungry once. Remember what they did then. You have read about this. 


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David went into God’s Great House. And he ate the special bread that was there. He also gave some of it to his friends. But it is against the <i>Law</i> for anyone except the <i>priests</i> to eat this bread.’ <n>We can read about this in the book called 1 Samuel, chapter 21. 


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‘Also, you should know what God’s <i>Law</i> says. The <i>priests</i> are not obeying this <i>Law</i> when they work in God’s Great House on the <i>Sabbath</i> day. But God’s <i>Law</i> does not tell them that they are doing something wrong. 


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A long time ago, a <i>prophet</i> wrote, “God wants people to be kind to each other. He does not only want you to give him gifts” [Hosea 6:6] . You do not understand what this really means. If you had understood this, then you would not have said to me, “Your <i>disciples</i> are doing something wrong.” 


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A man was in there who had a small hand. It was very weak, so he could not use it. The <i>Pharisees</i> wanted to say to Jesus that he was doing wrong things. So they asked him, ‘Is it right to make someone well again on the <i>Sabbath</i>?’


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Jesus replied to them, ‘One of you may have a sheep that falls into a deep hole on the <i>Sabbath</i> day. You will take hold of it and you will lift it out of the deep hole. 


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Now, a man is much more valuable than a sheep. So our <i>Law</i> says that we can do good things on the <i>Sabbath</i> day.’


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Then Jesus said to the man with the weak hand, ‘Hold out your hand.’ So the man held out his hand. It was now the right size and it was strong. It was the same as his other hand. 


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Then the <i>Pharisees</i> went away from that building where they met. They began to talk to each other about how to kill Jesus. <n>God chose Jesus to do an important job</n>


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Jesus knew that the <i>Pharisees</i> wanted to kill him. So he went away from that place. Many people followed him and he caused all the sick people to become well again. 


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‘Here is my servant. <n>I have chosen him to work for me. <n>I love him and he makes me very happy. <n>I will give him my Spirit so that he will be powerful. <n>He will tell people everywhere that I will <i>judge</i> them.


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He will not hurt weak people. <n>He will be kind to people who are not strong. <n>He will do this until there is <i>justice</i> everywhere.


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And all people, everywhere, will believe that he can save them.’ [Isaiah 42:1-4] <n>Jesus talks about <i>Satan</i></n>


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After that, some people brought a man to Jesus. The man could not see and he could not speak because of a bad <i>spirit</i> in him. Jesus caused the man to become well again. So then the man could see and speak again. 


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All the people were very surprised about what Jesus did. They asked each other, ‘Can Jesus really be the person that God sent to save us?’


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The <i>Pharisees</i> also heard about what had happened. ‘This man can cause bad <i>spirits</i> to come out of people’, they said. ‘Beelzebub is the ruler of all the bad <i>spirits</i>. So he is helping Jesus to do this.’ <n>Beelzebub is another name for <i>Satan</i> 


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Jesus knew what the <i>Pharisees</i> were thinking. So he said to them, ‘Maybe groups of people start fighting other groups of people in the same country. If they do this, then they will destroy their own country. Or perhaps the people in one city or one family start fighting each other. Then they will destroy their own city or family. 


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So, <i>Satan</i> would not fight against himself. If <i>Satan</i> fights against himself, he will soon destroy his own <i>kingdom</i>. 


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Some of you <i>Jews</i> can also send bad <i>spirits</i> out of people. Certainly you do not say that Beelzebub (<i>Satan</i>) helps them. So your own people show you that you are wrong about this. 


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I do send bad <i>spirits</i> out of people. I use the authority of the Spirit of God to do this. If I do this, then God is ruling among you. And certainly you must know that he is.


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Nobody can go into the house of a strong man easily to rob him. To do this, he must first tie up the strong man. Then he can take away all that man’s valuable things.’ <n>Beelzebub is another name for <i>Satan</i> or the <i>Devil</i>. <i>Satan</i> is like a strong person. But Jesus is like a stronger person. He fights <i>Satan</i> and beats him. Jesus sends bad <i>spirits</i> out of people. And they go away. This shows that he is stronger than <i>Satan</i>. So it was not possible that <i>Satan</i> was working with Jesus. 


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Jesus then said, ‘If someone is not working with me, then he is really working against me. If he is not helping me to bring the sheep together, he is against me. He is causing the sheep to run away in different directions. 


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God will <i>forgive</i> all the wrong things that people do against other people. Some people even say bad things against God. And he will <i>forgive</i> them. Some people say bad things against the <i>Holy Spirit</i>. But God will never <i>forgive</i> them for that. 


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God will <i>forgive</i> people who say bad things about me, the Son of Man. But God will not <i>forgive</i>, now or ever, people who say bad things against the <i>Holy Spirit</i>.’ <n>The <i>Pharisees</i> had said that <i>Satan</i> worked with Jesus. It was dangerous to say that. The <i>Holy Spirit</i> gave his authority and power to Jesus. It was wrong to think that <i>Satan</i> was helping Jesus. <n>Jesus talks about a tree and its fruit</n>


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Then Jesus said, ‘To have good fruit you must have a good tree. If you have a bad tree, then you will get bad fruit from it. You can know all about every tree by the fruit that it makes. 


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You are like the children of dangerous snakes. You cannot say good things when your thoughts are bad. When you speak, your words show what is in your mind. 


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The good man says good things because he keeps good thoughts in his mind. The bad man says bad things because he keeps bad thoughts in his mind. 


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What I say is true. One day, God will <i>judge</i> everybody. On that day, you must tell God why you spoke each careless word.


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God will then say to you, “The words that you spoke are good. I will not <i>punish</i> you.” Or God may say to you, “The words that you spoke are bad. So I must <i>punish</i> you.” ’ <n>The <i>Pharisees</i> want to see Jesus do something powerful</n>


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Then some teachers of the <i>Law</i> and some <i>Pharisees</i> spoke to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we want to see you do something powerful. This will show us that God sent you.’


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Jesus replied, ‘The people who are alive today are very bad. They do not obey God, but they want him to show them something powerful. But he will not do this. They will see only the same powerful thing that God did to Jonah. 


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Jonah stayed inside a big fish for three days and three nights. In the same way, the Son of Man will remain in the ground for three days and three nights. 


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On the day that God <i>judges</i> everyone, the people who lived in Nineveh will be there. They also will speak against you who are alive today. They will say that you are bad people. They stopped doing bad things when Jonah spoke to them. And then they obeyed God. Listen! Now there is someone here who is more important than Jonah.’ <n>We can read about Jonah in the book called ‘Jonah’. God sent Jonah to a city called Nineveh. Jonah said to the people in that city, ‘You must stop doing bad things. You must show God that you are sorry. And you must start to obey him.’ 


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Jesus then said, ‘Many years ago, the queen of a country in the south travelled a long way to see King Solomon. She wanted to hear about everything that Solomon knew. So, when God <i>judges</i> all people, that queen will stand in front of him. And she will speak against you who are alive today. She will say that you are bad people. She listened to Solomon. But there is someone here today. And that person understands things much better than Solomon did. And you are not listening to that person.’ <n>We can read this story in the book called 1 Kings 10:1-10. The Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon. 


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And Jesus said, ‘When a bad <i>spirit</i> leaves a person, it travels through dry places. It is looking for somewhere new to live. But it does not find anywhere. So, it says to itself, “I will return to the person, to the place where I lived before.” 


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Then it goes back to that person. It finds that the place is clean. Everything inside the place is good, but the place is empty. 


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So the bad <i>spirit</i> goes out and it brings back 7 worse <i>spirits</i>. They all go into the person and they live there. Now the person has more bad <i>spirits</i> than he had before. The same thing will happen to the bad people who are alive today.’ <n>A bad <i>spirit</i> can live in a person. Sometimes the <i>Jewish</i> leaders told a bad <i>spirit</i> to leave a person. It often came out, but later it went back to live inside the person again. Because he did not have the <i>Holy Spirit</i> inside him, there was a place for bad <i>spirits</i> to live. <n>Jesus’ mother and brothers come to see him</n>


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While he was still speaking to the crowds, Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. And they stood outside the house. They sent someone inside with a message. ‘Tell Jesus that we want to speak to him’, they said. 


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A crowd was sitting there with Jesus. Someone told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside the house. They want to speak to you.’


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‘My brothers and sisters and mother are those people who obey God, my Father in <i>heaven</i>’, said Jesus. <n>People who believe in Jesus become part of the family of God. 


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Again Jesus left the house and he went down to the Lake Galilee. He sat down to teach. The crowd that came together was very large. So, he climbed into a boat and he sat down. The boat was in the water, and the people stood on the shore. 


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While he was throwing the seeds, some fell on the path. The wild birds came and they ate those seeds. 


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Some seeds fell on ground with rocks in it. There was not much <i>soil</i>. The seeds quickly began to grow, because the <i>soil</i> was not deep. 


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But when the sun rose, it burned the young plants. They soon dried up because the <i>soil</i> was not deep enough for them. 


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Some seeds fell among bushes with sharp branches. These weeds grew up with the young plants. The bushes stopped the seeds from growing into strong plants, so the plants did not make any new seeds. 


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Some seeds fell on good <i>soil</i> and good strong plants grew from those seeds. Some plants made 100 new seeds. Some plants made 60 new seeds and some plants made 30 new seeds.’ 


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After Jesus had finished the story, he told the crowd, ‘You have ears. So listen well to what I say!’ <n>Jesus explains to his <i>disciples</i> why he teaches with stories</n>


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‘God has helped you to understand what the stories about the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> mean. But God has not helped these people to understand about these things. 


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Listen well. God will help the person who wants to understand my words. He will then really understand a lot more. Another person understands very little. God will take away the little that he has. So then he will understand nothing at all. 


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The reason I use stories to talk to other people is this: <n>“So these people look. But they do not see. <n>So they listen. But they do not hear or understand.” ’ [Isaiah 6:9-10] <n>Jesus is telling his <i>disciples</i> about how to listen to him. They must listen well to what he says. Then they will understand him. They must believe in the message from God. Then they will understand more and more. Some people think that they know all about God. These people do not listen well to him. So they do not understand what he says. God will take away from them the things that they think that they already know. 


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‘Isaiah, the <i>prophet</i>, wrote a message from God about this. And now that message has become true. <n>“This people will listen and listen. But they will not understand. <n>They will look and look. But they will not see anything.


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The people do not really want to understand. <n>They are like people who have shut their ears. <n>They are like people who have shut their eyes. <n>If they did want to look, then they would see. <n>If they did want to listen, then they would hear. <n>And then they would understand everything and they would turn back. <n>And if they did turn back, then I would make them well.” [Isaiah 6:9-10] 


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What I say is true. Many <i>prophets</i> and good people from a long time ago wanted to see these things. But they did not see the things that you can see. They wanted to hear the things that you are hearing. But they did not hear them.’ <n>Jesus explains the story about the farmer who planted his seeds</n>


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Some seeds fell on the path. The path is like people who do not understand the message. They hear it but they do not understand it. Then the <i>devil</i> comes quickly to them. And he takes away what they have heard. 


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Some of the seeds fell on <i>soil</i> with rocks in it. This <i>soil</i> is like some people who hear the message from God. They are happy to believe it for a while. But it does not go into their lives and thoughts. 


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They believe in God for a while. But they are like plants that do not grow down in the <i>soil</i>. Because they obey God’s words, other people give them problems. So when they meet trouble or difficulty, they stop believing. 


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Some seeds fell among weeds. This <i>soil</i> is like other people who hear the message from God. But they have many <i>anxieties</i>. They think that more money and other valuable things will cause them to be happy. These thoughts stop them obeying God. They are like plants that do not grow new seeds. 


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But some seeds fell on good <i>soil</i>. This <i>soil</i> is like other people who hear the message from God. They understand it and they obey God. These people are like good plants. From one seed, the good plants make 30 seeds. Other good plants make 60 new seeds, and some good plants make 100 new seeds.’ <n>In this story, the seed that falls in different kinds of <i>soil</i> is the message of good news from God. The farmer is like a person who teaches people about that message. <n>Jesus tells a story about some weeds</n>


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Then Jesus told the people another story. ‘This is what the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like’, he said. ‘A farmer planted some good <i>wheat</i> seeds into his field. 


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But one night, when everyone was sleeping, a bad person came to the farmer’s field. He did not like the farmer. This bad person planted seeds from weeds among the good seeds. Then the bad person went away again. 


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The good seeds grew and the plants began to make seeds. But when this happened, the weeds also grew.


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So the farmer’s servants came to speak to him. “Master, many weeds are now growing in the ground where you planted the <i>wheat</i> seeds. How did this happen?” they asked him.


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The farmer said to his servants, “A bad person who does not like me has done this.” <n>“Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?” the servants then asked the farmer.


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“No”, replied the farmer. “I do not want you to do that. If you pull up the weeds, you will also pull up some of the <i>wheat</i> plants. 


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Let the good plants and the weeds grow up together. After that, it will be time for the workers to cut the plants that have large seeds. They will bring them inside from the fields. I will ask the workers to cut the weeds down first. They can tie them together and burn them. Then they can cut the <i>wheat</i> and bring it into my building. I can store it there.” ’ <n>Jesus tells a story about a small seed</n>


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Jesus told the people another story. ‘I will tell you again what the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like’, he said. ‘It is like a very small seed. A man took this seed and he planted it in his field. 


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It is the smallest seed in the world. But when it starts to grow, it becomes bigger than the largest bush. It will become a tree. The wild birds will come and they will make places to live among the branches of that tree.’ <n>Jesus tells a story about <i>yeast</i></n>


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Jesus told the people another story. ‘I will tell you another story about what the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like’, he said. ‘It is like some <i>yeast</i> and flour. A woman took the <i>yeast</i> and she mixed it in three large bowls of flour. The <i>yeast</i> grew and it caused all the bread to rise.’ <n>We put <i>yeast</i> into flour and water to make bread. The <i>yeast</i> grows in the flour and it causes the bread to rise. 


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So what the <i>prophet</i> had said became true: <n>‘I will use stories when I speak to them. <n>And I will teach them secret things. <n>People have never learned these things before.’ [Psalm 78:2] 


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Then Jesus went away from the place where the crowd was. He went into the house where he was staying. And his <i>disciples</i> also came into the house with him. ‘Explain to us the story about the weeds in the <i>soil</i>’, they said to Jesus. <n>Jesus explains the story about the weeds</n>


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Jesus replied to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘The Son of Man is like the farmer who planted the <i>wheat</i> seed in the field. 


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The field is like the world. The good <i>wheat</i> seeds are like the people who belong to the <i>Kingdom</i>. The weeds are like the people who belong to <i>Satan</i>. 


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<i>Satan</i> is the bad person who planted the weed seeds in the field. The moment when the workers cut down all the plants is like the end of time. God’s <i>angels</i> are the workers who cut the plants down.


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The workers cut the weeds and they burn them in the fire. In the same way, the <i>angels</i> will do this at the end of time. They will do it to the people who belong to <i>Satan</i>. 


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The Son of Man will send his <i>angels</i>. They will take away all the people who are not really part of his <i>Kingdom</i>. They have caused other people not to obey God. And the <i>angels</i> will take away all the people who have not obeyed God. 


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The <i>angels</i> will throw the bad people into the great fire. There the people will cry. And they will bite their teeth together because they are angry. 


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The people who obeyed God will shine like the sun. They will be in the <i>Kingdom</i> of their Father. You have ears, so listen well to what I say.’ <n>Jesus tells a story about a man who found valuable things in the ground</n>


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‘I can tell you again what the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like’, Jesus said. ‘The <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like something valuable that a man buried in a field. Another man found it, but then he covered it over again with dirt. Then that second man was very happy and he went away. He sold everything that he had. Then he went and bought the field with the valuable things in it.’ <n>At that time, people usually hid their valuable things in the ground. The <i>Kingdom</i> of God is very valuable. A person should give everything to have God rule in his life. <n>Jesus tells a story about some valuable stones</n>


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‘I will tell you again what the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like’, Jesus said. ‘A man has a business. He looks for beautiful valuable stones that he can buy. 


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One day he found a very beautiful and very valuable stone that someone wanted to sell. So he went away. And he sold everything that he had. Then he went and he bought that very beautiful and very valuable stone.


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I can tell you again what the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like’, Jesus said. ‘Some men had <i>nets</i> to catch fish in. They threw their <i>nets</i> into the lake and they caught many different kinds of fish. 


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When the <i>net</i> was full of fish, the men pulled it up on to the shore. Then they sat down. Some of the fish were good to eat, and they put these fish into baskets. Some of the fish were not good to eat, and they threw these fish away. 


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This is what will happen at the end of time. God will send his <i>angels</i>. They will put the people who did not obey God in one place. And they will put the people who obey God in another place. 


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The <i>angels</i> will throw the people who did not obey God into the great fire. There the people will cry. They will also bite their teeth together because they are angry.’ <n>This story means the same as the story about the weeds in Matthew 13:37-43. 


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Then Jesus asked his <i>disciples</i>, ‘Have you understood all these things?’ <n>‘Yes, we have’, they replied.


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‘Some teachers of the <i>Law</i> have learned about the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>’, Jesus said. ‘These men are like the master of a house. The master takes out some old things and also some new things from the place where he stores them.’


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When Jesus had finished telling these stories, he went away from that place. <n>Jesus goes to Nazareth</n>


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Jesus went to the town called Nazareth. He had lived in Nazareth when he was a boy. He taught the people in the building where they met to pray. The people were very surprised about the things that he was teaching them. ‘Where did this man learn all these things?’ they asked each other. ‘How does he know so much? How does he do all these powerful things?’ they said. 


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‘We know who this man is. He is the son of a man who makes things out of wood. And Mary is his mother. We also know his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. 


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All his sisters also live here in this town among us. So then, where did he learn to do all these things? Who caused him to be so powerful?’ So the people were not happy with Jesus.


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‘People do not believe a <i>prophet</i> who comes from their own town’, Jesus said to them. ‘His own people and his own family do not believe that he receives messages from God. Only people in other places believe him.’


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Jesus did not do many powerful things in Nazareth because the people did not believe in him. <n>Mary’s husband Joseph was a man who worked with wood or stone to make things. The people knew Jesus and his family. They thought that they knew everything about Jesus. But they did not believe that he was the Messiah. The Messiah is the man whom God sent to save people. 


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At that time, Herod the ruler heard reports about the things that Jesus was doing. <n>Herod was the ruler in one of the four parts of Israel at that time. 


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‘That man Jesus is really John the <i>Baptist</i>’, said Herod to his men. ‘John was dead but he has become alive again. That is the reason that Jesus can do all these powerful things.’


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Herod himself had said to his soldiers, ‘Take hold of John. Tie his hands and feet and put him in prison.’ Herod had done this because of his wife Herodias. Before Herod married her, she was the wife of Herod’s brother Philip. 


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Because Herod had married her, John had said to him, ‘Herodias was your brother’s wife. So you did not do the right thing when you married her.’ <n>Herodias had left Philip, her husband. Herod married her. So John told him what Moses had written in the <i>Law</i>. The <i>Law</i> said, ‘A man must not marry his brother’s wife while his brother is still alive.’ Herod was not happy with John when he told him that. So, Herod sent his men to put John in prison. 


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Herod wanted to tell his soldiers that they must kill John. But the people thought that John was a <i>prophet</i>. So Herod was afraid to kill him.


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But when it was Herod’s birthday, he had a special meal. The daughter of Herodias danced in front of him and his visitors. Her dance caused Herod to become very happy. 


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‘Ask me for anything that you want’, Herod said. ‘And I will give it to you. God is listening to me say this.’ 


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Herodias suggested to her daughter, ‘Ask Herod to give you John’s head.’ So her daughter asked Herod to give her the head of John the <i>Baptist</i> on a plate. 


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Then Herod was sad, but he had spoken a special promise in front of God. So he could not refuse her. And his visitors had heard him. So he sent his men to give Herodias’s daughter what she had asked for. 


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He immediately said to a soldier, ‘Cut off John’s head and bring it here.’ So, the soldier went to the prison and he cut off John’s head. 


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John’s <i>disciples</i> heard the news that John was dead. So, they went to the prison and they took away his body. And then they buried it. After that, they went to see Jesus. And they told him what had happened. <n>Jesus gives food to 5000 men and their families</n>


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Jesus heard about what had happened to John. After that, he went away from that place. He sailed in a boat to a quiet place where he could be alone. But the crowd heard where Jesus had gone. So they left their towns and they followed Jesus. They walked to the place where he was. 


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Jesus climbed out of the boat to the shore. He saw a large crowd there. He loved them and he felt sorry for them. He saw that there were sick people in the crowd. So he made them well again.


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When it was almost evening, Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> came to speak to him. They said to him, ‘We are in a place where there are no houses. And it will soon be dark. So send the crowd away now, so that they can go to the villages near here. There they can buy some food for themselves to eat.’


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Then Jesus said to the large crowd, ‘Sit down on the grass.’ Jesus received the 5 loaves of bread and two fish from his <i>disciples</i>. He looked up to the sky and he thanked God for the bread and the fish. Then he broke the bread into pieces. And he gave it to his <i>disciples</i> to give to the crowd. 


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Then everybody ate, and they all had enough. Then the <i>disciples</i> picked up all the food that the people had not eaten. And they filled 12 baskets with broken pieces of bread and fish. 


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About 5000 men ate the bread and fish. The women and children also ate it with them. <n>This event is very important. Only God could make 5 loaves of bread and two fish become enough to feed 5000 men and their families. This showed them that God had caused Jesus to be very powerful. <n>Jesus walks on the water</n>


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Immediately after this, Jesus said to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘Get in the boat and sail across the lake. Go on in front of me while I send the crowd away.’ 


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Then he sent the crowd away. After they had gone, he went up on a mountain alone to pray. And he was still there alone when it became dark. 


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Now, the boat was in the middle of the lake. The wind was blowing against the boat and the water was hitting it.


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Then, when it was very early in the morning, Jesus walked across the water towards his <i>disciples</i>. 


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And the <i>disciples</i> saw him walking on top of the water. They were very frightened. ‘It is a spirit’, they said. And they shouted with loud voices because they were afraid.


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But immediately, Jesus spoke to them. ‘Be brave! Do not be afraid! It is I, Jesus’, he said to them.


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Peter replied, ‘Sir’, he said, ‘are you really Jesus? Then say to me, “Come here! Walk on top of the water.” ’


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‘Come to me’, said Jesus. <n>So Peter climbed out of the boat. He walked on top of the water and he came towards Jesus. 


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But then Peter saw that the wind was still blowing against him. He became afraid and he began to go down into the water. He shouted to Jesus, ‘Master, save me!’


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Immediately, Jesus put out his hand and he took hold of Peter. ‘Why do you not really believe in me to help you?’ he said to Peter. ‘Why did you not believe that I could cause you to walk on the water?’


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The <i>disciples</i> who were in the boat went down on their knees in front of Jesus. ‘It is true. You are the person that God calls his son’, they said.


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When they had sailed across the lake to the shore, they climbed out of the boat. They were in the part of the country called Gennesaret. <n>Gennesaret was a part of the country on the west side of Lake Galilee. 


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The people who lived in that part of the country recognised Jesus. So they sent people to tell everyone in that part of the country that Jesus was there. They brought all their sick people to see him. 


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They asked Jesus to let them touch the edge of his clothes. And Jesus caused every sick person who touched his clothes to become well again.


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After that, a group of <i>Pharisees</i> and teachers of the <i>Law</i> came from Jerusalem to talk to Jesus. 


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These men spoke to Jesus. ‘Our <i>ancestors</i> taught us the right way to do everything. Why do your <i>disciples</i> not obey the things that our <i>ancestors</i> taught us? They do not wash their hands in the right way before they eat a meal.’


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‘Yes, God tells us the right way to obey him’, Jesus replied. ‘But you do not obey God. Instead, you do the things that you have taught the people to do. 


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Moses wrote in his <i>law</i>, “God says that you must love your father and mother. Do good things for them and only say good things about them.” [Exodus 20:12] God also said, “Someone should kill a person who says bad things about his own father or mother.” [Exodus 21:17] 


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But instead of obeying this, you teach people something different. You let a person say to his father or mother, “I would have given these good gifts to you, but I cannot. Instead, I have given them to God.” Then, you let him give nothing to his mother and father. 


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When you let a person do this, you have not obeyed God’s <i>Law</i>. You have obeyed the <i>laws</i> of your <i>ancestors</i> instead. You do many other things like this. 


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They say that I am powerful and important. <n>But what they say has no purpose. <n>They teach their own rules, which I did not give to them.” [Isaiah 29:13] ’ <n>Jesus talks about the wrong things that people do</n>


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Jesus asked all the people to come together near him. ‘Listen to me’, he said, ‘so that you can understand my words. 


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God will not say to a person, “I will not accept you because you ate a certain food.” It is not the food that a person eats. Food does not cause God to say, “I cannot accept you.” Instead, what comes out of his mouth is important. This can cause God to say, “I will not accept you.” ’


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Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> went near to him and they said, ‘The <i>Pharisees</i> heard what you said to them. They are not happy with what you said. Do you know that?’


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Jesus replied to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘Those <i>Pharisees</i> are like plants that God, my Father in <i>heaven</i>, did not put in the <i>soil</i>. He will pull all these plants out of the <i>soil</i>. 


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Do not be <i>anxious</i> about them. They cannot see, but they are telling people which way to go. A man who cannot see does not show another man like himself where to go. If he does this, then both men will fall into a deep hole in the road.’


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‘You still cannot understand what I am saying. You are like the <i>Pharisees</i> and the teachers of the <i>Law</i>’, replied Jesus. 


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‘The food that a person eats first goes into his mouth. Then it goes into his stomach, and then it goes out of his body. 


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The words that a person speaks come from their thoughts. So what a person says can cause God to say to him, “I will not accept you.” 


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A person can think bad thoughts. These thoughts may cause him to kill somebody. Or they may cause him to have sex with another man’s wife. He might rob somebody. He might say things that are not true about someone. Or he might say bad things about somebody.’ <n>God says that these things are wrong. If a person does them, then God cannot accept him. When he asks God to make his thoughts and life clean, then, because of Jesus, God will accept him. 


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‘All these bad things cause God to say to a person, “I cannot accept you.” But perhaps a man does not wash his hands before he eats. This does not cause God to say, “I will not accept you.” ’ <n>Jesus makes a girl well again</n>


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After that, Jesus left Gennesaret and he went to some places near to the cities called Tyre and Sidon.


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A woman was living in this part of the country. She was one of the people from the group called the Canaanites. She went to see Jesus and she continued to shout with a loud voice to him. ‘Son of David, help me, sir. A bad <i>spirit</i> is living inside my daughter. It is making her very ill.’


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Jesus did not reply to the woman. So his <i>disciples</i> came to him. ‘Please, please send this woman away’, they said. ‘She is following us and she is making a lot of noise.’


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Jesus replied to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘God sent me only to the people of <i>Israel</i>, because they are like lost sheep.’ <n>The people of <i>Israel</i> were like lost sheep because they no longer obeyed God. God had sent Jesus to tell them the good news about him ruling his people. 


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The woman came to Jesus and she went down on her knees in front of him. ‘Sir, please help me’, she said.


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Jesus did answer the woman this time. ‘It is not right to take bread from the children and then to throw it to the dogs.’


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The woman replied to Jesus. ‘Yes sir, that is true. But even the dogs eat the small pieces of bread that fall from their master’s table.’


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‘You are a woman who believes very well in me’, said Jesus. ‘So God will do what you asked.’ And immediately, the woman’s daughter became well again.


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Jesus travelled on from that place and he walked along the shore of Lake Galilee. He climbed up a hill and he sat down there. 


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A large crowd came to him and they brought sick people with them. Some of these sick people could not walk very well, and some of them could not see. Some of the sick people had arms or legs that hurt. And some of them could not speak. There were also many other sick people who had different illnesses. Their friends put the sick people in front of Jesus. And Jesus caused them all to become well again. 


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The large crowd were very surprised about what they saw. People who could not speak could now speak again. Those people who could not walk very well could now walk well. The people who could not see could now see. They were all saying to God, ‘God of <i>Israel</i>, you are powerful. You are great. You are very important. We thank you because you are so kind.’ <n>Jesus feeds 4000 men and their families</n>


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Then Jesus spoke to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘Come near to me. I feel sorry for this crowd’, he said. ‘They have stayed with me now for three days and they have no more food. I do not want to send them away while they are hungry. They may fall down on the way because they are weak and hungry.’


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The <i>disciples</i> said to Jesus, ‘We are in a place that is a long way from any town. Where can we find enough bread here to feed so many people?’


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‘How many loaves of bread do you have?’ asked Jesus. <n>‘We have 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish’, they replied.


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Then he held the 7 loaves and the fish in his hands and he thanked God for them. Then he broke the bread and the fish into pieces and he gave the food to his <i>disciples</i>. ‘Give this food to the people’, he said. 


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All the people ate and they all had enough. After the people had finished eating, there remained a lot of extra food. Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> filled 7 baskets with the extra pieces of bread and fish. 


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Then Jesus spoke to the large crowd again. ‘Now you should all go home’, he said. After that, Jesus got into the boat. And they sailed away to the part of the country called Magadan. <n>Magadan is also called Magdala. This was the home of Mary from Magdala. 


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Some <i>Pharisees</i> and <i>Sadducees</i> went to see Jesus. They wanted to make Jesus do something wrong. ‘Do something powerful for us to see’, they asked him. ‘Then we will know that God sent you.’


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Jesus answered them. ‘Sometimes the sky is red in the evening. Then you say that tomorrow the weather will be good. 


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Sometimes the sky is red in the morning and the sky has dark clouds in it. Then you say that today there will be a storm. You can look at the sky. And then you know what weather is coming. But special things are happening now. And you do not understand what they mean. 


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The people who are alive today are very bad. They do not obey God. They want God to show them something powerful. No! God will not show you anything. You will only see the same powerful thing that God did to Jonah.’ So Jesus went away and left them. <n>Jesus talks about the <i>yeast</i> of the <i>Pharisees</i> and the <i>Sadducees</i></n>


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Then Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> went over to the other side of the lake. His <i>disciples</i> forgot to take any bread with them. 


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‘Be careful’, Jesus said to them. ‘You must be careful and watch for the <i>yeast</i> of the <i>Pharisees</i> and <i>Sadducees</i>.’


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The <i>disciples</i> began to talk to each other about this. ‘Jesus is saying this because we did not bring any bread with us’, they said.


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Jesus knew what they were talking about. So he said to them, ‘You should not be talking about the fact that you did not bring any bread with you. You still do not believe very much in me. 


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You still do not understand. You should remember when I used 5 loaves of bread to give food to 5000 men and their families. You should remember how many baskets of bread you filled after the meal. 


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You should remember when I used 7 loaves of bread to give food to 4000 men and their families. You should remember how many baskets of bread you filled after the meal. 


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I spoke about the <i>yeast</i> of the <i>Pharisees</i> and the <i>Sadducees</i>. I said that you must be careful about it. You should have understood that this time I was not really speaking about bread.’ 


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Then the <i>disciples</i> understood what Jesus was talking about. They did not need to be careful about the <i>yeast</i> that they used in their bread. They must be careful about what the <i>Pharisees</i> and <i>Sadducees</i> taught. <n>People put <i>yeast</i> into flour and water to make bread. The <i>yeast</i> grows in the bread and it makes the bread rise. The <i>Pharisees</i> were doing wrong things. The people saw what the <i>Pharisees</i> did. And then the people did the same bad things. This is like <i>yeast</i> that is growing through the bread. <n>Peter says who Jesus is</n>


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Jesus went into the part of the country called Caesarea Philippi. While he was there, he asked his <i>disciples</i> a question. ‘Tell me’, he said. ‘When people talk about the Son of Man, what do they say?’


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‘Some people say that you are John the <i>Baptist</i>’, they replied. ‘Other people say that you are Elijah. And some other people say that you are Jeremiah, or another <i>prophet</i>.’


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Simon Peter answered him. ‘You are the <i>Christ</i>. God sent you. You are the Son of the God who is alive.’


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Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, God has given help to you. No person on earth taught you that. God, my Father, who rules in <i>heaven</i>, taught you this. 


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What I say is true. You are called Peter, which means a rock. And I will build my Church on this rock. Not even the power of death can beat and destroy my Church. 


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I will give you the keys to the <i>Kingdom</i> where God rules in <i>heaven</i>. Perhaps you will say, “No, you cannot do that” to something that people want on earth. Then God will say “No” to it where he rules in <i>heaven</i>. Maybe you will say, “Yes, you can do that” to something that people want on earth. Then God will say “Yes” to it where he rules in <i>heaven</i>.’ <n>Jesus used a house that someone builds on a rock as a picture. The house is like the Church. The things that Peter would teach are like the stones under the house. The name ‘Peter’ means ‘a rock’. One day soon, Jesus would go back to live in <i>heaven</i> again. Then Peter would be a leader of the <i>disciples</i> to teach the people the true things about God. The people who obeyed Jesus’ words would be called the Church. <n>The people were waiting for God to send someone special to them. They called this person the Christ. Jesus knew that the people had wrong ideas about this person. They thought that he would save them from the <i>Roman</i> government. They thought that he would be a great soldier. So, Jesus wanted to teach the people what the Christ would really do. Then they would understand about the way in which God rules his people. They would also understand that Jesus is the <i>Christ</i>. 


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Jesus spoke with authority to his <i>disciples</i>. ‘Do not tell anyone that I am the <i>Christ</i>.’ <n>Jesus tells his <i>disciples</i> how he would die</n>


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After this, Jesus began to explain everything to his <i>disciples</i>. ‘I must go to Jerusalem’, he told them. ‘There, people will cause me to have great pain. The leaders of the <i>Jews</i>, the important <i>priests</i>, and the teachers of the <i>Law</i> will hurt me. And then people will kill me. But three days later, God will cause me to be alive again.’ <n>Jesus told his <i>disciples</i> what would happen to him. This is the first time that he told them. But they did not understand his words. 


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Then Peter led Jesus away from the other <i>disciples</i>. Peter did not agree with what Jesus had said. He spoke with strong words to Jesus. ‘No, Sir’, he said. ‘You must not say these things. I pray that God will never let this happen!’


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Jesus turned towards Peter and said to him, ‘Go away from me, <i>Satan</i>. I must obey God. But you are trying to stop me. Your thoughts do not come from God. Instead, you are thinking as men think.’


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Then Jesus said to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘Someone may want to come with me’, he said. ‘Then he must leave what he himself wants to do. He must carry a <i>cross</i> and he must be ready to die with me. 


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If a person wants to keep his life safe, he will lose it. But instead, he may die because he believes in me. And then he will have true life, which has no end. 


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A person could get the whole world for himself. This would not be good for him if he died as a result. There is nothing that a person can give to get back his life. 


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I tell you all this because I, the Son of Man, will come back here with God’s <i>angels</i>. When I come, I will be powerful and important like God my Father. I will pay each person for what he has done on earth. 


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What I am saying now is true. I will tell you something about the people who are standing here. Some of them will not die until they see the Son of Man’s kingdom begin.’


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Six days later, Jesus took Peter and the brothers James and John with him. He led them up a high mountain where they were alone together. 


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Peter, James and John watched Jesus and they saw him become different to look at. His face was bright and it shone like the sun. His clothes became very white and they shone. 


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Then Peter, James and John saw two men appear in front of them. These two men were Moses and Elijah and they were talking with Jesus. <n>Moses had lived a long time ago. He was a leader of God’s people. He brought them out of the country called Egypt. He died about 1400 years before Jesus was born. We can read about Moses in the book called Exodus. <n>Elijah was a <i>prophet</i> of God. He lived about 850 years before Jesus was born. He did not die. God took him up alive to <i>heaven</i>. We can read about him in 1 Kings. 


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Peter said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, it is a good thing that we are here. Let us build three huts. One hut will be for you. One hut will be for Moses and one hut will be for Elijah.’ <n>Peter and his friends wanted to build the huts so that these three important people could stay with them longer. Many years before, Moses had given the people God’s <i>Law</i>. Elijah was an important <i>prophet</i> of God. And Jesus was God’s son. But God had not asked the <i>disciples</i> to build any huts. Moses and Elijah came from a time that would soon finish. Jesus was showing people something new. This was the <i>Kingdom</i> of God. 


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While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud appeared. And it covered them all. They heard a voice, which came out from the cloud. ‘This is my Son’, it said. ‘I love him and he makes me very happy. Listen to him.’


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When the <i>disciples</i> heard the person speaking, they threw themselves down. And their faces touched the ground. They were very frightened. 


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While they were walking down the mountain again, Jesus spoke to Peter, James and John. ‘You must not tell anyone about what you have just seen’, he said. ‘One day, the Son of Man will die and then become alive again. Then you can tell people about these things.’


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Then the three <i>disciples</i> asked Jesus a question. ‘The teachers of the <i>Law</i> say, “Elijah will return to earth first before anything else happens.” Why do they say this?’


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But I tell you that Elijah has already come. People did not recognise him. They did all the bad things to him that they wanted to do. In the same way, they will also hurt me, the Son of Man.’ 


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Then the <i>disciples</i> understood that he was really talking about John the <i>Baptist</i>. <n>Jesus makes a boy well</n>


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Then Jesus, Peter, James and John returned to the place where the crowd was waiting for them. A man came to see Jesus. He went down on his knees in front of him. 


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‘Teacher’, he said. ‘please be kind to my son. His mind is sick. Sometimes he does not know what he is doing. Often he falls into the fire, or he falls into water. 


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‘You people today still do not believe in me’, Jesus said. ‘You have turned away from God. I have lived here among you for a long time. I cannot remain with you much longer. Now it is difficult for me to be patient with you.’ Jesus then said to the man, ‘Bring your son here to me.’ 


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Jesus said to the bad <i>spirit</i>, ‘Stop!’ Then the bad <i>spirit</i> left the boy and immediately he became well.


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When the <i>disciples</i> were alone with Jesus, they asked him, ‘Why could we not cause the bad <i>spirit</i> to leave the boy?’


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‘You could not do it because you do not believe well in me’, Jesus replied. ‘What I say is true. If you believe in God even a little bit, then you can do great things. You can say to this mountain, “Move from this place to that other place.” And it will move. You can do anything. 


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But you must pray and not eat for a time. That will cause this kind of <i>spirit</i> to leave a person’, said Jesus. <n>Some people think that Matthew did not write verse 21. They think that someone else wrote it later. <n>The 12 <i>disciples</i> had forgotten that God caused them to be powerful. They must always ask God to help them before they can help someone else. 


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When Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> all met together in Galilee, he said, ‘Soon people will put the Son of Man into the hands of powerful men. 


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These men will kill him. But he will be alive again three days later.’ The <i>disciples</i> were very sad.


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After that, Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> arrived at Capernaum. Some men who received <i>taxes</i> went to talk to Peter. They asked him, ‘Does your teacher pay the <i>tax</i> for God’s Great House?’ <n>These men took a small gold coin as <i>tax</i> from everybody in the town. The <i>priests</i> used the money from this <i>tax</i> to keep God’s Great House in good repair. The small gold coin was about two days’ pay for a worker. 


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‘Yes’, said Peter to them. ‘My teacher does pay the <i>tax</i>.’ <n>Then Peter returned to the house where Jesus was staying. He wanted to tell Jesus what had just happened. But Jesus spoke first. ‘Here is a question for you to answer, Simon’, he said. ‘Who are the people who must pay <i>taxes</i> and money to the rulers of the world? Do the rulers take <i>taxes</i> from their own sons? Or do they take <i>taxes</i> from other people?’


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‘The kings take the <i>taxes</i> from other people’, Simon replied. <n>Jesus said to him, ‘This means that people from the ruler’s own country do not need to pay anything. 


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But we do not want to make these men who take the <i>tax</i> angry. So go to the lake and throw out a line to fish with. And pull up the first fish that you catch on your line. Open the mouth of the fish and you will find a gold coin inside it. Take the coin and give it to those who receive <i>tax</i>. This will be enough money for both my <i>tax</i> and yours.’ <n>Jesus is telling Peter that he and the other <i>disciples</i> belong to God’s family. So they did not need to pay <i>tax</i> for God’s Great House. 


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Soon after this, the <i>disciples</i> came to Jesus and they asked him, ‘Who is the most important person in the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>?’


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‘What I say is true’, Jesus said. ‘Unless you become like a child, you cannot come into the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>. 


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This little child does not think that he is very important. You must also think as he does. A person who does this will be the most important person in the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>.


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Any person who accepts a child because of me also accepts me.’ <n>Jesus talks about causing people to do wrong things</n>


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‘Maybe someone will cause a little person to stop believing in me’, said Jesus. ‘It would be better for this person if other people hung a big stone round his neck. Then they could throw that bad person into the deep sea together with the stone.


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It is very bad that some things in the world cause people to do wrong things. You can be sure that bad things will come. But God will <i>punish</i> the person who makes these bad things happen.’ <n>The little person might be someone who does not believe well in God. Or he may be a child. It would be better to die than to cause someone to stop obeying God. 


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‘Maybe your hand or your foot causes you to do wrong things. Then you should cut it off. And you should throw it away. It is better to have only one hand or one foot and to have God’s true life. It is much worse to keep both hands and both feet and do wrong things. Then God will throw you into <i>hell</i>. 


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If your eye causes you to do wrong things, then you should take it out. You should throw it away. It is better to have only one of your eyes and have God’s true life. It is much worse if God throws you with your two eyes into <i>hell</i>. There the fire does not ever stop burning.


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Be careful that you do not think that these little people are not important. What I say is true. The <i>angels</i> who watch over them always remain with my Father in his home. And those <i>angels</i> speak to him.’ <n>God’s word teaches us that there are <i>angels</i>. And these <i>angels</i> are servants of God, who watch over his people. <n>[


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The Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.] <n>Verse 11 is in old Bibles. Many bible students think that someone put it into Matthew’s book later. 


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‘Think about a man who has 100 sheep. He counts them. And he discovers that one of his sheep is not there. So he leaves all the other sheep on the hills. Then he goes to look for the lost sheep. 


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What I say is true. The man will be very happy if he finds that lost sheep. All the other sheep are safe on the hill. But they do not make him as happy as this sheep does. They were never lost. 


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God, who is my Father in <i>heaven</i>, is like this man. He does not want even one of these little people to be lost.’ <n>Jesus is speaking to the <i>Pharisees</i> and the teachers of the <i>Law</i>. They did not think that they had done any wrong things. They thought that they already obeyed God. <n>In this story, God is like the man who takes <n>care</i> of the sheep. The lost sheep is like a person who is not obeying God. God <n>cares</i> that he is lost. He wants to bring him back to himself. <n>A friend does wrong things against you</n>


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‘If your brother has done wrong things against you, then you must go to him. You can talk about it together when you are alone with him. Then he may understand that you are right. If he does understand, then you can call him your friend again.’ <n>Here the word brother means someone who obeys God. He may or may not be your mother’s son. 


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‘Maybe he does not want to listen to you. Then take one or two other people with you to him. These one or two people then know what wrong things your brother has done. They will know what you said to him. They will know that it is true. God’s word said that we should do this. 


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If your brother will not listen to the two or three of you, go to the Church. Tell other people what has happened. Let those who obey me speak to your brother. If he is not sorry, stop being his friend. He is like somebody who refuses to obey God.’ <n>The word Church means a group of Christians. They meet together because they are obeying Jesus. It does not mean the building where they meet. <n>This does not mean that we should only be friends with other Christians. We can be friends with other people too. But perhaps a person says that he follows Jesus. But he does not obey Jesus. Then we should not go with that person. 


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‘What I say is true. Maybe you will say, “No, you cannot do that” to something that people on earth want to do. God will say “No” to it where he rules in <i>heaven</i>. Maybe you will say, “Yes, you can do that” to something that people want on earth. God will then say “Yes” to it where he rules in <i>heaven</i>.


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Two people may agree together to ask God for the same thing. Then my Father above will give them what they ask for.


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Two or more people come together to speak to me because they believe in me. I am there with them.’ <n>People must ask God for the right things. They must be things that God wants to give to them. <n>Jesus tells the people about the servant who did not <i>forgive</i></n>


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Then Peter came to talk to Jesus. ‘Teacher’, he asked. ‘If my brother does wrong things against me many times, how many times must I <i>forgive</i> him? Must I <i>forgive</i> him as many as 7 times for the wrong things that he has done against me?’


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‘I do not say 7 times’, Jesus replied. ‘I say, 7 times, and then again and again until you cannot count.’ <n>Jesus is saying that we must continue to <i>forgive</i> people. 


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‘I will tell you what the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like. A king wanted to check how much money his servants should give to him. 


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So the king began to check. Then his men led a servant to him who had a big debt. He must pay back 10 000 gold coins to the king.’ <n>This was a very large amount of money. No man could ever pay all this money to the king. 


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‘The servant could not pay his debt to the king. So the king said to his men, “Sell the servant and his wife and children and all his things. Then I will keep the money to pay his debt.”


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Then the servant went down on his knees in front of the king. He said to him, “Please, please give me some more time, then I will pay you everything.” 


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Then the king felt sorry for his servant and said to him, “You do not need to give me the money. You are free of the debt.”


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But then that same servant went away and he met another servant of the king. This other servant had to pay back a debt of 100 cheap coins to the first servant. The first servant took hold of the neck of the other servant. “Give me the money that is mine”, he said.


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The other servant went down on his knees in front of the first servant. “Please, please give me some more time”, he said to the first servant. “Then I will give you the money.”


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But the first servant said, “I refuse to do that!” And he put the other servant in prison until he could pay his debt to him. 


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The other servants of the king saw what had happened. They were not happy about it. So they went to see the king. And they told him about everything that had happened.


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So the king then sent a message to bring the first servant to him. “You are a very bad person”, said the king to the servant. “I told you that you did not need to give me my money. I did this because you asked me. 


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The king was very angry with the first servant. His men put the first servant in prison and they <i>punished</i> him. He would remain there until he could pay all his debt to the king.’


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Then Jesus finished the story and he said, ‘You must <i>forgive</i> your friend completely. If you do not <i>forgive</i> him completely, then, in the same way, my Father above will not <i>forgive</i> you.’


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When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he went away from Galilee. He went to the part of Judea that is on the other side of the river Jordan. 


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Some <i>Pharisees</i> came to talk to Jesus. They tried to cause Jesus to give the wrong answers to their questions. They asked, ‘Can a man send his own wife away and say to her, “You are no longer my wife.” Does the <i>Jewish Law</i> let him do this for any reason he chooses?’


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‘You surely have read about this in God’s book’, Jesus replied. ‘At the start of the world, God made men and he also made women.’ <n>Jesus is telling them about things that are in the book called Genesis. We can read about them in Genesis 2:24. 


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‘Because of this, a man leaves his father and his mother. God joins him and his wife together. The man and the woman become like one person. 


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They are not two separate people any longer. They are like one person. God has joined them together to be husband and wife. So nobody must separate them.’


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Then the <i>Pharisees</i> said to Jesus, ‘Moses said that a man could give his own wife a paper. The paper shows that the man and woman are now separate. Then the man can send the woman away. Why did Moses say this?’


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Jesus answered them. ‘Moses said this because you people did not want to obey God. All these things were different at the start, when he made the world. 


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What I say is true. A man must not send his wife away unless she has had sex with another man. A man can only marry another woman if that has happened. If not, then he does a wrong thing if he marries another woman.’


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Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> replied, ‘This is what it is like for a man and a woman to marry. Maybe it is better if a man does not marry.’


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What I say is true. There are several different reasons why a man cannot marry. Some men cannot have sex. They were born like that. Some other men also cannot have sex. This is because men did something to them. And now they cannot have sex. Some men do not marry because they can work better for God without a wife. Anyone who can understand this can agree with it.’ <n>Jesus wants children to come to him</n>


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Then some people brought their children to Jesus. They wanted him to put his hands on their children’s heads. They wanted him to pray for their children. But the <i>disciples</i> did not like this. They said to them, ‘Take your children away from here.’


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But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop the children. Let them come to me. People who are like these children can come into the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>.’ 


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So Jesus put his hands on each of the children’s heads and he prayed for them. Then, after that, he went away from that place. <n>Jesus meets a rich man</n>


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One day a man came to see Jesus. ‘Teacher’, he asked. ‘What good thing must I do so that I can live for always?’


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Jesus replied, ‘You should not ask me about a good thing! Only God is good. If you want to live for always, then you must obey all God’s <i>laws</i>.’


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The man asked Jesus, ‘Which <i>laws</i> must I obey?’ <n>So Jesus replied, ‘Do not kill anyone. Do not have sex with anyone who is not your wife. Do not rob anyone. Always say true things about people. 


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Love your father and your mother and only say good things about them. Love other people as much as you love yourself.’


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‘If you want to be completely good’, Jesus said to him, ‘then you must do this. You must sell everything that you have. Give the money to poor people and then you will have valuable things in <i>heaven</i>. Come back when you have done that. And then follow me.’


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When the young man heard this, he was not happy. Then he went away. He was feeling sad because he was a very rich man.


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Then Jesus said to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘What I say is true. It is very difficult for a rich man to come into the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>. 


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Yes, it is difficult for a big animal to go through the hole in a <i>needle</i>. But it is much more difficult than that for a rich man to come into the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>.’


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When the <i>disciples</i> heard this, they were even more surprised. ‘Who then can God save?’ they asked.


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Jesus looked at them and he replied, ‘Men cannot save themselves. But God can do it. God can do everything.’


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‘Listen!’ Peter said to Jesus. ‘We have left everything that we had. And now we are your <i>disciples</i>. What will we receive because we have done this?’


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Jesus said to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘What I say is true. The Son of Man will rule in the new world that will start one day. You who are my <i>disciples</i> will also rule. You will <i>judge</i> the 12 families of <i>Israel</i>. 


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Some people may leave their house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields. They leave them to go and tell other people the good news about me. Those people will receive 100 times more than they already have in this world. That is, they will receive many homes, many brothers and sisters, many mothers and children and fields. People will also hurt them because they are obeying God. But after they die, they will live with God for always. 


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But many people who are very important now will become the least important. Many who are now the least important people will become very important.’


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‘I will tell you what the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like. The master of the house went out early in the morning. He wanted to find some people who would work in his field. He would pay these workers. 


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The master agreed with the workers that he would pay them one small <i>silver</i> coin a day. And he sent them to work in the field.’ <n>A person usually received one small <i>silver</i> coin when he worked for one day. 


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‘The master went out again about three hours later. He saw some other men standing in the market place. They had nothing to do. 


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So the master said to these men, “You also go and work in my field. I will pay you the right amount of money.” 


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So the workers went to the master’s field. <n>The master went out again at noon, and again he went out three hours after that. Both times he sent men to his field to work. 


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Two hours later, he went out again. And he still found men who were standing there. And they were doing nothing. The master asked them, “Why are you standing here all day and you are doing nothing?”


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The men said to the master, “Nobody has asked us to work for him.” <n>So the master said to them, “You also go and work in my field.”


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Then the evening came. And the master of the field went to see the man who watched the workers. “Tell the workers that they must come here”, the master said to him. “And pay them their money. Begin with the workers who came last. Finish with the workers who came first.”


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The workers who had come first to work also received a small <i>silver</i> coin. They thought that they would receive more than the other workers. 


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But when they received their money, they were not happy. And they told the master that they were not happy. 


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They said to him, “Some of these other workers came last and only worked for one hour. But you have paid them the same as you paid us. And we have worked all day in the hot sun.”


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Then the master said to one of the workers, “My friend, I am being fair to you. You did agree to work for one day and to receive one small <i>silver</i> coin. 


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Take your money and go home. I choose to give this last man the same amount of money as I gave to you. 


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It is my money. I can choose what to do with it. I want to be kind and give plenty of money to everyone. You should be happy about this.” ’


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Jesus said, ‘So, one day, those people who are the least important will be the most important. And those who are most important now will be least important.’ <n>Jesus talks again about how he will die</n>


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Jesus was going to Jerusalem. They walked along. Then he led his 12 <i>disciples</i> to a quiet place where he could speak to them alone. 


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‘Listen!’ he said. ‘When we arrive in Jerusalem, someone will help people to take hold of me, the Son of Man. These people will take me to the leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the teachers of the <i>Law</i>. These important <i>Jews</i> will say that I must die. 


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Then these important <i>Jews</i> will take me. And they will give me to those who are not <i>Jews</i>. They will <i>laugh at</i> me and hit me with a <i>whip</i>. Then they will kill me on a <i>cross</i>. After three days, I will come back to life.’ <n>At this time, the ruler’s soldiers would kill bad people on a <i>cross</i>. Soldiers fixed them to a big <i>cross</i>, made out of wood. They remained on the <i>cross</i> until they died. <n>The wife of Zebedee asks Jesus for something</n>


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Then Zebedee’s wife came to see Jesus. She brought her two sons, James and John, with her. She went down on her knees in front of Jesus. She wanted to ask him to do something good for her.


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‘What do you want?’ Jesus asked her. <n>‘One day, you will be king and you will rule your <i>kingdom</i>’, she said. ‘Then I want one of my two sons to sit at your right side. I want the other son to sit at your left side. Please will you do this?’


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Jesus replied to James and John. ‘You do not understand what you are asking me to do’, he said to them. ‘Can you have pain and trouble in the same way that I will have pain and trouble?’ <n>‘Yes, we can do this’, said James and John.


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Jesus said to them, ‘Yes, that is true. You will have pain and trouble in the same way that I will have pain and trouble. But I cannot promise that you will sit at my right side or at my left side. God has chosen who will sit there. He has prepared the places for them.’


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But Jesus asked the 12 men to come near him. ‘You know how the rulers of other countries rule’, Jesus said. ‘They have great power over the people. Their leaders have great authority over them. 


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I do not want you to be like that. The person who wants to be most important person among you must be a servant to the other <i>disciples</i>. 


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The person who wants to be the most important person must be like the least important servant to everyone. 


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The Son of Man himself came to earth to be a servant to other people. He did not come here to have servants who would work for him. He came to die so that many people can be free.’ <n>Jesus causes two men to see again</n>


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Now, two men were sitting at the side of the road. These men could not see. But they heard that Jesus was walking along near them. So they shouted, ‘Jesus, Son of David, please be kind to us.’


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The people who were in the crowd were angry with them. And they tried to stop the men shouting. ‘Be quiet!’ they said. But the men shouted even louder, ‘Son of David, please be kind to us.’


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Then Jesus felt sorry for the two men. He touched their eyes and immediately the men could see again. So they followed him along the road. <n>‘Son of David’ is another name for the special person, the <i>Christ</i>, that God would send to save his people. It is another name for Jesus. 


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Jesus and his 12 <i>disciples</i> were coming near to Jerusalem. They came first to the village called Bethphage. They were on the hill called the Hill of <i>Olives</i>. <n>Bethphage is a village on the east side of the hill called the Hill of <i>Olives</i>. The Hill of <i>Olives</i> is on the east side of Jerusalem. It is called this because many <i>olive</i> trees grow on it. An <i>olive</i> is a fruit. 


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‘Go into the village that is in front of you’, Jesus said to two of his <i>disciples</i>. ‘As you go into the village, you will find a <i>donkey</i> tied there with her young donkey. Undo the <i>ropes</i> and bring them both here to me.’ <n>A donkey is like a small horse. 


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‘Someone may ask you, “Why are you taking the <i>donkeys</i>?” Say to him, “The Master needs them. He will send them back to you soon.” ’


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‘Say to the people in Jerusalem, <n>“Look, your king is coming. <n>He does not come like someone who thinks that he is important. <n>And he is riding on a <i>donkey</i>. <n>He is riding on the foal of a <i>donkey</i>.” ’ [Zechariah 9:9] <n>A foal is a young donkey. 


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So the two <i>disciples</i> went to the village. They did everything that Jesus had asked them to do. 


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They brought the <i>donkey</i> and the young donkey to Jesus. They put their coats on the <i>donkeys</i>. And then Jesus climbed up and he sat on one of them. 


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Many people in the crowd put their coats down on the road. Other people cut down some branches from the trees. And they put these branches down on the road. <n>The people did this so that the <i>donkeys</i> could walk on the coats and on the branches. People often did this when they received someone important. 


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Many people went in front of Jesus and many people followed him. All the people shouted, <n>‘Welcome! We pray that God will be good to you, the Son of David! <n>Happy is the king who comes with God’s authority. <n>Let us say how good is our God in <i>heaven</i>.’


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When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, everybody in the city was very happy. They were asking each other, ‘Who is this man?’


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The people in the crowd replied, ‘This is Jesus. He comes from Nazareth in Galilee. He is the <i>prophet</i> that God promised to send.’ <n>Jesus visits God’s Great House</n>


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Jesus went to the place outside God’s Great House. People were buying and selling things there. Jesus caused them all to leave. He pushed over the tables of the men who bought and sold money. He pushed over the seats of the men who sold birds. <n>God’s Great House had a wall round it. Only the <i>priests</i> went into God’s Great House. The <i>priests</i> let the people go through the gate in the wall. They came together in a place outside God’s Great House. <n>The people had to use different money in God’s Great House. They had to sell their own money and buy this different money. With this, they could buy special birds and animals to give as gifts to God. 


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Jesus spoke to them all. He said, ‘The <i>prophets</i> wrote God’s words in a book. “My House”, God said, “will be a place where people can come to pray [Isaiah 56:7] .” But you have caused it to be a place where people rob other people.’


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People who could not see went to meet Jesus at the place outside God’s Great House. People who could not walk very well also went there. And Jesus caused them all to become well. 


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The important <i>priests</i> and teachers of the <i>Law</i> saw all the powerful things that Jesus did. They also saw children in the place outside God’s Great House. The children were shouting, ‘Welcome! We pray that God will be good to you, Son of David!’ All these things caused the important <i>Jews</i> to become very angry.


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They asked Jesus, ‘Can you hear what these children are saying?’ <n>‘Yes’, Jesus replied. ‘I am sure that you have read this message from God, <n>“Babies and children say how important you are. <n>Their words will be completely beautiful and correct.” ’ [Psalm 8:2] 


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Then Jesus left everyone and he went out of Jerusalem. He stayed that night in Bethany. <n>Bethany was a village near Bethphage, very near to Jerusalem. <n>Jesus causes a fruit tree to die</n>


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And while he was walking along, he saw a fruit tree near to the road. He went to look for fruit on it. But there were only leaves on the tree, and no fruit. Jesus said to the tree, ‘No fruit will ever grow on you again.’ Then, immediately, the tree dried up and it died.


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The <i>disciples</i> saw it happen and they were very surprised. And they asked Jesus, ‘How did the tree dry up so quickly?’


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‘What I say to you is true’, Jesus said to them. ‘You must really believe in God. You must believe how powerful God really is. If you believe this, then you could do the same thing to this fruit tree. And also, you could say to this mountain, “Stand up and throw yourself into the sea.” If you said that to the mountain, it would happen. 


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If you really believe, then pray. Ask him to give you something. And he will give you the thing that you ask him for.’


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Then Jesus returned to the place outside God’s Great House. While he was teaching the people, the leaders of the <i>priests</i> and important <i>Jews</i> went to him. ‘What authority do you have to do these things?’ they asked him. ‘Tell us. Who gave you the authority to do them?’


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‘I also will ask you something’, replied Jesus. ‘If you tell me the right answer, then I will answer your question. I will tell you where my authority comes from. 


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John had authority to <i>baptise</i> people. Did this authority come from God or did a man tell him to do it?’ Then all the <i>Jewish</i> leaders talked to each other about Jesus’ question. ‘We might say that John’s authority came from God’, they said. ‘But then Jesus will ask us why we did not believe John. 


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We might say that a man gave John his authority. But the people all think that John was a <i>prophet</i>. We would be afraid that they might attack us.’


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So the <i>Jewish</i> leaders answered Jesus. ‘We do not know who gave John his authority.’ <n>Jesus said to them, ‘And I will not tell you who gave me authority to do these things.’ <n>Jesus tells a story about two sons</n>


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Jesus said to the important <i>Jews</i>, ‘Tell me what you think about this story. A man had two sons. He went to the older son and said, “Son, go and work in the field today.”


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The older son replied, “I do not want to go and work in the field today.” But after he had said that, he decided to go to the field.


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The man went to his other son and he said the same thing to him. The second son replied, “Yes father, I will go.” But then he did not go to work in the field.


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Now which of the man’s sons did what his father wanted?’ Jesus asked the important <i>Jews</i>. <n>They replied, ‘The older son did what his father wanted.’ <n>‘What I say to you is true’, said Jesus. ‘The men who take <i>taxes</i> will go into the <i>Kingdom</i> of God before you. Also the women who have sex with men for money will go into the <i>Kingdom</i> of God before you. 


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I say this because of the way that John came to you. He explained to you the right way to obey God. You did not believe him. But those people who did really bad things believed John. You knew that these people believed him. But, even then, you would not believe John’s message. You have done wrong things. But you would not tell God that you were sorry. And you would not obey him.’ <n>Jesus tells a story about a farmer</n>


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Then Jesus spoke again to the important <i>Jews</i>. ‘Listen to another story that I want to tell you. There was a man who had his own farm. He planted <i>vines</i> in his field, and then he built a wall round it. He dug a hole in the ground to put the <i>grapes</i> in. Later, he would make them into <i>wine</i>. He also made a tall building. From the top of the building, a servant would watch the field.’ <n>From a tall building, someone could watch for any animals, birds or bad people who came to the farm. <n>‘The man then found some farmers who would take <n>care</i> of his <i>vines</i> for him. He then went away to another country. 


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When it was time for the farmers to cut the <i>grapes</i>, the master sent his servants to them. The servants said to the farmers, “Please give us the fruit that is for our master.”


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Then the farmers took hold of the servants. They hit one servant with sticks. They killed another of the servants and they threw stones at the other servant. 


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So the master sent other servants to the field. He sent more servants than the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to these servants also. 


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After that, the master sent his own son to the farmers. He thought that the farmers would be kind to his son.


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The farmers saw the master’s son coming. “This is the master’s own son”, they said to each other. “When our master dies, his son will have this field. So, let us kill the master’s son and then we can have the field.” 


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The important <i>Jews</i> said to Jesus, ‘The master will ask someone to kill those bad people in a bad way. Then he will ask someone else to be the farmers in his field. Those new farmers will give the master the fruit that is for him.’


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Jesus said to them, ‘I am sure that you have read this. The <i>prophets</i> wrote, <n>“The people who built the house did not want to use one special stone. <n>They thought it had no value. <n>Now that stone is the most important stone. <n>It makes the corner of the wall strong. <n>God did this. <n>And we can see that he did something great.” <n>[Psalm 118:22-23] 


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I am telling you this because God will take his <i>kingdom</i> away from you. He will give it to people who will obey God.


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When a person falls on to that stone, he will break his body. When that stone falls on top of someone, it will break him completely.’ <n>Verse 44 is not in all copies of Matthew’s book. 


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The leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the <i>Pharisees</i> heard what Jesus said. They understood that he was speaking against them in his stories. 


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They wanted to take hold of Jesus and put him in prison. But the people thought that Jesus was a <i>prophet</i>. So they did not try to do it because they were afraid of the people. <n>In this story, the master of the field is like God. The <i>vines</i> are like the people, and the farmers are like the leaders of the <i>Jews</i>. The servants that the master sent to the field are like the <i>prophets</i>. The master’s son is like Jesus. The <i>Jewish</i> leaders did not believe that Jesus was God’s Son. God would kill those who refused Jesus. That is what Jesus was telling them. They understood what Jesus had said. And they were very angry with him. <n>Jesus is this special stone. The <i>Jewish</i> leaders did not want to use it. 


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‘I will tell you again what the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like’, he said. ‘A king prepared to have a special meal for his son when he got married. He sent his servants to prepare a big meal for everyone to eat at the marriage. 


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He had asked many people to come. So he sent his servants out to tell them that the meal was ready. But many people refused to come.


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So the king then sent out other servants. He said to them, “Please tell this message to all those people that I have asked to come. Say that the master says: ‘My servants have prepared the meal. They have killed my large cow and some fat young cows. Everything is ready. Come to the meal at the marriage!’ ”


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But none of the people was interested in the king’s message. They went away to do their usual work. One man went to his farm and another man went to his business. 


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The king was very angry and he said to his soldiers, “Go out into the city where these people live. Kill those people who killed my servants. And burn down their city!”


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Then the king said to his other servants, “The meal that my servants have prepared for the marriage is ready. But the people that I asked to come had no value. 


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Go out now to the wide streets in the town. Ask all the people that you meet there to come to the meal. The king has prepared it for his son.” 


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Then those servants went out into the streets. And they brought to the king’s house all the people that they met. Some were good people and some were bad people. Many people came so that the room for the marriage was full.


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Then the king came into the room to see all the people. He saw one man who was not wearing the right clothes for a marriage. 


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The king said to the man, “So, how did you come in here, my friend? You are not wearing the right clothes for a marriage.” The man did not answer.


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The king said to his servants, “Tie him up so that he cannot move his hands or his feet. Throw him into the dark place outside. There, people will cry. They will also bite their teeth against each other because they are angry.”


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God asks many people to come under his rule. But he only chooses a few people.’ <n>At that time, a man asked his friends to a special meal when he got married. He also gave them special clothes to wear. They wore these clothes when they came in to the meal. People came in from the streets, so they were not wearing special clothes. One person had not accepted the special clothes that the king gave to him. In the story the special clothes are like the good works of Jesus. We need these for God to save us. Each person must accept what God gives. A person cannot save himself with his own good works. Jesus is teaching the people that. <n>The <i>Pharisees</i> ask Jesus about paying <i>taxes</i></n>


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After this, the <i>Pharisees</i> thought about what they could do. They wanted to ask Jesus difficult questions. They wanted to hear him say something bad about the <i>Roman</i> ruler. 


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So the <i>Pharisees</i> sent their own <i>disciples</i> to Jesus. And they also sent people who were in Herod’s group. They all said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we know that you are an honest man. It really is true that you teach the right things about God. It does not matter to you what other people think. It does not matter to you if someone is an important person or not. 


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Here is a question for you, Jesus. Tell us what you think about this. Should we pay our <i>taxes</i> to the <i>Roman</i> ruler, called Caesar? Or should we not pay them?’


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Jesus knew why they had asked him this question. It was because they wanted to do bad things to him. So he said to them, ‘You are trying to cause me to say something wrong. You are <i>hypocrites</i>! 


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They replied, ‘It is Caesar’s picture and Caesar’s name.’ <n>So Jesus said to them, ‘Give to Caesar the things that are for Caesar. And give to God the things that are for God.’


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When they heard Jesus’ answer, they were very surprised. So they left him and they went away. <n>The <i>Sadducees</i> ask Jesus a question</n>


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On that day, some <i>Sadducees</i> also came to Jesus. These men did not believe that anyone will live again after his death. The <i>Sadducees</i> asked Jesus a question. <n>The <i>Sadducees</i> were a group of <i>Jewish</i> leaders. 


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‘Teacher’, they said to Jesus, ‘Moses wrote these things for us in the <i>Law</i>. A woman marries a man. But the man dies before the woman has any children. That man’s brother must then marry her. They can have children for the man who died. If they have children, the children will be called the children of the first husband. 


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Once, there were seven brothers who lived here. The oldest brother married a woman. Then he died before the woman had any children. 


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The next younger brother then married her. And then he also died. So a third brother married this woman. And the same thing happened to all the brothers down to the seventh brother. They all died before the woman had any children. 


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Now some people say that one day dead people will become alive again. On that day, whose wife will that woman be? She had married all seven of those brothers.’


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Jesus said to the <i>Sadducees</i>, ‘You are wrong. You do not know what God says in his book. You do not know how powerful God is. 


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One day, people who are dead will become alive again. But then men and women will not marry. They will be like the <i>angels</i> in <i>heaven</i>. They do not marry. 


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“I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” [Exodus 3:6] God is not God of people who are dead. He is the God of people who are now alive.’ <n>We can read about this in Exodus, chapter 3. 


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The crowd heard this. They were very surprised about what Jesus had told the <i>Sadducees</i>. <n>Jesus teaches the <i>Pharisees</i> about the most important <i>Law</i></n>


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The <i>Pharisees</i> heard that Jesus had said these things to the <i>Sadducees</i>. Now the <i>Sadducees</i> had stopped asking Jesus any questions. So the <i>Pharisees</i> met together in one place.


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One of the <i>Pharisees</i> was also a teacher of the <i>Law</i>. He asked Jesus a question. He wanted Jesus to say something wrong. 


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‘Teacher’, he said to Jesus, ‘which of our <i>Laws</i> is the most important <i>Law</i> for us to obey?’


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Jesus replied to the <i>Pharisee</i>, ‘You must completely love the <i>Lord</i> your God. You should love him with all that you are. Love him in all that you think. Love him in all that you do. 


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The second <i>Law</i> is as important as the first. You must love other people as much as you love yourself. 


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All the <i>Laws</i> of Moses teach us that. And also all the things that the <i>prophets</i> teach about God are in these two <i>Laws</i>.’ <n>Jesus teaches people about the <i>Christ</i></n>


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‘What do you think about the <i>Christ</i>, the special person that God will send to us? Whose Son is he?’ <n>The <i>Pharisees</i> replied, ‘He will be from the family of King David.’


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Jesus asked them, ‘Can you explain this to me then? God’s <i>Holy Spirit</i> told David that the special person from God was called <i>Lord</i>. David says, 


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“The <i>Lord</i> said to my <i>Lord</i>: <n>‘Sit at the important place at my right side. <n>Remain there until I beat your enemies down to the ground. <n>I will put them down like a place to rest your feet.’ ” [Psalm 110:1] 


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So’, Jesus said, ‘we know that David calls this special person, “<i>Lord</i>”. So how can he be a man from the family of King David?’ 


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Nobody could answer the question that Jesus asked. After this, everyone was afraid to ask Jesus any more questions.


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‘The teachers of the <i>Law</i> and the <i>Pharisees</i> have authority to explain the <i>Law</i> of Moses. 


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You must obey everything that they teach you. But you must not do the same things that they do. They teach you what the <i>Law</i> of Moses is. But then they themselves do not obey these rules. 


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The rules that they give you are hard to obey. They are like heavy luggage, which they tie on your shoulders. But they will not help you even a little bit to carry these heavy things.’ <n>These heavy things are the <i>Laws</i> which Moses taught. The teachers of the <i>Law</i> and the <i>Pharisees</i> taught extra rules. This made it more difficult for people to obey all the <i>Laws</i>. 


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‘They do everything so that the people will see them. They make their phylacteries very large and they make their tassels long.’ <n>A phylactery was a small box which a <i>Jew</i> tied to his head or his arm. There was some paper in the box. They had written some words from God’s book on the paper. Tassels were like long thin things that hung down from a person’s coat. They wore the phylacteries and the tassels for other people to see. They wanted people to think that they really loved God. 


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‘But the teachers of the <i>Law</i> and the <i>Pharisees</i> like to sit in the important places at special meals. They also sit in the important places in the buildings where people meet to pray. 


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They like people to call them “My teacher.” In the market place, they want many people to speak to them as people would speak to an important person.


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You all believe in God. You have only one teacher. So nobody should call another person, “My teacher”.’ <n>Jesus alone is our master and teacher. 


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‘Do not call another person in the world “Father”. You have only one Father, and he lives in <i>heaven</i>.’ <n>Jesus was saying that God is their Father. 


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‘Do not call each other “Leader”. You have only one leader. And he is the <i>Christ</i> that God will send to you. 


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Someone may think that he himself is very important. But God will cause that person to become the least important person. Someone may think that he is the least important person. But God will cause that person to become very important.’ <n>Jesus tells the teachers of the <i>Law</i> and the <i>Pharisees</i> that they are <i>hypocrites</i></n>


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Jesus spoke to the teachers of the <i>Law</i> and the <i>Pharisees</i>. ‘Trouble will come to you’, he said. ‘You are <i>hypocrites</i>! You have taken away the key that opens a door. It is the door to where people learn about God. They want to go in and find out how God rules. You yourselves will not go into the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i>. Nor will you let other people go in who want to.’ <n>A hypocrite does things that seem good. He wants other people to say that he really is a good person. They will think that he really obeys God. The hypocrite says that he does good things. But really he does something different. He only wants other people to think that he is good. But he is not good. 


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‘Trouble will come to you, teachers of the <i>Law</i> and <i>Pharisees</i>. You are <i>hypocrites</i>! You take things away from women whose husbands have died. You want people to think good things about you, so you pray for a long time. God will <i>punish</i> you more than people who have not done these things.’ <n>Verse 14 is not in all copies of Matthew’s book. 


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‘Trouble will come to you, teachers of the <i>Law</i> and <i>Pharisees</i>. You are <i>hypocrites</i>. You travel across land and across the sea. You do this to make one person believe what you believe. Then when he does believe it, he is even worse than you. He does more bad things than you do. So you cause him to go to <i>hell</i>.


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Trouble will come to you, teachers. You cannot see, but you are teaching people which way to go.’ <n>Jesus meant that the teachers of the <i>Law</i> and <i>Pharisees</i> did not understand about the <i>Kingdom</i> of God. They were like men who could not see. They did not know God’s way, but they were trying to teach it to other people. <n>‘You say this to people. “Maybe you make a promise like this. ‘I promise by the name of God’s Great House’. Then you do not need to do what you promised to do. But then you make a different promise. You say, ‘I promise by the gold on God’s Great House.’ Then you must do what you promised to do.” 


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You are like a man who cannot see. And you are fools. I will tell you which of these two things is most important. The gold on God’s Great House is not important. But God’s Great House is really important and it makes the gold important. 


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You also teach the people this: “Maybe you make a promise like this. ‘I promise by the name of the special table in God’s House.’ Then you do not need to do what you promised to do. But then you make a different promise. You say, ‘I promise by the gift on the special table.’ Then you should do what you promised to do.” 


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You are like people who cannot see. You are fools. I will tell you which of these two things is most important. The gift on the special table is not important. But the special table is really important and it makes the gift important. 


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Maybe a person makes a promise like this. He says, “I promise by the name of the special table in God’s Great House”. Then he is making a promise to God. It is God’s table. All the gifts on it are for God. 


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Perhaps a person says this. “I promise by the name of God’s Great House”. Then he is making a promise to God. It is his House with everything in it. 


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Perhaps a person says, “I promise by the sky above”. The sky is God’s. It is the place where he sits. And he rules there.’ <n>Perhaps a person wants to make a promise stronger. So he says ‘by the name of -’ to make the promise. He is using that name to make the promise stronger. Jesus says that we should not do this. <n>We must always do everything that we have promised to do. God wants our yes to be yes. He wants our no to be no. We might say what we do not mean. But then he will call us <i>hypocrites</i>. 


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‘Teachers of the <i>Law</i> and <i>Pharisees</i>, trouble is coming to you. You are <i>hypocrites</i>! You only obey the very small matters in the <i>Law</i>. You grow special small plants to use when you cook. You give to God one part out of ten parts of these plants. This is a small matter in the <i>Law</i> which you obey. But the more important parts of the <i>Law</i> you forget to obey. It is important to be good and kind to other people. It is also important to believe and to obey God. You should do all these important things as well as the other things that are not so important. 


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You are like a man who cannot see, but you are showing other people the way. You take a small fly out of your cup so that you do not drink it. But you do not see the large animal that is swimming in it.’ <n>The teachers of the <i>Law</i> and the <i>Pharisees</i> obeyed the smallest and least important parts of the <i>Law</i> of Moses. But they did not obey the important parts. They did not understand that they were doing the wrong things. 


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‘Teachers of the <i>Law</i> and <i>Pharisees</i>, trouble is coming to you. You are <i>hypocrites</i>! You are like someone who is careful to wash the outside of a cup and a plate. The inside of the cup and plate are also dirty. But you do not wash that. The dirt is like the things you do. You want more things than you should have. You hurt people to get what you want. 


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<i>Pharisees</i>, you are like men who cannot see. You must first clean the inside of the cup and plate. Then the outside will also be clean.


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Teachers of the <i>Law</i> and <i>Pharisees</i>, trouble is coming to you. You are <i>hypocrites</i>! You bury dead people in holes in the rock. You put white paint outside the holes on the stones. You are like these white stones outside these holes. They look beautiful on the outside, but they are full of the bones of dead people and bad things. 


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You are the same as these holes. Other people look at you. They think that you obey God. But really, you are <i>hypocrites</i> and you do many very bad things.


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Teachers of the <i>Law</i> and <i>Pharisees</i>, things will be bad for you. You are <i>hypocrites</i>! You build beautiful places. You bury the <i>prophets</i> in these places after they have died. You cause the places where you have buried good people to be beautiful. 


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You say, “Our <i>ancestors</i> killed God’s <i>prophets</i>. If we had lived at that time, we would not have helped them to kill the <i>prophets</i>.” 


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So you are speaking against yourselves. You are saying that you are the sons of these people. These people killed God’s <i>prophets</i>. 


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You are like snakes, and like a family of dangerous snakes. You will not be able to run away. I am sure that God will <i>judge</i> you. And he will send you to <i>hell</i>. 


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So I tell you this. I will send <i>prophets</i> to you. I will also send people who know many things. And I will send people to teach you. But you will kill some of these people. You will kill some of them on a <i>cross</i>. In the places where you meet to pray, you will hit some of them with <i>whips</i>. They will run from one town to another town, but you will follow them. 


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Let me tell you why I send these people to you. Because of the things that you will do, God will <i>punish</i> you. You will receive the <i>punishment</i> for the murder of Abel. He was a good man. You killed many other good men. You also murdered Zechariah, the son of Berechiah. He also was a good man, but your leaders killed him. He died between God’s Great House and God’s special table.’ <n>Cain killed Abel. Abel was the first person to die. Through the years bad men have murdered many good men. The <i>prophets</i> wrote in God’s book about many people who died in that way. Abel was the first person like that. Zechariah was the last person like that. 


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‘What I am saying is true. God will <i>punish</i> all you people who are alive today. He will do this because of all the bad things that your <i>ancestors</i> did.


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Oh, you people who live in Jerusalem! Oh, you people who live in Jerusalem! When God sends <i>prophets</i> to you, you throw stones at them. And you kill them. Many times, I have wanted to bring all of you near to me. A bird brings all her little birds together and she covers them with her body. But you would not let me take <n>care</i> of you like that. 


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One day you will say, “Happy is the man whom God sends here with his authority.” But you will not see me again until you say that.’ [Psalm 118:26] <n>God would let the enemies of the <i>Jews</i> kill all the people in Jerusalem. This happened 40 years later. The <i>Romans</i> attacked and destroyed the city called Jerusalem. 


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Jesus left God’s Great House, and his <i>disciples</i> came to him. They began to talk to Jesus about the buildings of God’s Great House. 


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So Jesus said to them, ‘Yes, you can see all these beautiful buildings now. But what I say is true. The day is coming soon when enemies will completely destroy them. They will not leave one stone on top of another stone. They will throw every stone down from the buildings.’ <n>Jesus is talking about when the <i>Romans</i> would destroy Jerusalem in the year <i>AD</i> 70. 


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Jesus then sat on the hill called the Hill of <i>Olives</i>. While he was alone, his <i>disciples</i> came to him. ‘Tell us when this will happen’, they said to him. ‘What will we see just before you return? What will show that God will soon end the world?’


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Jesus said, ‘Be careful and watch. Some people will tell you things that are not true. But do not believe them. 


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Many people will come and say, “I am the <i>Christ</i>.” Many other people will believe that this is true. 


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You will hear the noise of wars near where you are. You will hear about people who are fighting wars in places a long way away. Do not be afraid. These things must happen first, but it is not yet the end of everything. 


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People in one country will attack the people in another country. Kings and their people will fight against other kings and their people. The ground will move in many different places. Some people will not have any food to eat because the plants for food will not grow. 


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Then people will take hold of you because you believe in me. They will <i>punish</i> some of you and they will kill some of you. Some people in every country will <i>hate</i> you because you obey me. 


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At that time, many people who believe in me will stop believing. They will put some of those who follow me in the power of their rulers. And they will <i>hate</i> all those who still follow me. 


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Also at that time, many people will say that they are <i>prophets</i>. This will not be true, but many people will believe them. 


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More and more people everywhere will be doing very bad things. Because of this many people will no longer love each other in the way that they did. 


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People will tell the good news about the <i>Kingdom</i> to people all over the world. People will know that the message is true. And they will tell it to other people in every country in the world. Only then will God cause the world to come to an end.


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Long ago Daniel, the <i>prophet</i>, wrote in God’s book. He said that one day people would put something very bad in God’s Great House. They would put it in the special place for God. This will then happen. At that time, you must understand what Daniel wrote. 


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When you see this very bad thing, people in Judea must run to the hills. They must run so that their enemies do not catch them.


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A man who is on the roof of his house must not go down into his house. He must not waste time to fetch anything in his home to take with him.’ <n>At that time, people often sat on the roof of their house after they had finished their work. The roof was flat, and it was cool there. People told each other news across the roofs. There were steps outside the house up on to the roof. 


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‘People who are outside the city in their fields must not go back home. They must not waste any time. So they must not even go to fetch their coats. 


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Those days will be bad for women who have a baby inside them! And those days will be bad for those women who have little babies! 


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You must pray to God and say, “Please do not let these things happen in winter. Please do not let them happen on the day when we rest.” 


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People will have great troubles. From the time that God made the world, nothing so bad has ever happened. After this bad time has finished, it will never ever be so bad again. 


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God will make this time of great trouble shorter. If he did not do that, there would be nobody still alive. God will cause this time of trouble to be shorter to help the people that he has chosen. 


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Someone may say to you, “Look, here is the <i>Christ</i>.” Or they may say, “Look, there is the <i>Christ</i>.” When they say that, do not believe them. 


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Some people will say to you, “I am the special man. God has sent me.” Other people will come and they will say, “I am a <i>prophet</i> of God.” None of the things that these people say is true. They will do powerful things that people cannot usually do. They will be trying to cause people to believe that their words are true. They will even try to cause the people that God has chosen to believe in them. 


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Some people may say to you, “Look, the <i>Christ</i> is out there in the <i>desert</i>.” But you must not go out to see who is there. Some people may say to you, “Look, the <i>Christ</i> is in there in that secret room.” You must not believe these people. 


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<i>Lightning</i> shines quickly and it lights up the whole of the sky. It will be like that when the Son of Man returns. 


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Big birds that eat meat arrive together. They all arrive where there is a dead body.’ <n>They gave the name Christ to the person whom God had promised them. Later they called Jesus, Jesus Christ. <n>People know if there is a dead animal on the ground. When they see several big birds flying in the sky, they know. In the same way, people will see the things happening that Jesus talked about. Then they will know that he will soon return. 


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‘Then after all these bad things have happened, <n>“The sun will become dark. <n>The moon will stop shining. <n>Stars will fall down out of the sky, <n>and God will cause all the powerful things in the sky to move from their usual places.” [Isaiah 13:10] 


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Then people will see something powerful in the sky. This will show them that the Son of Man is coming. All the people in the world will weep because they are very sad. Then people will see the Son of Man coming down in the clouds. He will be very powerful. He will be great and very beautiful. 


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The sound of a loud <i>trumpet</i> will go out. The Son of Man will send out God’s <i>angels</i> in every direction. They will bring together all the people that God has chosen from every part of the world.’ <n>Jesus tells a story about a <i>fig</i> tree</n>


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‘I will tell you a story about a <i>fig</i> tree. You can learn something from what the tree does. When the new branches on the tree start to grow, the leaves appear. Then you know that the summer is coming soon. 


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In the same way, you will see all these things happen. Then you will know that the Son of Man is coming soon. He is like someone at the door who is ready to come in. 


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The things that I say to you are true. The people who are living then will see all these things. They will not die before all these things have happened. 


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One day, the earth and the sky will finish. But my words will never finish.’ <n>Nobody will know when the Son of Man will return to the world</n>


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‘Nobody knows the day or the time when all these things will happen. Even the <i>angels</i> in <i>heaven</i> do not know. Even God’s Son does not know. Only God the Father knows when they will happen. 


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It was the same as this when Noah was alive. And it will be the same again when the Son of Man returns. 


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In the days before the rain came, people were eating. People were drinking. Men married women and women married men. They did all these things until the day that Noah climbed into his big boat. 


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The people did not know what would happen. Then rain fell for a long time and all these people died in the deep water. When the Son of Man returns, it will be the same. People will not know that it is going to happen at that moment. 


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At that time, it will be like this. Two men will be working in a field. God will take one man away, but he will leave the other man behind. 


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Two women will be working together in the same place. God will take one woman away, but he will leave the other woman behind.’ <n>We can read the story about Noah in Genesis, chapter 6. God sent the water to kill all the bad people. The water came quickly when the people were not thinking about it. Jesus will also return quickly when people are not thinking about it. 


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You can be sure about this. The master of the house did not know at what time of night a man would come to rob him. If the master had known the time, he would have watched his house more carefully. Then the man would not have robbed his house. 


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So you must also be ready. It will be a surprise for you when the Son of Man returns.’ <n>Jesus tells a story about two servants</n>


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Then Jesus finished teaching them. ‘I will tell you about a good servant. His master knows that he will obey. He knows how to do everything well. The master chooses him to rule over all his other servants. He will give everyone the food that they need each day. 


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The master will come home. And he will see this servant obeying all that he told him to do. So the master will be kind to his servant. 


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So, he begins to hit the other servants. He hits both the men and the women. He eats too much. He also drinks with drunks.’ <n>When someone drinks too much alcohol, he becomes a drunk. 


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‘Then the master of that servant will come home and he will surprise the servant. He did not think that his master would come home on that day or at that time. 


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Then the master will <i>punish</i> him a lot. He will put the servant with those people who do not obey him. The people in that place will cry. And they will bite their teeth together because they are angry.’


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‘I will tell you again what the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like. There were ten young women who were going to a marriage. They took their <i>lamps</i> with them and they went to meet the <i>bridegroom</i>. 


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Five of these young women were silly. They were not careful about what they were doing. Five of these young women understood well. They were careful about what they were doing. 


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The silly young women took their <i>lamps</i> with them, but they did not take any extra oil with them. 


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The other five young women took jars of oil with them. These young women were careful about what they were doing. 


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The <i>bridegroom</i> did not come for a long time. So all the young women became tired, and they went to sleep.


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In the middle of the night, someone shouted out, “The <i>bridegroom</i> is coming. Come out to meet him.”


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The ten young women woke up. Then they got up and they looked at their <i>lamps</i>. They tried to make their <i>lamps</i> work well. 


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The five young women who had not brought extra oil said to the other five young women, “Give us some of your oil, because our <i>lamps</i> are not burning well.”


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The careful young women who had extra oil replied, “If we did that, then there would not be enough oil for all of us. You must go instead to the people who sell oil. You must buy some oil for your <i>lamps</i>.” ’ <n>The bridegroom is the man who will marry the woman. In this story Jesus is the bridegroom. We must be ready for him when he comes. <n>The women had to cut off the cloth that had burned. Then the <i>lamp</i> would continue to burn. They also needed to put more oil in the <i>lamp</i>. The <i>lamps</i> used a lot of oil. 


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‘So these five women went to buy some oil. While they were away, the <i>bridegroom</i> arrived. He would soon marry. The five women who understood well were ready. They went with him into the house. Here the servants had prepared the meal for the marriage. Then the servants shut the door.


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Later, the five silly women also came to the house. They said, “Sir, Sir, please open the door for us.”


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Then Jesus said, ‘So you must watch well. You do not know on what day or at what time I will come.’ <n>Jesus tells a story about three servants</n>


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‘I will tell you again what the <i>Kingdom</i> of <i>Heaven</i> is like. A man was going on a journey. Before he went away, he asked his servants to come to him. He said to them, “Take <n>care</i> of all my money and all my things for me.” 


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The master gave one servant 5000 gold coins. He gave another servant 2000 gold coins, and to another servant he gave 1000 gold coins. He gave to each servant what he would be able to use well. Then the master went away on his journey.’ <n>It was a lot of money that he gave them. The money was not a gift. The master wanted the servants to use the money. He wanted them to buy and sell things. He wanted them to use the money to get more money. 


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‘The servant who had received 5000 gold coins went out immediately. He bought and sold things with the money. This servant got 5000 more gold coins. 


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The servant who had received 2000 gold coins also went out immediately. He also bought and sold things with the money. This servant got 2000 more gold coins. 


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The servant who had received 1000 gold coins did something different. He went outside and he dug a hole in the ground. He buried the money that his master had given him.


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After a long time, the master came home. He asked the servants to come to him. He wanted to know how much money they had now. 


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The servant who had received 5000 gold coins came to his master. The servant said to him, “Master, you gave me 5000 gold coins. And now I have another 5000 gold coins.”


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The master said to this servant, “You are a good servant; you have done really well. You were careful with a little money. I will give you much more money to use. I am really happy about this and I want you to be happy with me.”


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The servant who had received 2000 gold coins also came to his master. The servant said to him, “Master, you gave me 2000 gold coins. And now I have another two thousand gold coins.”


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The master said to his servant, “You are a good servant; you have done really well. You were careful with a little money. I will give you much more to use. I am really happy about this and I want you to be happy with me.”


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The servant who had received 1000 gold coins also came to his master. The servant said to him, “Master, I know what you are like. You ask people to do things all the time. You get seeds back from the ground, which you did not plant. You get fruit from trees that you did not plant. 


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I was afraid of you, so I buried your money in the ground. See, here it is. You can have it back again.”


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The master said to him, “You are a bad and lazy servant. You said that you know about me. I get seeds back that I did not plant. I get fruit from trees that I did not plant. And you knew all that. 


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You should have put the money into the bank. Then, when I came home, I could have received my money back from the bank again, with extra money also.”


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Then the master said to his other servants, “Take the 1000 gold coins from this man. Give them to the man who now has 10 thousand coins.” 


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Then the master said, “What I say is true. I will give more to every person who already has something. He will have much more than he needs. Another person has almost nothing. I will take away even the small amount that he has. 


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This servant cannot work for me any longer. So you can throw him into a dark place outside. People will weep there. And they will bite their teeth together because they are angry.” ’ <n>Jesus was telling people that God gives us gifts. So we must be careful how we use them. One day, he will ask us how we used those gifts. <n>In the story, Jesus also tells the people that he is going away. And he tells them that he will return. Some people do not want Jesus to rule over them. They do not use what he has given them. One day, they will meet him. Jesus told them that he would <i>punish</i> them then. <n>God <i>judges</i> everybody</n>


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‘When I, the Son of Man return, I will be powerful and great and important and beautiful. All the <i>angels</i> will come with me. I will sit on my seat as king. 


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All the people in the world will be together in front of me. I will put them into two groups. I will do it in the same way that a shepherd puts his sheep and goats into two groups. 


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He puts the sheep on his right side and the goats on his left side.’ <n>The shepherd is the person who takes <n>care</i> of the sheep and goats. In the day, sheep and goats eat grass in the fields together. At night, the shepherd puts the goats inside so that they are warm. But he leaves the sheep in the fields. Jesus is using sheep and goats to explain about the <i>Kingdom</i> of God. The sheep are like those people who obey God. And the goats are like those people who do not obey him. 


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‘The king will say to those people who are on his right side, “Come here. My Father has given you good things. He has prepared a place for you in his <i>Kingdom</i>. From the time that God made the world, he made a place ready for you.” 


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Then the king said to them, “I was hungry and you gave me some food to eat. I needed to drink and you gave me some water. I was alone and you asked me to come to your home. 


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I did not have enough clothes and you gave me some more to wear. I was ill and you took <n>care</i> of me. I was in prison and you came to visit me there.”


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The people who did good things will speak to him. “Master, when did we see that you were hungry? And when did we give you some food? When did we see that you needed to drink? And when did we give you some water? 


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When did we see that you were alone? And when did we ask you to come to our home? When did we see that you did not have enough clothes? And when did we give you some more clothes? 


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When did we see you that you were ill? And when did we take <n>care</i> of you? When did we know that you were in prison? And when did we come to visit you?”


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The king will answer them, “What I say to you is true. You did all these things to help people. They were not important people, but they were my friends. If you helped them, then you also helped me.”


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Then the king will say to those people who are at his left side, “Go away from me. God has said that bad things will happen to you. God has prepared a fire that will burn for always. He has prepared it for <i>Satan</i> and those who help him. You will also go into that fire.” 


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Then the king said to them, “I was hungry but you did not give me any food to eat. I needed to drink but you did not give me anything. 


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I was alone but you did not ask me to come to your home. I did not have enough clothes but you did not give me anything to wear. I was ill but you did not take <n>care</i> of me. I was in prison but you did not come to visit me.”


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Then these other people will speak to the king. “Master, when did we see you hungry, or needing something to drink? Or when did we see you alone, or without enough clothes? Or when did we see you ill, or in prison and we did not give you any help?”


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Then the king will reply, “What I say to you is true. You did not do these things for people. They were not important people. But when you did not help them, you also did not help me.”


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These people who did not help other people will go away. God will <i>punish</i> them for always. But those good people who obey God will live for always.’


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‘Now you know that after two days we will eat the <i>Passover</i> meal. Then those people who are against me will put me into the power of the rulers. They will fix me to a <i>cross</i>.’ <n>We can read about the <i>Passover</i> meal in Exodus, chapter 12. 


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Then the leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the important <i>Jews</i> met together in the house of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the most important <i>priest</i> in Jerusalem. 


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They talked about the best way to take hold of Jesus. But they did not want other people to know about their idea. 


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They said to each other, ‘We do not want to take hold of him during the <i>Passover</i>. The people may fight against us if we do that.’ <n>A woman pours oil that has a beautiful smell on Jesus’ head</n>


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Then Jesus went to Bethany and he visited Simon at his house. At one time, Simon had had an illness of the skin. <n>We believe that Jesus had caused Simon to become well again. Now Simon could live in his home in Bethany again. 


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While Jesus was eating a meal, a woman came into the house. She brought a small stone jar with her. The jar contained very expensive oil. It had a very nice smell. She poured the oil over Jesus’ head.


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Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> saw what the woman had done. They became angry and they said, ‘This woman should not have wasted the oil. 


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She could have sold it for a lot of money. Then she could have given the money to poor people.’ <n>The oil was called nard and people made it from a plant. The plant grows in the country called India. People kept the oil in a special stone jar. The woman had to break the jar to pour out the oil. 


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Jesus knew what his <i>disciples</i> were saying. So he said to them, ‘Do not be angry with her. Stop speaking to her like that. She has done a beautiful thing for me. 


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What I say to you is true. Everywhere people will tell this good news. They will also tell about what this woman did. Then other people will think about her because of what she did.’ <n>Judas Iscariot promises to sell Jesus for money</n>


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and he asked them, ‘How much money will you give me if I help you to take hold of Jesus?’ The <i>priests</i> gave Judas 30 <i>silver</i> coins. 


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Judas then waited for the right moment to help them take hold of Jesus. <n>Jesus eats his last meal with his 12 <i>disciples</i></n>


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It was now the first day of the <i>Passover</i>. On this day, people ate bread that they had made without <i>yeast</i> in it. Jesus <i>disciples</i> came to talk to him. ‘Where do you want us to prepare the <i>Passover</i> meal for you to eat?’ they said to him.


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Jesus replied, ‘Go to a certain man in the city and say to him, “The teacher says: This is the moment that God has prepared for me. I will eat the <i>Passover</i> meal with my <i>disciples</i> in your house.” ’ 


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So Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> did what he had asked them to do. And they prepared the <i>Passover</i> meal.


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While they were eating, Jesus said, ‘What I say is true. One of you will help the <i>Jewish</i> rulers to take hold of me.’


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They were very sad about what Jesus had said. Each one of them said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, I am sure that you do not mean me.’


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Jesus said to them ‘It is the man who is putting the end of his bread into the same dish as me. That man will help the <i>Jewish</i> rulers to take hold of me.’ <n>There was a dish on the table with wet food in it. They all put the end of their bread into this dish and they ate the wet food with the bread. Sometimes a person ate out of the same dish as someone else. This meant that they were good friends. 


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‘The Son of Man will die in the way that God’s <i>prophets</i> wrote. But trouble will come to the man who causes this to happen. He should not have helped the rulers to take hold of me. It would be better for that man if he had never come into this world.’


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It was Judas who would help the <i>Jewish</i> rulers. But he said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, it cannot be me who will do this.’ <n>‘Yes, it is you who will do this’, Jesus replied to him.


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While Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> were eating, he took a loaf of bread. He thanked God for it and then he broke the bread into pieces. He then gave it to each of them and he said, ‘Take this bread and eat it. This bread is my body.’


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Then Jesus took a cup. He thanked God for the <i>wine</i> in the cup. Then he gave it to them and each <i>disciple</i> drank from the cup. 


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‘This <i>wine</i> is my blood’, he said. ‘This is the new promise between God and his people. When I die, my blood will come out. Then God can <i>forgive</i> people for all the wrong things that they have done. 


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I am telling you this. I will not drink <i>wine</i> again until I drink it with you again in my Father’s <i>kingdom</i>.’ <n>Most Christians still meet for special meals to remember what Jesus did for them. They obey Jesus. They eat bread and drink <i>wine</i> together. And they think about when Jesus died for them. 


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Then Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> sang a song to God. Then they all went out to the Hill of <i>Olives</i>. <n>People sang a special song about God at the end of a <i>Passover</i> meal. It helped them to remember all that God had done for them. <n>Jesus tells Peter what will happen</n>


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Then Jesus spoke to his <i>disciples</i>. ‘Tonight, you will all run away and you will stop believing in me. The <i>prophets</i> wrote this down: <n>“I will kill the man who takes <n>care</i> of the sheep. <n>Then all the sheep that he had will run away to different places.” [Zechariah 13:7] 


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Jesus replied to Peter, ‘What I say is true. Tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me. This will happen before the <i>rooster</i> makes a noise for the first time in the morning.’


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But Peter said, ‘Jesus, I will never tell anyone that I do not know you. Even if that means that I must die with you.’ All the other <i>disciples</i> said the same thing. <n>Jesus prays in the garden called Gethsemane on the Hill of <i>Olives</i></n>


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Then they arrived at a large garden called Gethsemane. Jesus said to the <i>disciples</i> who were with him, ‘Sit here while I go over there to pray.’ 


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Jesus then took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him. He became very sad and troubled in his mind. 


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‘I am very sad. I could die because I feel so sad. Please wait here and watch with me’, Jesus said to them.


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Jesus went a short way in front of them. He went down on his knees with his face on the ground. He prayed, ‘Father, if it is possible, please save me from this time of great pain. But Father, do not give me what I want. But give me what you want for me.’


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Jesus returned and he found the <i>disciples</i>. They were sleeping. He said to Peter, ‘Simon, you are asleep! You could not stay awake with me for even one hour! 


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You must stay awake and pray. God can help you, so that you will not do the wrong thing. You really want to do the right thing, but you are too weak to stay awake.’


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Jesus went away a second time and he prayed again. ‘My Father, if you want, you can take away this pain. If it is not possible to save me from this time of great pain, then I want to obey you.’


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When he returned to them, he said, ‘You should not be sleeping and resting. You have slept enough. The time has come for me to have much pain. Look! Someone will now help bad men to take hold of me. 


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Stand up now, because it is time to meet them. Look! Here is the man who will help them to take hold of me.’ <n>The soldiers take hold of Jesus</n>


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While Jesus was still speaking, Judas arrived. He was one of Jesus’ <i>disciples</i>. A crowd also appeared with him. They were all carrying long sharp knives and heavy sticks. The important <i>priests</i>, the teachers of the <i>Law</i> and the important <i>Jews</i> had sent these people with Judas. 


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Now, Judas would help the rulers of the <i>Jews</i> to take hold of Jesus. He had told the people, ‘I will kiss one of the men. He is the man. Take hold of him.’ 


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Judas went immediately to Jesus when they arrived. ‘Teacher’, he said to him. Then he kissed Jesus. <n>We think that Judas kissed Jesus on the side of his face. 


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Jesus said to Judas, ‘My friend, you must do what you have come here to do.’ <n>Then the crowd of men came and they took hold of Jesus. 


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Then one of Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> put out his hand and he took hold of his long sharp knife. He hit the servant of the most important <i>priest</i> with it and he cut off the servant’s ear.


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Then Jesus said to the man, ‘Put your long sharp knife away in its place. Some people use a long sharp knife to kill. They will die. Someone will kill them with a long sharp knife. 


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You should know that I could ask my Father to help me. He would immediately send more than 12 large groups of <i>angels</i> to fight for me. 


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They would save me. But then everything that God said in his book would not happen. And the <i>prophets</i> have said how all these things must happen.’


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Then Jesus spoke to the crowd. ‘You have come out here with sharp knives and heavy sticks to take hold of me’, he said. ‘So you must believe that I am leading people to fight against the rulers. That is how you would take hold of a man like that. I was with you every day in the place outside God’s Great House when I was teaching. But you did not take hold of me then. 


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The <i>prophets</i> wrote down that all this would happen to me. Now it has become true.’ Then all of Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> ran away and left him. <n>Jesus stands in front of all the important rulers</n>


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Then those men who had taken hold of Jesus took him to Caiaphas’s house. Caiaphas was the most important <i>priest</i>. The teachers of the <i>Law</i> and the important <i>Jews</i> were meeting together there with Caiaphas. <n>The most important <i>priest</i> was called Caiaphas. He was the leader of the important <i>Jewish</i> rulers. There were 71 of them. They met together to decide about how to rule the people. They also decided how to <i>punish</i> a bad person. The most important <i>priest</i> had the most authority in the meeting. They had a lot of power, but they could not kill a bad person. Only the <i>Roman</i> rulers could do that. 


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Peter followed the men who were taking Jesus to the house of the most important <i>priest</i>. But he was not very near to them. When everyone went into the place outside Caiaphas’s house, Peter went in too. He sat down with the police who worked in God’s Great House. He wanted to see what would happen.


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The leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the important rulers wanted people to say things about Jesus that were not true. They wanted to kill Jesus. 


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Many people did come. And they said things about Jesus that were not true. But still they could not find a reason to kill Jesus. Then two men said, 


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‘We heard this man say, “I can destroy God’s Great House and in 3 days I can build it again.” ’ <n>The important <i>Jews</i> could not say that a man must die. Only the <i>Roman</i> rulers could say that. The <i>Jewish</i> leaders wanted to find a reason to give Jesus over to the <i>Roman</i> rulers. Jesus had never said anything wrong. So they would have to say something that was not true. 


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Then Caiaphas stood up in front of everybody and he said to Jesus, ‘Will you not reply? These people have said that you have done many bad things. What do you say about this?’ 


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But Jesus did not say anything. <n>And so Caiaphas said, ‘I use God’s authority to say to you, “Tell us what is true.” Are you the <i>Christ</i>? Are you the Son of God?’


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‘I am’, Jesus replied. ‘And you will all see the Son of Man. He will be sitting at the right side of the Most Powerful God in the most important place. You will also see him coming to earth. And he will be riding on the clouds.’ [Daniel 7:13] 


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Caiaphas tore his coat. ‘Jesus spoke against God. We do not need anyone else to tell us about him’, he said. ‘You have heard him speak against God. 


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What have you decided to do with him?’ <n>‘Jesus must die because of the things that he has said’, they replied. <n>Caiaphas tore his coat to show other people that he was very angry. 


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Then some of the men began to send water from their mouths into Jesus’ face. They also hit him with their fists, 


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and they said, ‘Tell us who hit you! If you were a <i>prophet</i>, you could certainly do that!’ They also hit him with their open hands. <n>Peter says three times that he does not know Jesus</n>


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Now, while all these things were happening, Peter was still sitting outside the house. One of the girls who worked for most important <i>priest</i> went to talk to him. ‘You were also with Jesus, the man from Galilee’, she said.


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Peter said in front of everyone who was there, ‘That is not true. I do not know what you are talking about.’


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Peter then walked to the gate, and another girl saw him. This girl said to the people who were standing there, ‘This man was with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’


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Peter answered everyone again. ‘I promise that I do not know that man from Nazareth. I will speak God’s name to promise that.’


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After a little while, other people who were standing at the gate spoke to Peter. ‘We are sure that you are one of the friends of that man from Nazareth. We know this because you also speak like people who live in Galilee.’


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Peter said to them, ‘I do not know the man from Nazareth. If this is not true, then God should <i>punish</i> me!’ <n>Immediately after Peter said this, the <i>rooster</i> made a noise. 


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Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, ‘Tonight you will say three times that you do not know me. After that, the <i>rooster</i> will make a noise.’ So Peter went outside the house alone. He had a very troubled mind and he began to weep a lot.


text:
Early the next morning, all the leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the important <i>Jews</i> talked together. They decided to ask the <i>Roman</i> rulers to kill Jesus. 


text:
They tied Jesus’ hands and feet and then they led him away to Pilate’s house. The soldiers put Jesus under the authority of Pilate, the ruler. <n>Pilate ruled over this part of the <i>Roman</i> world for Caesar. Caesar ruled the whole <i>Roman</i> world. <n>Judas dies</n>


text:
Judas heard that the <i>Jews</i> had asked the <i>Roman</i> rulers to kill Jesus. Judas had told the <i>Jews</i> where Jesus was. Now he was very sorry about what he had done. So he took back the 30 valuable coins to the leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the important <i>Jews</i>. 


text:
Judas said to them, ‘I have done the wrong thing. I helped you to take hold of a man who has done nothing wrong.’ <n>They replied to Judas, ‘That is not important to us. That is your problem.’


text:
Judas threw the money down on the floor in God’s Great House. Then he went away. He hung himself from a <i>rope</i> so that he died.


text:
The leaders of the <i>priests</i> picked up the coins. They said, ‘We used this money to catch and kill a man. So it is against our <i>Law</i> to now use this same money for God’s Great House.’ 


text:
They talked together. And they decided to use the money to buy a field. They would use this field to bury foreign people who died in the city. The man who once had this field had made pots and jars out of <i>soil</i>.


text:
So the words of the <i>prophet</i> Jeremiah became true. He had said a long time before, ‘Then they took the 30 <i>silver</i> coins. 


text:
This was how much money the people of <i>Israel</i> had agreed to pay for him. They used this money to buy a field from a man who made pots. God said that I must do this.’ [Zechariah 11:12-13] When the leaders of the <i>priests</i> bought the field, all these things happened. <n>Pilate asks Jesus some questions</n>


text:
At that time, Jesus stood in front of the <i>Roman</i> ruler. Pilate asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the <i>Jews</i>?’ <n>Jesus replied, ‘Yes, it is as you say.’


text:
The leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the important <i>Jews</i> told Pilate that Jesus had done many bad things. Jesus did not answer them. 


text:
So then, Pilate said to Jesus, ‘These man say that you have done many bad things. You can hear what they are saying.’ 


text:
But Jesus did not answer Pilate. He did not say anything about any of the bad things that the men were talking about. Pilate was very surprised about this.


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Each year at the time for the <i>Passover</i> meal, Pilate let one person come out of the prison. The people could choose which person should be free. 


text:
Then the crowd came together at Pilate’s house. Pilate asked them, ‘Do you want me to let Barabbas come out of the prison? Or do you want me to let Jesus out instead? Jesus is called the <i>Christ</i>.’ 


text:
Pilate knew very well why the rulers of the <i>Jews</i> had given Jesus to him. They did not like the way that the people listened to Jesus. Many people listened to Jesus more than to their rulers.


text:
Pilate was deciding what to do. Then his wife sent him a message. She said, ‘Do not do anything to that man. He is a good man and he has done nothing wrong. Last night, when I was sleeping, I had a dream about him. The dream made me very <i>anxious</i>.’


text:
But the leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the important <i>Jews</i> talked to the people. ‘You must ask Pilate to let Barabbas come out of the prison’, they said. ‘Ask Pilate to kill Jesus.’


text:
Pilate asked the people again, ‘Which of these two men should come out of the prison?’ The people answered, ‘Barabbas.’


text:
Then Pilate asked the people, ‘What then should I do with Jesus, who is called the <i>Christ</i>?’ The people all shouted, ‘Kill him! Kill him on a <i>cross</i>.’


text:
So Pilate said, ‘Why should I kill him? What bad things has he done?’ <n>But the people were shouting many times even louder, ‘Kill him on a <i>cross</i>! Kill him on a <i>cross</i>!’


text:
Then Pilate knew that he could not do anything to make them quiet. He thought that the people would start to fight his soldiers. So, Pilate took a dish of water and he washed his hands in front of the people. He said, ‘It is not because of me that this man will die. You have caused it to happen.’


text:
All the people answered Pilate, ‘We and our children will answer to God. He can <i>punish</i> us, if we have done the wrong thing.’


text:
Then Pilate sent Barabbas out of the prison. Pilate said to the soldiers, ‘Hit Jesus with a <i>whip</i>. Then fix him to a <i>cross</i>.’


text:
Then Pilate’s soldiers took Jesus into a large room in the ruler’s house. All the other soldiers in their group were there. 


text:
They used plants with sharp branches and they made a crown for him. Then they put it on his head. And they put a long stick in his right hand. They went down on their knees in front of him. They <i>laughed</i> at him and they said, ‘Welcome! You are the King of the <i>Jews</i>. We go down on our knees in front of you. We hope that you will live for a long time.’ <n>A crown is a special hat that a king wears on his head. The dark red coat was like a coat that a king would wear. <i>Roman</i> soldiers also wore red coats. 


text:
Then the soldiers sent water from their mouths into Jesus’ face. They took the stick and they hit Jesus on his head with it again and again. 


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After they had finished <i>laughing</i> at him, they removed the dark red coat. And they put Jesus’ own clothes back on him. Then they led him to the place where they would kill him. They would fix him to a <i>cross</i> made out of wood. <n>The soldiers kill Jesus on a <i>cross</i></n>


text:
On the way to that place, they took hold of a man called Simon. He was walking past Jesus and the soldiers. He came from the city called Cyrene. The <i>Roman</i> soldiers said to Simon, ‘Carry this <i>cross</i>!’ Then they pushed him to it. 


text:
The soldiers led Jesus to the place that is called Golgotha. (Golgotha means the place of a skull.) <n>A skull is the bone inside a person’s head. 


text:
The soldiers tried to give Jesus some <i>wine</i> to drink. They had put something like medicine in it. Jesus tasted it, but he would not drink it. 


text:
Then the <i>Roman</i> soldiers fixed Jesus on to the <i>cross</i> and they took his clothes. They played a game among themselves. They did this to find out who would receive each piece of his clothes. 


text:
Above his head they fixed a notice. They had written on it the reason why they were killing him. The words on the notice were, ‘This man is Jesus, the king of the <i>Jews</i>.’ 


text:
Then the soldiers also fixed two other men to <i>crosses</i>. Those men had robbed people. One man was at Jesus’ right side, and one man was at his left side. 


text:
Those people who walked past Jesus said bad things to him. They moved their heads from one side to the other side while they looked at him. 


text:
And they said, ‘You said that you could destroy God’s Great House. You said that in three days you could build it again. If you really are the Son of God, save yourself. Come down from the <i>cross</i>.’ <n>They moved their heads from one side to the other side. This showed what they thought. They thought that Jesus was a very bad or a very silly person. 


text:
The leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the teachers of the <i>Law</i> and the important <i>Jews</i> were all <i>laughing</i> at him too. 


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‘This man saved other people, but he cannot save himself. He says that he is the king of <i>Israel</i>. If he came down from the <i>cross</i> now, then we would believe in him. 


text:
He believes in God. So if God wants him, let God save him now. He did say that he is the Son of God.’ 


text:
About three hours after noon, Jesus shouted with a loud voice. He said, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ That means, ‘My God, my God, why have you left me alone?’


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Some people were standing near to Jesus. They heard what he had shouted. And they said to each other, ‘He is shouting to Elijah the <i>prophet</i>.’


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One of these people ran quickly and he brought a piece of soft material. He poured <i>wine</i> that was not sweet on it. And then he put it on the end of a stick. He lifted it up to Jesus so that he could drink the <i>wine</i> from it. 


text:
At that moment, something caused the curtain inside God’s Great House to tear completely into two parts. It tore from the top to the other end. God caused the ground to move about and the rocks broke. 


text:
God opened up the places where people had buried dead bodies. Many of God’s people who had died became alive again. 


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They came out of those places after Jesus became alive again. They went into Jerusalem city and many people saw them.


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The officer and the soldiers were still watching Jesus. They all saw the ground moving. And they saw the rocks breaking. They were very frightened and they said, ‘It is true that this man really was the Son of God.’


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There were also many women there. They were watching a short way from the <i>cross</i> and they saw all these things happen. They had come from Galilee with Jesus to help prepare food for him. 


text:
Mary from Magdala was there. Mary, the mother of James and Joses, and Mary, the mother of Zebedee’s sons, were also there. <n>Joseph from Arimathea buries Jesus’ body</n>


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That evening a rich man who came from a town called Arimathea went to Pilate. The man’s name was Joseph, and he had become a <i>disciple</i> of Jesus. 


text:
Joseph said to Pilate, ‘I would like to take the dead body of Jesus.’ Pilate said to his soldiers, ‘Give the dead body of Jesus to Joseph.’ 


text:
And he buried the body in a large hole in a rock. He had made the hole to bury his own body when he died. After he buried Jesus’ body, he put a very big stone across the hole to shut it. Then he went away. 


text:
Mary from Magdala and Mary, the mother of James, were there and they were watching. They were sitting outside the hole in the rock where Joseph had buried Jesus. <n>Soldiers watch the place where Joseph had buried Jesus</n>


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The next day was the <i>Sabbath</i> day. The leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the <i>Pharisees</i> met together with Pilate. 


text:
‘Sir’, they said, ‘that man tried to cause people to believe things that are not true. He said, “I will come back three days after I die.” He said that he would be alive again. We remember that. 


text:
Please would you put soldiers outside the rock where Joseph buried him? They should wait there for the next three days. Then his <i>disciples</i> cannot come to take his body away from the hole. If they took the body away, then they could say to the people, “God has caused Jesus to become alive again.” This will be the second thing that is not true. And it will be worse than the first thing.’


text:
Pilate said to them all, ‘You can take a group of soldiers to watch the place. Let them fix the rock well, so that no person can open it.’ 


text:
So the leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the <i>Pharisees</i> went to the rock. They said to the group of soldiers, ‘Watch this hole in the rock well. Do not let anyone go in.’ Then they put a mark on the big stone. So, they would know if someone had moved it.


text:
Early, on the first day of the week, Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of James got up early. They went to the hole in the rock where Joseph had buried the dead body of Jesus.


text:
At that moment, the ground moved about. One of God’s <i>angels</i> came from <i>heaven</i> and he went to the rock. He rolled the big stone away from outside the hole and then he sat on top of the big stone. 


text:
The soldiers who were watching the stone in front of the rock were very frightened. They fell down on the ground like dead men. They were so frightened that they could not move.


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Then the <i>angel</i> said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus. The soldiers killed him on a <i>cross</i>. 


text:
But Jesus is not here. He has become alive again. He said that this would happen to him. Come here. You can see the place where he was lying. 


text:
After you have seen that, you must go quickly to his <i>disciples</i>. Tell them, “Jesus is alive again, and he is going to Galilee before you. You will see him there.” That is the message that I have brought for you.’


text:
So the women went away quickly from the hole in the rock. They were very frightened, but also very happy. They ran to tell the <i>disciples</i> the <i>angel</i>’s message. 


text:
At that moment, Jesus met the two women. ‘Hello’, he said, and they went close to him. They held on to his feet and they said to him, ‘You are so powerful. You are very important and beautiful.’ 


text:
Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and speak to my <i>disciples</i>. Say to them, “Brothers, Jesus says to you, ‘Go to Galilee. You will see me there.’ ” ’ <n>The soldiers tell the leaders of the <i>priests</i> what happened</n>


text:
The women went to tell the <i>disciples</i> Jesus’ message. Some of the soldiers who had watched the rock also went into the city. These soldiers told the leaders of the <i>priests</i> everything that had happened at the rock. 


text:
The leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the important <i>Jews</i> met together. They talked about what they should do now. They decided to give the soldiers a lot of money so that they would obey them. 


text:
The leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the important <i>Jews</i> said to the soldiers, ‘You must say this to the people. “Jesus <i>disciples</i> came in the night and they took his body away. We were asleep when they did this.” 


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If Pilate hears about this, we will explain things to him. He will know that you did not do anything wrong.’ <n>The leaders of the <i>priests</i> and the important <i>Jews</i> gave the soldiers money. Then the soldiers would not tell the people what had really happened. 


text:
The soldiers took the money. And they told the people, ‘Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> took the body away from the hole.’ The <i>Jews</i> still believe that this really happened. <n>Jesus appears to his <i>apostles</i></n>


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After this, the 11 <i>disciples</i> went to Galilee. They went to the mountain where Jesus had asked them to go. 


text:
When they arrived at the place, they saw Jesus. Then they went down on their knees. They told Jesus how powerful and beautiful and important he is. But some of his <i>disciples</i> were not sure that it really was Jesus. 


text:
Jesus went close to them and he said to them, ‘God has given me all authority. I have authority over everyone and everything. I have all authority in <i>heaven</i> and in this world. 


text:
Go to the people in every country. Teach them how to become my <i>disciples</i>. <i>Baptise</i> them by the authority of God the Father, his Son and the <i>Holy Spirit</i>. 


text:
Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will be with you until the end of time.’<br clear="all"> <n>


text:
Isaiah wrote this message from God in his book: <n>‘I will send someone in front of you. He will speak my message. <n>He will prepare a way for you.’


text:
‘A voice is shouting in the <i>wilderness</i>: <n>“The <i>Lord</i> will come soon. So prepare a road for him to travel on. <n>Make the paths straight.” ’ <n>Isaiah was telling people about a man called John. John will say to the people that they should prepare themselves for the <i>Messiah</i>. They must stop doing wrong things. People mended the roads before a king travelled along them. Isaiah is using this like a picture in words. This helps the people to understand how to prepare for the <i>Messiah</i>. 


text:
So John came to a place in the <i>wilderness</i> with the message from God. ‘You have done many wrong things’, he taught everybody. ‘You must change your minds. Then God will <i>forgive</i> you and I will <i>baptise</i> you.’ <n><i>Baptism</i> showed that a person wanted to change. He would tell God that he was sorry. He was sorry for the wrong things that he had done. Now he would obey God. <n>John used water from the river Jordan to <i>baptise</i> the people. 


text:
Many people who lived in Jerusalem city and in the country called Judea went to listen to John. The people told God about all the wrong things that they had done. Then John <i>baptised</i> the people in the river Jordan. 


text:
John wore clothes that he had made out of hair from a <i>camel</i>. He also wore a belt that he had made from the skin of an animal. His usual food was large insects and <i>honey</i> from the <i>wilderness</i>. <n>Judea was part of <i>Israel</i> and Jerusalem was the capital city. <n>A camel is a large animal like a horse. It can carry heavy things on its back. <n>Honey is very sweet. An insect called a bee makes honey. The insects that John ate were called locusts. 


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‘A person will come soon’, John said to the people. ‘He is more important than I am. I should not even be the servant who undoes his shoes. 


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I have <i>baptised</i> you with water. But this other person will <i>baptise</i> you with the <i>Holy Spirit</i>.’ <n>John <i>baptises</i> Jesus</n>


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Soon after this, Jesus came from the town called Nazareth in Galilee. John <i>baptised</i> him in the river Jordan. 


text:
While Jesus was coming up out of the water, the skies seemed to open. The <i>Holy Spirit</i> came down like a bird and he rested on Jesus. 


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A voice spoke from the sky. That voice said, ‘You are my son and I love you. You make me very happy.’ <n><i>Satan</i> tries to cause Jesus to do wrong things</n>


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He was in the <i>wilderness</i> for 40 days. During this time, <i>Satan</i> tried to cause Jesus to do wrong things. There were wild animals near to Jesus in the <i>wilderness</i>. And God’s <i>angels</i> were his servants. <n>Jesus asks some men to be his <i>disciples</i></n>


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‘Now is the time when God will begin to rule his people’, Jesus said. ‘You have done many wrong things. You must change your minds. Believe the Good News.’ <n>Herod had sent his wife away. Then he married Herodias. Herodias was already the wife of Philip, the brother of Herod. John told Herod that he had done wrong things. Herod was angry with him, so he said to his soldiers, ‘Put John in the prison.’ <n>This John was also called John the <i>Baptist</i> because he <i>baptised</i> people. 


text:
On one day, Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee. He saw two brothers called Simon and Andrew. Their job was to catch fish. They were throwing their <i>nets</i> into the lake to catch fish. 


text:
Simon and Andrew immediately left their <i>nets</i> and they went with Jesus. <n>Simon was also called Peter. <n>Jesus did not mean that Simon and Andrew would really catch people. He would teach Simon and Andrew how to tell other people the good news about himself. They would bring people to Jesus, so that those people could believe in him. Those people could then ask God to rule them and they could be Jesus’ <i>disciples</i>. <n>Simon and his brother lived in a town called Capernaum. This town is on the shore of Lake Galilee. 


text:
Then Jesus continued to walk along the shore. Soon he saw two more men who were brothers. They were called James and John. They were the sons of Zebedee. They were in their boat and they were mending their <i>nets</i>. 


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Immediately, Jesus asked them to come with him. They left their father and his workers in the boat. And they went with Jesus. <n>Jesus causes a bad <i>spirit</i> to leave a man</n>


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Then Jesus and those <i>disciples</i> went into Capernaum. On the next <i>Jewish</i> day for rest, Jesus went into the meeting place. He began to teach the people there. <n>The meeting place was called a synagogue. It is a building where <i>Jewish</i> people meet to pray. And they read God’s Book there. <n>The day when <i>Jewish</i> people rest is called the <i>Sabbath</i>. It is our Saturday. 


text:
Jesus taught the people very well. He taught with authority and that surprised them. He was not like the teachers of God’s rules, because they did not speak with authority. 


text:
In the meeting place, there was a man who had a bad <i>spirit</i>. The bad <i>spirit</i> caused the man to shout loudly. 


text:
‘Jesus from Nazareth’, it said, ‘We have nothing in common! Do not kill us! I know who you are. You are <i>holy</i> and you have come from God.’


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All the people were very surprised, and they said to each other, ‘This is very strange. Jesus is teaching us something new and he speaks with authority. He can say to bad <i>spirits</i> what they must do. And they obey him.’ 


text:
Immediately, people began to tell the news about Jesus. Everywhere in Galilee, they were telling other people about him. <n>Jesus makes many people well</n>


text:
Then Jesus left the meeting place. He took James and John with him to the home of Simon and Andrew. 


text:
The mother of Simon’s wife was ill in bed. Her body was very hot. Immediately, Simon and Andrew told Jesus about her. 


text:
So he went to her and he held her hand. Then he helped her to sit up and immediately she was well. Then she prepared food for Jesus and for his <i>disciples</i>. <n>


text:
That evening, when the sun had gone down, everybody in the town came. They brought to Jesus everyone who was ill. And they brought people with bad <i>spirits</i>. All these people were round the door of the house. 


text:
Jesus caused many sick people to become well. They had many different illnesses. He also caused many bad <i>spirits</i> to leave people. The <i>spirits</i> knew who he was. So Jesus did not let them speak. <n>The <i>Jews</i> had many rules about the things that they should not do on their day for rest. They must not work or carry things on that day. When the sun went down, it was the end of the day for rest. So the people waited until then to bring the sick people to him. <n>Jesus prays alone in a quiet place</n>


text:
Jesus got up very early the next morning, while it was still dark. He went to a place where he could be alone. And there he prayed. 


text:
‘We should go to some other place’, Jesus replied. ‘We will go to other towns near here, so that I can teach the people there also. I came here for that reason.’ 


text:
So Jesus travelled everywhere in Galilee. He taught the people in their meeting places. He caused bad <i>spirits</i> to come out of people. <n>A man with an illness in his skin</n>


text:
On one day, a man who had an illness in his skin came to Jesus. He went down on his knees in front of Jesus. The man said. ‘If you want to do it, you can make me well again.’


text:
Jesus felt very sorry for the man. He moved his hand towards the man and he touched the man. ‘I do want to help you’, Jesus said. ‘Be well!’ 


text:
‘Listen. Do not tell anyone about this’, Jesus said. ‘But go and show yourself to the <i>priest</i>. Take a gift to him for God. Moses taught the people what gift to take to God after this kind of illness. This will show other people that you are now well.’ 


text:
But instead, the man went away and he talked to everybody. He told them what had happened to him. Because he did this, it became too difficult for Jesus to go into the towns. Everybody knew him, and so Jesus stayed in places in the <i>wilderness</i>. And the people came from every direction to see him.


text:
Jesus returned to Capernaum several days after that. People reported that he had come back to his home. 


text:
Many people came into the house. The house was so full that there was no room, even outside the door. Jesus was teaching the people. 


text:
They could not reach Jesus because of the crowd. So they made a hole in the roof above the place where Jesus was. They helped the man to go down through the hole. The man was still lying on his small carpet. 


text:
Jesus saw the man and his friends. And he knew that they believed. So he said to the man, ‘My friend, I <i>forgive</i> you for the wrong things that you have done.’ <n>Houses in <i>Israel</i> had flat roofs. There were steps outside the house up to the roof. The roof was really small sticks and hard dry <i>soil</i>. It was easy for the men to make a big hole in the roof. Then they could tie <i>ropes</i> on to the small carpet and they could put it down through the roof. The man came down in front of Jesus. 


text:
But some teachers of God’s rules were sitting there. They thought about the words that Jesus had spoken to the man. 


text:
‘This man (Jesus) should not have said that’, they thought. ‘He is speaking as only God can speak. Only God can <i>forgive</i> people for the wrong things that they have done.’


text:
Immediately, Jesus knew what the teachers were thinking. ‘You should not think these things’, he said to them. 


text:
‘I said to this man, “I <i>forgive</i> you for the wrong things that you have done.” Instead, I might have said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your small carpet and walk.” You know which is easier to say. 


text:
But I want you to know this. I, the <i>Son of Man</i>, have authority on earth. I can <i>forgive</i> people for the wrong things that they have done.’ Then he spoke to the man who could not walk. 


text:
The man stood up. Immediately, he picked up the small carpet. Everyone watched him walk out of the house. This surprised all the people very much. The people said that God had done this powerful thing. They said, ‘We have never seen anything like this before.’ <n>Jesus often called himself the <i>Son of Man</i>. He may have done this so that people would remember about some messages in the Bible. (See Daniel 7:13-14.) <n>Jesus asks Levi to be his <i>disciple</i></n>


text:
While Jesus was walking along, he saw Levi. Levi was the son of Alphaeus. His job was to take money on behalf of the government. He was sitting in his office. ‘Come with me’, Jesus said to him. Levi stood up and he went with Jesus. <n>Levi took money on behalf of the <i>Roman</i> government. The <i>Jews</i> did not like men who did this job. 


text:
Then Jesus went to eat a meal at Levi’s house. Many people followed Jesus and they ate there with him and with his <i>disciples</i>. Some of these people also took money on behalf of the government. Some of the people had done many wrong things. 


text:
Some teachers of God’s rules saw Jesus while he was eating with all those people. They said to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘Jesus should not eat with men who take money on behalf of the <i>Roman</i> government. And he should not eat with those other bad people.’


text:
Jesus heard what the teachers of God’s rules said. ‘People who are well do not need a doctor’, he answered them. ‘People who are ill need a doctor. I did not come to help good people. I came to help bad people.’ <n>The <i>Pharisees</i> taught people the rules that God had given to Moses. They also taught many of their own ideas. They said that it was wrong for Jesus to eat with bad people. The <i>Pharisees</i> thought that they themselves were very good people. They tried to obey all of God’s rules. 


text:
At this time, the <i>disciples</i> of John the <i>Baptist</i> and the <i>disciples</i> of the <i>Pharisees</i> were not eating any food. Some people came to Jesus and they asked him this question. ‘The <i>disciples</i> of John and the <i>disciples</i> of the <i>Pharisees</i> are not eating any food. So why are your <i>disciples</i> eating food?’ <n>John the <i>Baptist</i> and the <i>Pharisees</i> taught their <i>disciples</i> to <i>fast</i>. This means that they decided not to eat any food for a certain time. 


text:
Jesus said to them, ‘When a man marries, his friends cannot refuse to eat. They cannot refuse food while he is with them. 


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But there will be a time when people will take him away from them. Then his friends will refuse food.’ <n>Jesus often told stories to teach the people. In this story, Jesus is like the man who marries. His <i>disciples</i> are like the friends. While Jesus was with his <i>disciples</i>, they were very happy. But soon his <i>enemies</i> would kill him. Then the <i>disciples</i> would be so sad that they would refuse to eat. 


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Jesus said, ‘Nobody uses a piece of new cloth to mend an old coat. If he does, the new cloth will cause the old cloth to tear again. It will make a bigger hole than before. 


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And nobody pours new <i>wine</i> into old <i>wineskins</i>. If he does, the new <i>wine</i> will tear the old <i>wineskins</i>. He will lose the <i>wine</i> and the <i>wineskins</i>. Instead, you must put new <i>wine</i> into new <i>wineskins</i>.’ <n>Wine is a strong drink that people make from fruit. It needs more room as it gets older. People put <i>wine</i> in wineskins to keep it. A wineskin is a bottle that someone has made from an animal’s skin. <i>Wineskins</i> become hard when they get older. So, new <i>wine</i> would cause them to tear. <n>The <i>Pharisees</i> had many old rules that their leaders had taught them to obey. These rules were not from God. Jesus was teaching the people that the old <i>wineskins</i> were like those old rules. And the old coat was also like those old rules. The new <i>wine</i> and the new cloth are like the things that Jesus was teaching them. People must not mix these different things together. <n>Jesus answers questions about the day when people should rest</n>


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On one <i>Jewish</i> day for rest, Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> were walking through the fields where <i>wheat</i> was growing. His <i>disciples</i> picked some <i>wheat</i> seeds. 


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Some <i>Pharisees</i> said to Jesus, ‘Look at your <i>disciples</i>! They are doing what they should not do on the day for rest. It is against the rules.’


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‘Remember what David did’, Jesus replied. ‘He and the men with him were very hungry. You have read about this. 


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David went into <i>God’s Great House</i>. He ate the special bread from there. And he gave it to the men who were with him. This happened during the life of Abiathar, who was the most important <i>priest</i>. It is against God’s rules for anyone except the <i>priests</i> to eat this special bread.’ <n>We can read about this in 1 Samuel, chapter 21. 


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Then Jesus said to the <i>Pharisees</i>, ‘God wanted to help people. So he made the day when they should rest. He did not make people so that there would be a day to rest. 


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Again, Jesus went into the meeting place. A man was there. His hand was very small and weak and he could not use it. 


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Some <i>Pharisees</i> were watching Jesus carefully. They wanted to find a reason to say that Jesus was doing wrong things. It was the day when people should rest. So the <i>Pharisees</i> watched to see if Jesus would make the man well on this day. 


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Then Jesus said to the <i>Pharisees</i>, ‘What can we do on our day for rest? What do the rules say? Do they say that we should do good things? Or do they say that we should do bad things? Should we save a person’s life? Or should we kill?’ <n>Nobody said anything.


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Jesus looked round at everybody. He felt angry with them. He also felt sad because they did not want to change their minds. Then he said to the man, ‘Lift your hand.’ The man lifted it and his hand became well. 


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Then the <i>Pharisees</i> left the building immediately. They met a group of people who wanted to obey Herod. And they talked with them about how they could kill Jesus. <n>The people who obeyed Herod were important <i>Jews</i>. Herod ruled part of <i>Israel</i> on behalf of the <i>Romans</i>. His friends were happy because the <i>Romans</i> had authority in <i>Israel</i>. They did not like Jesus. They thought that he would cause problems for Herod. <n>Crowds follow Jesus</n>


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Jesus left that place and he went away to Lake Galilee with his <i>disciples</i>. A large crowd from Galilee followed them. 


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Many people also came to him from Judea, Jerusalem and a part of Israel called Idumea. They came from places on the other side of the river Jordan. And they came from the towns called Tyre and Sidon. People were telling the news about the things that Jesus was doing. That is why all these people came. 


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The crowd was very large. So Jesus asked his <i>disciples</i> to prepare a small boat for him. They did this so that the people would not push against him. 


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Sick people pushed to the front, because they were trying to touch him. They knew that he had made many people well. 


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Often, a person with a bad <i>spirit</i> saw Jesus. Then, the <i>spirit</i> caused the person to fall down on the ground in front of Jesus. The <i>spirit</i> caused that person to shout out, ‘You are the Son of God.’ 


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Jesus often had to say to the bad <i>spirits</i>, ‘You must not tell anyone who I am.’ <n>Jesus chooses 12 <i>apostles</i></n>


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Jesus went up a mountain. He chose some men and he asked them to go there with him. So they met him there. 


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He chose a group of 12 men who would be his <i>apostles</i>. He wanted them to be with him. And he would send them to teach people about God. 


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James and John who were the sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them ‘Boanerges’. It means ‘men who are like a loud noise in a storm’,


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Andrew, <n>Philip, <n>Bartholomew, <n>Matthew, <n>Thomas, <n>James, who was the son of Alphaeus, <n>Thaddaeus, <n>Simon the <i>Zealot</i>


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and Judas Iscariot. He delivered Jesus to the people who were against him. <n>Jesus had many <i>disciples</i>. He chose 12 of them to be with him, so that he could teach them. He also called these 12 men apostles. The word apostle means that someone has sent the person out to do a job. Their job was to tell other people about Jesus. Matthew is another name for Levi. In Luke 6:16, Thaddaeus is called Judas, the son of James. <n>There are 12 <i>families</i> in <i>Israel</i>. We think that Jesus chose 12 <i>apostles</i> for that reason. We can read about the families in Genesis, chapter 46. <n>Jesus talks about <i>Satan</i></n>


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Then Jesus went into a house. And again, a crowd came to the house. There were so many people that Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> were not even able to eat. 


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People told his <i>family</i> what was happening. So they went to take him away with them. They thought that Jesus was crazy. <n>Jesus’ <i>family</i> lived in Nazareth. We think that they came 25 miles (40 kilometres) from that town to Capernaum to take him away with them. 


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Some teachers of God’s rules came from Jerusalem. ‘Jesus has a bad <i>spirit</i> called Beelzebul’, they said. ‘<i>Satan</i> rules all the bad <i>spirits</i>. So <i>Satan</i> has given authority to Jesus. That is how Jesus causes the bad <i>spirits</i> to come out of people.’ <n>Beelzebul is another name for <i>Satan</i>. They are both names for God’s most important enemy. 


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So Jesus spoke to the teachers of God’s rules. ‘Come here and listen’, he said to them. He used stories to explain to them. ‘<i>Satan</i> would not fight against himself! 


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And if the people in one family start to fight against each other, they will destroy their own family. 


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So <i>Satan</i> would not fight against himself. If he did, he would destroy his own <i>power</i>. That would be his end. 


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Nobody can easily go into the house of a strong man to rob him. To do that, he must first tie up the strong man. Then he can take away all that man’s valuable things. 


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What I say to you is true. God can <i>forgive</i> all the wrong things that people do. He can also <i>forgive</i> people who say bad things about him. 


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But God will never <i>forgive</i> people who say bad things about the <i>Holy Spirit</i>. They will always be <i>guilty</i>.’


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Jesus said this to the teachers of God’s rules, because they said, ‘Jesus has a bad <i>spirit</i>.’ <n>Jesus’ mother and his brothers come to look for him</n>


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Then, Jesus’ mother and his brothers arrived and they stood outside the house. They sent someone with a message. They wanted Jesus to come to them. 


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A crowd was sitting round Jesus. They said to him, ‘Look! Your mother and brothers are outside. They are looking for you.’


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Then he looked at the people who were sitting round him in a circle. ‘Look! Here are my mother and brothers! 


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My brothers and sisters and mother are those people who obey God’, said Jesus. <n>People who believe in Jesus become part of the family of God. 


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Again, Jesus began to teach by Lake Galilee. The crowd that came together was very large. So, he climbed into a boat and he sat down. The boat was in the water, and the people stayed on the shore. 


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While he was planting the seeds, some seeds fell on the path. The birds came and they ate those seeds. 


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Other seeds fell among the rocks. There was a little <i>soil</i> in that place. The seeds quickly began to grow, because the <i>soil</i> was not deep. 


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But when the sun rose, it burned the young plants. They soon died because they had not grown down into the <i>soil</i>. 


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Other seeds fell among bushes with sharp branches. Those bushes grew up with the young plants. The bushes were stronger than the farmer’s plants. So the plants could not make any new seeds. 


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But some seeds fell on good <i>soil</i>. Good strong plants grew from these seeds. Some plants made 30 new seeds. Some plants made 60 new seeds. And some plants made 100 new seeds.’


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Then Jesus said, ‘You have heard my words. So do what I say.’ <n>When a farmer planted seeds, he threw them on to the ground round him. <n>Jesus explains to his <i>disciples</i> why he uses stories</n>


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‘God has let you understand how he rules his people’, Jesus replied. ‘But the other people listen to stories. 


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This is so that: <n>“They are looking and looking. But they do not see. <n>They are listening and listening. But they do not understand.” <n>If they did understand, they would obey God. And if they did obey God, he would <i>forgive</i> them.’ <n>Jesus explains the story about the seeds</n>


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Then Jesus answered the people who had asked him about the story. ‘You should understand this story. If you do not understand it, you will not understand all the other stories. 


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The seeds mean the message from God. The farmer is like a person who teaches people about that message. 


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Some seeds fell on the path. The path is like some people who listen to the message. But then <i>Satan</i> comes quickly to them. And he takes the message away from their minds. 


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Some of the seeds fell among rocks. This is like some people who listen to the message from God. They are happy to believe it for a time. 


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But they are like plants that have not grown into the <i>soil</i>. So they will only believe for a short time. They may have problems. Or other people may do bad things to them because of God’s message. The result is that those people stop believing. 


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Some seeds fell among bushes that had sharp branches. This is like some other people who listen to the message from God. 


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But they have many troubles in their minds. They think that more money and other valuable things will make them happy. So they do not let God’s message change them. They are like plants that do not make new seeds. 


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But some seeds fell on good <i>soil</i>. This <i>soil</i> is like other people who listen to the message from God. They understand it and they obey God. These people are like good plants. From one seed, the good plants make 30 seeds. Other good plants make 60 new seeds, and some good plants make 100 new seeds.’ <n>People put a light in a high place</n>


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Then Jesus said to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘Nobody brings a <i>lamp</i> into a house and puts it under a jar or under a bed. You do not do that. You put it in a high place. 


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God hides some things now. But there will be a time when people will see them. God covers some things now because he does not want people to see them yet. But there will be a time when people will see all those things.’ 


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Then Jesus said, ‘You have heard my words. So do what I say.’ <n>At that time, people burned oil in a dish. They called this dish a <i>lamp</i>. They put the <i>lamp</i> in a high place so that people could see. The word of God is like the light from a <i>lamp</i>. We should not hide it. Jesus wants people in every country to be able to listen to the message about him. 


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‘You should be careful about how you listen’, said Jesus. ‘God will give to you in the way that you give to other people. And you will receive even more. 


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A person who has some things will receive more. Some people do not have those things. They will lose even the little bit that they do have.’ <n>Jesus is telling his <i>disciples</i> about how to listen to him. They should listen carefully. Then they would be able to understand his message. They must believe the message from God. And then they must do what he says. So they will understand more and more. Some people think that they know about God. But they do not obey him. And so God will take away those things from their minds. <n>Jesus tells a story about seeds</n>


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Then he sleeps each night and he wakes each day. The seeds start to grow into plants. They continue to grow, but the man does not know how. 


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The <i>soil</i> causes the plants to grow. The leaves of the plant grow first. Then the flower appears, and then the seeds appear. 


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When the plants have completely grown, the man will cut them down immediately. It is time for him to take the seeds to use for food.’ <n>Jesus tells a story about a very small seed</n>


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It is like this. A man takes a seed of the plant called mustard. He puts it in the <i>soil</i>. It is smaller than any other seed that is in the <i>soil</i>. 


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But when it starts to grow, it becomes bigger than the largest bush. It will have big branches. And the birds will come from the sky and they will live there. They will build their homes in the shade of the branches.’


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Jesus taught God’s message to the people. He used many stories like these. He told the people as much as they could understand. 


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He always used stories to teach the people. Then he explained everything to his own <i>disciples</i> when he was alone with them. <n>Jesus stops a storm</n>


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On that same day, in the evening, Jesus spoke to his <i>disciples</i>. ‘We should go across to the other side of the lake’, he said. 


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So they left the crowd. Jesus was already in the boat. So the <i>disciples</i> took him across the lake. Some other boats also went with them. 


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Then a strong wind began to blow across the lake. Water began to fill the boat so that soon the boat was almost under the water. 


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Jesus was in a comfortable place at the back of the boat. He was asleep. The <i>disciples</i> woke Jesus, and they said to him, ‘Teacher, it seems not to matter to you if we die!’


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Jesus woke and he spoke to the wind and to the water. ‘Be quiet!’ he said. ‘Stop!’ Then the wind stopped and the water became flat again.


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Then they were very afraid. ‘We do not know who Jesus really is’, they said to each other. ‘Even the wind and the water obey him.’


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Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> came to the other side of the lake. They came to a place near Gerasa. <n>This place is across the lake from Capernaum, on the east side. About a mile (1.6 kilometres) from the shore, there is a small village. There are some big holes in the rocks there. The people from the village buried dead people in the holes. <n>


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Jesus came out of the boat. And immediately a man met him. A bad <i>spirit</i> was living inside this man. So the man lived in a place where there were many human bones. Nobody could hold him. Often people tried to put metal round his ankles. They wanted to keep him in a safe place. But they all failed. He broke the metal. 


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The man was always either by the bones or on the hills. During each day and each night, he screamed. And he used stones to cut himself.


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He screamed loudly, ‘Jesus, we have nothing in common. You are the Son of the powerful God above. Please promise God that you will not hurt me.’ 


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Then Jesus asked the man, ‘What is your name?’ <n>The man replied, ‘My name is Army because there are so many bad <i>spirits</i> in me.’ <n>The word for ‘Army’ means a group of 6000 soldiers. People called him Army, because very many bad <i>spirits</i> lived in him. The bad <i>spirits</i> used the man’s voice to speak to Jesus. 


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Jesus let them. So, the bad <i>spirits</i> came out of the man and they went into the pigs. All the pigs rushed together down the hill into the lake. About 2000 pigs died in the lake.


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The men who were feeding these pigs ran away. They told the people in the town and in the farms. Those people came to see what had happened. 


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When they came to Jesus, they saw the man. The man was now sitting quietly. The bad <i>spirits</i> had gone out of him. He was wearing clothes and his mind was well again. This was the man that the army of bad <i>spirits</i> had ruled. All the people were afraid. 


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The men who saw these events spoke to them. They told the other people what had happened to the man with the bad <i>spirits</i>. And they explained about the pigs. 


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Jesus climbed back into the boat. But the man that the bad <i>spirits</i> had ruled spoke to him. He told Jesus that he very much wanted to be with him. 


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But Jesus did not let him. Instead, Jesus said to him, ‘Go to your home and to your friends. Tell them what the <i>Lord</i> has done for you. Tell them how he has been kind to you.’ 


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So the man went away. He began to speak to many people in the 10 cities there. He told them about the great things that Jesus had done for him. And all the people were very surprised. <n>Jesus makes a dead girl alive again</n>


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So Jesus returned in the boat. He came to the other side of the lake. A large crowd came to him there. And he was by the lake. 


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A man called Jairus came to Jesus. He was a leader at the meeting place. When he saw Jesus, he went down on his knees. 


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‘Please, please come to my house and put your hands on my little daughter’, he said to Jesus. ‘She is very ill and she will soon die. But if you do this, she will live.’ 


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So Jesus started to go with Jairus. <n>A large crowd followed Jesus. And the people were pushing against him. 


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She had paid many doctors to help her, but they could not do anything. They had caused her more pain instead. Now she had spent all her money and she had not become any better. Instead, she became worse. 


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People had told her about the things that Jesus did. So, she came in the crowd behind him and she touched his coat. 


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And immediately, the blood stopped. And she knew that she was well again. <n>This sick woman should not have been in the crowd. She should not have touched anyone. This was in the rules that God gave to the <i>Jews</i>. We can read about this in the book called Leviticus. (See Leviticus 15:25-27.) 


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Jesus knew immediately that something powerful had gone from him. So he turned round in the crowd and he asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’


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‘You can see that the crowd is pushing against you’, said his <i>disciples</i>. ‘You cannot ask who touched you!’


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The woman knew what had happened to her. And she felt very afraid. But she came to Jesus. And she went down on her knees. Then she told him everything that had happened to her. 


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‘Young woman, do not have troubles in your mind’, said Jesus. ‘You are well again because you believed. Go now and be well.’


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While Jesus was still speaking, some men arrived from Jairus’s house. (Jairus was a leader at the meeting place.) ‘Your daughter is dead’, they said to Jairus. ‘Do not ask any longer for the teacher to come.’


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Jesus heard what the men said to Jairus. So Jesus said to him, ‘Do not be afraid. Instead, believe.’


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Jesus took only Peter, James and John (James’s brother) with him. He would not let anyone else go with him. 


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Then they came to Jairus’s house. And Jesus saw that there were many people there. They were all crying. They were making a loud noise. 


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Jesus went into the house and he said to the people, ‘You should not be crying and making a loud noise. The child is not dead. She is asleep.’ 


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The people <n>laughed</i> at him. <n>Then Jesus sent them all out. He went into the place where the child was lying. The child’s father and mother were with him. He also took Peter, James and John with him. 


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Then Jesus held the little girl’s hand. ‘Talitha koum’, he said to her. This means, ‘Little girl, I ask you to stand up.’ 


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The little girl stood up immediately and she walked about. She was 12 years old. They were very surprised. 


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‘You must not tell anyone what has happened here’, Jesus said to them. ‘Now give the little girl something to eat.’


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Jesus left there. He came to his own town. His <i>disciples</i> followed him. <n>Jesus’ <i>family</i> lived in a town called Nazareth. 


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When it was the <i>Jewish</i> day for rest, Jesus went to the meeting place. He began to teach the many people who were there. They were very surprised about the things that he was saying to them. ‘We do not know how this man learned these things’, they said to each other. ‘We do not know how he knows so much. And we do not know how he does all these powerful things. 


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We know who this man is. He is the <i>carpenter</i>. He is the son of Mary. He is the brother of James, Joses, Simon and Judas. His sisters live here in the town among us.’ This was the problem that they had with him. <n>A carpenter is a man who works with wood. The people thought that they knew everything about Jesus. They believed that he was only a man like them. 


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‘People everywhere may speak well about a servant of God. But the people in that man’s own town will not do that’, Jesus said to them. ‘His own people and his own <i>family</i> will not speak well about him.’


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Jesus could not do any powerful thing in that town. But he did put his hands on a few sick people and he made them well. 


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Jesus was very surprised because the people in that town would not believe. <n>Then he travelled through the villages that were round there in a circle. He was teaching the people in the villages. <n>Jesus sends the 12 <i>disciples</i> to tell God’s message to people</n>


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Jesus asked his 12 <i>disciples</i> to come to him. He started to send pairs of them to tell God’s message to people. And he gave them authority over bad <i>spirits</i>.


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Jesus told the <i>disciples</i> that they must not take anything for the journey, except only a stick. They must not take bread, a bag or money in their pockets. 


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Jesus said to them, ‘In each town, stay at the first house that you go into. Continue to stay there until you leave that town. 


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Perhaps you might go to a town where the people do not accept you. They will not listen to you. So you should leave that town. Clean that town’s dirt off your feet. So then it will be clear that they have done something wrong.’


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They caused many bad <i>spirits</i> to come out of people. They also put oil on many sick people; and the sick people became well. <n>Herod kills John the <i>Baptist</i></n>


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People told King Herod about these things. People were talking about Jesus. Some people were saying that Jesus was John the <i>Baptist</i>. They also said that John had become alive again. ‘That is why Jesus does these very powerful things’, they said.


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Other people said, ‘Jesus is Elijah.’ And other people said, ‘He is a servant of God. He is like God’s servants who lived a long time ago.’ <n>The name of this Herod was Herod Antipas and he ruled Galilee from 4 <i>BC</i> to 39 <i>AD</i>. <n>Some of the people thought that Jesus was Elijah. Elijah was a special servant of God. He had spoken powerful messages from God and he had done many great things. Elijah did not die. God took him to heaven (God’s home). We can read about this in 2 Kings, chapter 2. Malachi was another special servant of God. He said that Elijah would return. (See Malachi 4:5.) People who were God’s special servants were called prophets. 


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But when someone told Herod, he said, ‘This is John. I sent a soldier to cut off his head. But John has become alive again!’


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Herod himself had sent his soldiers to take hold of John. He had said to his soldiers, ‘Tie <i>ropes</i> round John’s hands and feet and put him in a prison.’ Herod had done that because of Herodias. She was the wife of Herod’s brother Philip. But Herod had married her. 


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John had said to him, ‘Herodias is your brother’s wife. It is against the rules for you to have her as your wife.’ <n>Herodias had left Philip, her husband. Then Herod married her. And so John told him what Moses had written in God’s rules. God’s rules said, ‘A man must not marry another man’s wife.’ (See Deuteronomy 5:18.) Herod was angry with John when he told him that. So, Herod told his men that they must put John in a prison. 


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That was because Herod was afraid of John. Herod knew that John was a good man. And Herod knew that John was a servant of God. So Herod kept John safe. Herod liked to listen to what John said. But he did not know what to do about the things that John said.


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Then, on one day, Herodias had her chance. It was Herod’s birthday and he asked many people to come to a special meal. Important men and officers came. And the rulers from Galilee were also there. 


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The daughter of Herodias came in and she danced. Herod and his visitors were very happy when they saw her dance. <n>‘Ask me for anything that you want’, the king said to the young woman. ‘I will give it to you.’ 


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And he promised: ‘What I say is completely true. I will give you anything that you ask me to give to you. I will even give you half of all that I rule over.’


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The young woman went out and she said to her mother, ‘What should I ask him for?’ ‘Ask for the head of John the <i>Baptist</i>’, her mother replied.


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The young woman returned quickly and she spoke immediately to Herod. ‘I want the head of John the <i>Baptist</i>. Put it on a plate! Do it now!’


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Then Herod felt very sad. But he did not want to disappoint her, because of his promise. All his visitors had heard it. 


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So, immediately, the king sent a soldier. The king told the soldier that he must bring John’s head. So, the soldier went to the prison and he cut off John’s head there. 


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Then he brought it back on a plate. He gave it to the young woman. And the young woman gave it to her mother. 


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People told John’s <i>disciples</i> about it. So, they went to the prison and they took away John’s dead body. And then they buried it. <n>Jesus gives food to 5000 men and to their families</n>


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The <i>apostles</i> all came to Jesus. They told him about all the things that they had done. And they told him what they had taught. 


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Many people were coming and going. Jesus and the <i>disciples</i> were too busy even to eat. So Jesus said to them, ‘Come with me to a place where there are no other people. We should be alone together. Then we can rest for a short time.’


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But many people saw that they were leaving the town. Those people recognised them. So they ran out from all the towns. And they reached the place before Jesus and the <i>disciples</i> arrived. 


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Jesus climbed out of the boat and he saw a large crowd. Jesus felt sorry for them. He thought to himself, ‘They are like sheep that have nobody to lead them.’ So, he began to teach them many things.


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When it was almost evening, Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> came to speak to him. ‘We are here in a place in the <i>wilderness</i>’, they said. ‘Soon it will be dark. 


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The people do not have anything to eat. So, send the crowd away now. Ask them to go to the farms and villages that are near here. There they can buy some food for themselves.’


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‘Give them some food to eat. You should do it’, Jesus replied. <n>So the <i>disciples</i> said, ‘We cannot go to buy bread for the people. A man must work for 8 months to get the 200 coins that we would need. We cannot give food to these people.’ <n>These coins were called denarii. People who worked received about 1 coin each day. 


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Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see.’ When they had looked, they spoke to Jesus again. ‘We have 5 loaves and 2 fishes’, they said.


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Then Jesus took the 5 loaves and the 2 fishes. He looked up to God’s home, called heaven. And he thanked God for the food. Then he broke the bread into pieces. He gave the pieces of bread to the <i>disciples</i>. And they gave the bread to the people. Jesus also broke the two fishes into pieces for all the people. 


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Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> then picked up all the food that the people had not eaten. And they filled 12 baskets with pieces of bread and fish. 


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About 5000 men ate the loaves. <n>Women and children also ate the loaves and the fishes. <n>Jesus walks on water</n>


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Immediately, Jesus told his <i>disciples</i> that they must get into the boat. They should go to Bethsaida, which is on the other side of the lake. Jesus would go there after some time. But first, he would send the crowd away. 


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But he could see his <i>disciples</i>. They were trying to cause the boat to move along. But it was very difficult for them because the wind was blowing in the opposite direction. Then, when it was very early in the morning, Jesus came towards them. He was walking on the water. He wanted to pass them. 


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But they saw that he was walking on the water. ‘It is a <i>spirit</i>’, they thought. And they screamed out. 


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They all saw him and they were afraid. But immediately, Jesus spoke with them. ‘Be brave. It is I, Jesus. Do not be afraid’, he said to them. 


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Then Jesus climbed into the boat with them. The strong wind stopped. They were completely surprised about what had happened. 


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They did not understand what had happened to the loaves. And they were not ready to learn. <n>Jesus makes many sick people well</n>


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They went to tell everyone who lived anywhere near there. They began to bring ill people to Jesus. They carried those ill people to him on small carpets. They brought those people to any place where he was. 


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Jesus went into villages, towns and fields. Everywhere that he went, they brought sick people into their market places to him. The sick people asked Jesus for help. They wanted to touch even the edge of his coat. And every sick person who touched him became well.


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A group of <i>Pharisees</i> and some teachers of God’s rules came from Jerusalem. They came to talk with Jesus. 


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They had watched Jesus’ <i>disciples</i>. Some of the <i>disciples</i> did not wash their hands before a meal. Instead, they were eating their food as other people eat. 


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(The <i>Pharisees</i> and all the <i>Jews</i> do not eat until they have washed their hands carefully. They do this because of a rule that their leaders made many years ago. 


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When they come from the market place, they must always wash. Unless they do this, they cannot eat. Their leaders had also given them rules about how to do other things. For example, there are rules about how they should wash cups, pots and metal jars.) <n>The <i>Pharisees</i> washed their hands in a certain way before their meals. The <i>disciples</i> had clean hands already. So they did not think that they needed to wash again. 


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The <i>Pharisees</i> and the teachers of God’s rules said to Jesus, ‘Your <i>disciples</i> do not obey the rules that our leaders made many years ago. Your <i>disciples</i> have not washed their hands. They are eating their food as other people eat.’


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Jesus said to the <i>Pharisees</i> and to the teachers of God’s rules, ‘What Isaiah said about you is true. You are <i>hypocrites</i>. He wrote down these words from God. <n>“These people say good things about me, <n>but they do not really want to obey me.


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‘You have stopped obeying God’, Jesus said to them. ‘Instead you obey the rules that men gave to people many years ago.’


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He said to them, ‘You are very careful to refuse God’s rules, because then you can obey your own old rules! 


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For example, Moses wrote, “You must love your father and your mother and you must obey them.” He also said, “A person should die if he says bad things against his father or against his mother.” 


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But you teach that a person can say to his father or to his mother, “I would have given these gifts to you. But I cannot because I have given them to God instead.” 


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So you have obeyed the rules that you received from your leaders many years ago. And you do not do what God wants. And you do many other things like that.’


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Again, Jesus asked all the people to come near to him. ‘Listen to me’, he said, ‘so that you can understand these things. 


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God’s people are different from other people. But they are not different because of things from outside that go into their bodies. It is because of the things that come from their minds. 


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You have heard my words. So do what I say.’ <n>Jesus explains to his <i>disciples</i> what he had taught</n>


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Jesus left the crowd and he went into a house. Then his <i>disciples</i> asked Jesus to explain what he had taught.


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‘I am surprised that you too are not able to understand’, said Jesus. ‘It should be clear that God’s people are not different from other people because of their food. Food goes into a person’s body from outside. 


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You know that food does not go into the mind of a person. First, it goes into his stomach and then it goes out of his body. So all foods are clean.’


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And Jesus said, ‘God’s people are different from other people because of things that come from them. 


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So, bad thoughts come from a man’s mind. And then that man does wrong things. He might have sex when he should not do it. He might rob somebody. He might kill somebody. He might have sex with another man’s wife. 


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He might want other people’s things. He might be cruel to other people. He might want other people to believe things that are not true. He wants whatever things he can get. He thinks whatever thoughts he wants to think about people. He speaks whatever wrong words he wants to say. He thinks that he is very important. He thinks very silly things.


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All these wrong things begin inside people’s minds. They come out of those people. But God’s people must be different from those people.’ <n>Jesus travels out of Israel</n>


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After that, Jesus went away. He was near the city called Tyre. He went into a house. He did not want anyone to know that he was there. But it was not possible to keep this a secret. 


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Immediately, someone told a certain woman about Jesus. This woman had a daughter who had a bad <i>spirit</i>. The woman came and she went down on her knees by Jesus’ feet. 


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She was not a <i>Jew</i>; her <i>family</i> was from Syrophoenicia. She asked Jesus to cause the bad <i>spirit</i> to go out of her daughter.


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Jesus said to the woman, ‘First, the children must eat all that they want. It is not right to take bread from the children. You should not throw the children’s food to the dogs.’


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The woman replied. She said to him, ‘Yes sir. But small pieces of bread drop while the children eat. And the dogs under the table eat those pieces.’


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‘Because you have said that, you can go to your home’, Jesus replied. ‘Now the bad <i>spirit</i> has left your daughter.’


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The woman went to her home. She found the child, who was lying on the bed. The bad <i>spirit</i> had left the child.


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Then Jesus went away from Tyre. He travelled through the city called Sidon. He went towards Lake Galilee. He was in the middle of the 10 cities there.


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Some people brought a man to Jesus. This man could not hear and he could not speak clearly. The people asked Jesus to put his hand on the man.


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Jesus led the man away from the crowd. Then he put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then Jesus took water from his own mouth and he touched the man’s <i>tongue</i> with it. 


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Jesus looked up towards the sky. He made a low, sad sound. Then he said to the man, ‘Ephphatha!’ That means, ‘Become open!’ 


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Then the man started to hear. And immediately, the man’s <i>tongue</i> was able to move. And the man spoke clearly.


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Jesus told the people that they must not tell anyone about this. But when Jesus asked them not to say anything, they spoke even more about it. 


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The people were very surprised about everything that Jesus did. ‘Jesus has done everything well’, they said. ‘If people cannot hear, Jesus makes them able to hear. If people cannot speak, Jesus makes them able to speak.’


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At that time, another large crowd had come to hear Jesus. The people had nothing to eat. Jesus asked his <i>disciples</i> to come to him. Then he spoke to them. 


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‘I feel sorry for this crowd. They have been with me now for three days and they do not have any food. 


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I do not want to send them back to their homes while they are hungry. They may fall down during their journey because of weakness. Some of them have travelled a long way.’


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The <i>disciples</i> replied, ‘We are in the <i>wilderness</i>. We cannot get enough bread to feed these people.’


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Jesus told the crowd that they should sit on the ground. Then he took the 7 loaves. He thanked God for them. Then he broke the bread and he gave the pieces to his <i>disciples</i>. The <i>disciples</i> gave the bread to the people. 


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The <i>disciples</i> also had a few small fishes, so Jesus thanked God for these. Then he told his <i>disciples</i> that they should give the fishes to the people too. 


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The people ate, and they all had enough food. After the people had eaten, there were still some pieces of bread and fish. Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> filled 7 baskets with these pieces. 


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Immediately, he got into the boat with his <i>disciples</i>. Then they all returned to the part of the country called Dalmanutha. <n>Dalmanutha is on the west shore of Lake Galilee. It is south of the flat part of the country called Gennesaret. 


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Some <i>Pharisees</i> came. They began to argue with Jesus. They wanted him to do something powerful. They wanted him to show them that God had sent him. 


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Jesus felt very sad. ‘People today ask to see something powerful’, he said. ‘What I say is true. These people will not see the powerful thing that they want.’ 


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Then Jesus left the <i>Pharisees</i> again. He got back into the boat to go to the other side of the lake. <n>Jesus talks about the <i>yeast</i> of the <i>Pharisees</i> and the <i>yeast</i> of Herod</n>


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Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> had forgotten to bring bread with them. They only had one loaf in the boat. 


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‘Be careful’, Jesus said to them. ‘You must watch for the <i>yeast</i> of the <i>Pharisees</i> and the <i>yeast</i> of Herod.’ <n>People put <i>yeast</i> into flour and water when they want to make bread. The <i>yeast</i> grows and it causes the flour to become bigger. Then it is more like a loaf of bread. Then you can bake the bread and you can eat it. Jesus was not talking to them about the <i>yeast</i> that people use to make bread. He was talking about the things that the <i>Pharisees</i> taught to the people. See Matthew 16:12. 


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The <i>disciples</i> began to talk to each other about this. ‘Jesus is saying this because we do not have any bread’, they said.


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Jesus knew about this. So he said to them, ‘You should not be talking about the fact that you do not have any bread. You still do not recognise or understand. You seem unable to learn. 


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You are like people who cannot see with their eyes. You are like people who cannot hear with their ears. Remember this! 


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I broke 5 loaves for 5000 men. How many baskets did you fill with pieces of bread?’ <n>‘There were 12 baskets’, they replied.


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‘And then I broke 7 loaves for 4000 people. How many baskets did you fill with pieces of bread?’ Jesus asked. <n>‘There were 7 baskets’, they replied.


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Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> came to a village called Bethsaida. Some people led a <i>blind</i> man to Jesus. They asked Jesus to touch the man. 


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Jesus took the <i>blind</i> man’s hand and he led the man out of the village. Jesus put water from his own mouth on the man’s eyes. And Jesus put his hands on the man. ‘Can you see anything?’ Jesus asked.


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The man looked up. ‘I can see people’, he replied. ‘But they seem like trees that are walking about.’


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So Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes again. The man looked carefully and then his eyes were well. Now he could see everything clearly. 


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Jesus told the man that he must go back to his house. Jesus said, ‘Do not even go into the village.’ <n>Peter says who Jesus is</n>


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Then Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> went to visit some villages. They were near to the town called Caesarea that Philip built. On the way, Jesus asked his <i>disciples</i>, ‘Who do people say that I am?’


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‘Some people say that you are John the <i>Baptist</i>’, they replied. ‘Other people say that you are Elijah. And some other people say that you are one of God’s servants.’ <n>This is the same report that people told King Herod in chapter 6, verses 14-15. 


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‘But what do you think?’ Jesus asked them. ‘Who do you say that I am?’ <n>‘You are the <i>Messiah</i>’, Peter answered him.


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Then Jesus spoke with authority to his <i>disciples</i>. He said that they must not tell anybody about him. <n>The people were waiting for God to send someone special to them. They called this person the <i>Messiah</i> or the Christ. Jesus knew that the people had wrong ideas about this person. They thought that this person would save them from the <i>Roman</i> government. They thought that he would be a great soldier. So, Jesus wanted to teach the people what he, the <i>Messiah</i>, had come to do. <n>Jesus tells his <i>disciples</i> how he would die</n>


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Then Jesus began to teach his <i>disciples</i> about the things that must happen to the <i>Son of Man</i>. People would cause many troubles for him. Important people would be against him. They would include the important <i>priests</i>, the leaders and the teachers of God’s rules. People would kill him. But after three days, he would become alive again. <n>Before this time, Jesus had not told anyone so clearly what would happen to him. 


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What Jesus said was very clear. Then Peter took Jesus away from the other <i>disciples</i>. And Peter began to tell Jesus that he must not say those things.


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But Jesus turned round and he saw his <i>disciples</i>. And he said that Peter was wrong. ‘<i>Satan</i>, go away from me!’ Jesus said to Peter. ‘Your thoughts do not come from God. Instead, you are thinking like men think.’ <n>Peter did not understand that God wanted Jesus to die for us. <i>Satan</i> wanted Peter to stop Jesus, so that Jesus would not obey God. That is why Jesus called him <i>Satan</i>. 


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Then Jesus asked the crowd and his <i>disciples</i> to come to him. He said to them, ‘A person who wants to be my <i>disciple</i> must not think about himself. And he must not think about what he wants to do. He must decide that his own life is not important. And he must be like someone who carries his own <i>cross</i>. Then he should become my <i>disciple</i>. 


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The person who wants to save his <i>life</i> will die. But another person may die because of me and because of God’s good news. Even if that person dies, he will save his <i>life</i>. 


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Think about a person who gets the whole world and everything in it. If he loses his <i>life</i>, he has not received anything. 


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A man can receive nothing that is better than his <i>life</i>. And all the money in the world cannot keep someone alive. 


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People today do not obey God. They are very bad. But you must not be ashamed of me or of my words. If you are, the <i>Son of Man</i> will be ashamed of you. He will be ashamed when he returns. On that day, the <i>Son of Man</i> will shine because his Father is so beautiful. And God’s <i>holy angels</i> will be with him.’


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And Jesus said to them, ‘What I am saying is true. Soon God will begin to rule his people with great <i>power</i>. And some of the people who are standing here will see it. They will certainly not die before this happens.’


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Six days after that, Jesus asked Peter, James and John to go with him. Jesus led them up a high mountain, where they were alone together. And they saw Jesus as they had never seen him before. 


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His clothes became very white; they were shining. They were a brighter white than anyone on earth could wash them. 


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Then the three <i>disciples</i> saw Elijah with Moses, who appeared to them. Elijah and Moses were talking with Jesus. <n>Moses had lived a long time ago. He was a leader of God’s people. He died about 1400 years before Jesus was born. We can read about Moses in the book called Exodus. <n>Elijah was one of God’s special servants who spoke God’s messages to the people. He lived about 850 years before Jesus was born. He was still alive when God took him up to live in heaven (God’s home). We can read about Elijah in the book called 1 Kings. 


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So Peter said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, it is good that we are here. Please let us build three huts. One hut will be for you. One hut will be for Moses. And one hut will be for Elijah.’ 


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Peter did not really know what to say. That was because the three <i>disciples</i> had become very afraid. <n>Peter and his friends wanted to build the huts so that these important people could stay with them longer. But God did not want them to remain on the mountain. God sent these two men to talk to Jesus. They talked about the things that would happen in Jerusalem. Jesus would die on a <i>cross</i> there. We can read about that in Luke 9:31. 


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Then a cloud came. It covered them all. A voice spoke from the cloud. That voice said, ‘This is my son, and I love him. Listen to him.’


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At that moment, the three <i>disciples</i> looked round. They saw that nobody else was there still. Only Jesus was with them.


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While they were walking down the mountain again, Jesus said to the three <i>disciples</i>, ‘You must not tell anyone about the things that you saw. Tell people only after the <i>Son of Man</i> has become alive after his death.’ 


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These <i>disciples</i> kept these words secret. But they talked together about the words, ‘alive after his death’. They wanted to understand those words.


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Then the three <i>disciples</i> asked Jesus, ‘Why do the teachers of God’s rules say that Elijah must come first?’


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Jesus said to them, ‘Elijah does come first. He makes everything ready. But the Bible says that people will cause many troubles for the <i>Son of Man</i>. People will do the worst things to him. 


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But I tell you that Elijah has already come. People did to him whatever things they wanted to do. The Bible says that those things would happen to him.’ <n>When Jesus talked to them about Elijah in verse 13, he was really talking about John the <i>Baptist</i>. <n>Jesus helps a boy who has a bad <i>spirit</i></n>


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They reached the place where the other <i>disciples</i> were. They saw that there was a large crowd round the <i>disciples</i>. Some teachers of God’s rules were arguing with them. 


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The people in the crowd saw Jesus. And immediately they were very surprised. They ran to say ‘hello’ to Jesus.


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A man in the crowd answered. He said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, I brought my son to you. He is not able to speak because he has a bad <i>spirit</i>. 


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When the bad <i>spirit</i> takes hold of him, it throws him to the ground. Water comes out of his mouth and he bites his teeth together. Then his body seems dead. I asked your <i>disciples</i> to send the <i>spirit</i> out of him. But they were not able to do it.’


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‘You people today still do not believe’, Jesus said to them. ‘It is very difficult to be with you. I am always waiting for you to believe. Bring the boy to me.’


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So the people brought the boy to Jesus. When the <i>spirit</i> saw Jesus, it immediately caused the boy to fall badly. The boy fell on to the ground and he rolled about. Water was coming from his mouth.


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‘How long has he been like this?’ Jesus asked the boy’s father. <n>‘He has been like this since he was a small boy’, the father replied. 


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‘Often the <i>spirit</i> has caused him to fall into fire or into water. It is trying to kill him. But if you can do anything, be sorry for us. And help us!’


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‘You should not say, “If you can do anything” ’, Jesus said to the father. ‘Everything is possible for those people who believe.’


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Jesus saw that a crowd was running together again. So he told the bad <i>spirit</i> that it must leave the boy. Jesus said to it, ‘<i>Spirit</i>, I am telling you that you must leave this boy. He cannot hear or speak because of you. But you must come out of him and you must never go into him again.’


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The <i>spirit</i> caused the boy to scream. It caused him to fall several times. Then it came out of him. The boy seemed to be dead. So, many people said, ‘He is dead.’ 


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When Jesus went into a house, the <i>disciples</i> were alone with him. Then they asked him, ‘Why could we not cause the bad <i>spirit</i> to leave the boy?’


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‘You must pray. No other thing can cause this kind of <i>spirit</i> to go out of a person’, said Jesus.


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Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> left that place. They passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was. 


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That was because he was teaching his <i>disciples</i>. He told them, ‘Soon, someone will deliver the <i>Son of Man</i> to a group of men who will take him away. And they will kill him. And three days after that, he will become alive again.’ 


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The <i>disciples</i> did not understand what Jesus meant. And they were afraid to ask him. <n>Jesus explains who will be the most important person</n>


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Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> arrived at Capernaum. When they were in the house, Jesus asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ 


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But they did not say anything. They did not want to tell Jesus why they were arguing. On the way, they had argued about who was the most important <i>disciple</i>.


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Jesus sat down. He asked the 12 <i>disciples</i> to come. Then he said to them, ‘If you want to be the leader, make yourself less important than everyone else. Become the servant of everyone.’


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Then he took a child. He put that child in the middle of the <i>disciples</i>. While Jesus hugged the child, he said to them, 


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‘If someone accepts this child because of me, then he accepts me. If he accepts me, then he is not only accepting me. He is also accepting God, who sent me.’ <n>Jesus loved children. And he showed his <i>disciples</i> that a child is important to God. We should also love people who do not seem important. 


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‘Teacher’, John said to Jesus, ‘we saw a man who is not in our group. He was causing bad <i>spirits</i> to go out of people. And he was using your authority to do it. He is not in our group. So we told him that he must not do it.’


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‘Do not tell him that’, Jesus said. ‘That man is using my authority to do something powerful. Someone who does that cannot soon say anything bad about me. 


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Somebody may give you a cup of water because you are a servant of the <i>Messiah</i>. God will be good to that person; he will not disappoint that person. What I am saying is true.


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A person who believes may not seem important. But you should never cause that person to do wrong things. It would be better if someone put a big stone round your neck. It would be better if someone then threw you into the sea! <n>


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If your hand causes you to do wrong things, you should cut it off. A person with only one hand can go to the place where God rules. That is better than to go to the place called <i>hell</i>. There, the fire always burns. 


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If your foot causes you to do wrong things, you should cut it off. A person with only one foot can go to the place where God rules. That is better than to go to the place called <i>hell</i>. 


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If your eye causes you to do wrong things, then you should take it out. A person with only one eye can go to the place where God rules. That is better than to go to the place called <i>hell</i>.


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“In <i>hell</i>, the <i>worms</i> do not die, <n>and the fire never goes out.” ’ <n>Isaiah wrote the words that are in verse 48. We can read them in Isaiah 66:24. These <i>worms</i> live in dead bodies. <n>Some old bibles have the same words in verse 44 and in verse 46. <n>Jesus does not want his <i>disciples</i> to cut their bodies. It is very important for them not to do wrong things. That is what Jesus is telling them. 


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‘God will put fire on everybody as people put salt on food.’ <n>The fire will show what is good in everyone’s lives. 


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‘Salt is good. But it must be salty. If your salt is not salty, you cannot make it salty. Be like good salt and love each other. Do not cause trouble among yourselves.’


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Then Jesus left that place and he went to Judea. And he went to the east of the river Jordan. Large crowds came to him again. So he taught them as he had done before.


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Some <i>Pharisees</i> came to Jesus. They wanted to see how Jesus would answer their question. They asked, ‘Can a man send his wife away, so that she is no longer his wife?’


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Jesus answered them with a question. ‘What rules did Moses write about this for you?’ <n>God told the rules to Moses and Moses wrote them down. That happened many centuries before Jesus came to earth. 


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The <i>Pharisees</i> said, ‘Moses said that a man could write a letter for his wife. The letter shows that the man and the woman are now separate. Then the man can send the woman away.’


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This is the reason that a man leaves his father and his mother. Then God joins him and his wife together. 


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Then the man and his wife become as one person. They are not separate; they are together as one person. 


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God has put them together to be husband and wife. So nobody should make them separate.’ <n>Jesus was telling them about things that are in Genesis 2:24. 


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So Jesus said to them, ‘A man must not send his wife away and marry another woman. That is against God’s rules. The man must not have sex with that other woman. 


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And a woman must not leave her husband and marry another man. That is also against God’s rules. The woman must not have sex with the other man.’ <n>Jesus prays for some children</n>


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People were bringing children to Jesus. They wanted him to put his hand on each child’s head while he prayed for that child. The <i>disciples</i> told the people that they should not bring their children. 


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But when Jesus saw this, he was angry. ‘Do not stop the children’, Jesus said to them. ‘Let them come to me. People must be like these children so that God can rule their lives. 


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What I say is true. A person must be like a child when that person asks God to rule his life. If he does not become like a child, God will not rule his life.’ 


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And Jesus hugged the children. Then he put his hands on each of them and he prayed for them. <n>Jesus meets a rich man</n>


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While Jesus went on his way, a man ran to meet him. He went down on his knees in front of Jesus. ‘Good Teacher’, he said to Jesus, ‘what must I do so that I can live always?’


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And you know God’s rules. <n>“Do not kill anyone. <n>Do not have sex with a woman who is not your wife. <n>Do not rob anyone. <n>Do not say things that are not true. <n>Do not take things that are not yours. <n>Love and obey your father and your mother.” ’


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Jesus looked at the man and Jesus loved him. ‘There is still something else that you must do’, Jesus said to him. ‘Go. You must sell everything that you have. Give the money to poor people. Then you will have valuable things in God’s home called heaven. And come to me. Be my <i>disciple</i>.’


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Jesus looked round and he said to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘It is very difficult for rich people to let God rule their lives.’


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They were very surprised about Jesus’ words. Then Jesus spoke again to them. ‘Young people, it is very difficult for anyone to let God rule his life or her life. 


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The hole in a <i>needle</i> is very small. The big animal called the camel cannot go through it. But it is even more difficult than that for a rich person to let God rule his life or her life.’


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When his <i>disciples</i> heard Jesus, they were even more surprised. And they said to each other, ‘So perhaps God will not save anyone!’


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Jesus looked at them and he replied, ‘It is impossible for people to do this. But God can do it. God can do everything.’


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Jesus said, ‘What I say is true. Some people have left their house. Or they have left their brothers or sisters. Or they have left their mother or their father. Or they have left their children or their fields. They have done that because of me. And they have done it because of God’s good news. 


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But God will give those people many things instead. He will give them 100 things now, in this world, for each thing that they have left. They will receive houses and brothers and sisters. They will receive mothers and children and fields. But in this world, people will be against them. In the future world, they will live always. 


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But many people who are very important now will not be important then. And people who are not important now will be very important then.’ <n>Jesus talks again about his death</n>


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Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> were walking along the road towards Jerusalem. Jesus was walking in front of them all, and the <i>disciples</i> were very surprised. The people who were following behind them were afraid. Jesus asked his 12 <i>disciples</i> to come close to him again. And he began to tell them what would happen to him soon. 


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‘Look!’ he said to them. ‘We are going to Jerusalem. There, someone will deliver the <i>Son of Man</i> to the important <i>priests</i> and to the teachers of God’s rules. These men will decide that he must die. Then they will deliver him to people who are not <i>Jews</i>. 


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They will <n>laugh at</i> him. They will <i>spit</i> on him. They will hit him with sticks. Then they will kill him. After three days, he will become alive again.’ <n>James and John ask Jesus to do something for them</n>


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James and John, who were Zebedee’s sons, came to Jesus. ‘Teacher’, they said, ‘we want to ask for something. Please do it for us.’


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‘You do not understand what you are asking for’, he said to them. ‘People will cause troubles for me that are like a cup of very bad <i>wine</i>. Can you drink it too? They will be as bad as deep water that will cover me up to and over my head. Can you go to that place too?’


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‘Yes, we can do all that’, said James and John. Jesus said to them, ‘Your troubles will be like mine. They will be like a cup of bad <i>wine</i> that you must drink. They will be as bad as water that will cover you up to and over your head. 


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But I cannot give you the seats on my right side or on my left side. God has chosen who will sit there. He has prepared those seats for them.’


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But Jesus asked the <i>disciples</i> to come. Jesus said, ‘You know the things that rulers do. They think that they rule over countries. So they do the things that masters do. And important people use their authority over people. 


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Even the <i>Son of Man</i> came to earth to be a servant. He did not come here to have servants who must work for him. He came to die so that many people can be free.’ <n>Jesus causes a <i>blind</i> man to see</n>


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Then Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> arrived in Jericho. When they were leaving the city again, a large crowd followed them. A <i>blind</i> man called Bartimaeus was sitting by the side of the road. He was asking people to give him money. He was the son of Timaeus. <n>Bartimaeus was blind (he could not see). So he could not work. So he asked people to give him money. He needed that money to buy food. 


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Somebody told Bartimaeus that Jesus from Nazareth was walking past him. So he began to shout. He said, ‘Jesus, you are the Son of David. Please be kind to me!’


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Many people told Bartimaeus that he should be quiet. But he shouted even louder than before, ‘Jesus, Son of David, please be kind to me!’ <n>‘Son of David’ is a name for the special person that God sent to save the people. It is another name for the <i>Messiah</i>. David was the king of Israel many centuries before this. 


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Jesus stopped walking and he said to the people, ‘Ask the man to come here.’ So the people said to the <i>blind</i> man, ‘Be brave. Stand up. Jesus is asking you to go to him.’ 


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Because of this, Jesus said to Bartimaeus, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ <n>The <i>blind</i> man said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, I want to see.’


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‘Go’, Jesus said to him. ‘You are well because you believed.’ Immediately, Bartimaeus could see and he followed Jesus along the road.


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Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> were coming near to Jerusalem. They were almost at the villages called Bethphage and Bethany. They were on the hill called the <i>Mount of Olives</i>. Then Jesus sent two of his <i>disciples</i>. <n>Bethphage and Bethany were on the east side of the hill called the Mount of Olives. The Mount of Olives is on the east side of Jerusalem. It is called this because many olive trees grow on it. An olive is a small fruit. 


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‘Go to the village that is in front of you’, Jesus said to the two <i>disciples</i>. ‘When you arrive at the village, you will immediately find a young <i>donkey</i>. Someone has tied it there. Nobody has ever yet ridden on it. Undo the <i>rope</i> and bring the <i>donkey</i> here. 


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Someone may ask you, “Why are you doing this?” Say to him, “The Master needs the <i>donkey</i>. He will send it back here soon.” ’ <n>A donkey is like a small horse. 


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So the two <i>disciples</i> went. They found the young <i>donkey</i> in the street. Someone had tied it outside, by a door. So the <i>disciples</i> undid the <i>rope</i>. 


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Some people were standing there. They said to the two <i>disciples</i>, ‘What are you doing? Why are you undoing the <i>donkey</i>’s <i>rope</i>?’ 


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The <i>disciples</i> answered them. They repeated what Jesus had asked them to say. The people then let them take the <i>donkey</i> away. 


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The two <i>disciples</i> brought the young <i>donkey</i> to Jesus. They put their coats on the back of the animal. Then Jesus sat on it. 


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Many people put their coats down on the road. Other people put down branches. They had cut those branches from the trees. <n>The people did this so that the <i>donkey</i> would walk on the coats and branches. People did this when a king or a great leader came. 


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Many people went in front of Jesus, and other people followed him. All of them were shouting, <n>‘We ask you to save us! <n>Great is the king who comes on behalf of the <i>Lord</i>!


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Jesus arrived in Jerusalem. He went to <i>God’s Great House</i> and he looked at everything there. It was late in the day, so he went out of the city to Bethany. And the 12 <i>disciples</i> went with him. <n>A tree without fruit</n>


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He saw a <i>fig</i> tree, which was a long way away. There were leaves on it. So he went to see if it had fruit on it. When he reached it, he found nothing except leaves. That was because it was not the right season for fruit. 


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So Jesus said to the tree, ‘Nobody will ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his <i>disciples</i> heard this. <n>Jesus goes to <i>God’s Great House</i></n>


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When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus went to <i>God’s Great House</i>. People were buying and selling things there. He caused them all to leave. Some people were supplying money there. He pushed over their tables. And he pushed over the seats of the men who sold birds. <n>Only <i>priests</i> went into <i>God’s Great House</i>. Other people could go into the yards that were round it. There was a market in one of the yards. People could buy money and animals there. People had to use special money at <i>God’s Great House</i>. 


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While he was teaching the people, Jesus said, ‘The Bible says: <n>“My house will be a place where people from all countries pray. <n>But you have made it a place where robbers hide.” ’


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The important <i>priests</i> and the teachers of God’s rules heard this. And they thought about how they could kill him. They were afraid of him. That was because all the crowd were listening to him. And the things that he taught caused the crowd to be very surprised.


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When it was evening, Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> went out of the city. <n>The <i>fig</i> tree is dead</n>


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The next morning, Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> passed the <i>fig</i> tree. They saw that it was completely dead. 


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Peter remembered what Jesus had said. So he said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, look at that <i>fig</i> tree. You said that it should die. And it has died.’


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What I say is true. A person could say to this mountain, “Move and throw yourself into the sea.” He must not let other ideas come into his mind. He must believe that those things will happen. If he does believe it, those things will happen. 


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So I tell you this. When you pray to ask God for anything, believe. Believe that you have received that thing. If you do, you will have it. 


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When you stand to pray, <i>forgive</i> other people. If you have anything against anyone, forgive that person. If you do forgive them, your Father God, in his home called heaven, will forgive you. He will forgive you for the bad things that you have done.’ <n>Jesus talks about his authority</n>


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Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> arrived again in Jerusalem. Jesus was walking about at <i>God’s Great House</i>. The important <i>priests</i>, the teachers of God’s rules and the important <i>Jews</i> came to Jesus. 


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‘What authority do you have to do these things?’ they asked him. ‘Who gave you the authority to do these things?’


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‘I will ask you one question’, Jesus replied. ‘You should answer me. If you do that, I will answer you. And I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 


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Then the <i>Jewish</i> leaders talked with each other. They said, ‘We could say that God gave John his authority. But, if we say that, Jesus will say to us, “You should have believed him.” 


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We do not want to say that men gave John his authority.’ They did not want to say it because they were afraid of the crowd. All the people believed that John really was a special servant of God.


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So the <i>Jewish</i> leaders answered Jesus and they said, ‘We do not know who gave John his authority.’ <n>And Jesus said to them, ‘You will not tell me. So I will not tell you what authority I have to do these things.’


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Then Jesus began to speak to the important <i>Jews</i> again. He told them stories. He said, ‘There was a man who made a garden. He planted <i>vines</i> there and he planted strong bushes round them. He prepared a place where he could make the <i>grapes</i> into <i>wine</i>. He also made a tall building. Then the man found some men who would work for him. And he went away to another country. <n>From a tall building, someone could watch for any animals or bad people who were coming to the garden. 


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When it was time to cut the <i>grapes</i>, the man sent a servant to the workers. The man wanted the workers to give him some fruit from the garden. 


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So the man sent another servant to the workers. They hit this servant on the head. And they did other bad things to him. 


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The man then sent another servant, but the farmers killed this servant. He sent many other servants. The workers hit some servants with sticks. And the workers killed some servants.


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The man had only one person that he could still send. This was his own son, and the man loved him very much. So, last of all, he sent his son to the workers. That was because he said, “The workers know that my son is important.”


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But those workers said to each other, “This son will receive the garden from his father. We should kill the son and then the garden will be ours.” 


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‘I will tell you what the master of the garden will do’, said Jesus. ‘He will come and he will kill the workers. He will give the garden to other people.’ <n>In this story, the master of the garden was like God. The garden was like Israel, and the workers were like the leaders in Israel. The servants that the master sent to the field were like the <i>prophets</i>. The master’s son was like Jesus. <n>The workers were cruel to the man’s servants because the workers did not want to obey the man. They killed his son for the same reason. They are like people who do not want to obey God. God may give them many chances to change their minds. But if they do not obey God, he will certainly <i>punish</i> them in the end. 


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‘I am sure that you have read these words in the Bible: <n>“The builders did not want to use a certain stone. <n>But that stone became the most important stone at the corner.


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The <i>Lord</i> God did this. <n>And we can see that he did something great.” ’ <n>The words are from Psalm 118:22, 23. The stone is like Jesus. The leaders did not think that he was important. But God decided that Jesus was important. In the end, he will rule over everybody and over everything. 


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The leaders wanted to put Jesus in a prison. They knew that he had told this story about them. But they were afraid of the crowd. So, they left him and they went away. <n>The <i>Pharisees</i> ask about the money that <i>Caesar</i> demanded</n>


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Then the leaders sent some <i>Pharisees</i> to Jesus. They also sent some men who wanted to obey King Herod. They tried to use Jesus’ words to cause trouble for him. 


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These men came to Jesus. ‘Teacher’, they said, ‘we know that you only say true things. It does not matter to you what other people think. You do not change your answers if someone is important. You really do teach us what God wants us to do. So should we pay money to <i>Caesar</i> (the <i>Roman</i> ruler), or should we not? 


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Should we give that money, or not?’ <n>Jesus knew that those men were not honest. So he said, ‘You should not ask that question to cause trouble for me. Bring me a coin. I want to see it.’ 


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So they brought it. And Jesus said to them, ‘Whose picture is on this coin? Whose name is on it?’ <n>They replied, ‘It is <i>Caesar</i>’s picture, and <i>Caesar</i>’s name.’


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So Jesus said to them, ‘So give to <i>Caesar</i> the things that are his. And give to God the things that are God’s.’ <n>They were very surprised. <n>The <i>Sadducees</i> ask Jesus a question</n>


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Also, some <i>Sadducees</i> came to Jesus. Sadducees do not believe that anyone can become alive again after death. They asked Jesus about this. <n>The <i>Sadducees</i> were a group of <i>Jewish</i> leaders. They taught that death was the end. 


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‘Teacher’, they said to Jesus, ‘Moses wrote these things for us in our rules. If a man dies without children, his brother must marry the man’s wife. And then their children will be called the children of the brother who died. 


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At one time, there were 7 brothers. The oldest brother married a woman. But he died without children. 


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So the second brother married her. He also died without children. Then the third brother married this woman. 


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And the same thing happened to all 7 brothers. They had no children. After this, the woman also died. 


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You teach that at some time dead people will live again. On that day, whose wife will that woman be? She married all 7 brothers.’


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‘You are very wrong’, Jesus said to the <i>Sadducees</i>. ‘This is because you do not know the Bible. And you do not know how powerful God is. 


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At some time, people who have died will become alive again. But then men and women will not marry. They will not have husbands or wives. Instead, they will be like the <i>angels</i> in God’s home. 


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But God does make dead people alive again. You should have read what Moses wrote. See the chapter about the bush. There, God spoke to Moses and God said, “I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.” 


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God is not the God of people who are dead. He is the God of people who are alive. So you are very wrong.’ <n>Verse 26: We can read about this event in Exodus, chapter 3. <n>Jesus teaches people about the most important rule</n>


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One of the teachers of God’s rules came near. He heard Jesus’ conversations with the leaders. The teacher knew that Jesus had answered them well. So the teacher asked Jesus, ‘Which rule is the most important among God’s rules?’


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‘This rule is the most important rule’, replied Jesus. ‘Listen, everyone from <i>Israel</i>’s <i>families</i>. The <i>Lord</i>, our God, is the only <i>Lord</i>. 


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And you must love the <i>Lord</i>, your God. Love him with all your mind. Love him with all your life. Love him with all your thoughts. Love him with all that you do. 


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The second most important rule is this: You must love other people as much as you love yourself. No other rules are as important as these two.’


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The teacher of God’s rules said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, you answered well. You are right to say that the <i>Lord</i> is the only God. And there is no other God except him. 


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We must love him with all our mind. We must love him with all that we learn. We must love him with all that we do. We must also love other people as much as we love ourselves. This is more important than all the gifts or animals that we offer to God.’


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Jesus heard that the man had answered well. So Jesus said to him, ‘You are almost ready for God to rule your life.’ After that, everybody was afraid to ask Jesus any more questions. <n>Jesus teaches the people about the <i>Messiah</i></n>


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Jesus was teaching the people at <i>God’s Great House</i>. He said, ‘The teachers of God’s rules talk about the <i>Messiah</i>. And they say that he is King David’s son. Think about this. 


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The <i>Holy Spirit</i> helped David himself to write: <n>“The <i>Lord</i> said to my <i>Lord</i>: <n>Sit at my right side until I win completely against your enemies. <n>You will even be able to put your feet on them.”


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David himself calls the <i>Messiah</i> “<i>Lord</i>”. So we should not say that the <i>Messiah</i> is only David’s son.’ <n>The large crowd liked to listen to the things that Jesus was saying. <n>The <i>Messiah</i> was a special person that the <i>Jews</i> were waiting for. They believed that God would send him to help them. <n>Jesus explained a very important fact to the teachers of God’s rules. Jesus is a man but he is also God. In verse 36, the first time that David says ‘<i>Lord</i>’ he is talking about God. The second time that he says ‘<i>Lord</i>’ he is talking about Jesus, the <i>Messiah</i>. 


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While Jesus was teaching the people, he said, ‘Be careful about the teachers of God’s rules. They want people to think that they are important. So they walk about in long clothes. They like it if people recognise them in the market place. 


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They want the best seats in the meeting places. They choose the most important places at special meals. 


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These men take everything away from women after their husbands have died, even their houses. Then they pray for a long time so that other people will hear them. God will <i>punish</i> those men very much because of these things.’ <n>Jesus talks about people who give to God</n>


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The crowd were giving their gifts for <i>God’s Great House</i>. They threw their coins into a box. Jesus sat near the box and he watched them. Many rich people put a lot of money into the box. 


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But then a woman came. Her husband had died and she was poor. She put in two coins that had very small value.


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Jesus asked his <i>disciples</i> to come to him. ‘What I say is true’, he said to them. ‘This poor woman has put a better gift into the box than all the other people have put in. 


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All those rich people only put a part of their money into the box. And they have plenty of money. This woman has nothing. But she put in all the money that she had. She has put in all the money that she needs to live.’


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Then Jesus left <i>God’s Great House</i>. While he was leaving, one of his <i>disciples</i> said to him, ‘Teacher, look at the large stones that are in the walls of God’s House. The buildings are very strong!’


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Jesus said to him, ‘Look at all these large buildings! Enemies will completely destroy them. They will throw down every stone that is on top of another stone.’


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After that, Jesus was sitting on the hill called the <i>Mount of Olives</i>. He could look across at <i>God’s Great House</i>. Peter, James, John and Andrew went together to talk with him. The crowd was not there. 


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‘Please tell us when these things will happen’, they said. ‘What will we see just before all these things happen?’


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Jesus began to say to them, ‘Be careful! Some people will tell you things that are not true. Do not believe those people. 


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Many people will say that they have come on my behalf. They will say, “I am here!” Many people will believe their false words. 


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People will tell you about wars. And there will be reports about wars. Do not be afraid. Those things must happen, but that is not yet the end. 


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People in one country will attack the people in another country. Kings and their armies will fight against other kings and their armies. The ground will move in many different places. Some people will be without food. These things are like the first pains before a baby is born.


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So, be careful! People will take you to their rulers. People will hit you in the meeting places. People will bring you to stand in front of kings and in front of rulers. You will be there on my behalf. And you will tell them about me. 


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People will take you away and they will bring you to their leaders. But do not be afraid about the words that you should say. You should say the words that God puts into your mind at that time. You will not be speaking your own words. Those words will come into your mind from the <i>Holy Spirit</i>.


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A man will send his own brother to die. A father will send his own child to die. Children will be against their parents and they will ask rulers to kill their parents. 


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All people will be cruel to you because you are mine. But God will save the person who waits patiently until the end.


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There will be a time when you will see a very bad thing. It is the very bad thing that destroys. It will stand where it should not be. (When you read this, you must understand it.) When you see this thing, people in Judea must run to the hills to hide. 


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A person who is on his roof must not go down into his house. He must not stop to get anything from his home. 


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A person who is in a field must not go back to his home. He must not return to pick up his coat. <n>In verse 14, Jesus was talking about something that people would make. They would not pray to God but they would pray to it instead. <n>Verse 15: At that time, people often sat on the roof of their house after they had finished their work. The roof was flat, and it was cool there. There were steps outside the house up to the roof. 


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That time will be bad for women who are hoping to have a baby soon. And that time will be bad for those women who are trying to give milk to their babies. 


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Very bad troubles will happen to people. Nothing as bad as those troubles has ever happened since God made the world. Nothing as bad as those troubles will ever happen again after that time. 


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The <i>Lord</i> God will cause those days of very bad trouble to be less. If he did not do that, there would be nobody still alive. But God will cause those days to be less. He will do that to help the people that he has chosen. 


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Someone may say to you then, “Look, here is the <i>Messiah</i>!” Or they may say, “Look, he is there!” Do not believe them. 


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Some people will say to you, “I am the <i>Messiah</i>.” Other people will say, “I am a special <i>messenger</i> from God.” But their words are false. They will do powerful things. Those things will surprise everyone very much. If possible, they would even cause the people that God has chosen to believe them. 


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So be careful! I have told you about all these things before they happen. <n>The time when the <i>Son of Man</i> returns</n>


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Then, after all these bad things have happened, the sun will become dark. And the moon will not shine. 


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Then people will see the <i>Son of Man</i>. He will come in the clouds. He will be very powerful and very beautiful. 


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Then he will send the <i>angels</i>. And they will bring together all the people that God has chosen. The <i>angels</i> will bring them from every direction. And God’s people will come from every part of God’s home and from every part of earth. <n>A lesson about the <i>fig</i> tree</n>


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Here is a lesson about the <i>fig</i> tree. When the new branches on the tree start to grow, the leaves appear. Then you know that the summer will begin soon. 


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So you will see that these things are happening. And then you will know that the <i>Son of Man</i> will come soon. He will be like someone at the door who is ready to come in. 


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What I say to you is true. The people who are alive will not all die first. Some of them will not die until all these things have happened. 


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The earth and the sky will have an end. But my words will never have an end. <n>Nobody knows when the <i>Son of Man</i> will return to the world</n>


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Nobody knows the day or the hour when all these things will happen. Even the <i>angels</i> who are in God’s home do not know. Even the Son does not know. Only God the Father knows when they will happen. 


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It is like when a master begins a journey. Before he leaves his house, he gives authority to his servants. He tells each servant about the work that he should do. Then he tells the servant at the door to be ready for his master’s return.


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And you do not know when the master of the house will return. So keep yourselves ready and watch carefully. He might arrive in the evening, or in the middle of the night. Or he might arrive early in the morning, or just before the sun rises. 


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It was now two days before the <i>Passover</i> and the days when the <i>Jews</i> eat flat bread. The important <i>priests</i> and the teachers of God’s rules wanted to kill Jesus. But they wanted to take him away secretly. So they tried to decide how they could do that. 


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‘We do not want to do it during the <i>Passover</i>’, they said to each other. ‘The people will be angry. And they may fight against us if we do that.’ <n>A woman pours expensive oil on Jesus’ head</n>


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While Jesus was in Bethany, he went to Simon’s house. People called that man, ‘Simon with the illness in his skin’. While Jesus was eating a meal, a woman came into the house. She brought a small stone jar that contained expensive oil with a lovely smell. The person who made that oil had used only one plant. It was the plant called nard. The woman broke the jar to open it. And then she poured the oil over Jesus’ head. <n>Nard is a plant that people use to make expensive oil. The plant grows in the country called India. People kept the oil in a special stone jar. The woman had to break the jar so that she could pour out the oil. 


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But some people became angry. ‘This woman should not have wasted the oil’, they said to each other. 


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‘She should have sold it and she should have given the money to poor people. She could have sold it for more than 300 coins. A man would have to work for a year to get that much money.’ So, they spoke angrily to the woman.


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But Jesus said, ‘Do not speak to her like that! Do not cause trouble for her. She has done a good thing to me. 


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You will always have poor people with you. You can help them at any time that you want. But you will not always have me with you. 


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She did what she was able to do. She poured oil over my body to prepare it. So now, my body is ready for people to bury me. 


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What I say to you is true. Everywhere, people will tell other people about God’s good news. At the same time, they will also tell those people about the thing that this woman did. And so they will remember her.’ <n>Judas agrees to help the important <i>priests</i></n>


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Then Judas Iscariot went to the important <i>priests</i>. He said that he would help them to catch Jesus. (Judas was one of the 12 <i>disciples</i>.) 


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The important <i>priests</i> were very happy about this. And they promised to give him money. Then Judas watched for the right moment for him to give Jesus to them. <n>Jesus eats his last meal with his 12 <i>disciples</i></n>


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It was now the first day of the whole week when the <i>Jews</i> eat flat bread. On this day, each family would kill a young sheep for the <i>Passover</i> meal. Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> said to him, ‘We will go to prepare the <i>Passover</i> meal for you. Where do you want us to do that?’


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So Jesus sent two <i>disciples</i>. ‘Go into the city’, he said to them. ‘A man, who is carrying a jar of water, will meet you. Follow him. 


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He will go to a house. And you must say to the master of that house, “The Teacher sends this message to you: ‘Where is the room for visitors where I can eat the <i>Passover</i> meal with my <i>disciples</i>?’ ” 


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Then the man will show you a large room upstairs. The room will have in it all the things that you will need. You should prepare the <i>Passover</i> meal for us there.’


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Then the two <i>disciples</i> left and they went into the city. They found everything as Jesus had told them. So, they prepared the <i>Passover</i> meal there.


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While they were eating the meal, Jesus said, ‘What I say to you is true. One of you will help the <i>Jewish</i> rulers to take me away. It is someone who is eating this meal with me.’


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The <i>disciples</i> became very sad. Each one of them said to Jesus, ‘I hope that you do not mean me!’


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‘It is one of the 12 <i>disciples</i>. That man is putting his bread into the same dish as I am’, Jesus said to them. <n>There was a dish on the table with some food in it. They all put their bread into this dish and they ate the food with the bread. 


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‘The <i>Son of Man</i> must go, as the Bible says’, Jesus said. ‘But it will be very bad for that man who helps to lead the <i>Son of Man</i> away. It would have been a better thing for that man if he had never been born.’ <n>The <i>Passover</i> meal</n>


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While Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> were eating, he took a loaf. He thanked God for it. Then he broke the bread and he gave the pieces to them. ‘Take this bread and eat it’, he said to them. ‘This is my body.’


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‘This is my blood’, he said to them. ‘It shows that there is a promise from God. When I die, my blood will leave my body. And so God will save many people. 


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What I say is true. I will not drink <i>wine</i> again until God begins to rule his people. And then I will drink the new <i>wine</i>.’


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Then Jesus and his <i>disciples</i> sang a song to God. Then they went out. They went to the hill that people call the <i>Mount of Olives</i>. <n>Judas was not still with the other <i>disciples</i>. He left earlier. See John 13:29-30. <n>Jesus tells the <i>disciples</i> what will happen</n>


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Then Jesus said to them, ‘Tonight’s events will cause you all to do wrong things. The Bible says: <n>“I will kill the man who leads the sheep. <n>And the sheep will run away in different directions.”


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But I will become alive again. Then I will go before you to Galilee.’ <n>Verse 27: See Zechariah 13:7. 


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‘What I say to you is true’, Jesus replied to Peter. ‘Tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me. You will do it before the <i>cockerel</i> makes its noise for the second time.’


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But Peter answered Jesus strongly, ‘If necessary, I will die with you. But I will never tell anyone that I do not know you.’ All the other <i>disciples</i> said the same thing. <n>Jesus prays in the garden called Gethsemane</n>


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Then they arrived at a garden called Gethsemane. Jesus said to his <i>disciples</i>, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ 


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Then Jesus took Peter, James and John with him. He started to feel that troubles were filling his mind. 


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Jesus went a short way in front of them. He went down on the ground. He prayed that, if possible, God would save him from the events of that time. 


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He said, ‘Abba, (my Father), you can do anything. Please take this pain away from me. But I do not ask you to do what I want. I choose what you want.’


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Jesus returned and he found Peter, James and John. They were sleeping. He said to Peter, ‘Simon, you are asleep! You could not keep awake for even one hour! 


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You must keep awake and you must pray. If you do not do that, you might do the wrong thing. You really want to do the right thing, but it is too difficult for you.’


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Jesus returned again to Peter, James and John. He saw that they were sleeping. They could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him.


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When Jesus returned the third time, he said to them, ‘You should not be sleeping and resting. You have slept enough. This is the hour. Look! See the man who is helping bad men to take the <i>Son of Man</i> away. 


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Stand up; we are going. Look! Here is the man who will help them to take me away.’ <n>Judas leads the men who will take Jesus away</n>


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Jesus was still speaking when, immediately, Judas arrived. He was one of Jesus’ 12 <i>disciples</i>. A crowd came with him. They were carrying long sharp knives and heavy sticks. The important <i>priests</i>, the teachers of God’s rules and the leaders had sent these men.


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Before this, Judas had said to these men, ‘I will kiss one of the men. That is the man that you must take away. Lead him away and do not let him go.’ 


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When they arrived, Judas went immediately to Jesus. ‘Teacher’, he said to Jesus. Then he kissed Jesus in a friendly way. 


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But a certain man who was standing there took his long sharp knife. And he used it against the servant of the most important <i>priest</i>. He cut off the servant’s ear.


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Then Jesus spoke to the crowd. ‘You have come with long sharp knives and with heavy sticks to take me away’, he said. ‘That is how you would take a robber away. But you know that I am not a robber. 


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I was with you every day at <i>God’s Great House</i> when I was teaching the people. You did not take me away then. But the things that are in the Bible must happen.’ 


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A certain young man was following Jesus. He was only wearing one piece of cloth over his whole body. The men tried to take hold of this young man. 


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But the young man left the piece of cloth behind, and he ran away. When he ran away, he was not wearing anything. <n>We think that this young man was called Mark. Mark wrote this book. <n>The most important <i>priest</i> asks Jesus questions</n>


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The men took Jesus to the most important <i>priest</i>. All the important <i>priests</i> met, with the leaders and with the teachers of God’s rules. <n>The most important <i>priest</i> was called Caiaphas. When all these important <i>Jews</i> met together, they were called the Sanhedrin. They decided together about how to rule the people. There were 71 men in the Sanhedrin. The most important <i>priest</i> ruled the meeting. The Sanhedrin had a lot of power, but they could not decide to kill a bad person. Only the <i>Roman</i> rulers could decide that. 


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Peter followed Jesus. But he did not go near Jesus. So Peter went into the yard outside the house of the most important <i>priest</i>. He sat down with the <i>guards</i>. Peter kept himself warm by the fire.


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The important <i>priests</i> and everyone at the meeting wanted Jesus to die. So they tried to find some men who could say things against Jesus. But they did not find anyone who could help them. 


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Many people said things about Jesus. But they were saying things that were not true. And they did not agree with each other. <n>In <i>Jewish</i> rules, two or more people had to say the same thing about a person. Then the <i>judge</i> would believe that their words were true. He would agree that the person had done something wrong. 


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Then some men stood up and they said something else about Jesus. But their words were also not true. 


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They said, ‘We heard Jesus say, “I will destroy <i>God’s Great House</i>, which men have built. In three days, I will build another House for God. It will not be men who build this new house.” ’ 


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Then the most important <i>priest</i> stood up in the middle and he spoke to Jesus. ‘You should reply now. These people have said that you have done many bad things. What do you say about this?’ 


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But Jesus did not reply. He did not say anything. <n>So again, the most important <i>priest</i> asked Jesus, ‘Are you the <i>Messiah</i>? Are you the Son of God?’


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‘I am’, Jesus replied. ‘And you will all see the <i>Son of Man</i>. He will be sitting at the right side of God, who is most powerful. And he will come with the clouds of God’s home, which is called heaven.’


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The most important <i>priest</i> tore his own clothes. ‘We do not need anyone else to tell us about Jesus’, he said. 


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‘You have heard the bad words that he has spoken against God. What do you decide?’ <n>Everyone agreed that Jesus should die. <n>Caiaphas tore his own clothes to show other people that he was very angry. 


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Then some of the men began to <i>spit</i> on Jesus. They covered his eyes and they hit him. They said, ‘Speak God’s words, if you can!’ Then the <i>guards</i> slapped Jesus while they were taking him away. <n>Peter says three times that he does not know Jesus</n>


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Peter was still outside in the yard. One of the young women who worked for the most important <i>priest</i> came. 


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She saw Peter, who was making himself warm by the fire. <n>She looked at him and she said, ‘You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’


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‘That is not true!’ he replied. ‘I do not know what you are talking about! I do not understand what you mean!’ Then Peter walked to the gate of the house.


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The young woman saw him, and again she began to say to the other people there, ‘This man is one of the men who were with Jesus.’ 


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But Peter again said that it was not true. <n>After some time, the other people who were standing there said to Peter, ‘You are from Galilee. So we are sure that you were with Jesus.’ <n>They knew that he was from Galilee. They knew it because of the way that he spoke (Matthew 26:73). 


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Peter began to speak strongly to them. ‘I do not know this man that you are talking about’, he said. And Peter asked God to <i>punish</i> him if his words were not true. 


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Immediately, the <i>cockerel</i> made its noise for a second time. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him: ‘You will say three times that you do not know me. You will do it before the <i>cockerel</i> makes its noise for the second time.’ <n>When Peter thought about this, he wept.


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Immediately in the morning, all the important people had a meeting. The important <i>priests</i> met with the leaders, the teachers of God’s rules, and the other important people. They tied Jesus and they led him away. They brought him to Pilate. <n>Pilate ruled Jerusalem on behalf of the <i>Roman</i> government. 


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Pilate asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the <i>Jews</i>?’ <n>Jesus replied, ‘Yes, it is as you say.’


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So Pilate asked him again, ‘What is your answer? You should say something! Listen! They are saying that you have done many bad things.’


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Each year during the <i>Passover</i>, Pilate let one person go out of the prison. The people had to ask him for the person that they wanted. 


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A man called Barabbas was in the prison at that time. He and some other men had fought against the government. And they had killed someone when they were fighting. 


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Pilate knew why the important <i>priests</i> had brought Jesus to him. The people seemed to like Jesus more than they liked the <i>priests</i>. And that had made the priests angry. 


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But the important <i>priests</i> talked strongly to the people. They told the people that they should ask Pilate to make Barabbas free instead.


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So Pilate again asked the crowd, ‘So what should I do to Jesus? He is the man that you call “the king of the <i>Jews</i>”.’


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‘Why should I kill him on a <i>cross</i>?’ Pilate asked. ‘What bad things has he done?’ <n>But the people shouted even louder, ‘Kill him on a <i>cross</i>!’


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Pilate decided to do what the crowd wanted. So he made Barabbas free for them. He told his soldiers that they should take Jesus away. They should hit him many times with a <i>whip</i>. Then they should put him on a <i>cross</i> to die. <n>Pilate was afraid that the crowd would start to fight. So he did what they had asked him to do. He wanted them to be happy. People with authority used a <i>whip</i> to <i>punish</i> someone who had done something wrong. It had long narrow pieces of leather. And there were pieces of metal on the ends. 


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Then the soldiers took Jesus to the yard at the ruler’s house. And they told all the soldiers in their group that they must come. 


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Then they put a dark red coat on Jesus. They made a <i>crown</i> out of sharp branches, and they put it on his head. <n>A <i>crown</i> is usually a special hat that a king wears. But this <i>crown</i> was sharp and it was painful for Jesus to wear it. The dark red coat was also like the coat that a king wore. The soldiers did not believe that Jesus was really a king. 


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The soldiers took a stick and they hit Jesus on the head with it. They <i>spat</i> on him. Then they went down on their knees in front of him. They told him how great he was. 


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But they were <n>laughing</i> at him. Then they took off the dark red coat. They put Jesus’ own clothes back on him. Then they led him towards the place where they would put him on the <i>cross</i>. <n>The soldiers put Jesus on a <i>cross</i></n>


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A man called Simon was walking past Jesus and the soldiers. He was coming in from outside the city. The soldiers told Simon that he must carry Jesus’ <i>cross</i>. Simon was from the city called Cyrene. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. 


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The soldiers brought Jesus to the place that was called Golgotha. (Golgotha means ‘the place of a <i>skull</i>’.) <n>The skull is the bone inside the head. Golgotha was the place where the <i>Roman</i> soldiers killed robbers. 


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They gave Jesus some <i>wine</i> to drink. They had put some medicine called myrrh into the <i>wine</i>. But Jesus would not drink the <i>wine</i>. 


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Then the soldiers put Jesus on the <i>cross</i>. They took his clothes for themselves. They played a game to decide which soldier would get each of his clothes.


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Above his head, they put a notice to say why they were <i>punishing</i> him. The notice said, ‘The King of the <i>Jews</i>’. 


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They also put two robbers on <i>crosses</i> with Jesus. One robber was on the right side of Jesus. And the other robber was on his left side. 


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(The Bible says that this would happen. And it did happen. The Bible says, ‘People included him with people who did not obey God’s rules.’) <n>You can read this in Isaiah 53:12. <n>Verse 28 is not in many old copies of Mark’s book. 


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The people who walked by moved their heads from one side to the other side. And they said bad things to Jesus. They said to him, ‘Oh! You said that you would destroy <i>God’s Great House</i>. And you said that in three days you would build it again. 


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The important <i>priests</i> and the teachers of God’s rules <n>laughed</i> about him to each other. ‘This man saved other people. But he cannot save himself. 


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If he is the <i>Messiah</i>, the king of Israel, he should come down from the <i>cross</i> now. We would see it and then we would believe.’ The two men who were on the <i>crosses</i> next to Jesus also said bad things to him. <n>Jesus dies</n>


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At 3 o’clock, Jesus shouted loudly, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.’ That means, ‘My God, my God, I want to know why you have left me alone!’


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Some people were standing near his <i>cross</i> and they heard him. They said, ‘Look! He is asking Elijah to come.’


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One man ran to get a soft cloth. He poured bad <i>wine</i> on it. And he put it on the end of a stick. Then he lifted it up to Jesus so that he could drink the <i>wine</i> from it. ‘Wait!’ he said. ‘We will see if Elijah comes to take Jesus down from the <i>cross</i>.’


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And someone or something tore the curtain inside <i>God’s Great House</i> completely into two parts from the top down. <n>The curtain was in front of the special room inside <i>God’s Great House</i>. God tore it from the top down. The curtain was too thick for a man to tear it. 


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The captain of the soldiers was standing in front of Jesus. He saw how Jesus died. ‘It is true’, he said. ‘This man was the Son of God.’ <n>The captain was an important soldier. He had authority over 100 other soldiers. 


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Some women were also there. They were not very near the <i>cross</i>. But they were watching all these events. Mary, from the town called Magdala, was among the women. Another woman called Mary was also there. She was the mother of the younger James and Joses. Salome was also there. 


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These women had been Jesus’ <i>disciples</i> when he was in Galilee. There, they had helped him. And many other women were there who had come to Jerusalem with him. <n>Joseph buries Jesus’ dead body</n>


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A man called Joseph went to see Pilate. Joseph was from a town called Arimathea. He was a good man and he was an important leader of the <i>Jews</i>. He was waiting for the time when God would start to rule his people. Joseph bravely asked Pilate for the dead body of Jesus. 


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Pilate was surprised that Jesus had already died. He asked the captain of the soldiers to come to him. Then he asked him when Jesus had died. 


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Joseph bought a new piece of soft white cloth. He took Jesus down from the <i>cross</i>. He put the cloth round him. And he buried him in a large hole that Joseph’s workers had cut into the rock. After this, he rolled a very big stone in front of the hole.


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Mary from the town called Magdala, and Mary, the mother of Joses, were watching. They saw where Joseph had put Jesus’ dead body. <n>In that country, people buried dead bodies in large holes in the rock. They put a big stone in front of the hole to close it. 


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After the day for rest had finished, the women bought some seeds with a beautiful smell. They wanted to put those seeds and some oil on Jesus’ body. These women were Mary from Magdala, Salome, and Mary the mother of James. 


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They went out very early in the morning on the first day of the week (Sunday). The sun was just rising. They went to the hole in the rock where Joseph had buried Jesus’ dead body. <n>The <i>Jews</i> rested on Saturdays until the sun went down. The women had bought the seeds after that, during Saturday evening. The <i>Jews</i> always put these seeds on a dead body when they buried it. 


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The women asked each other, ‘Who will roll the big stone away for us? It is in front of the hole in the rock where they buried Jesus.’


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They looked and they saw the stone. It was a very big stone. But someone had already rolled it away from the hole. 


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When the women went into the hole in the rock, they saw a young man. He was sitting on the right side of the place. He wore long white clothes. They were very afraid. <n>This young man was an <i>angel</i>. 


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The young man said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth. The soldiers killed him on a <i>cross</i>, but he has become alive again. He is not here. Look! You can see the place where the men put him. 


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But you must go to tell his <i>disciples</i> and Peter about this. Tell them that Jesus is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, as he told you.’ <n>Peter had said three times that he did not know Jesus. So maybe Peter thought that he was not still a <i>disciple</i>. But the young man’s words included Peter. So Peter would know that Jesus still wanted him to be his <i>disciple</i>. 


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The women went out of the hole in the rock. They ran away from there. They felt afraid and confused. They did not say anything to anyone, because they were afraid. <n>People have found many old copies of Mark’s book. Some important copies do not have verses 9-20. But most copies have verses 9-20 at the end of the book. 


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Jesus became alive again early on the first day of the week, Sunday. He appeared first to Mary from Magdala. Jesus had caused 7 bad <i>spirits</i> to leave her. 


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She went to the people who had been with Jesus. They were all very sad and they were crying. Mary spoke to them. 


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She told them that Jesus was alive. And she told them that she had seen him. But they did not believe it.


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After these things had happened, Jesus appeared to two other <i>disciples</i>. They were walking away from the town. He seemed to be different to them. 


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Those two <i>disciples</i> went and they told all the other <i>disciples</i>. But the other <i>disciples</i> also did not believe them.


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After that, Jesus appeared to the 11 <i>disciples</i> while they were eating. He told them that they were wrong not to believe. They should have changed their minds. People had seen that he was alive. But the <i>disciples</i> did not believe them.


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And Jesus said to them, ‘Go to all people everywhere in the world. Tell God’s good news to everyone. 


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If a person believes, then you should <i>baptise</i> that person. And God will save that person. But if a person does not believe, God will be that person’s <i>judge</i>. And he will <i>punish</i> that person. 


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These powerful things will happen after people believe. On my behalf, they will send bad <i>spirits</i> out of people. They will speak new languages. 


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If they pick up a snake, it will not hurt them. If they drink poison, it will not hurt them. They will put their hands on ill people, and God will make those people well.’ <n>Jesus goes up to God’s home called heaven</n>


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So, after the <i>Lord</i> Jesus had spoken to them, God took him up into God’s home. And Jesus sat down at the right side of God.


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But the <i>disciples</i> went out everywhere. They told people God’s good news. The <i>Lord</i> worked with them. And the <i>Lord</i> did powerful things to show that their message was true.


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Some people were present when these things started to happen. They saw everything that happened. They told us what they had seen. And they told us what they had heard. They are the people who told the Good News. 


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Most important Theophilus, I have checked all these facts. Now I also know about all the things that happened from the beginning. I am writing to tell them to you. It is good for you also to know all these facts. This is the reason for this letter. 


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You have already heard about all these things. Now you can be sure that they are true. <n>What happened before John the <i>Baptist</i> was born</n>


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There was a man whose name was Zechariah. He lived when Herod was king of Judea. Zechariah was a <i>priest</i> and he belonged to a group of <i>priests</i> from the <i>family</i> of Abijah. He had a wife called Elizabeth. And they were both from the <i>family</i> of the <i>priest</i> called Aaron. <n>This Herod was called Herod the Great. He was king in Judea from the year 37 <i>BC</i> to the year 4 <i>BC</i>. <n>A <i>priest</i> is a special servant of God. He worked at the <i>Jewish</i> meeting place or at the <i>Great House of God</i> in Jerusalem. All the <i>priests</i> came from the <i>family</i> of Aaron. He was the brother of Moses. They both lived a long time before Jesus. We can read about Aaron in the book called Exodus. There were 24 groups of <i>priests</i>. One group at a time worked in the <i>Great House of God</i>. Every group had a name. Zechariah was in the group of Abijah. 


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Zechariah and Elizabeth obeyed God all the time. They did not do wrong things. God liked how they lived. 


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But they had no children. Elizabeth could not have a baby and they were both getting old. <n>At that time, people without children thought that God was angry with them. Elizabeth and Zechariah would have felt very sad because they had no children. 


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One day, Zechariah’s group was working at the <i>Great House of God</i>. And Zechariah had a special job to do. 


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The <i>priests</i> chose one of their group to go into a special room inside the <i>Great House of God</i>. Zechariah’s job was to burn <i>incense</i> there. <n>They did a special thing to know who would go into the room. It was something like a game that we play. But it was serious and important. 


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While Zechariah was burning <i>incense</i>, many men were outside the special room. They were praying to God. <n>The <i>Jews</i> made <i>incense</i> from special sticky <i>liquid</i> that they got from certain kinds of trees. It makes a sweet smell when it burns. They used it in the <i>Great House of God</i>. They burnt <i>incense</i> in God’s house while they prayed. God had said in his rules that they should do this. 


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The <i>incense</i> was burning on a special table, when an <i>angel</i> from God appeared to Zechariah. The <i>angel</i> was standing at the right hand side of the table. <n>An <i>angel</i> is a servant of God that brings his messages. The ‘right hand side’ means the place of importance. 


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‘Zechariah, do not be afraid’, the <i>angel</i> said to him. ‘God has heard what you prayed. He will give you what you asked for. Your wife Elizabeth will have a baby boy. You will call him John. 


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He will be very important to the <i>Lord</i>. So, he will make you very happy. Many other people will also be very happy because he has been born. He must never drink anything with alcohol in it. From the time that he is born, the <i>Holy Spirit</i> will live inside him.


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He will teach many people in <i>Israel</i>. Then they will turn their lives towards the <i>Lord</i> their God and they will obey God again. 


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John will prepare the people for the <i>Lord</i>. The <i>Holy Spirit</i> will lead John as he led Elijah. John will be as powerful as Elijah was. He will help fathers to love their children. He will teach people that do not obey God. Then they will think right things. And they will do right things that good people do. John will prepare <i>Israel</i>’s people. Then they will be ready when the <i>Lord</i> comes.’ <n>God chose Elijah to speak for him. The <i>Holy Spirit</i> showed him what to say. Elijah gave special messages from God to his people. He taught them to stop doing the things that God did not like. He told them that they should obey God. We can read about Elijah in 1 Kings, chapter 13. <n>The people of <i>Israel</i> came from the family of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their children. We call them Jews. God chose them as his special people. He gave the name <i>Israel</i> to Jacob. We can read about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Genesis. 


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‘How can I be sure about this?’ Zechariah asked the <i>angel</i>. ‘After all, I am an old man. My wife is also old.’


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‘I am called Gabriel’, answered the <i>angel</i>. ‘My place is in front of God. I am always ready to work for God. He has sent me to speak to you. He told me that I should tell you this good news. 


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Now listen to me. Because you did not believe my message, you will be quiet. You will not speak again until the time that your son is born. My message will become true at the right time.’


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While this was happening, the people outside were waiting for Zechariah. They were thinking, ‘Why has Zechariah stayed for such a long time in the special room? Why has he not come out yet?’ 


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When he did come out, he tried to talk to them. But he could not speak. So they knew that he had seen something special in the room. He was moving his head and his hands about, to tell them what had happened. But he remained quiet.


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‘The <i>Lord</i> has now given me a baby’, she said. ‘He has been kind to me. He has helped me to feel good about myself. Because of this, other people cannot say bad things about me any longer.’ <n>What happened before Jesus was born</n>


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When Elizabeth’s baby had grown inside her for nearly 6 months, God sent the <i>angel</i> Gabriel to Nazareth. Nazareth is a town in Galilee. 


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Gabriel went there to visit a young woman. Her name was Mary. She had never had sex with anyone. She had promised to marry a man called Joseph. He belonged to the <i>family</i> of King David. <n>David had been a king of <i>Israel</i>. We can read about him in 1 Samuel, chapter 16. 


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Mary had a lot of problems in her mind about what Gabriel said. She did not understand why he said it. 


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He will be great. The strong God above will call him his Son. The <i>Lord</i> God will make him king. He will rule as King David ruled. 


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He will rule over the <i>family</i> of Jacob for all time. He will be king for all time.’ <n>Both Joseph and Mary came from the <i>family</i> of King David. <n>The <i>family</i> of Jacob means all the <i>Jews</i>. 


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‘The <i>Holy Spirit</i> will come to you’, the <i>angel</i> answered. ‘The power of God will cover you like a shadow. So, your child will be completely good. He will never do anything that is wrong. He will be called God’s Son. 


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Another thing! Your cousin, Elizabeth, is very old. People said that she could not have a baby. Listen! She also will have a son. The baby has grown inside her now for nearly 6 months. 


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‘I am the servant of the <i>Lord</i>’, Mary answered. ‘I have heard what you have said. I want the <i>Lord</i> to cause it to happen to me.’ Then the <i>angel</i> left her. <n>Mary visits Elizabeth</n>


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After that, Mary prepared herself and she left on a journey. She hurried to a town in the hills of Judea. 


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When Elizabeth heard Mary speak, she felt her baby move quickly inside her. The <i>Holy Spirit</i> filled her. 


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Then she spoke to Mary in a loud voice, ‘God has made you very happy. He has been more good and kind to you than to other women. He has also been good and kind to your baby. 


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I am not an important person and you are the mother of my <i>Lord</i>. So, it is a very good thing that you have visited me. 


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The <i>Lord</i> told you what would happen. And you believed what he told you. This makes you a very happy person.’ <n>This is Mary’s song</n>


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I do not think that I am an important person. <n>God knows this, so he has looked at me with love. <n>Listen! From now on all people will say that <n>God has been very good and kind to me.


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After all, God has done great things for me. <n>He is very powerful and strong. <n>He is good in everything.


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He is kind to people that obey him. <n>He is also kind to all their children. He will do this for all time.


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He has shown how strong he is. <n>Some people think that they are very important. <n>But he has sent them away alone in different directions.


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Some people were ruling countries. <n>But he has taken their important jobs away from them. <n>He has given important work to people that do not feel important.


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He made a promise to Abraham and to our other <i>fathers</i>. <n>“I will be kind to you for all time”, he said. Now he has done what he promised.’ <n>Mary is very happy. She knows that God has been good to her and to Elizabeth. She sings about God. She sings about the great things that he has done. She sings that he will use his power to be kind. He will also use his power against people that do not obey him. Mary is a <i>Jew</i>. She remembers God’s promise to the <i>Jews</i>. 


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Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months. Then she returned to her home. <n>John the <i>Baptist</i> is born</n>


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Her family and the people that lived near her heard about her baby. They knew that the <i>Lord</i> had been very kind to her. They saw that she was happy. So they were happy too. 


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When the child was 8 days old, they came to the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth. The child had to be <i>circumcised</i> on that day. The people wanted to call the child Zechariah. This was the same name that his father had. <n>They <i>circumcised</i> all baby boys in <i>Israel</i> on the 8th day. It means to cut off the skin from the end of the sex part of a boy or a man. For the <i>Jews</i>, it was a special mark. It showed that they were the people of God. Friends and people that lived near would also be there. They had a party and they gave a name to the boy. We can read about this in Genesis, chapter 17. 


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‘You cannot really want his name to be John!’ they said. ‘You do not have anybody in your family called John.’ 


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So Zechariah asked for something to write on. He wrote, ‘His name is John.’ Everyone was very surprised at what he wrote. 


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Immediately, Zechariah could speak again. He could speak very well again. He began to tell God, ‘You are very great!’ <n>Everything had happened quite as the <i>angel</i> had said. We can read what the <i>angel</i> said in 1:19-20. 


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The people that lived near Zechariah and Elizabeth were surprised. They were surprised about what had happened. They saw how great God was. Many people that lived in the hills of Judea also talked about all these things. 


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Everyone that heard about these things thought about them. ‘What will this child be?’ they asked each other. After all, they could see that God really was with him. <n>This is Zechariah’s song</n>


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The <i>Holy Spirit</i> filled John’s father. Then he spoke well about God. The <i>Holy Spirit</i> helped him to speak this message.


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He has sent a very strong person that will save us. <n>This person is in the <i>family</i> of David. David was his servant.


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Long ago, God gave his Spirit to good people so that they could tell us about this. <n>This is what they said:


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He has promised to be kind to our <i>fathers</i>. <n>He will remember to do the things that he promised.”


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Yes, he will remember the promises that he said to Abraham.’ <n>Because Christians are a part of the <i>family</i> of Abraham, God promised this to them too. 


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Zechariah then spoke to his child. <n>‘You, child, will be called a servant of the great God above. <n>The <i>Holy Spirit</i> will give to you messages to speak. <n>You will go in front of the <i>Lord</i> to prepare a way for him.


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You will tell his people how God can save them. <n>They have done wrong things but God will <i>forgive</i> them.


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Our God will <i>forgive</i> us because he is very kind. <n>He will send someone from the highest place. <n>This person will be like the sunrise to us.


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As the sun gives light to everybody, so he will shine on all people. <n>Some people are like people who are in the dark. They are living without God. <n>Some people are afraid to die. <n>But he will shine on everybody. <n>He will show us how to live so that we will not be afraid.’ <n>Zechariah’s song shows how happy he is. God has been good to him and to Elizabeth. God has shown him how important John will be. Zechariah thanks God. He tells the people that God is great. Jesus is the strong person that God sent (1: 69). <n>The ‘sunrise’ (1:78) is a picture in words. It describes Jesus when he came to earth. God told Zechariah what John would do. John would speak to the people. He would tell them that Jesus was coming. Zechariah also knew why Jesus was coming to the earth. 


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Zechariah’s child grew. God made him strong in his mind. He went and he lived in the <i>desert</i> for many years. Later, God sent him to <i>Israel</i>’s people, to teach them. <n>The word desert means a very dry place. People do not usually live there. <n>You can read what John taught the people in chapter 3. 


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While Mary’s baby was growing inside her, Caesar Augustus was ruling the whole <i>Roman</i> world. He <i>ordered</i> his men, ‘Count everyone who is in the <i>Roman</i> world.’ 


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This was the first time that the <i>Romans</i> had counted everyone. Quirinius was the <i>Roman</i> ruler of Syria at this time. <n>Caesar Augustus was the most powerful ruler of the whole <i>Roman</i> world. He had a large army and he ruled over many countries. He lived in the big city called Rome. This was the capital of the <i>Roman</i> world. 


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Joseph also went to his home town. He was living in the town called Nazareth in Galilee. He went to the town called Bethlehem in Judea. King David had been born there, so Bethlehem was called the town of David. Joseph belonged to the <i>family</i> of David. That is why he went to Bethlehem.


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Joseph took Mary with him so that the <i>Romans</i> could count them. She went because she had promised to marry him. She would soon have a baby.


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This was her first baby, and it was a boy. She put cloths round him. Then she put him in an animal’s feeding box. She did this because they could not stay in the hotel. There were no empty rooms for them. <n>The many people that came to Bethlehem filled the hotel. Mary and Joseph could not find an empty room. So, they had to rest where the animals lived. <n>Some people leave their sheep to go and see Jesus</n>


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That night some people were living in the fields near Bethlehem. They were keeping their sheep safe. 


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Then an <i>angel</i> of the <i>Lord</i> appeared to them. A bright light from God shone all round them. So that frightened them very much. 


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‘Do not be afraid’, the <i>angel</i> said. ‘Listen! I bring you good news. This news will make everyone very happy. 


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Something happened today in the town of David. Someone special was born. It is he who will save you. He is the <i>Messiah</i>. He is the <i>Lord</i>. 


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I will tell you how you will know this baby. You will find him with cloths round him. He is lying in an animal’s feeding box.’


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‘God is beautiful and great and important’, they said. <n>‘He lives in the highest place. <n>He will be good to the people on earth that make him happy. <n>They will not have troubles in their minds or in their <i>spirits</i>.’


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After that, the <i>angels</i> returned to God’s home. Then these people said to each other, ‘Perhaps we should leave the sheep and go to Bethlehem immediately! The <i>Lord</i> has sent <i>angels</i> to tell us what has happened. We want to see this baby.’


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So they hurried to Bethlehem. There, they found Mary and Joseph with the baby. The baby really was lying in a feeding box. 


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After they had seen the baby, they told everybody about him. They told them what the <i>angel</i> had said to them. 


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Mary remembered all that the men from the fields had said. She thought about everything for a long time. 


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The men then returned to their sheep. ‘How great you are!’ they were saying to God. ‘How good you are! Everything that the <i>angel</i> told us was true! We have heard good news. We have seen very special things!’ <n>Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the <i>Great House of God</i></n>


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When the baby was 8 days old, it was time for the <i>priest</i> to <i>circumcise</i> him. His parents called him Jesus. The <i>angel</i> had told Mary that she must call the baby, Jesus. He told her that before she had a baby inside her.


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Long ago, the <i>Lord</i> gave Moses rules for his people to obey. One rule told how to become <i>clean</i> after a baby was born. Now the time had come for Mary and Joseph to obey this rule. So, they took the baby Jesus to the <i>Great House of God</i> in Jerusalem to show him to the <i>Lord</i>.


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This is what the <i>Lord</i> had said: ‘The first male baby born to a woman or to an animal is mine. So you must bring him to me. 


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When you do this, also bring two special birds for the <i>priest</i> to kill.’ That is what Mary and Joseph did. <n>The <i>Jews</i> had to obey this rule 40 days after a boy was born. The mother had to go to the <i>Great House of God</i>. If she was poor, she gave two special birds to God. The <i>priests</i> killed them and then they burned them on a special table. This stood outside the special room in the <i>Great House of God</i>. God said that a <i>priest</i> must do this. He said that it would make the mother clean again. We can read about this in Leviticus 12:2-8. 


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At this time, a man called Simeon was living in Jerusalem. He was good and he always obeyed God. He had waited a long time to see the special person that would save <i>Israel</i>. The <i>Holy Spirit</i> was with Simeon. 


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‘You will not die yet’, the <i>Holy Spirit</i> had told him. ‘You know that God has promised to send the <i>Messiah</i>. You will see him before you die.’ 


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Now the day had come. The <i>Holy Spirit</i> told Simeon that he should go to the <i>Great House of God</i>. Mary and Joseph were bringing the baby Jesus to do what the rule said. 


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‘Master, you have done what you promised to your servant. Now, I can die with no trouble in my mind.


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He will be like a light to people. He will show you to those that are not <i>Jews</i>. They will then know you. And they will know what you want from them. Then they will know what you want them to do. He will also show that your people of <i>Israel</i> are very special.’


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Then Simeon asked God to be good and kind to Mary and to Joseph. After that, he spoke just to Mary, the mother of Jesus. ‘God has chosen this baby. Many people in <i>Israel</i> will become less important because of him. And many people will become alive again because of him. He will be like a sign that points to God. Many people will speak against him. 


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This will show their secret thoughts about God. This will make you very sad, too. It will seem that a sharp knife is cutting inside you. That is how sad you will be’, Simeon said to her.


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A very old lady called Anna was there in the <i>Great House of God</i>, too. She often spoke messages that the <i>Holy Spirit</i> gave to her. She was the daughter of Phanuel. She belonged to the <i>family</i> of Asher. She had lived with her husband for 7 years and then he had died. <n>Asher was one of the sons of Jacob. We can read about the 12 sons of Jacob in Genesis, from chapter 26 to chapter 50. 


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After that, she had lived alone until she was 84 years old. Now she never left the <i>Great House of God</i>. She stayed there day and night to pray to God. Often she went without food so that she could pray better.


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At that moment, Anna came to where Mary and Joseph were standing. When Anna saw the baby, she began to thank God for him. Then she began to speak about him to other people. Many people were waiting for God to make Jerusalem <i>free</i>. These were the people that she was speaking to.


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When Mary and Joseph had finished obeying all the rules, they returned home. They went back to the town called Nazareth in Galilee. 


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There the child grew. God was good and kind to him and God made him strong. He could then understand many things. <n>The boy Jesus visits the <i>Great House of God</i></n>


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Every year, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the <i>Passover</i> week. <n><i>Passover</i> week is a very special time for the <i>Jews</i>. A long time ago, they were slaves in a country called Egypt. The ruler would not let them leave Egypt. But God saved them. And he brought them to the country called <i>Israel</i>. So every year, the <i>Jews</i> remember this. They also eat special food. Their <i>fathers</i> ate this food when they left Egypt. We can read about the first <i>Passover</i> in Exodus, chapter 12. 


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When Jesus was 12 years old, his parents took him with them to Jerusalem. They went as usual for the <i>Passover</i> week. 


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When the week finished, everyone left to return home. The boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know this. 


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They thought that he was with their group. So they travelled for a whole day. Then they began to look for him among their family and friends.


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before they found him in the <i>Great House of God</i>. He was sitting among the teachers. He was listening to what they were saying. He was also asking them questions. 


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Everyone that was listening to Jesus was very surprised. He understood so many things and he could answer difficult questions. 


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When his parents saw him there, they were also very surprised. ‘My son’, said his mother, ‘why have you done this to us? Your father and I have looked everywhere for you. We have had a lot of troubles in our mind.’


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‘You should not really have had to look for me’, Jesus answered. ‘I must be doing what my Father wants me to do. Really, you should have known that.’ 


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Jesus returned to Nazareth with them and he obeyed them. Mary was careful to remember all the special things that had happened. She thought about them a lot. 


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Jesus grew into a man. He could understand more and more things. Everyone loved him and God also thought well of him.


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This report about John, the son of Zechariah, began while Tiberius Caesar was ruling the <i>Roman</i> world. He had ruled for almost 15 years. Pontius Pilate was ruling the country called Judea. And Herod was ruling the land called Galilee. Philip was the brother of Herod. He was ruling the countries called Iturea and Traconitis. Lysanias was ruling Abilene. 


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While these men were ruling, the most important <i>priests</i> were Annas and Caiaphas. At that time John, the son of Zechariah, was living in the <i>desert</i>. He heard God speak to him. <n>Tiberius Caesar was the second man to rule the whole <i>Roman</i> world. He began to rule in 11 <i>AD</i> after Caesar Augustus died. (See Luke 2:1.) Luke wants us to know when John the <i>Baptist</i> was teaching. So he tells us all these things about the rulers. This report about John began in 25-26 <i>AD</i>. <n>Galilee, Iturea, Traconitis and Abilene were the names of some of the different parts of Palestine (or <i>Israel</i>). 


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John travelled to many places near to the river Jordan. ‘You are doing many bad things’, he taught everybody. ‘Stop doing them. You should be sorry for what you have done. If you are, I will <i>baptise</i> you with water. God will then <i>forgive</i> you.’ <n><i>Baptism</i> is for a person that turns away from doing wrong things. He then turns to God. God promises to <i>forgive</i> the person that now wants to obey him. <n>Some people think that John poured water over people to <i>baptise</i> them. Other people think that they went right under the water. 


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John was teaching as Isaiah had spoken a long time before. God gave him messages. Someone wrote down these messages in a book. Isaiah told people what would happen. He said: <n>‘People will hear someone who is shouting in the <i>desert</i>: <n>“The <i>Lord</i> is coming. Make the road ready for him. <n>Make it straight.


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Fill in every valley and make every mountain and hill flat. <n>Take away every curve so that the road is straight. <n>Take away all the rocks so that the road is flat.


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Then you will see how God will save you.” ’ <n>John is using a picture to show people how to prepare themselves for the <i>Lord</i> to come. At that time, people mended the roads before a ruler arrived. To be ready for Jesus, they should stop doing wrong things. And they should start to do what is right. 


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Crowds of people were coming out into the <i>desert</i> to hear John speak. They wanted John to <i>baptise</i> them. ‘Yes’, he said, ‘God will soon <i>punish</i> people that do wrong things. But you are as dangerous as snakes. 


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You have to show that you are sorry. You have to show it by how you live. Stop doing things that God does not like. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “God will not <i>punish</i> us. After all, we are part of the <i>family</i> of Abraham.” Listen! God can make children for Abraham out of these stones! 


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You are like trees that have bad fruit. People cut down bad trees and they throw them into the fire. In the same <i>way</i>, God will <i>punish</i> bad people. And he will do it very soon.’ <n>The <i>Jews</i> knew that they were God’s special people. But how they lived was important to God. God wanted them to live good lives. At that time, many of them did not seem to understand that. When they did not obey him, he was angry with them. He was ready to <i>punish</i> those people, if they would not obey him. <n>The <i>Jews</i> called themselves ‘children of Abraham’. God had used him many centuries before to start their <i>family</i>. 


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‘If you have two shirts, give one away. Give it to a man that does not have a shirt. If you have some food, give some of it away. Give some to a man that has no food.’


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In the crowd, there were people that took money on behalf of the government. These men also wanted John to <i>baptise</i> them. ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ they asked. 


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‘You must take the right amount of money from the people. You must not take more than the rules say.’


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Then some soldiers spoke. ‘What about us? What should we do?’ <n>‘Do not rob people of their money’, John replied. ‘Do not say that a person has done something wrong, if he has not. It is wrong to get money by doing that. And you must be happy with the money that you get for your work.’ <n>Many people who took money on behalf of the government were not honest. They often took too much money. They took it for themselves. John told them that they should be honest. God would then see that these people really wanted to obey him. 


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‘Is John the <i>Messiah</i>?’ the people were thinking. ‘Is he the man that God will send to save <i>Israel</i>?’ They were all hoping that he might be. 


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John knew what they were thinking. ‘I have only <i>baptised</i> you with water’, he said. ‘But someone else is coming to <i>baptise</i> people. He is much greater and more important than I am. He is so important that I am not good enough even to undo his shoes. He will <i>baptise</i> some of you with the <i>Holy Spirit</i> and with fire. 


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Think about a farmer that brings the <i>wheat</i> home. Then he uses a tool to make the seeds separate from what remains. He stores all the seeds. But he burns all that remained. This person will be like that. He will come very soon. He will keep good people safe. But he will <i>punish</i> bad people in the fire that nobody can put out.’


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John said many more things to the people. He was telling them the good news about how God could change their lives. 


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But the ruler Herod stopped him. John had told Herod that it was wrong for him to marry Herodias. She was the wife of his brother. John had also told Herod that he had done many other bad things.


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Then Herod did an even worse thing; he locked John up in prison. <n>Herod had married Herodias. She was already the wife of Philip. Philip was Herod’s brother. <n>John <i>baptises</i> Jesus</n>


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While John was <i>baptising</i> all the people, he also <i>baptised</i> Jesus. When Jesus was praying, the sky opened. 


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Then the <i>Holy Spirit</i> came down. He seemed like a bird. He came and he rested on Jesus. People heard a voice from the sky. ‘You are my Son. I love you. You make me very happy.’ <n>God called Jesus, ‘my Son’. Jesus often said that God was his father. It is part of the good news, that God is also our father. <n>The <i>family</i> of Jesus</n>


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Jesus was about 30 years old when he started to tell the Good News. People thought that he was Joseph’s son. <n>He was Heli’s son.


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Heli was Matthat’s son. <n>Matthat was Levi’s son. <n>Levi was Melki’s son. <n>Melki was Jannai’s son. <n>Jannai was Joseph’s son.


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Joseph was Mattathias’ son. <n>Mattathias was Amos’s son. <n>Amos was Nahum’s son. <n>Nahum was Esli’s son. <n>Esli was Naggai’s son.


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Naggai was Maath’s son. <n>Maath was Mattathias’s son. <n>Mattathias was Semein’s son. <n>Semein was Josech’s son. <n>Josech was Joda’s son.


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Joda was Joanan’s son. <n>Joanan was Rhesa’s son. <n>Rhesa was Zerubbabel’s son. <n>Zerubbabel was Shealtiel’s son. <n>Shealtiel was Neri’s son.


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Neri was Melki’s son. <n>Melki was Addi’s son. <n>Addi was Cosam’s son. <n>Cosam was Elmadam’s son. <n>Elmadam was Er’s son.


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Er was Joshua’s son. <n>Joshua was Eliezer’s son. <n>Eliezer was Jorim’s son. <n>Jorim was Matthat’s son. <n>Matthat was Levi’s son.


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Levi was Simeon’s son. <n>Simeon was Judah’s son. <n>Judah was Joseph’s son. <n>Joseph was Jonam’s son. <n>Jonam was Eliakim’s son.


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Eliakim was Melea’s son. <n>Melea was Menna’s son. <n>Menna was Mattatha’s son. <n>Mattatha was Nathan’s son. <n>Nathan was David’s son.


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David was Jesse’s son. <n>Jesse was Obed’s son. <n>Obed was Boaz’s son. <n>Boaz was Salmon’s son. <n>Salmon was Nahshon’s son.


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Nahshon was Amminadab’s son. <n>Amminadab was Ram’s son. <n>Ram was Hezron’s son. <n>Hezron was Perez’s son. <n>Perez was Judah’s son.


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Judah was Jacob’s son. <n>Jacob was Isaac’s son. <n>Isaac was Abraham’s son. <n>Abraham was Terah’s son. <n>Terah was Nahor’s son.


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Nahor was Serug’s son. <n>Serug was Reu’s son. <n>Reu was Peleg’s son. <n>Peleg was Eber’s son. <n>Eber was Shelah’s son.


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Shelah was Cainan’s son. <n>Cainan was Arphaxad’s son. <n>Arphaxad was Shem’s son. <n>Shem was Noah’s son. <n>Noah was Lamech’s son.


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Lamech was Methuselah’s son. <n>Methuselah was Enoch’s son. <n>Enoch was Jared’s son. <n>Jared was Mahalaleel’s son. <n>Mahalaleel was Kenan’s son.


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Kenan was Enosh’s son. <n>Enosh was Seth’s son. <n>Seth was Adam’s son. <n>Adam was the son of God. <n>The names of all the people in a family were very important to the <i>Jews</i>. In that way, they knew that they were <i>Jews</i>. The list shows that Jesus was in the same <i>family</i> as Judah, David and Abraham. 


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Jesus was now full of the <i>Holy Spirit</i>. When he returned from the river Jordan, the <i>Holy Spirit</i> led him into the <i>desert</i>. 


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He stayed there for 40 days and he did not eat anything. At the end of 40 days, he was very hungry. During this time the <i>devil</i> tried to cause Jesus to do wrong things. They were things that God did not want him to do. <n>The <i>devil</i> is an <i>angel</i> that refused to obey God. He also tries to cause people to do bad things. Jesus was starting to do the work that God sent him to do. 


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‘No!’ Jesus replied, ‘the book of God says that food alone cannot cause people to live.’ <n>The <i>devil</i> knew that Jesus was very hungry, so he gave him the idea to make stones into food. Jesus knew that he had power to do anything. But he wanted only to obey God. He could make stones into food. But that was not what God wanted. Our bodies are not the most important part of us. Jesus came to give us food for our <i>spirits</i>. That part of us is more important. Jesus knew what God said in his book. And he answered the <i>devil</i> with words from Deuteronomy 8:3. 


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After that, the <i>devil</i> led Jesus up to a high place. In one moment, he showed him all the countries in the whole world. 


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‘I will let you rule the whole world’, the <i>devil</i> said, ‘and I will give you power over everyone and over everything. It all belongs to me. So, I can give it to anyone that I choose. 


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Just bend your knee in front of me. And say that I am great and important. Then I will give you the whole world to rule over.’


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‘No!’ Jesus replied. ‘This is what God says in his book: <n>“Bend your knee in front of the <i>Lord</i> God. Tell him how great and important he is. Only obey him.” ’ <n>Jesus was speaking the words in Deuteronomy 6:13. <n>The <i>devil</i> was telling Jesus that his work could be easier. He would let Jesus rule the world now, if he would obey him. Jesus knew that this was wrong. He knew that he must obey only God. 


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The <i>devil</i> now took Jesus to Jerusalem. He led him to the highest part of the <i>Great House of God</i>. Then he said, ‘If you are the <i>Son of God</i>, jump down from here to the ground. 


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It also says, <n>“They will hold you safe in their hands. They will not let you hurt your feet against a stone.” ’ <n>The <i>devil</i> was using the words from <i>Psalm</i> 91:11-12. But he was not using them right. 


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‘No!’ replied Jesus. ‘That is not what God wants. His book says, <n>“Do not do something dangerous just to cause God to save you.” ’ <n>Jesus was speaking words from Deuteronomy 6:16. He was standing on the highest part of the <i>Great House of God</i>. This was 600 metres (2000 feet) above the ground. He knew that God did not want him to jump. We must not get into danger just to see God save us. 


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The <i>devil</i> tried to cause Jesus to do many things that God did not like. When the <i>devil</i> had finished, he left Jesus alone for a time. <n>Jesus goes to Nazareth</n>


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The <i>Holy Spirit</i> continued to make Jesus very powerful when he returned to Galilee. Everyone who lived in and near Galilee heard the news about him. 


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He taught in the <i>Jewish</i> meeting places and everyone said good things about him. <n><i>Jews</i> used their meeting places to pray together and to learn more about God. 


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Jesus came to Nazareth, the town where he had grown up. On the <i>Jewish</i> day for rest, he went into the meeting place. He always did this. Then he stood up to read aloud from the <i>Old Testament</i>. <n>The <i>Jewish</i> day for rest is our Saturday. This was a special day for them, when nobody worked. <n>The Bible that the <i>Jews</i> read was the <i>Old Testament</i>. They wrote it on long pieces of paper or the skin of an animal. Each long piece had a piece of wood at each end. They rolled the paper or skin up round the wood. This was called a scroll. They would undo a small part when someone wanted to read from it. 


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They gave him the book of messages that God had given to Isaiah. Jesus opened the book. He found the place where Isaiah wrote.


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‘The Spirit from the <i>Lord</i> God is upon me. <n>He has chosen me to tell good news to poor people. <n>He has sent me to tell people who are in prison, “You can go <i>free</i>!” <n>I must say to people that cannot see, “See again!” <n>I must cause people that are like slaves to be <i>free</i>.


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I must tell everyone, “This is the year when God will save his people.” ’ <n>Jesus read the words from Isaiah 61:1-2. 


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Jesus closed the book and he gave it back to an officer of the meeting place. Then he sat down to teach the people. Everyone in the meeting place was looking at him.


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‘Today’, Jesus said to them, ‘this message has become true. It has happened while you were listening.’


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Everyone was saying good things about Jesus. They were surprised. ‘How well he spoke! And he is only the son of Joseph, is he not?’ they were asking each other.


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‘Next’, Jesus replied, ‘you will be repeating the <i>proverb</i>, “Doctor, make people well in your own town.” We have heard that you did many surprising things in Capernaum. This is your home town, so do the same things here! 


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People do not accept a person that comes from their home town. That really is true. They do not believe that he receives messages from God.


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What I shall tell you now is true. Elijah received messages from God. Elijah said that it would stop raining. And it did not rain for three and a half years. So there was no food or water to drink in all the country. There were many <i>widows</i> in the country of <i>Israel</i> at that time. 


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But God did not send Elijah to stay with a <i>widow</i> in <i>Israel</i>. Instead, God sent Elijah to the country called Sidon. There Elijah stayed with a <i>widow</i> in a place called Zarephath.’ <n>We can read about this widow in 1 Kings 17:7-24. A widow is a woman whose husband has died. 


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‘Here is another example. There were many people in <i>Israel</i> with bad illnesses of the skin, when God’s servant Elisha was alive. But God did not make any of them well. Instead, he made a man from the country called Syria well. The man was called Naaman.’ <n>We can read about Naaman in 2 Kings, chapter 5. 


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They stood up and they caused him to leave the town. The town was on the top of a hill. So, they took him to the top and they wanted to throw him down. 


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But Jesus walked through the middle of the crowd and he went away. <n>Jesus told the people in the meeting place about himself. But they did not like the things that he was saying. They refused to believe that God had sent him. <n>Jesus causes a bad <i>spirit</i> to leave a man</n>


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Jesus went down to a town in Galilee called Capernaum. On the <i>Jewish</i> day for rest, he began to teach in the meeting place. 


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In the meeting place was a sick man. He had a bad <i>spirit</i> that was living inside him. The <i>spirit</i> caused him to shout and to make a lot of noise. 


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‘Jesus of Nazareth, what do you want to do to us? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the <i>Holy One</i>. You come from God.’


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‘Be quiet!’ Jesus replied. ‘Come out of the man.’ At this, the bad <i>spirit</i> caused the man to fall to the ground in front of the people. Then it came out without hurting him.


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All the people were very surprised and they said to each other, ‘How can this man speak in that <i>way</i>? He has power and authority. When he <i>orders</i> bad <i>spirits</i> to come out of people, they come out.’ 


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Then they began to tell everyone about Jesus. As a result, people in all the places near Capernaum heard the news about Jesus. <n>Jesus makes many people well</n>


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Jesus then left the meeting place and he went into Simon’s home. The mother of Simon’s wife was sick with a very bad <i>fever</i>. So, they asked Jesus to make her well. 


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Jesus came and he stood near her. He then <i>ordered</i> the <i>fever</i> to go away and it left her. So, she got up immediately and she began to prepare food for her visitors.


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When the sun began to go down, the people brought many sick people to see Jesus. They had many different illnesses. He put his hands on each person and they became well.


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Bad <i>spirits</i> also came out of many people. The <i>spirits</i> knew that he was the <i>Messiah</i>. So, when they came out, they began to shout, ‘Jesus, you are the <i>Son of God</i>.’ But Jesus stopped them shouting. He would not let them speak.


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Early the next morning, Jesus went alone to a quiet place. The people went to look for him. When they found him they said, ‘Do not leave us! Please stay with us in Capernaum.’ 


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‘I cannot stay with you’, Jesus replied. ‘I must go to other towns to teach everyone the good news. I will tell them how God rules in the lives of his people. That is what God sent me to do.’


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Then he left them. And he started to teach in other <i>Jewish</i> meeting places in the country called Judea.


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One day, Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret. And a crowd was pushing to get near to him. They were listening to him. He was talking about the message of God. <n>‘Lake Gennesaret’ is another name for the ‘Sea of Galilee’. The town called Capernaum is on the shore of this lake. 


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Jesus saw two fishing boats at the edge of the lake. The <i>fishermen</i> had left the boats there and they were now washing their <i>nets</i>. <n>The <i>fishermen</i> caught fish from the lake with <i>nets</i>. They tied thin <i>rope</i> together to make these. They washed them after they had been out to catch fish. And then they mended them. The <i>nets</i> were then ready for them to use again. 


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One of the boats was Simon’s. So Jesus climbed into it. He then asked Simon to push it away a little from the shore. When Jesus had sat down in the boat, he started to teach the people again. <n>The boat was a good place for Jesus to sit. The people on the shore could see and hear him. 


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When he finished teaching them, he spoke to Simon. ‘Now take the boat out into deep water’, he said. ‘Then put down the <i>nets</i> into the water to catch some fish.’


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‘Teacher’, Simon replied, ‘we worked all last night and we did not catch anything. But because you say it, I will put down the <i>nets</i>.’ 


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So they went and they put the <i>nets</i> down into the water. When they did that, they caught many fish. There were so many fish that the <i>nets</i> began to break. 


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So Simon shouted to the other <i>fishermen</i> that always worked with him. ‘Come’, he said, ‘we need you.’ When they saw that, the men came in their boat. They filled both boats with the fish. There were so many that the boats began to go down. 


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When Simon saw all the fish, he went down on his knees in front of Jesus. He was afraid. ‘Sir’, he said, ‘I am a bad man. So please leave me.’ <n>Simon saw all the fish. Then he knew that God was with Jesus. So, he felt that he was a very bad man. He knew that God does not like bad things. 


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Simon said this because he was very surprised. He was surprised because they had caught so many fish. His friends in the other boat were very surprised, too. 


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James and John were also very surprised. They were sons of Zebedee and they always worked with Simon. ‘Do not be afraid of me’, Jesus then said to Simon. ‘From now on you will catch men!’


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After that, they went and they pulled their boats up on the shore. Then they left everything and they went with Jesus. <n>Jesus wanted to teach Simon, James and John about ‘catching men’. They would learn how to tell people the good news about Jesus. They had brought fish out of the water. Now they would bring people to Jesus, so that they could believe in him. <n>This is about a man with an illness of his skin and bones</n>


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One day, Jesus was in a certain town. A man with an illness of his skin and bones that was called leprosy was there. <n>People with <i>leprosy</i> could not live with other people. They lived outside the town. <n>When the man saw Jesus, he threw himself down on his knees in front of him. ‘Sir, if you want’, he said, ‘you can make me well. Please do it.’


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Jesus touched him with his hand. ‘I do want to’, he said. ‘Be well.’ Immediately, the illness was gone. 


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‘Do not tell anyone about this’, Jesus said to him. ‘Instead, go and show yourself to the <i>priest</i>. Take him a gift for God. Moses told people, “You must do this when you are better from this illness.” So give this gift to God. This will show everyone that you are now well.’


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After this, more and more people started to hear the news about Jesus. Crowds were coming to hear him teach. The sick ones also wanted him to make them well. 


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But he would go away from the crowd to pray in quiet places. <n>Jesus makes well a man that cannot walk</n>


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One day, while Jesus was teaching in a house, many people were sitting there. Some were <i>Pharisees</i>. Other people were teachers of God’s rules. They had come from many villages in Galilee, and from Judea and Jerusalem. At that time, the power of the <i>Lord</i> was present for Jesus to make sick people well. <n>The <i>Pharisees</i> were a group of <i>Jews</i>. Many of them thought that they were obeying all God’s rules. But they were also obeying many rules that men had made. Those Pharisees did not like the things that Jesus taught. They did not like him because he did not obey all their rules. 


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Then some men arrived. They were carrying a man on a small carpet. The man could not move his legs. They tried to get into the house, because they wanted to bring the man to Jesus. 


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But the house was full of people, and they could not get in. So, they carried the small carpet with the man on it to the flat roof of the house. Then they made a hole in the roof. After that, they put the small carpet down through the hole. The man was still lying on it. He came down in the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 


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When Jesus saw this, he said to himself, ‘These men really believe in me.’ So, he spoke to the sick man. ‘My friend’, he said. ‘I <i>forgive</i> you for all the bad things that you have done.’


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The <i>Pharisees</i> and the teachers of God’s rules were there. They heard what Jesus said. So, they began to talk to each other about it. ‘What he says is wrong. He cannot <i>forgive</i> people for the things that they have done. Only God can do that. And he is only a man.’ 


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‘I said to this man, “I <i>forgive</i> you for all the bad things that you have done.” But I could say to him, “Get up and walk.” I want to show you that my words are true. Which is the best one to say? 


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Now I will show you that I, the <i>Son of Man</i>, have authority on earth. I can <i>forgive</i> people for the bad things that they have done. I will show you that I can forgive them.’ Then he turned to the man that could not move his legs. ‘I say to you’, he said, ‘stand up. Take up your carpet and go home!’


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Immediately, the man stood up in front of them. He took the carpet that he had used to lie on. He went home. ‘How great and powerful God is’, he was saying. 


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What had happened surprised everyone. They were afraid. ‘How great and powerful God is’, they said to each other. ‘We have seen very strange and special things happen today.’ <n>Jesus often spoke about himself as the <i>Son of Man</i>. He used this to cause the people to think about some messages in the <i>Old Testament</i>. You can read about the <i>Son of Man</i> in Daniel 7:13-14. <n>Jesus asks Levi to come with him</n>


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After this happened, Jesus went for a walk. He saw a man that took money on behalf of the government. His name was Levi and he was working in his office. ‘Follow me’, Jesus said to him. 


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Soon after this, Levi made a large meal for Jesus at his house. A big crowd of people also came and they were eating with them. Many of these people also took money on behalf of the government. 


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Some <i>Pharisees</i> and teachers of God’s rules saw them. They did not like these people. So, they spoke to the men that followed Jesus. ‘You eat and drink with these bad people. That is not right. Some of them even take money on behalf of the government.’


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‘People that are well do not need a doctor’, Jesus answered them. ‘It is sick people that need one. 


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I have not come for people that have not done wrong things. Some people know that they have done wrong things. I am asking those people to come to me. I want them to stop doing wrong things. I want them to start doing right things.’


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When they heard this, they asked Jesus about something else. ‘Some people obey what John the <i>Baptist</i> teaches. Those people often stop eating food to pray better. The people that obey the <i>Pharisees</i> do the same. Why do those that obey you never go without their meals?’ <n>John the <i>Baptist</i> and the <i>Pharisees</i> taught the people who obeyed them about how to pray. They taught them to go without food sometimes. This caused them to feel nearer to God when they prayed. 


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Jesus used a picture story to answer their question. ‘When a man is marrying, he gives a big meal. His friends do not go without food then. 


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But the time will come when people will take him away from his friends. Then they will go without food.’ <n>In this picture story, the man that is marrying is Jesus. His friends at the big meal are those that follow him. He will not always be with them. Then they will start to go without food to pray better. 


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Then Jesus told them another picture story. ‘You do not tear a piece of cloth from a new coat to mend an old one. If you do that, you will have torn the new coat. Also, the new piece of cloth will not seem the same as cloth from the old coat. <n>Men were teaching people about the rules that God gave to them. The old cloth is what these men taught. The new cloth is what Jesus is teaching. God gave his rules to his people by Moses. Those that taught these rules often taught their own ideas instead. This was why Jesus so often spoke against them. He also spoke against what they taught. 


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Bottles that people have made out of the skin of an animal teach us the same. Nobody pours new <i>wine</i> into an old skin bottle. If they do, the new <i>wine</i> will break the old bottle. The <i>wine</i> will run out and they will lose it. And they will have destroyed the bottle. 


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Also, after he has drunk old <i>wine</i>, nobody wants new <i>wine</i>. He says, “The old <i>wine</i> is much better.” ’ <n><i>Wine</i> is a drink that you make from fruit. It contains alcohol. Some people keep <i>wine</i> in bottles that they have made from the skin of an animal. <i>Wine</i> grows while it is getting older. But old skins become hard. New <i>wine</i> would cause them to break. <n>Jesus is teaching that the old rules are like old skin bottles. What he is teaching is new. And it is like a new skin bottle. 


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On a <i>Jewish</i> day for rest, Jesus was walking through some fields where <i>wheat</i> was growing. Then the men that were following him began to pick some of the <i>wheat</i>. They were <i>rubbing</i> the seeds with their hands. Then they were eating the <i>wheat</i> that remained.


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Some <i>Pharisees</i> were walking along with them. ‘You should not be doing that’, they said. ‘You know that it is against God’s rules to work on our day for rest.’


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‘Remember what David did. He did it when he and his men were hungry’, Jesus replied. ‘You have certainly read about it. 


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He went into the <i>Great House of God</i>. And he took the special bread that was there. It is against God’s rules for anyone except the <i>priests</i> to eat that bread. But he ate some of it and he also gave some to his friends.


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The <i>Son of Man</i> has authority to say what people can do on the day for rest’, Jesus said. <n>We can read this report about David in 1 Samuel chapter 21. <n>Jesus makes a man well on their day for rest</n>


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On another <i>Jewish</i> day for rest, Jesus went into the meeting place and he taught. A man was there. His right hand was very small and weak. The man could not use this hand. 


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Some teachers of God’s rules and some <i>Pharisees</i> were careful to watch Jesus. They wanted a reason to say that he was doing wrong things. If he made this man well, they would say, ‘Jesus is not obeying the rules that God gave. He works on the day for rest.’ 


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But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he spoke to the man. ‘Get up and stand in front of everyone.’ The man got up and he stood there. 


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‘Let me ask you something’, Jesus then said to the people. ‘What should we do on the day for rest? Do God’s rules say that we should do good things? Or do they say that we should do bad things? Should we save the life of someone? Or should we destroy a life?’ 


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Nobody replied. So Jesus looked round at everyone. ‘Put out your hand’, he said to the man. When he put it out, it became well. He could use it again.


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Then the <i>Pharisees</i> and those that taught God’s rules were very angry. They began to talk to each other. ‘What can we do to Jesus?’ they said. <n>Jesus chooses the 12 men</n>


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In the morning, he asked all those that were following him to come to him. Then he chose 12 of them that he would send out with his message. These 12 men were called <i>apostles</i>. These are their names:


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Simon. Jesus called him Peter. <n>Andrew. He was the brother of Simon. <n>James, <n>John, <n>Philip, <n>Bartholomew,


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Judas, son of James, <n>Judas Iscariot. He sold Jesus to those who wanted to kill him. <n>Many people were following Jesus. Only 12 of these were called <i>apostles</i>. The word <i>apostle</i> means someone that is sent out to do a job. Jesus taught them how to tell the Good News about himself. Later, he sent them to do that. <n>Jesus tells a special message</n>


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After Jesus had chosen the 12 men, they all came down the hill. He stopped and he stood on a flat place. A large crowd of those that were following stood with him. There were also many people from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judea and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. 


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These people had all come to hear Jesus teach. Those that were ill wanted him to make them well. He was also making well those people that had bad <i>spirits</i>. 


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All the people were trying to touch him, because he was making each person well with his great power. <n>Jesus teaches those that follow him</n>


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Jesus looked at those that were following him. He spoke this message to them. <n>‘Listen, you that are poor. You are children of God, so be happy.’ <n>Jesus was not only speaking about people that have no money. Matthew 5:3 shows us that. Some people know that they need God. He was also speaking about those people. 


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‘Listen, you that are hungry now. God will feed you, so be happy.’ <n>Jesus was not only speaking about people that have nothing to eat. Matthew 5:6 shows us that. He was also speaking about people that really want to know more about God. They want all that God has to give them. <n>‘Listen, you that are crying now. God will cause you to laugh, so be happy!’ <n>Matthew 5:4 shows that Jesus was not only speaking about sad people. Some people are sorry for the bad things that they have done. He was also speaking about those people. 


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‘People may <i>hate</i> you, because you obey me, the <i>Son of Man</i>. They may say that you are very bad. They may cause you to go away. They may do other bad things to you. When that happens, be happy. 


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After all, God will give you many good things when you go to his home. So, be very happy! Jump up and down because you are so happy. Think about those that do bad things to you now. It was their <i>fathers</i> that also did the same bad things long ago. They did bad things to those that spoke messages from the <i>Holy Spirit</i>.


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Listen, you that are rich now. And listen, you that have a comfortable life. Trouble will come to you.


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Listen, you that are full now. You will be hungry. <n>Listen, you that are laughing now. You will be sad and you will cry.


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Trouble will happen to you, if people always say good things about you. Your <i>families</i> long ago said the same good things about bad people. Those bad people said that they spoke messages from the <i>Holy Spirit</i>. But they did not.’ <n>Love people that want to hurt you</n>


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‘I say this to you who are listening carefully to me’, Jesus said. ‘Love people that want to hurt you. Do good things to people that <i>hate</i> you. 


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Someone may hit you on one side of your face. If he does, let him hit the other side of your face too. Someone may take away your coat. If he does, do not stop him from taking your shirt too. 


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Give to anyone that asks you for things. Someone may take things that are yours. If he does, let him keep them. Do not ask for them back again. 


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Do you only love people that love you? If you do, you are not doing anything special. Do not want people to speak well about you because you love like that. After all, even bad people love those who love them. 


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Do you only do good things to people that do good things to you? If you do, you are not doing anything special. Do not want people to speak well about you for that. After all, even bad people do the same. 


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Do you lend things only to people that will give your things back? If you do that, you are not doing anything special. After all, even bad people lend things to other people. They believe that they will get them back again. 


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No! I am <i>telling</i> you to love people that want to hurt you. Do good things to them. Lend things to them and do not want to get them back again. If you do this, the high God will give you a great gift. He is kind even to people that do not say “thank you”. He is even kind to bad people. So you will really be his sons. 


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Do not say to someone, “You are a bad person.” If you do not, God will not say to you, “You are bad person.” Do not say to people, “God should <i>punish</i> you because you are bad.” If you do not, they will not say that to you. <i>Forgive</i> other people and God will <i>forgive</i> you. 


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Give to other people and God will give to you. He will give to you more than you gave. He will fill your pocket until no more will go in. It will be so full that it will come out over the top. How you give to other people, God will give to you.’ <n>The people would leave part of their coat to hang over their belt. They used this as a large pocket. It was big enough to hold some food. A person may give someone a lot of food if he fills his pocket. Then he is doing what God does. God gives a lot to those that also give a lot. We choose how we will give to other people. Then God does the same to us. 


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Jesus also used this picture story to teach the people. ‘A <i>blind</i> man cannot lead another <i>blind</i> man. If he does, they both will fall into a hole in the ground.


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A student is less important than his teacher is. But when the student has learned everything, he will be like his teacher.


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Perhaps you want to tell your brother about his mistake. If you want to do that, first remember your own mistakes. 


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If you do not, you are like this: You are like a person that has a piece of wood in his eye. That person then says, “Brother, you have some dirt in your eye. Let me take it out for you.” Do not be like that person. You say one thing but you do something different yourselves. First, make right your own mistakes. Only then can you know how to tell another person about his mistake.’ <n>A picture story about a tree and its fruit</n>


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So in this way you can know if a tree is good or bad. You can know by the fruit that it makes. You only pick good fruit from good fruit trees and bushes. <i>Figs</i> do not grow on <i>thorn</i> bushes. <i>Grapes</i> do not grow on <i>briers</i>.’ <n>Figs and grapes are two kinds of fruit. They grow in the country called <i>Israel</i>. They are good to eat. <i>Thorn</i> bushes and <i>briers</i> are small bushes. They do not make good fruit. 


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‘People are the same. A good man brings good things out of his mind. His good thoughts are very valuable. A bad man brings bad thoughts out of his mind. He values the bad things inside his mind. So, when a person speaks, his words show something. They show whether his mind is full of good thoughts or bad thoughts.’ <n>A picture story about men that are building a house</n>


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‘Some people hear my message and they obey it. Let me tell you what those people are like. They are like a man who built a house. 


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This man dug down to the rocks. He put the first line of stones on the rock. After that, he built the house on top of the rock. Then a storm came and it brought a lot of water. The water hit the house but it could not move it. The water could not move the house because the man had built it very well.


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Some other people hear my message but they do not obey it. Let me tell you about those people. They are like another man who built a house. This man did not dig down deep to the rock. Instead, he put the first line of stones on the ground and he built on them. Then a storm came and it brought a lot of water. It hit this house and it fell down immediately. The water completely destroyed it.’ <n>In the story, a storm happened to both houses. People are like that. God will look at everyone to see how we have lived our lives. 


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A <i>Roman</i> officer there had a servant that he loved. The servant was very ill and he was dying. <n>The <i>Roman</i> officer was a soldier in the army of Herod Antipas. He had authority over 100 men. The officer was a good man that took <n>care</i> of his men. He was not a <i>Jew</i>, but the <i>Jews</i> spoke well about him. They did not usually speak good things about the <i>Romans</i>. 


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The officer heard about Jesus, so he sent some of the <i>Jewish</i> leaders to speak to him. ‘Please go to Jesus’, he said to them. ‘I would like him to make my servant well. Ask him if he would come to do that.’ 


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The <i>Jewish</i> leaders then went to Jesus. ‘Please would you do something for this <i>Roman</i> officer’, they were saying. ‘Please would you go and make his servant well. 


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So Jesus started to go with them. When he was not very far away from the house, the officer sent some friends to talk to him. He told them that they should say. ‘Sir, I do not want to be a trouble to you. I am not as important as you are. So you should not come into my house. 


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I did not come to talk to you myself, because I am not good enough. Instead, just say a word and my servant will be well again. 


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After all, someone also has authority over me. And so I have authority over other soldiers. I say to one soldier, “Go!” and he goes. I say to another one, “Come!” and he comes. And I say to my servant, “Do this!” and he does it.’


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When Jesus heard this message from the officer, he was very surprised. He turned towards the crowd that was following him. ‘Listen!’ he said. ‘I have not found anyone like this man in all of <i>Israel</i>. Nobody else believes so well in me.’


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The friends of the officer returned to his house. Then they saw that the servant was well again. <n>Jesus makes a dead man alive again</n>


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The next day, Jesus went to a town called Nain. Those that always followed him and a large group of other people went with him. 


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When he had almost reached the gate of the town, lots of people were coming out. They were carrying a dead man in a box to bury him. His mother had no other sons and her husband was also dead. A large crowd from the town was with her.


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He went to the box and he touched it. So the people that were carrying the box stopped. ‘Young man’, said Jesus, ‘get up, I say to you!’ 


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Everyone that saw this was afraid. ‘How great and powerful God is’, they said. ‘An important servant of God has appeared among us. God has come to save his people.’


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This news about Jesus went all through Judea. It also reached the people in the countries that were near there. <n>Jesus talks about John the <i>Baptist</i></n>


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Then some men went to visit John the <i>Baptist</i> in prison. Those people obeyed what he taught them. They told him about Jesus and about all that he was doing. So, John chose two of them. 


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‘I want you to go to the <i>Lord</i> Jesus for me’, he said. ‘Say to him, “John said that someone would come. John asks if you are that man. Are you the <i>Messiah</i>? Or should we still look for someone else?” ’


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So the two men came to Jesus. ‘John the <i>Baptist</i> has sent us to you’, they said. ‘He wants us to ask you, “Are you the man that would come? Or should we still look for someone else to appear?” ’


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At that time, Jesus made many people well. They had many different illnesses. Some had bad <i>spirits</i>. Jesus also caused many that could not see to see again. 


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Then he replied to the two men that John had sent. ‘Go back to John’, he said. ‘Tell him what you have seen. And tell him what you have heard. People that could not see can see now. People that could not walk can walk now. Some had illnesses of the skin; they are now well. Some could not hear, but now they can. Some people were dead; they now live again. Poor people are hearing the good news. 


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If anyone continues to believe in me, he will be happy.’ <n>John was alone in prison. He was afraid and he had troubles in his mind. He had thought, ‘Jesus is the person that God promised to send.’ He had told other people about him. Now he was not sure. He needed to know if it was true. So, he sent someone to find out. Jesus showed them the powerful work that he was doing. By this, John would know that God had sent Jesus. 


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The two men that followed John left. Then Jesus began to speak to the crowd about him. ‘You went out to see John in the <i>desert</i>. Think about what you went to see’, he said to them. ‘You certainly did not go to see a tall piece of grass. The wind blows grass about. John is not weak, as grass is. 


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If not that, think about what you went to see. You certainly did not go to see a man who was wearing expensive clothes. People like that have many beautiful things and they live in big houses. John is not like them. He lives in the <i>desert</i>. 


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So think about what you went out to see. You went out to see a man that receives messages from God. Yes, and John was even more important than that. 


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A long time ago, God spoke about him. “Listen! I will send someone with a message from me. He will arrive first to prepare your way.” ’ <n>Malachi wrote down what God said (Malachi 3:1). He was speaking to Jesus, the <i>Messiah</i>. John the <i>Baptist</i> had a very important job to do. He brought a message from God. He told people that they should prepare for Jesus. Jesus would be coming soon. God had promised that the <i>Messiah</i> would come to earth. He promised that John would arrive first. 


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Jesus also said to the people, ‘Yes, John is a very important person. He is greater than any man that has lived before. But there are people that are not great. But God rules in them. Any one of those people is more important than John.’ <n>John came to tell people that Jesus was the <i>Messiah</i>. God promised many times in the <i>Old Testament</i> to send the <i>Messiah</i>. Those that believe his message now know God as their king. They are part of the family of God. John did not know God like that. That is why Jesus said this. 


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A lot of people heard what Jesus said. ‘What God says about us is right’, they said. So they asked John to <i>baptise</i> them. Some of these people took money on behalf of the government. 


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The <i>Pharisees</i> and the people that taught God’s rules did not want John to <i>baptise</i> them. They did not believe the message that God was giving to them.


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So Jesus continued to teach. ‘I will talk to you about the people that are alive today. I will tell you what they are like’, he said. 


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‘They are like children who are sitting in the market place. They are playing. They shout out to other children, “We made happy music on a <i>pipe</i> for you, but you did not dance. We sang a sad song and you did not cry.” 


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You are like those children. When John the <i>Baptist</i> came, he often went without food. He never drank <i>wine</i>. So you said that he had a bad <i>spirit</i> in him. 


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Then I, the <i>Son of Man</i>, came. I both eat and drink. So you say about me, “Look at this man! He eats and drinks too much. He is a friend of those people who take money on behalf of the government. He is a friend of other bad people.” That is what you say about us. 


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But God is <i>wise</i> and good. <i>Wise</i> people understand and they agree with him.’ <n>John and Jesus were very different. But they were both living as God wanted them to live. The <i>Pharisees</i> thought of themselves as <i>wise</i>. But they would not accept either John or Jesus. <n>A woman pours expensive <i>oil</i> on Jesus</n>


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Then one of the <i>Pharisees</i> asked Jesus to eat a meal with him. So Jesus went to his house and sat down to eat. 


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In that town was a woman that did many wrong things. She heard that Jesus was eating a meal at the house of the <i>Pharisee</i>. So she took a small jar of <i>oil</i> and she went there. The <i>oil</i> was very expensive and it had a beautiful smell. Someone had made the small jar out of white stone. 


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When she went inside, she stood behind Jesus. She was crying and she made his feet wet with her <i>tears</i>. Then she dried them with her hair and she kissed them. She then poured all the <i>oil</i> out of the jar on to his feet. 


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When the <i>Pharisee</i> saw this, he said to himself, ‘This man cannot be someone that receives messages from God. If he were, he would know all about this woman. He would not let her touch him. He would know that she is a very bad person.’


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‘Simon’, said Jesus to him, ‘I want to tell you something.’ ‘Yes, Teacher, tell me’, replied Simon. So he told him a picture story about two men.


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‘Someone had lent them money. He had lent one of them 500 <i>silver</i> coins. He had lent the other one 50 coins.’ <n>A man would pay someone one <i>silver</i> coin if he worked for a day. 


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‘Neither of the men had the money to pay him back. Then the man that had lent them the money <i>forgave</i> them. “You do not need to pay back my money”, he said to them both. <n>Which of these two men will love that man most?’ Jesus asked.


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‘I think’, replied Simon, ‘that it is the first man. It is the man that needed to pay back the most money.’ <n>‘You are right’, said Jesus. 


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Then he turned towards the woman. ‘You see this woman’, he said to Simon. ‘When I came into your house, you did not give me water for my feet. But she has washed my feet with her <i>tears</i> and she has dried them with her hair. 


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You did not welcome me with a kiss’, he went on to say. ‘But this woman began to kiss my feet when she came in. And she has not stopped. 


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You did not put <i>oil</i> on my head. But she has brought expensive <i>oil</i> with a sweet smell to put on my feet.’ <n>When someone went into a house, a servant brought water. This was to wash his feet. The master of the house also kissed the visitor and he poured <i>oil</i> on his head. These were the right things to do to welcome a visitor. 


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‘So I tell you this. This woman has done many bad things. But I have <i>forgiven</i> them. She loves me a lot, because I have <i>forgiven</i> her a lot. If I only <i>forgive</i> a little, a person only loves me a little.’


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The other people at the meal talked among themselves. ‘Who is this man? Can he really <i>forgive</i> the bad things that people have done?’


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‘You believed that I could <i>forgive</i> you!’ Jesus told the woman. ‘You will not have troubles in your mind any longer. You can go now.’


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After this, Jesus started to travel from one place to another. In each town or village, he spoke the good news to the people. ‘God wants to rule in your lives’, he was telling them. The 12 men that always followed Jesus were going with him. 


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Some women were also travelling with them. These women had been ill, but Jesus had made them well again. One of the women was Mary Magdalene. Jesus had sent 7 bad <i>spirits</i> away from her. 


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Another of the women was Joanna, the wife of Chuza. Chuza had authority over all the people that worked in the house of King Herod. Another of the women was Susanna. These and other women were helping Jesus and the 12 men that he had chosen. They were using their own money to do this. <n>The picture story about a farmer that planted seeds</n>


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Large crowds of people were coming to Jesus from many towns. A large number were already together when Jesus told this story.


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‘A farmer went out to plant seeds in his field. While he was throwing the seeds, some fell on the path. Then people walked on them and the birds ate them. 


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Some seeds fell on ground with rocks in it. They started to grow, but the young plants had no <i>roots</i>. Because there was no water in the ground, they died. 


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Some seeds fell among weeds. Then the weeds grew up with the young plants. They stopped the young plants from becoming strong, so they soon died. 


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But some seeds fell on good ground. Good, strong plants grew up from them. Each of these plants made one hundred seeds.’ <n>When Jesus finished the picture story, he said, ‘You have ears. So listen well to what I say.’ <n>Jesus explains why he tells picture stories</n>


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‘God helps you to understand what these stories mean’, he replied. ‘But they are a secret to other people. They do not understand how God rules in the lives of his people. So, I tell picture stories to teach them. They have their eyes wide open, but they do not really see. They hear the words, but they do not understand.’ <n>Jesus explains the picture story about the seeds</n>


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Some seeds fell on the path. Some people hear the message from God, but they do not think about it. They are like the path. The <i>devil</i> comes and he takes the message away from them. Because he takes it away, they cannot believe it. Because they do not believe it, God does not save them.


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Some seeds fell on ground with rocks in it. People that are happy to hear the message of God are like this ground. But the message does not change their lives and their thoughts. They believe in God for a time. But when they have trouble or difficulty, they stop believing.


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Some seeds fell among weeds. Some people hear the message and they believe for a time. They are like the ground with weeds. They start to think about the things of this world. They want to get money and things that make them happy in this life. These things push the message from God out from their lives, so they stop believing. They are like a plant that has no fruit.


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Some seed fell on good ground. Some people that hear God’s message are like this ground. They remember and they obey. They are good and honest. They continue to believe and they do many good things. They are like a plant that has lots of good fruit.’


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‘People do not light a <i>lamp</i> and then cover it’, Jesus went on to say. ‘Nor do they put the <i>lamp</i> in a jar or under a bed. Instead, they put it in a high place. Then other people that come into the room can see the light from the <i>lamp</i>.’ <n>People burnt oil in a dish called a lamp. This gave them light at night. They put the lamp on a high place so that the people could see. 


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‘The message of God is the same. It is a secret to some people. But one day everyone will see everything that has been a secret.


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So you should be careful how you listen. The person that has really heard a message will hear more. Some have not listened to it, so they have nothing. They think that they have a little. But they will lose even that.’ <n>Jesus is telling people how to listen to him. As in the picture story about the seeds, many people heard the message about God. But not all obeyed what they heard. They lost it. Some people were careful to listen. They received more than they started with. <n>The mother and brothers of Jesus come to see him</n>


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Then the mother and brothers of Jesus came to see him. But they could not reach him because of the large crowd. 


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‘I will tell you who my mother and brothers are’, replied Jesus. ‘Some people hear the message of God and they obey it. Those people are my mother and brothers.’ <n>People that believe in Jesus become part of the family of God. <n>Jesus stops a storm</n>


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One day Jesus got into a boat with those that always followed him. ‘I want us to go over to the other side of the lake’, he said. So, they started to cross the lake. 


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While they sailed, Jesus began to sleep. Then a strong wind started to blow across the lake. Water began to fill the boat and they were in danger. 


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So those in the boat with Jesus woke him. ‘Master, master, we shall die!’ they said. <n>Then Jesus got up and he spoke to the wind and to the water. ‘Stop’, he said. ‘Be quiet.’ The wind stopped immediately and the water became flat. 


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‘You do not believe in me and you should believe’, Jesus said then. <n>The event frightened them and they were very surprised. ‘So who is this man?’ they asked each other. ‘He even has authority over the wind and the water. He just speaks and they obey him.’ <n>Jesus makes a man well</n>


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Jesus and the 12 men that always followed him arrived at Gadara. In Gadara, the people called Gerasenes lived. This place is across the lake from Galilee. 


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When Jesus got off the boat, a man from the town came towards him. He had many bad <i>spirits</i> and they were living inside him. He had not worn any clothes for a long time. He did not live in a house. Instead, he lived in a place where people buried dead bodies. 


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When he saw Jesus, he screamed. Then he fell to the ground in front of him. ‘What do you want to do with me, Jesus?’ he said in a loud voice. ‘You are the Son of the powerful God above. Please do not hurt me.’ 


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He said this because Jesus had spoken to the bad <i>spirit</i>. ‘Come out of this man’, he had <i>ordered</i>. People usually kept this man tied up. They tied his hands and feet with <i>chains</i>. But when the bad <i>spirit</i> took hold of him, he broke the <i>chains</i>. The <i>spirit</i> then caused him to go into the places where people do not live.


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‘What is your name?’ Jesus then asked. ‘My name is <i>Legion</i>’, he replied. People called him this, because many bad <i>spirits</i> had gone into him. <n>There were 6000 <i>Roman</i> soldiers in a group called a legion. The man told Jesus that his name was Legion. He had many bad <i>spirits</i> that were living in him. The <i>spirits</i> used the voice of the man to speak to Jesus. 


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The bad <i>spirits</i> asked Jesus again and again not to send them to <i>hell</i>. <n><i>Hell</i> is the place where the <i>devil</i> and all the bad <i>spirits</i> will have to go. 


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There was a large group of pigs and they were eating their food on the side of the hill. ‘Let us go into the pigs’, they asked Jesus. ‘You can go into them’, he replied. 


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So the bad <i>spirits</i> came out of the man and they went into the pigs. All the pigs rushed together down the high hill. They ran into the lake and all of them died in the water.


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The men that were taking <n>care</i> of the pigs saw this happen. They ran away to tell other people about the pigs. They went to all the towns and villages that were near. 


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So the people came out from all these places to see what had happened. When they arrived, they found the man. He was sitting at the feet of Jesus. The bad <i>spirits</i> had gone out of him. He was now quiet and his mind was well again. He was also wearing clothes. When the people saw this, they were afraid. 


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Then all the people from the country of the people called Gerasenes spoke to Jesus. ‘Please leave us’, they said. They said this because they were very afraid. So, he got back into the boat. He was ready to return to the other side of the lake. 


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Then the man that had had the bad <i>spirits</i> spoke. ‘Please let me come with you’, he said to Jesus. ‘No’, he replied. 


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‘You must return to your home. Go. And tell everyone all that God has done for you.’ <n>So the man went away. He went everywhere in the town. He continued to tell all the people, ‘Jesus has done very good things for me.’ <n>Jesus makes Jairus’s daughter well</n>


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When Jesus returned to the other side of the lake, the crowd was very happy to see him. They were all waiting for him to come back. 


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Then a man called Jairus came to see him. He was a ruler in the meeting place. He went down on his knees at the feet of Jesus. ‘Please come to my house’, he said. 


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‘I have a daughter. She is 12 years old and she is very ill. She will die very soon. She is the only child that I have.’ <n>So, Jesus started to go to see his daughter. A crowd of people went with him and they were pushing against him. 


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There was a woman in the crowd that had lost blood for 12 years. She had paid all her money to doctors and she had no money left. But nobody could stop her bleeding. 


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She came behind Jesus in the crowd. Then she touched the edge of his clothes. Immediately she stopped bleeding. 


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‘Who touched me?’ asked Jesus. <n>Everyone round him said, ‘It was not me. I did not touch you.’ ‘Master’, said Peter, ‘the people are in a crowd round you. Many people are touching you.’


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The woman knew that she could not hide it. So she was very afraid, when she came to Jesus. She went down on the ground in front of him. She spoke so that all the people could hear her. ‘I wanted to be well’, she told them, ‘so I touched the edge of his clothes. As soon as I touched him, I became well.’ 


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‘Daughter’, Jesus said to her, ‘you are well again, because you believed in me. Do not have troubles in your mind any longer.’ <n>A woman with this problem should not have been in a crowd. She should not touch other people and they should not touch her. She was very afraid because people would know her secret. 


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While Jesus was still speaking to the woman, someone arrived from Jairus’s house. ‘Your daughter is dead’, he told him. ‘Do not ask the teacher to come now.’


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Jesus heard what the man said. So he spoke to Jairus. ‘Do not be afraid. Just believe that I can make her well.’


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When they arrived at the house, Jesus would not let everyone go in. He only took Peter, James and John. He also let the mother and father of the girl go into the house. 


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Many people there were crying. They were hitting themselves because they were very sad. ‘Do not cry’, Jesus told them. ‘She has not died. She is only asleep.’


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She became alive again and she stood up immediately. ‘Give her something to eat’, he said to her parents. 


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Jesus asked the 12 men that always followed him to come to him. Then he gave them power to make sick people well. He also gave them authority to send bad <i>spirits</i> out of people. 


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Then, he sent them out to tell other people about how God rules in the lives of his people. He told them also that they should make sick people well. 


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‘When you go’, he said, ‘take nothing for your journey. Do not take a stick, a bag or food. Do not take any money or two sets of clothes.’ <n>Jesus wanted those that he was sending out to believe in him. The <i>Holy Spirit</i> would cause other people to give them what they needed. 


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‘Find a house where the people in it are happy to have you. Stay at that house all the time you are visiting people in that town. 


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In some towns, the people will not be happy to see you. They have not believed the message that God sent to them. When you are leaving them, clean the dirt of that town from your feet. This shows them that they have not believed the message.’


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Then the 12 men that followed Jesus started out. While they were going from one village to another, they talked to all the people. They told them the good news about Jesus and they made many sick people well. <n>A ruler hears about Jesus</n>


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Herod the ruler heard reports about all that was happening. He was confused because people were saying different things about Jesus. Some were saying, ‘John the <i>Baptist</i> has come back and he is alive again.’ 


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Some were saying, ‘It is Elijah that has come back.’ Some other people were saying, ‘This is one of God’s servants that died a long time ago. He is alive again and he speaks messages from the <i>Holy Spirit</i>.’ <n>Elijah was a man that spoke messages from the <i>Holy Spirit</i>. He did not die, but God took him up from the ground to his own home. This report is in 2 Kings, chapter 2. 


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‘My soldiers killed John’, Herod said. ‘They cut off his head. So, who is this man? I hear strange stories about him.’ So, he was trying to meet Jesus. <n>You can read about the death of John the <i>Baptist</i> in Mark, chapter 6. <n>Jesus feeds 5000 men and their families</n>


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The 12 men that Jesus had sent out returned from their journeys. They told him what they had done. Then he took them away from the crowd, so that he could be alone with them. They went in the direction of a city called Bethsaida. 


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But the crowds found out where they were going. So they went to find Jesus. When he saw the crowds coming, he received them well. He told them how God rules in the lives of his people. Some sick people were there and he made them well.


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When it was nearly evening, the 12 men that always followed Jesus came up to him. ‘This is a place without houses’, they said. ‘Send the crowd away now, so that they can buy food. There are some villages and farms near here. Maybe they can sleep there.’


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‘You give them something to eat’, said Jesus. <n>‘But we only have 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish’, they replied. ‘Do you want us to go and buy food for all these people?’ 


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There were about 5000 men in the crowd. <n>‘Say to them that they should sit down on the ground in groups’, Jesus replied. ‘There should be about 50 people in each group.’


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Jesus took the 5 loaves and the 2 fish. Then he looked up towards the sky and he thanked God for the food. He broke it into pieces. And he gave it to the 12 men that always followed him. ‘Give it out to all the people’, he said. 


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Everybody ate and they all had enough. Then they picked up all the food that remained. They filled 12 baskets with it. <n>This report is very important. Only God could make 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish enough to feed 5000 men and their families. This showed that Jesus’ power came from God. <n>Peter says who Jesus is</n>


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Jesus was alone and he was praying. The 12 men that always followed him came up to him. ‘Who do the people say that I am?’ he asked them.


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‘Many people say that you are John the <i>Baptist</i>’, they replied. ‘Some people say that you are Elijah. Other people say that you are one of the servants of God from long ago. They say that the servant has become alive again.’ <n>This is the same report that Herod heard in 9:7-8. 


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‘What do you think?’ Jesus then asked them. ‘Who do you say that I am?’ <n>‘You are the <i>Messiah</i>’, replied Peter. ‘God sent you.’


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‘Listen!’ Jesus then said to them. ‘You must not tell this to anyone, that I am the <i>Messiah</i>.’ He said this very strongly. <n>The people were waiting for God to send the <i>Messiah</i>. They thought that this person would save them from the <i>Roman</i> government. They thought that he would be a great soldier. Jesus knew that the people had wrong ideas about the <i>Messiah</i>. So, he wanted to teach them how God rules in the lives of his people. He wanted to show them this by his life and death. Only then would the people understand that he really was the <i>Messiah</i>. 


