Matthew

Chapter 1

List of the forefathers of Christ Jesus

¹ This is the list of Christ Jesus’ forefathers. He was a descendant of David, who was a descendant of Abraham.

² Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac was the father of Jacob,

Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.

³ Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah, and their mother was named Tamar.

Perez was the father of Hezron.

Hezron was the father of Ram.

⁴ Ram was the father of Amminadab.

Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.

Nahshon was the father of Salmon.

⁵ Salmon was the father of Boaz, and hia mother was Rahab.

Boaz was the father of Obed, and his mother was Ruth.

Obed was the father of Jesse.

⁶ Jesse was the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, and the former wife of Uriah was Solomon’s mother.

⁷ Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.

Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.

Abijah was the father of Asa.

⁸ Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat.

Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram.

Joram was the father of Uzziah.

⁹ Uzziah was the father of Jotham.

Jotham was the father of Ahaz.

Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.

¹⁰ Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh.

Manasseh was the father of Amos.

Amos was the father of Josiah.

¹¹ Josiah was the father of Jechoniah ^[1] and his brothers. At that time, many Jewish people were taken as prisoners of war to the land of Babylon.

¹² While the Jewish people were still prisoners of war in Babylon,

Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel.

Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.

¹³ Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud.

Abiud was the father of Eliakim.

Eliakim was the father of Azor.

¹⁴ Azor was the father of Zadok.

Zadok was the father of Achim.

Achim was the father of Eliud.

¹⁵ Eliud was the father of Eleazar.

Eleazar was the father of Matthan.

Matthan was the father of Jacob.

¹⁶ Jacob was the father of Joseph.

Joseph was the husband of Mary,

^[2]

¹⁷ So, there were fourteen descendants from Abraham to David, and fourteen descendants from David until the time the Jewish people were taken to Babylon. And from the time the Jewish people began to live in the land of Babylon until Christ was born, there were also fourteen descendants.

The birth of Christ Jesus

¹⁸ This is the story about the birth of Christ Jesus. A young virgin named Mary was engaged to Joseph. Mary was the one who would later become Jesus’ mother. But before they were married, it happened that Mary got pregnant because of the power of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Joseph, Mary’s fiance, was an honest and kind-hearted man. When Mary told Joseph about her pregnancy, he didn’t want to shame Mary in public by saying that she had committed adultery. So he planned to break off his engagement with Mary in a quiet way.

²⁰ But while Joseph was thinking about that, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, descendant of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife because the child that’s in her womb came from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ Mary will give birth to a boy Child, and you will name Him Jesus, ^[3] because He is the one who will save His people from their sins.”

²² God was obviously arranging all of these things to happen so that what He spoke through the word of His prophet would be fulfilled,

²³ “A virgin will conceive and give birth to a boy Child, and He’ll be named Immanuel.” ^[1]

(The name Immanuel means, “God is with us.”) ²⁴ So Joseph got up from his sleep and did what the angel of the Lord told him, that is he quickly married Mary. ²⁵ However, Joseph didn’t have sexual relations with Mary until the Child was born. And after the Child was born, Joseph named Him Jesus.

1:11 ^[1] His other name was Jehoiachin.

1:16 ^[2] is a word from Greek which means ‘anointed one’. In Hebrew, the same term is ‘Messiah’. That term denotes a position, like ‘district head’ or ‘governor’. In Old Testament times, each king was anointed with olive oil by a prophet as a sign of being chosen and confirmed by God. And all of the priests and prophets of that time were also anointed. It’s appropriate to call Jesus ‘The Anointed One’, because He holds the position of prophet, High King, and our High Priest (Heb. 4-10). Because of some of the prophecies in the books of the prophets and the Psalms, at the time of Jesus, the Jewish people in general knew the meaning of ‘Christ’ as the King of Salvation, whom God promised, who would come from the descendants of King David, free the nation of Israel from those who opposed them, set up a government with the power of God, and rule with justice. See Is. 9:6-7; Gen. 3:15; Deut. 18:18-19; Mic. 5:2; Zec. 12:10-14; Mal. 3:1, 4:5-6; Ps. 2, 16, 22, 40, 110)

1:21 ^[3] The name Jesus in Greek means the same as the name Joshua in Hebrew. Both names mean “the LORD saves.”

1:23 ^[1] Is. 7:14

Chapter 2

Astrologers visit Jesus

¹ Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem in the province of Judea. At that time, Herod was ruling as king of Judea under the administration of the kingdom of Rome. Then several astrologers came ^[1] from a land far to the east of Jerusalem. ² They asked, “Where’s the Child who was just born, the one who will become King of the Jews? For we saw a star rise in the east, which is a sign of His birth, so we also came to worship Him.” ³ When King Herod heard the news about the king of the Jews who was just born, he was troubled. And all the residents of Jerusalem were troubled too. ⁴ Then Herod called the chief priests and the Law experts and asked them where the Christ would be born. ⁵ They answered, “In the city of Bethlehem, Judea. For a prophet has written these words of God,

⁶ ‘You residents of Bethlehem, in the region of Judah,

now you are no longer considered to be an unimportant town in that region!

For a leader will be born among you,

who will lead My people, Israel.’” ^[2]

⁷ Later, Herod held a closed meeting with the astrologers. That’s how he got clear information from them as to when the star appeared for the first time. ⁸ Then he ordered them to go to Bethlehem and said, “Go and find out precise information about that Child. And when you meet Him, tell me, so I can go to worship Him too.”

^9-10 After meeting with the king, the astrologers left. When they saw the star rising in the east again they were really joyful. Then the glow of the star guided them, and it stopped above the house where the Child was.

¹¹ So they entered the house where the Child was. Then they saw the Child with Mary, His mother, and knelt down and worshiped Him. They opened their bags and offered various gifts to the Child, which were gold, incense and myrrh. ^[2] ¹² But God told them through a dream not to return to Herod. Because of that they went home to their land by another way.

Jesus’ parents take Him to Egypt

¹³ After the astrologers left, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream. The angel said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother to Egypt quickly. Stay there until I come again, bringing orders for you to return, because Herod plans to find the Child and kill Him.”

¹⁴ That very evening Joseph got up and headed to Egypt with Mary and Jesus. ¹⁵ They stayed in Egypt until Herod died. In that way what was spoken by God through His prophet was fulfilled, “I’ll call My Child out of Egypt.” ^[3]

Herod kills all the little boys of Bethlehem

¹⁶ When Herod realized that the astrologers had deceived him, he was very angry. Then he ordered his soldiers to kill all the boy children of Bethlehem, and in all the region around it, that is all of those who were two years old and under. He estimated that the Child was two years old, according to the explanation of the astrologers. ¹⁷ So what was spoken by God through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled,

¹⁸ “A voice was heard in the city of Ramah,

that is the sound of crying and lamenting because of feeling very sad.

Rachel was crying for her children,

and she didn’t want to be comforted

because her children had died.” ^[4]

Joseph and Mary return from Egypt

¹⁹ After Herod died, Joseph and his family were still in the land of Egypt. Then an angel of the Lord came to him again in a dream. ²⁰ The angel said, “Get up, and go back to the land of Israel with Jesus and Mary because the people who were trying to kill Him are dead!”

²¹ So Joseph got up and left with them immediately for the land of Israel. ²² But when Joseph heard that the one who had replaced King Herod was his son Archelaus, he was afraid to return to the province of Judea. Then he received instructions again through a dream, so he took them to the province of Galilee. ²³ Then they went to the city which was called Nazareth and stayed there. In that way, what was spoken by God through the prophets was fulfilled, which was, “When the Christ comes, He will be called ‘a Nazarene.’”

2:1 ^[1] They may have been members of a religious group who were well educated who came from the region that’s now called Iran. They visited Jesus when He was between the age of 40 days (Luke 2:22) and two years. (Matt. 2:16)

2:11 ^[2] Incense was tree sap, which if burned had a very fragrant smelling smoke. It was expensive and often burned by Jewish priests as an offering to God. Myrrh was an expensive fragrant oil. It was used to prepare bodies to be buried. The oil can also be mixed with wine to drink to decrease pain.

2:15 ^[3] Matthew quoted from Hosea 11:1. In that context, Hosea referred to all the people of Israel as ‘God’s child’, so this verse can be translated in the context of time past. But Matthew used that verse as a prophecy, so it is translated here using the context of a time to come, as Matthew intended.

2:18 ^[4] Matthew quoted from Jer. 31:15. The city of Ramah was included in the broader region of Bethlehem, and was only five kilometers north of Jerusalem.

2:6 ^[2] Mic. 5:2

Chapter 3

John the Baptist prepares God’s people for Jesus’ coming

¹ After Jesus had grown up in Nazareth, in the province of Galilee, John the Baptist began his ministry in the region of Judea’s desert. He preached like this to the people who came to him, ² “Repent of your sins, because in a short time God will come and set up His kingdom ^[1] on this earth.” ³ This John was actually the person whom the Prophet Isaiah meant when he prophesied, ^[2]

“A person will come later on who will call out with a loud voice in the desert like this:

‘Let’s prepare ourselves for the Lord’s coming! And let’s get ready to meet Him!’” ^[3]

⁴ John’s way of life was like that of the Prophet Elijah in times past. John’s clothing was made of camel’s hair and his belt was made of animal’s skin. And John often ate grasshoppers and honey. ⁵ Then a crowd came to him from Jerusalem, from all over the province of Judea and from all of the region around the Jordan River. ⁶ When John taught, many people usually confessed their sins, and then he baptized them in the Jordan River.

⁷ But it also happened that many people from the religious group called Pharisees ^[4] and Sadducees ^[5] also came to be baptized. When John saw that, he rebuked them, “Hey, you descendants of poisonous snakes! You think that you can escape the punishment of God which will come soon just by being baptized! ⁸ If you’ve genuinely repented, each of you should show it through the way you live. ⁹ And don’t think in your heart, ‘I’ll escape God’s punishment because Abraham is my forefather,’ because I’m telling you that God is able to create descendants for Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰ Like a farmer who chops down and burns a tree that never bears fruit, God is ready to do away with our people now and throw them into the fire! ^[6]

¹¹ “I'm just baptizing you with water which shows that you’ve repented. But a Person will come after me, who is more powerful than I am. I’m actually not worthy to serve Him, not even to carry His sandals. He’s the one who’ll baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹² Repent, because this world is like a broad field that’s ready to be harvested! The good and bad produce will be separated, because the One who’s coming after me will judge this world and separate those of you who're evil from those who're righteous! The righteous will live with Him, but all evil people will be thrown into the fire of hell which never goes out.” ^[7]

John baptizes Jesus

¹³ Then Jesus left Galilee to go to the Jordan River and asked John to baptize Him. ¹⁴ But John felt that he himself wasn’t worthy to do it, so he said, “I should be the one being baptized by You, Sir. It’s really amazing that You would ask me to do that!”

¹⁵ But Jesus answered, “You should be the one to do it at this time, because in that way we’ll fulfill everything that God desires.” Then John baptized Him.

¹⁶ After Jesus was baptized, at the very moment He came out of the river the sky suddenly opened and Jesus saw the Spirit of God descend on Him like a dove that came down and landed on Him. ¹⁷ Then a voice was heard from heaven saying, “This is My Son whom I love very much. He’s the one who pleases My heart.”

3:2 ^[1] Literally, the “kingdom of Heaven.” The word ‘heaven’ was often used by Jewish people so that they didn’t say God’s name directly.

3:3 ^[2] In the Old Testament, to prophesy meant to tell news from God about an event which would come or to teach something from God. The one who gave it was usually a prophet. In the New Testament there is also the gift or special ability to prophesy, which is to speak or teach according to what is received from God’s Spirit.

3:3 ^[3] from Is. 40:3 The second line is literally, “‘Prepare the way for the Lord! Straighten the way for Him!’”

3:7 ^[4] The Pharisees were a group of Jews who always maintained that all the rules of Moses and those which were added by the Jewish forefathers had to be followed exactly. Because of that, many of them bragged about themselves like this, “We’re the ones who are very pleasing in God’s sight.” For that reason, most of them didn’t like Jesus because He didn’t join their group, and they were envious because many people followed him. Jesus rebuked the Pharisee group along with the Law experts in Matt. 23, because they only pretended to be good.

3:7 ^[5] The Sadducee group was a group of Jewish religious leaders. They only believed in the first five books of the Old Testament, which are the books written by Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They believed that man doesn’t live again after death. They rejected the idea of the resurrection of the dead. See Mark 12:18 and Acts 23:8.

3:10 ^[6] Literally, (with implicit information), “The axe, (which illustrates God’s punishment), has been prepared to chop the grapevine, (which illustrates the people of Israel), down to its roots. Every vine that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Because of the words of two prophets, this illustration was natural to the people who heard John preach. In Jer. 2:21, Israel was illustrated as a grapevine that didn’t produce good fruit. And in Eze. 15, Israel was illustrated as a grapevine that was useless because it wasn’t faithful to the Lord.

3:12 ^[7] Literally like this, (with implicit information in parentheses), “The threshing tool and winnowing basket (illustrating God’s punishment) are already in His hand. After the harvest, (which is all the people of the world), He’ll use His tools to separate the wheat, (illustrating good people), from the skin of the wheat and other dirt, (illustrating evil people). Then He’ll keep the wheat in the storehouse, whereas He’ll burn the rest in the fire that never goes out.” What’s translated above as, ‘threshing tool and winnowing basket,’ is literally a ‘winnowing fork’, which is a tool like a shovel or a large fork used to separate the wheat from its outer skin. This verse can be compared with Matt. 25:31-46 and Rev. 14:14-20.

Chapter 4

Jesus is tempted by the devil

¹ After that, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. ² He didn’t eat anything for forty days and forty nights, and finally he was very hungry. ³ Then the tempter, who is the devil, approached Him and said, “You are God’s Son, ^[1] right?! So turn these stones into bread!”

⁴ But Jesus answered, “It is written in the Holy Bible,

‘Man’s life doesn’t depend just on bread, ^[2]

but it depends on every word that’s expressed by God.’” ^[3]

⁵ Then in just a short time, the devil took Him to the holy city of Jerusalem and placed Him on top of God’s House. ⁶ So he said to Him, “If you ^[3] are God’s Son, jump down because it is written in the Holy Bible,

‘God will order the angels to protect you,’

and ‘their hands will hold you,

so that your foot won’t even hit a stone.’” ^[4]

⁷ Jesus answered, “It is also written,

‘Don’t tempt the Lord your God.’” ^[5]

⁸ Then in a miraculous way the devil took Him to the top of a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms on earth and all the splendor of each of those kingdoms. ⁹ So he said to Jesus, “I’ll give all of this to you if you bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Hey Satan, ^[4] go away! For it is written in the Holy Bible,

‘Worship the Lord your God,

and serve Him only.’” ^[6]

¹¹ Then the devil left Jesus, and the angels came and served Him.

Jesus begins His ministry in Galilee

¹² When Jesus heard that John had been imprisoned, He left the province of Judea and returned to the province of Galilee. ¹³ He didn’t stay in Nazareth any longer, but in the city of Capernaum (on the shore of Lake Galilee), which is in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴ Jesus did this so that what was prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled,

¹⁵ “Listen, you who live in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali,

the region along the road toward the sea

and as far as the other side of the Jordan River.

That region is called Galilee, where many non-Jewish people live.

¹⁶ Those who live in darkness,

will see a great light.

Like when the sun rises, the light has risen on those

who live in a dark and dangerous region because it is controlled by the kingdom of death.” ^[7]

¹⁷ From that day on, Jesus told this message to the crowd, “Repent of your sins, for in a short while God will come to set up His kingdom on this earth.”

Jesus chooses His disciples

¹⁸ While Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, He saw two fishermen who were Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew his younger brother. They were catching fish in the lake. ¹⁹ He said to them, “Come and follow Me. You will no longer work as fishermen, but I’ll teach you to catch people so that they become My followers.” ²⁰ At that very moment, Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed Jesus.

²¹ When He had walked a little farther from there, He saw two other brothers, James and his younger brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, and were repairing their nets. Then Jesus called James and John to follow Him. ²² And at that very moment, the two of them immediately left the boat and their father, and followed Jesus.

Jesus teaches and heals

²³ Then Jesus went throughout all of the province of Galilee and taught in the Jewish synagogues, ^[5] and told the Good News about God’s kingdom. He also healed every kind of sickness that they had. ²⁴ News about Him spread widely from Galilee through the whole province of Syria, so they brought many sick people to Him. The people were suffering from all kinds of diseases, including being possessed by evil spirits, those sick with seizures and those who were completely paralyzed. Then all of them were healed by Him. ²⁵ For that reason, many people followed Him. There were those who came from the provinces of Galilee and Judea, from the province of Ten Cities ^[6] and also from the city of Jerusalem, and even from across the Jordan River.

4:3 ^[1] Before Jesus was born on earth, God had announced in Ps. 2:7, “You’re My Son. Today I proclaim that I’m Your Father.” The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament states (in Heb. 1:5) that this verse is about Jesus. Before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel told Mary (in Luke 1:35), “The Holy Spirit will come to you, and the power of the Most High will come upon you, so that the holy Child whom you give birth to will be called God’s Son.” So God Himself is the one who said that Jesus was His Son before Jesus was born on earth, and we call Him ‘God’s Son’ in agreement with God’s Word. From Luke 1:35, it’s clear that Mary conceived Jesus, not because of a sexual relationship with God or man, but because of the power of the Holy Spirit. (John 4:24).

4:4 ^[2] In the land of Palestine and all of the kingdom of Rome, the main food was bread. In other cultures it bread can be compared to rice or some other food.

4:6 ^[3] Even though the devil knew that Jesus was God’s Son, ‘you’ with a lower case letter is used because the devil didn’t respect Him as he should have.

4:10 ^[4] “Satan” is a name for the devil, which is written in the Greek language in this verse. The name Satan comes from the Hebrew language, and means ‘adversary’.

4:23 ^[5] Synagogue is a Greek word. In New Testament times, the synagogues were used for general meetings for the local Jewish people, and were also used as places for Jewish people to pray and study God’s Word. Synagogues were different from God’s House which was in Jerusalem. Burnt sacrifices were only offered in God’s House, whereas synagogues were built in every city or village where Jews lived.

4:25 ^[6] See the footnote about Decapolis at Mrk. 5:10.

4:4 ^[3] Deut. 8:3

4:6 ^[4] Ps. 91:11-12

4:7 ^[5] Deut. 6:16

4:10 ^[6] Deut. 6:13

4:16 ^[7] Is. 9:1-2

Chapter 5

Jesus teaches a crowd

¹ When Jesus saw the crowd that followed Him, He climbed to the top of a hill and sat down there. ^[1] His disciples gathered around Him, ² and He began to teach them,

³ “People who know that they have spiritual needs are truly blessed by God,

for they are the ones who will become citizens of God’s kingdom. ^[2]

⁴ People who mourn now are truly blessed by God,

for they are the ones who will be comforted by Him.

⁵ People who are humble are truly blessed by God,

for they are the ones who will inherit the earth that God promised. ^[3]

⁶ People who are more eager to do what’s right than to eat and drink ^[4] are truly blessed by God,

for they are the ones who will be satisfied by God.

⁷ People who have compassion on other people are truly blessed by God,

for they are the ones who will be shown compassion by God.

⁸ People who are sincere in heart are truly blessed by God,

for they are the ones who will always see God.

⁹ People who work to bring about peace are truly blessed by God,

for they are the ones who will be called His children.

¹⁰ People who are persecuted because they live right are truly blessed by God,

for they’ve already become citizens of God’s kingdom.

¹¹ “You are truly blessed by God too, if you are hurt, insulted and slandered for following Me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad because a great blessing has already been prepared for you in heaven. Remember that the prophets who lived in times past were persecuted like that too.”

The salt and light of the world

¹³ “The good influence of each of us should be felt in this world. It’s pointless for someone to say he’s My follower if he doesn’t influence this world at all. Your influence is illustrated by salt. When cooking, everyone gladly adds a little salt to the food. Even though sand looks the same as salt, we don’t want to add sand to our food! Sand is only useful to be thrown out and stepped on by people. ^[5]

¹⁴ “You are like light in this dark world, so you are like a city located on top of a hill. Its light glows, and the city can’t be hidden. ¹⁵ In the same way, no one will light a lamp and then cover it with a clay pot. A lamp is always put in a high place so that it shines on everyone in the house. ¹⁶ And in the same way, your light should also shine on other people. By that I mean that other people should see the good deeds that you do, and then praise your Father who is in heaven.”

Jesus teaches about the Law

¹⁷ “Don’t think that I came to cancel the Law. I didn’t come to cancel it, but to fulfill what’s written in it. ¹⁸ Know this, as long as there’s still sky and earth, nothing at all will be canceled from the Law, not even one letter or one dot. All of it will always be valid, and all of the prophecies in it will take place, for sure.

¹⁹ “So don’t think that there’s a command in the Law that’s not useful. A person who breaks even one of the smallest commands and teaches another person to break it too, will be considered the least in God’s kingdom. But the person who keeps every command in the Law and teaches other people to keep them too, will be greatly respected in God’s kingdom. ²⁰ So I’m telling you the truth. If your life isn’t more righteous than the Law experts and the members of the Pharisee group, ^[6] it’s impossible for you to become a member of God’s kingdom.

Jesus teaches about anger

²¹ “Each of us have been taught by our religious teachers that Moses commanded our forefathers, ‘Don’t murder,’ and ‘Whoever murders will be tried and punished.’ ^[8] ²² But I’m telling you this, whoever gets angry with another person will be punished by God. And whoever insults another person will face God’s court. And whoever says to another person, ‘You’re stupid,’ deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell.

²³ “For that reason, if you are bringing your offering to be burned on the altar in God’s House for example, and you’re suddenly reminded that another person is bitter with you, ²⁴ leave your offering in front of the altar, then go to that person and make your relationship right with him. After that you can continue to give your offering to God.

²⁵ “Listen to this example, if your enemy is accusing you in court, try to make your relationship right with him as soon as possible, before you reach the courtroom. If you don’t do that, he might report you to the judge. Then the judge will turn you over to the jailer, and you’ll be put in prison. ²⁶ I’m telling you the truth. You won’t get out of jail until you’ve paid all of your debts and the fines determined by the judge in full!”

Jesus teaches about the sin of adultery

²⁷ “Each of us has been taught by our religious teachers that Moses gave the command, ‘Don’t commit adultery.’ ^[9] ²⁸ But I’m telling you, if a man simply looks at a woman with lust and wants to have sex with her, it means he has already committed adultery with that woman in his heart. ²⁹ If your eye makes you sin, even your best eye, dig it out and throw your eye away! It’s better for you to lose one body part than to be thrown into hell with a whole body. ³⁰ In the same way, if your hand makes you sin, even your strongest hand, cut it off and throw your hand away. It’s better for you to lose one body part than to go to hell with a whole body.”

Jesus teaches about divorce

³¹ “Each of us has also been taught this command of Moses, ‘Any husband who divorces his wife has to give her a letter of divorce.’ ^[10] ³² But I’m telling you, the only reason a husband may divorce his wife is if it’s proven that his wife committed adultery. If for any other reason, it’s as if he urges his wife to commit adultery, because if his wife marries again, that couple is committing adultery before God. And every man who marries a divorced woman is committing adultery in God’s eyes too.

Jesus teaches about oaths and promises

³³ “All of us have also been taught about Moses’ command to our forefathers, ‘If you promise to do something in the Lord’s name, don’t fail to do what you promised. Do everything that you’ve promised in calling on the Lord's name.’ ^[11] ³⁴ But I’m telling you, don’t call on anything at all as a witness to strengthen your promise. Don’t call on heaven, for that’s where God’s throne is. ³⁵ And don’t call on earth, because earth is like the place God puts His feet when He sits on His throne. And don’t call on Jerusalem either, because that’s the capital city of the Greatest King. ³⁶ In fact, you can’t even call on your own head as a witness of your promise, because you aren’t able to make just one strand of your hair become black or white. ³⁷ So you should just say ‘That’s right’, if it’s right or ‘That’s wrong’ if it’s wrong. Don’t add anything at all to strengthen your vow or your promise, because all other additions come from the devil.”

Jesus teaches about people who oppose us

³⁸ “All of us have also been taught this command of Moses, ‘The punishment for the person who damages an eye or a tooth of another person is that his own eye or tooth will also be damaged.’ ^[12] ³⁹ But I’m telling you, don’t resist a person who does evil to you. For example, if a person hits your right cheek, turn your left cheek to him too. ⁴⁰ Or if a person accuses you in court and demands your tunic, give him your robe too. ^[7] ⁴¹ Or if a soldier forces you to carry his things as far as one kilometer, ^[8] be ready to carry his things as far as two kilometers. ⁴² And if a person asks for something from you, give it to him. Or if a person wants to borrow something from you, don’t refuse him.”

Love the people who oppose you

⁴³ “All of us have also been taught, ‘Love the brothers and sisters of your own people group, ^[13] but we can hate other people groups who oppose us.’ ⁴⁴ But I’m telling you, love your enemies and pray for everyone who persecutes you. ⁴⁵ For if you do that, you’re following the example of your Father ^[9] who is in heaven. Because He is really good to everyone. For example, He makes the sun shine on people who are good and on people who are evil. And when the rain falls, He helps both the people whose lives are right and those whose lives aren’t right. ⁴⁶ If you just love friends who love you, don’t hope that God will reward you for your love. Even tax collectors and other sinners ^[10] love whoever loves them. ⁴⁷ And if you just greet your friends, don’t think that God will consider you to be better than other people. Even the people who don’t know God greet their friends. ⁴⁸ You should love everyone! In that way you’ll be perfect, just like your Father in heaven is perfect.”

5:1 ^[1] In the Jewish culture, the Law experts sat to give their lessons, so most likely Jesus sat because he wanted to give an important lesson, not because he was tired after climbing the hill.

5:3 ^[2] See the footnote in Matt. 3:2.

5:5 ^[3] See Ps. 37:10-11; 2 Pet. 3:10-13; Rev. 21-22.

5:6 ^[4] In a literal way, “hungry and thirsty for right living.”

5:13 ^[5] Literally (with implicit information) can be translated like this, “You are each like salt (illustrating your good influence) to people in this world. But if the salty taste of salt is lost, it isn’t possible to make it salty again. That salt (which is just like sand) would be thrown out and stepped on by people.”

5:20 ^[6] See the note in Matt. 3:7

5:40 ^[7] In Bible times, the clothing translated as ‘tunic’ and ‘robe’ both reached the ankles. The word translated as ‘tunic’, was a garment made from thinner cloth and was covered by the ‘robe’, which was thicker and more expensive.

5:41 ^[8] In all the provinces where the government of Rome colonized the residents, all Roman soldiers were allowed to order the people to carry their things as far as ‘one kilometer’. The word translated ‘one kilometer’, is literally ‘one mile’.

5:45 ^[9] Literally, “become the child of your Father.”

5:46 ^[10] At the time of Jesus, Israel was colonized by the kingdom of Rome. So if a Jew became a tax collector, he was considered to be a person who betrayed his own people. For that reason, the tax collectors were considered to be sinners by all other Jews. They were also hated because they liked to collect more than the correct amount of taxes. (Luke 3:12-13) Because of that, the tax collectors became rich.

5:21 ^[8] Ex. 20:13; Deut. 5:17

5:27 ^[9] Ex. 20:14; Deut. 5:18

5:31 ^[10] Deut. 24:1

5:33 ^[11] Lev. 19:12; Num. 30:2; Deut. 23:21

5:38 ^[12] Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20

5:43 ^[13] Lev. 19:18

Chapter 6

Jesus teaches about how to do good deeds

¹ “Be careful! Don’t show off your good deeds in public so that people notice you and praise you. If you do that, you won’t receive a reward for your good deeds from your Father who is in heaven.

² Whenever you give to the poor, don’t do it for show like people do who only pretend to be good people. They like to give to the poor in public, in the synagogues or at street corners, accompanied by the sound of a trumpet. They do it so that they’ll be seen and praised by many people. I’m telling you the truth, that's their only reward. ³ Instead, when you give to the poor, give secretly. Your left hand doesn’t need to know what your right hand is doing. ⁴ By that I mean, other people don’t need to know that you're giving to the poor. And your Father, who sees everything you do secretly, will reward you.”

Jesus teaches how to pray

⁵ “Don’t pray like people who only pretend to be good people, because they like to stand and show off by praying in public, in the synagogues and on street corners. I’m telling you the truth, that’s their only reward. ⁶ But when you pray, go into the innermost room of your house, shut the door and pray to your Father who is in that hidden place. And your Father, who sees what’s done in that hidden place, will reward you.

⁷ And when you pray, don’t pray like people who don’t yet know God. They repeat their requests over and over many times because they think that God will hear them better if their prayers are repeated. ⁸ Don’t imitate them, because your Father already knows what you need before you ask for it. ⁹ For that reason, you should pray like this:

‘Our Father who is in heaven, ^[1]

may everyone honor You ^[2] as God who is holy.

¹⁰ May you come and rule as King,

and may Your will be done on this earth,

just like Your will is always done in heaven.

¹¹ Give us the food that we need today.

¹² And forgive each of us for our wrong-doings,

just like we forgive people who’ve done wrong to us.’

¹³ And don’t allow us to be tempted to do evil,

but save us from the power of the devil.

[For You’re the only One who has power to rule as king over everything,

and You’re the only one worthy to be praised forever and ever. Amen.] ^[3]

¹⁴ Forgive people who’ve wronged you, because if you forgive them, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you don’t forgive people who’ve wronged you, your Father who is in heaven won’t forgive you either.”

Jesus teaches how to fast

¹⁶ “When you fast, don’t look sad or rub your face with mud, like people do who only pretend to be good. People who do that only want to show off that they’re fasting. I’m telling you the truth, that’s their only reward. ¹⁷ Instead, when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face as usual. ¹⁸ In that way, no one will know that you’re fasting but only your Father who is unseen will know it. For He sees everything that’s done in a hidden way, and He’ll reward you.”

You can’t be a servant of God and be a servant of money at the same time

¹⁹ “Don’t collect treasures for yourself in this world, where moths and rust will destroy your treasures, and thieves can break in and steal them. ²⁰ Instead, collect treasures for yourself in heaven, where moths and rust can’t destroy them, and thieves can’t break in and steal them. ²¹ Because where your treasures are, your heart and thoughts are there too.

²² “Your eye is like a window that allows light into your body. If your eye is good, your whole life will be lighted up. ²³ But if your eye is damaged because of greedily looking here and there, your whole life will become very dark. If the window of your body prevents light from entering, the darkness in your heart will be very great!

²⁴ “Pay attention to this example, it’s not good for a person to have two masters because it’s impossible for him to serve both of them well. He’ll love and be faithful to one of the masters, of course, but will hate and not care for the other master. In the same way, you can’t be a servant of God and be a servant of money at the same time.”

Put God’s kingdom first

²⁵ “For that reason, I’m telling you not to worry about whatever needs you have in your life, such as food and drink. And don’t worry about everything you need for your body either, such as clothing, because there are things in your life that are more important than food and clothing, of course. ^[14] ²⁶ Pay attention to the birds. They don’t need to plant or harvest, and they don’t need to store food in a storeroom. Your Father who is in heaven provides food for the birds. So know this, you are far more valuable in your Father’s sight than the birds. ²⁷ And with all of your worrying, you can't add one second to your age so you don’t need to worry!

²⁸ “For example, why are you worried about clothing? Notice that wild plants don’t need to work hard to make clothes, because God makes those plants produce beautiful flowers. ²⁹ I’m telling you the truth, even though King Solomon was extremely rich, he didn’t wear clothing as beautiful as even one of those flowers. ³⁰ Since God gives beauty like that to wild plants even though they live for such a short time, then they wilt and are thrown into a fire, then you can be certain that He pays more attention to you than to those plants. And He’ll supply clothes for you too, you who don’t have enough faith in God!

³¹ “So no need to worry like that and say, ‘What will I eat?’ or ‘What will I drink?’ or ‘What will I wear?’ ³² People who don’t know God constantly worry about all those things. However your Father, who is in heaven, already knows that you need all of those things. ³³ But the thing that you must make your top priority is to live in a way that’s proper and right as a citizen of God’s kingdom, ^[4] and everything you need will be given to you too. ³⁴ So, you don’t need to worry about tomorrow, because everyday has its own struggles. It’s hard enough to get through today’s struggles, so don’t add the struggles of the days to come.”

6:9 ^[1] Because Jesus uses ‘our’ in this example of prayer, the reader could have the opinion that this prayer is only to be used when praying together in a service. That opinion is wrong. Jesus and our Father God are definitely happy to receive it when we pray following the example of this prayer and adapt it to whoever’s praying. So you can pray, “My Father in heaven,” and “Forgive me for all my wrong-doings...” and so on.

6:9 ^[2] Literally, “Your name.” According to the Jewish culture, at the time of Jesus, ‘Your name’ here means the whole personality of God.

6:13 ^[3] The traditional ending of this prayer wasn’t written by Matthew, and it isn’t found in the best ancient copies.

6:33 ^[4] is ‘the rule of God’ over everyone who obeys Him. Just as Jesus obeyed the will of God to the point that He surrendered Himself as a sacrificial offering, so each of God’s people also have to surrender themselves to follow His will. (Mrk. 8:34; Rom. 10:9-10, 12:1-2). In that way, we prove that we’ve become citizens of God’s kingdom and are worthy to receive everything God has promised to His chosen people, since the beginning. When Jesus comes back, God will rule visibly in this world, just as He always rules in heaven. See Dan. 7:13-14, Matt. 6:10

6:25 ^[14] Matt. 6:33

Chapter 7

Jesus teaches about judging

¹ “Don’t make yourself a judge of other people’s wrongs so that God won’t judge you if you do wrong to other people in the same way. ^[1] ² For you’ll be judged by God the same way you judge other people. And God will punish you to the degree you punish other people.

^3-4 Don’t blame another person for a small wrong. Whoever does that is like a person who notices the sawdust in his brother’s eye, while he doesn’t even notice the beam of wood in his own eye. Then he arrogantly says to his brother, ‘Let me take the sawdust out of your eye!’ ⁵ Hey, you who just pretend to be good people! Take the beam of wood out of your own eye first, and only after that will you see clearly enough to take the sawdust out of your brother’s eye.

People who don’t deserve to study the teaching about spiritual matters in depth

⁶ “Don’t give lessons that are holy to people who are like dogs because they’ll turn and attack you later on. And don’t throw spiritual wisdom at people who are like pigs because they’ll just trample on it.”

Jesus’ advice to persist in prayer

⁷ “Keep on asking from God and you’ll receive it. Keep on seeking and you’ll find it. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened for you. ⁸ For everyone who diligently asks will receive what he’s asking for. Everyone who diligently looks will find what he’s seeking. And the door will be opened for anyone who knocks on it continuously.

⁹ “If your child asks for food, ^[2] you wouldn’t give him a stone, would you? Of course not! ¹⁰ Or if your child asks for fish, you wouldn’t give him a poisonous snake, would you? Of course not! ¹¹ If you evil people know how to give good things to your children, your Father in heaven will do so even more! He’ll give what’s good to each of us who asks Him, of course.”

The most important law

¹² “Treat everyone like you want them to treat you, because this is the core principle that’s taught by the Law and in the teaching of the prophets.”

The way to heaven and the way to hell

¹³ “Go through the door that’s narrow to enter eternal life, because the door to hell is wide and easy to get through, and many people go through that door. ¹⁴ But the door that opens up into eternal life is narrow and hard to get through, and only a few people will seek until they find it.”

The way to know a false prophet

¹⁵ “Be careful about false prophets. When one of them comes into your fellowship, he’ll say, ‘I’m a lamb of God just like you are.’ However, he’s a dangerous wolf. ¹⁶ You can know false prophets by their teaching and their deeds. Just as wild plants with thorns can’t produce grapes or figs, so an evil person can’t produce good things either. ¹⁷ In the same way, every tree that’s good produces good fruit. And every tree that isn’t good produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A tree that’s good can’t produce fruit that can’t be eaten, and a tree that’s bad can’t produce fruit that’s good. ¹⁹ Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and burned. ²⁰ You’ll know the false prophets in the same way, by their teaching and by their deeds.

²¹ “Not everyone who calls Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will become a citizen of God’s kingdom. ^[3] But those who’ll become citizens of God’s kingdom are those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven. ²² On the Judgment Day, many people will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, we’ve prophesied in Your name, and by calling on Your name we’ve cast out demons and done many miracles.’ ²³ But at that time I’ll answer them frankly, ‘Hey, you evil doers, get out of My presence! I never said that you were friends of Mine.’” ^[4]

A wise person and a foolish person

²⁴ “For that reason, everyone who hears My teachings and does them, is like a wise person who builds his house on a very large, solid rock which is used as the foundation of his house. ²⁵ Then heavy rains fall, and a flood rises and strikes the house. A strong wind blows against the house too, but the house keeps standing firm because it was built on a foundation of solid rock.

²⁶ “But everyone who hears My teachings and doesn’t do them, is like a foolish person who builds his house right on the bare sand. ²⁷ Then heavy rains fall, and a flood strikes the house. A strong wind blows against the house too. Then the house collapses and is seriously damaged.”

²⁸ When Jesus finished teaching all of this, the crowd who heard Him was really amazed at His teachings ²⁹ because He didn’t teach like the Law experts. He taught with authority, like an important person who has the right to give commands that must be followed.

7:1 ^[1] Literally, “Don’t judge so that you yourself aren’t judged.” This verse is well known as a verse that is commonly misused. This prohibition doesn’t go against other verses in the Bible which show many ways that God’s people need to determine if other people’s deeds are right or wrong. This verse needs to be understood according to Jesus’ teaching that follows in verses 2-5.

7:9 ^[2] Literally, “bread.” The main food in Israel, at the time Jesus taught, was bread. The translation team translated it as ‘food’, because for many people bread isn’t the main food but is special.

7:21 ^[3] Literally, “kingdom of heaven.” See the note in Matt. 6:33.

7:23 ^[4] Literally, “knew you.”

Chapter 8

Jesus healed a man who suffered from a contagious skin disease

¹ As Jesus went down the hill, many people followed Him. ² Then a man suffering from a contagious skin disease came to Him. ^[1] He bowed down in front of Jesus and said, “Sir, if you want to, I’m sure you’re able to heal me.”

³ Jesus stretched out His hand and touched ^[2] the man and said, “I want to. Be healed!” At that very moment, the skin disease disappeared, and he became well. ⁴ And Jesus said to the man, “Don’t tell anyone at all about this, but go and show your body to one of the priests. Then give an offering to God, according to Moses’ command to everyone who is healed from a skin disease. ^[3] In that way, everyone will know that you really are well.”

Jesus heals the servant of a Roman officer

⁵ Jesus went to the city of Capernaum. As He entered the city, a Roman officer ^[4] came to Him and pleaded, ⁶ “Sir, my slave is lying at home because he’s deathly ill. He can’t move, and he’s really suffering.”

⁷ Jesus said to the officer, “I’ll come and heal him.”

⁸ The officer answered, “Sir, I’m not worthy to have you in my home, but I’m asking that you simply give the command that he be healed, and he’ll be healed, of course. ⁹ I'm also a subordinate person who submits to the command of my superior, and there are also many soldiers under my command. If I say to one of them, ‘Go over there!’, he goes. And if I say to another one, ‘Come here!’, he comes. And if I say to my slave, ‘Do this!’, he just does it. In the same way, I’m also certain that every command of your’s will be fulfilled.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard that, He was really amazed. Then He said to those following Him, “I’m telling you the truth, I haven’t yet met even one person among the people of Israel who has faith as great as the faith of this man. ¹¹ I’m telling you, when God begins to rule over everything as King, there’ll be a big party. Many people will come from every place on earth, even from the farthest point to the east and west. Then they’ll sit down and eat with our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ¹² However, many Jewish people, who were of course invited to enter the kingdom because of their forefathers, will be thrown out into the darkest place. And they’ll cry while suffering severely there.” ^[5]

¹³ Then Jesus said to the officer, “You may go home, Sir. It has happened according to your faith.” And at that very moment, the officer’s slave was healed.

Jesus heals many people

¹⁴ After that, when Jesus went to Peter’s house, He found Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed, because she was sick with a fever. ¹⁵ So Jesus touched the woman’s hand and her fever disappeared. She even got up and served Jesus some food.

¹⁶ That afternoon many sick people were brought to Him, including those who were possessed by demons. By His word alone those evil spirits immediately left them, and He also healed all the sick people. ¹⁷ He did this to fulfill what was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah,

“He is the one who took our suffering

and healed our diseases.” ^[15]

Regarding the decision to follow Jesus

¹⁸ When Jesus noticed the crowd that gathered around him, He said to His disciples, “Let’s leave and go across the lake.” ¹⁹ Then a Law expert came to Him and said, “Teacher, I’ll follow You wherever You go.”

²⁰ Jesus said to him, “Wild dogs have holes and birds have nests, but I, who am the Son of Man, ^[6] don’t have a place to rest.”

²¹ And another person who often followed Jesus said to Him, “Sir, let me go home first. When my father dies and is buried, then I’ll follow you.” ^[7]

²² But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me now, and let the people who are spiritually dead wait for one of their own to die.”

Jesus stops a storm

²³ Then Jesus got into a boat with His disciples and left for the other side of the lake. ²⁴ Suddenly a huge storm came up on the lake. The waves pounded against the boat and lots of water came in so that the boat almost sank. But at that moment, Jesus was sleeping soundly. ²⁵ Then they came to wake Him up. They said, “Sir, help! We’re going to drown!”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “Why are you so afraid? You don’t have enough faith in Me!” Then he stood and commanded the strong wind and the waves to stop. So the wind just stopped, and the lake became peaceful again.

²⁷ They were amazed and said, “Wow, what kind of a man is this?! Even the strong wind and the waves obey him.”

Jesus drives evil spirits out of men from the Gadarenes

²⁸ When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, which is the region of the Gadarenes, ^[8] two men who were possessed by demons came to meet Him. Those two men lived in the graveyard, ^[9] and they were so dangerous that no one was brave enough to pass by there. ²⁹ The two men screamed at Him, “Hey, Son of God! Why are you ^[10] bothering us? Have you come to torture us before the time God has determined?”

³⁰ Not far from there, a large herd of pigs was eating. ³¹ The demons begged Him over and over again, “If you drive us out of these two men, allow us to enter those pigs.”

³² He said, “Go!” Then the demons left the two men and entered the pigs. And all of the pigs ran and fell from the side of the chasm into the lake and drowned. ³³ The pig herders ran to the city and told people about what had happened to the pigs and to the two people who had been possessed by demons. ³⁴ Then all the residents of the city came out to meet Jesus, and they begged Him earnestly to leave their region.

8:2 ^[1] The skin disease that’s meant here wasn’t the same as what’s now called “leprosy.” According to the Law, people suffering from skin diseases of this kind were considered unclean. They couldn’t get close to healthy people, they couldn’t enter the Jewish synagogues and they had to live outside of a town or city. See Lev. 13.

8:3 ^[2] Because of rules in the Law about people suffering from contagious skin diseases, a healthy person rarely touched a person suffering from a skin disease. But in this verse, Jesus touched this sick man, because he knew, of course, that this man would get well.

8:4 ^[3] Moses wrote about the healing of skin diseases in Lev. 14:1-32. If a priest agreed that a person was healed, that person had to bring two live birds to God’s House, so that the priests there could perform the ceremony of cleansing from the skin disease. Ceremonies with sacrifices like this weren’t done in the synagogues in their villages.

8:5 ^[4] Literally in Greek, the word translated as ‘officer’ meant ‘leader over one hundred soldiers’.

8:12 ^[5] Literally, “grind their teeth.”

8:20 ^[6] While Jesus lived on earth, He often called Himself “the Son of Man.” But the meaning of that term isn’t directed at the word ‘son’. In the Hebrew language, ‘son of man’ means “normal human being’. Jesus called Himself that to remind His listeners about what the Prophet Daniel witnessed in a vision of the King of Salvation. (Dan. 7:13-14) Daniel saw Jesus in heaven in the form of a ‘son of man’, meaning in the form of a ‘normal human being’, when God appointed Him King over everything. In this translation, ‘ I am’ is often added so that it’s clear that Jesus is speaking about Himself.

8:21 ^[7] Literally this verse says, “Let me go home first to bury my father.” This verse was translated according to Jewish culture and the interpretation that his father hadn’t died yet. Apparently, responsibility to his family was more important than following Jesus. There are others who say that this man might have wanted to receive his inheritance before following Jesus.

8:28 ^[8] A region on the southeast side of the Lake of Galilee. That region is also called Gergesenes.

8:28 ^[9] At that time, Jewish people often buried dead bodies in caves, or in small rooms which were dug out of a mountain of rock. This story speaks about a lot of unholy things: evil spirits, a graveyard, pigs, and a non-Jewish region. All of those things were considered to be unholy by Jews.

8:29 ^[10] A lower case letter is used here as the pronoun for the name of Jesus. Even though the evil spirits knew that Jesus was God’s Son, they didn’t truly respect Him and submit to Him. (James 2:19)

8:17 ^[15] Is. 53:4

Chapter 9

Jesus heals a paralyzed man in Capernaum

¹ After that, Jesus got into a boat with His disciples and crossed the lake to return to His own city. ² When He arrived, some people brought a paralyzed man to Him who was lying on a mattress. When Jesus saw that they fully believed He had power to heal the paralyzed man, He said to the man, “Young man, take courage. I’ve now forgiven your sins.”

³ Some of the Law experts who heard Jesus’ words, thought, “This man is insulting God.” ^[1]

⁴ But Jesus knew what they thought, so He said to them, “You were wrong to think evil things about Me! ⁵ Of course it was hard for you to accept it when I said to the paralyzed man, ‘I’ve forgiven your sins.’ Is it easier for you to accept it if I say to him, ‘Get up, pick up your mattress and go home’? ⁶ But by saying that, I’m proving to you that I, as the Son of Man, ^[2] have the right to forgive men's sins!” Then Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your mattress and go back home!”

⁷ So the man stood up and went home. ⁸ When the crowd saw that, they were really amazed and praised God who had given that power to men. ^[3]

Matthew follows Jesus

⁹ When Jesus left that place, He saw me, Matthew, ^[4] sitting in my booth. At the time, I was still working as a tax collector. ^[5] Jesus said to me, “Follow Me!” So I stood up and followed Him.

¹⁰ Then when Jesus ate supper at my house, many tax collectors and other people who were also considered to be sinners ^[6] came and ate with Him, and with us disciples of His. ¹¹ When the Pharisees ^[7] saw that, they asked us, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and other sinful people?”

¹² When He heard the Pharisees’ question, Jesus answered them with this analogy, “A healthy person doesn’t need a doctor. A sick person is the one who needs a doctor. ¹³ Go and figure out what God meant when He said, ‘Instead of sacrificing animals to Me, it’s better for you to show compassion to other people.’ ^[16] It’s the same with Me. I came to call people who are sinners to repent, not to call people who feel they are righteous.

Jesus answers a question about fasting

¹⁴ Then John the Baptist’s disciples came to Jesus and said, “We often fast, and it’s the same with the members of the Pharisee group. But why don’t Your disciples fast?”

¹⁵ Jesus answered by giving an example that showed a similarity, “The guests at a wedding feast would never be ordered to fast as long as the groom was still with them! In the same way, as long as I’m still with My disciples, they won’t fast. But think about what will happen when the groom is arrested by the people who oppose Him. That’s what will happen to Me, and then My disciples will fast.”

¹⁶ Then Jesus gave them two other examples. “If a person owns an old tunic that’s already torn, he can’t patch the tunic with new cloth, because when the tunic is washed, the new patch of cloth will shrink and will make the tear even worse. ¹⁷ It’s the same with new wine. ^[8] That wine can’t be poured into an old skin bag, because when the wine expands and the air can’t get out, the bag will burst. In the end, the wine will spill out, and the skin bag will be thrown away. Because of that new wine has to be poured into a new skin bag so that the two of them will keep well.” ^[9]

Jesus heals a woman with a bleeding disorder and brings the daughter of a Jewish leader back to life

¹⁸ While Jesus was teaching them those things, a Jewish leader came. He knelt in front of Jesus and said, “My daughter has just died, but I’m asking you to come to my house and lay your hands on her, so she’ll live again.”

¹⁹ Then Jesus stood up and followed the leader to his house along with us disciples of His.

²⁰ But as Jesus was walking, a woman approached Him from behind and touched the fringe of His robe. ^[10] That women had been continuously sick with a bleeding disorder for as long as twelve years. ²¹ So she did that because she thought, “If I can just touch His robe, I’ll definitely get well.”

²² Jesus turned around, saw the woman and said, “My child, take courage. Because you fully believe in Me, you’ll be healed.” And at that very moment she was healed.

²³ When Jesus arrived at the home of the Jewish leader, He saw the flute players who had begun to play funeral music and the noisy crowd crying for the child. ²⁴ Then He said, “Get out because this child isn’t dead, she’s just sleeping!” But they laughed at Jesus. ²⁵ After the crowd was chased out, He entered the child’s room and held her hand, and the child woke up! ²⁶ Then the news about this event spread throughout that whole region.

Jesus makes two blind men able to see and expels a demon from a mute man

²⁷ When Jesus left that house, two blind men followed Him. They cried out, “Hey, Descendant of David, ^[11] have compassion on us!”

²⁸ Then he entered a house, and the two blind men came and approached Him. Jesus asked them, “Do you believe that I’m able to make you see again?”

They answered, “Yes, Lord, we believe.”

²⁹ While touching their eyes, He said, “It’ll happen according to your faith.” ³⁰ And they could see again! Then He firmly forbid them, “Don’t tell anyone about what happened to you.” ³¹ But they went and told the news about Jesus in that whole region.

³² As soon as those two men left the house, some people came to Him bringing a mute man who was possessed by a demon. ³³ The moment Jesus drove the demon out of the mute man he could speak! The crowd that was there were amazed and said, “No miracle like this has ever happened in Israel!”

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “Jesus drives out demons by the power of the devil, who is the leader of all the demons.”

Jesus feels compassion for the crowd

³⁵ Then Jesus visited many cities and villages. He taught in their synagogues and told the Good News about God’s kingdom. He also healed people from many different kinds of diseases. ³⁶ When He saw the crowd that had come to Him, He felt such compassion for them because they were in trouble and really needed help, like sheep that don’t have a shepherd. ³⁷ Then He used this analogy to speak to us disciples of His, “All of these fields of wheat are ready to be harvested, but there are only a few people to harvest them. ³⁸ For that reason, pray that the Lord who owns these fields will send workers to harvest this wheat.” ^[12]

9:3 ^[1] The way they thought Jesus insulted God is shown in Mark 2:7, where people thought, “This man is too bold to speak like that! He has insulted God! No one can forgive the sins of man other than God Himself.”

9:6 ^[2] See the note in Matt. 8:20

9:8 ^[3] When the people saw that miracle, they praised God, of course, because He had given power to Jesus, the Son of Man, to forgive sins and to do miracles. But in this verse, Matthew wrote ‘men’, plural, not ‘a Man/Son of Man’, which could be understood to be Jesus. People aren’t actually given the power to forgive the sins of a person like God and Jesus forgive. But Jesus has given power to His followers, especially to the elders of the church, to declare that God forgives sin and to make decisions about things that are considered to be sin among members of the church. (Matt. 16:19, 18:18; 1 Cor. 5:9-13; James 5:15-16, 19; 1 John 5:16-18)

9:9 ^[4] Literally, just “Matthew.” In this translation, ‘I/me’ and ‘we/us’ are used so that the reader understands that the writer of this Gospel, Matthew, was also an eyewitness. Matthew had another name, Levi.

9:9 ^[5] See note in Matt. 5:46.

9:10 ^[6] All tax collectors were considered to be sinful people. See the footnote in Matt. 5:46.

9:11 ^[7] See the note in Matt. 3:7.

9:17 ^[8] When grapes are pressed, the grape juice is called new wine and tastes sweet. New wine that’s kept for a certain time will undergo the process of fermentation. The longer it’s kept, the higher the content of alcohol will be. In Bible times, what was called ‘new wine’ might still contain alcohol, but not as high a content as old wine.

9:17 ^[9] In these two examples, Jesus compares something that’s old with something that’s new. And this lesson was given when He was asked about the Jewish forefathers’ tradition of fasting. Like new cloth and new wine, Jesus’ teaching obviously can’t be combined with the forefather’s old teachings.

9:20 ^[10] Jewish robes had fringes, as commanded by Moses, as a reminder to follow all the commands of the Law. See Num. 15:37-41.

9:27 ^[11] Literally, “David’s Son.” When the two blind men called Jesus ‘Descendant of David’, it didn’t just mean that Jesus was from the family of David. Before Jesus came, the prophets had prophesied that the King of Salvation would come from the descendants of King David. So all the Jews called the King of Salvation ‘Descendant of David’. Because of that prophecy they also thought, “He’ll heal sick and blind people too.” So these two men already knew that Jesus was no ordinary person. See Is. 29:18-19, 35:4-6, 42:6-7

9:38 ^[12] To understand the analogy in these two verses, read John 4:35-38.

9:13 ^[16] Hos. 6:6

Chapter 10

Jesus sends out His disciples

¹ On another day, Jesus called us twelve disciples together and gave us authority to drive out evil spirits and heal all kinds of diseases. ² He sent us out as His apostles. Our names were

first of all Simon, who was also called Peter,

with his younger brother Andrew,

then James and John, the two sons of Zebedee,

³ Philip, Bartholomew,

Thomas, and me Matthew, who used to work as a tax collector,

James, the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus,

⁴ Simon, who had once followed the movement of people that fought to free Israel from the colonization of Rome,

and Judas who was from the village of Cariot, the one who would betray Jesus.

⁵ Before Jesus sent us twelve apostles out, He ordered us, “Don’t go to the region of non-Jewish people, and don’t enter Samaritan cities. ⁶ I’m sending each of you to the people of Israel who’ve wandered like a flock of sheep that has no shepherd. ⁷ Go and tell them that God will soon set up His kingdom in this world. ⁸ Heal sick people, bring dead people back to life, heal people who have contagious skin diseases and drive out demons. Just as each of you were freely blessed by God, help and bless other people freely in the same way. ⁹ Don’t bring money in any form. ¹⁰ And don’t bring a bag, a change of clothes, a change of sandals or a walking stick on your trip, because everyone who works deserves to be given what he needs.

¹¹ “Wherever you go, either to a city or village, look for a person who is kind-hearted, who will open the door of his home to you. Stay there until you leave. ^12-13 When you enter a person's home, greet everyone who is in the house. And ask God that His feeling of peace will bless them. If they are truly good people, they’ll receive you and receive that blessing from God. But if not, go and they won’t be blessed either. ¹⁴ If anyone doesn’t receive you, or doesn’t want to hear what you teach, remove the dirt from your feet and sandals when you leave that house or city. ^[1] ¹⁵ I’m telling you the truth, on the final judgment day, the residents of that city will receive a punishment that’s more severe than the punishment that’ll be given to the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah.” ^[2]

Beware of the trouble that will come

¹⁶ “Pay attention! I’m sending you into a terrifying situation, like when sheep are being attacked by a pack of wolves. For that reason, each of you should be as wise as a snake and as innocent as a dove. ¹⁷ Beware! You’ll be arrested and taken to face various religious courts. And the leaders of Jewish synagogues will sentence you to be punished by ordering people to whip you. ¹⁸ Some of you will also be dragged to face government officials and kings because you tell about Me. This is an opportunity for you to testify about Me to them and to other people who aren’t Jews. ¹⁹ If you are tried, don’t be afraid of what to say or how you should defend yourself, because at that very moment what you should say will be made known to you. ²⁰ Because what you actually say in that moment won’t come from yourself, but from the Father’s Spirit who is in you.

²¹ “Later on, the persecution against you will be really horrible, so that there will even be brothers who hand over their own biological brother to be killed. And the same thing will happen between a father and his own biological child. Children will also oppose their parents and turn them in to be sentenced to death. ²² And many people will hate you because you believe in Me. ^[3] But the souls of everyone who remains faithful to me until the end will be saved. ²³ If you’re persecuted in one city, run to another city. I’m telling you the truth, before you finish visiting every city in Israel, I the Son of Man, will have returned.

^24-25 “Don’t think that you’ll be treated better than Me, My children. A student isn’t more well accepted than his teacher, and a worker isn’t treated better than his master. A student should be satisfied if he’s treated like his teacher. And a servant should be satisfied if he’s treated like his master. Those who oppose Me have called Me Lucifer, ^[4] so they will call you children of mine the same thing, of course.”

Fear and respect God, not humans

²⁶ “For that reason, don’t be afraid of those who oppose us, because everything that people try to hide now will be revealed on a later day. And everything that people try to keep secret now will be known at a later time. ²⁷ In the same way, what I’m telling you secretly, say it openly. And what I whisper to you, broadcast it to everyone.

²⁸ “Don’t be afraid of men because they can only kill your body, but they can’t kill your soul. Instead, just fear and respect God because He’s able to destroy both your body and soul in hell’s fire. ²⁹ Remember this example, a pair of sparrows are sold for the price of the least valuable coin, yet none of them dies without our Father’s knowledge. ³⁰ In fact, He even knows the total number of hairs on your head. ³¹ So don’t be afraid of those who oppose us, because you are far more important to our Father than many sparrows!

³² “Whoever admits to other people that he’s My follower, I’ll also admit that he’s My follower to My Father who is in heaven. ³³ But whoever denies to other people that he’s My follower, I’ll also deny that he’s My follower to My Father who is in heaven.”

The trouble that Jesus’ followers will experience

³⁴ “Don’t think that I came to this earth to bring peace. I didn’t come to bring peace, but to bring a sword, which means strong opposition. ³⁵ For I came as the reason for what was prophesied in the Holy Bible:

‘A son will oppose his father,

a daughter will oppose her mother,

and a daughter-in-law will oppose her mother-in-law.

³⁶ In fact, even your closest family members will become like enemies in disguise.’ ^[17]

³⁷ “Everyone who loves his father or mother more than Me, doesn’t deserve to be called My follower. Everyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me doesn’t deserve to be called My follower. ³⁸ Everyone who follows Me has to think, ‘I’ll keep following the Lord, even to the point of death by crucifixion.’ ^[5] Anyone who doesn’t think like that doesn’t deserve to be called My follower. ³⁹ Everyone who tries to hold onto his life will lose his life, but whoever loses his life because of following Me will gain true life.”

God blesses those who accept you

⁴⁰ “In God’s eyes, a person who accepts you as My messenger is considered to accept Me. And whoever accepts Me, accepts God who sent Me. ⁴¹ Whoever welcomes a prophet because he’s aware that the prophet is God’s messenger will then take part in receiving God’s blessing like that given to a prophet. And whoever welcomes a righteous person because he really is a righteous person, will take part in receiving God’s blessing like that given to a righteous person. ⁴² I’m telling you the truth, whoever helps one of My followers, even if it’s simply to give a cup of cold water to the lowliest follower, he will definitely receive a reward from God because of doing that.”

10:14 ^[1] Literally “shake the dust off.” At that time, it had become the tradition of Jews that if they were forced to make a trip into a region of non-Jewish people, the moment they left that region, they cleaned off the soles of their feet and their clothes. They did that because they considered non-Jewish people and their land to be ritually unclean and unholy. Jesus ordered His disciples to do the same thing to Jewish people who rejected God’s teaching. In that way, the disciples showed that God considered people who were hard-headed like that to be unholy. That also became a sign that they would be punished by God if they didn’t repent. See another example of this in Acts 18:6.

10:15 ^[2] were two cities destroyed by God because of the evil of their residents. (Gen. 19)

10:22 ^[3] Literally, “because of My name.”

10:38 ^[5] Literally, “he must carry his own cross.”

10:24-25 ^[4] Literally, “Beelzebul.” Beelzebul is another name for Lucifer or Satan, who is the leader of the evil spirits. See Matt. 9:34.

10:36 ^[17] Mic. 7:6

Chapter 11

¹ After Jesus finished instructing us twelve disciples of His, He left that place and went to cities in the region of Galilee to teach and tell the people there about God's Good News.

John the Baptist presents a question, and Jesus teaches about John’s ministry

² John the Baptist was in prison at the time, and he heard about the work done by the Christ. ^[1] So John sent some of his disciples to Jesus ³ to ask, “Sir, are you the Sent One whose coming was promised or should we still wait for another person?”

⁴ Jesus answered, “Go back to John and tell him what you’ve heard and seen for yourselves today. ⁵ Many blind people now see, paralyzed people are walking, people who were sick with contagious skin diseases have been healed, people who were deaf can hear, dead people have been resurrected and the Good News of God is being told to poor people. ⁶ And tell John that anyone who doesn’t have doubts about Me is truly blessed.”

⁷ As soon as John’s disciples left, Jesus began speaking to the crowd about John. He said, “Before My ministry began, you had already gone far out into the desert to see someone else, right? You didn’t go so far just to see some ordinary thing, right?! Because people don’t walk that far just to see a blade of grass that’s blown by the wind, of course. ⁸ What were you really looking for at the time? You didn’t go to see a person dressed in really beautiful clothing, of course, because people who wear clothes like that aren’t in the desert, but are in a king’s palace! ⁹ So what were you looking for there? A prophet, right?! Yes, I’m telling you that John’s status was far more important than a prophet’s ¹⁰ because he’s the one who was meant by the verse in the Holy Bible which says:

‘Pay attention: I’ll send My messenger first

so that he can prepare the way before I send You.’ ^[18]

^11-12 “From the time John the Baptist began serving until now, the work to set up God’s kingdom grew very quickly, even though people strongly opposed it and tried to overpower it. ^[2] I’m telling you the truth, John the Baptist is greater than everyone who has ever been born. But in the new kingdom that God has already begun to set up, everyone who becomes a member of His kingdom will be considered greater than John, even a person of the very lowest status. ¹³ All of the prophecies in the Law and the books of the prophets pointed to this present age in which God has begun to set up His kingdom. And this age began when John the Baptist’s ministry began. ¹⁴ If you’re ready to accept this teaching, John was the person who replaced the Prophet Elijah. That is, John is the one whose coming was promised. ^[3] ¹⁵ You have ears, right?! So listen really closely!

¹⁶ “Now I’ll give you an example that illustrates most of you who live in this age. Most of you are like two groups of children who are playing in a yard. One group calls to the other group,

¹⁷ ‘Every time we invite you to play something,

you never want to play!

If we play a dance song with the flute,

you don’t want to dance.

But when we pretend to play funeral music,

you don’t want to pretend you’re mourning.’

¹⁸ That means you reject the work of God whatever its form, because when John the Baptist was serving the Lord among you, he often fasted and didn’t drink strong drinks. But you said, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ ¹⁹ Then I, the Son of Man came, and I eat and drink strong drinks like normal people do, but you say, ‘Look! He’s eating and drinking greedily. He’s also the friend of tax collectors and other sinful people.’ Even so, God’s wisdom is always proven to be true by its results.”

People who don’t want to believe need to beware

²⁰ At that time, Jesus gave a harsh rebuke to the cities where He had done more miracles because many of the residents of those cities didn’t want to repent. ²¹ He said, “You people of Chorazin are so unfortunate! You people of Bethsaida are so unfortunate! God’s punishment will be so terrible for you later on. Because if the miracles which I’ve already done among you had also happened in former times in Tyre and Sidon, then they would have sincerely repented and wept over their sins long ago! ^[4] ²² So I’m telling you the truth, on the Judgment Day, the punishment that will fall on you will be far harsher than the punishment that will fall on the residents of Tyre and Sidon.

²³ “And you residents of Capernaum think that you’ll be lifted up so that you’ll get great respect in heaven. No! You’ll be thrown into hell, ^[5] because if the miracles that I’ve done among you had happened in Sodom in times past, they would have already repented, and that city would’ve remained until now. ²⁴ So I’m telling you the truth, on the Judgment Day, the punishment that will fall on you will be far harsher than the punishment that will fall on the residents of Sodom.”

Jesus invites His disciples to rest

²⁵ At the same time, Jesus said again, “Oh Father, I praise You Lord of heaven and earth because You’ve hidden these teachings about Your kingdom from people who are wise and have much knowledge. But You reveal these things to whoever is ready to accept true teaching with innocent hearts, like little children. ²⁶ Oh Father it’s true, because that’s what pleases Your heart.

²⁷ “Everything has been turned over to Me by the Father. No one knows Me, His Son, except the Father. And no one knows My Father except Me, and the people whom I want to introduce to Him.

²⁸ “Come to Me, all of you who are weary from going through deep troubles, because I’ll help you overcome each of those troubles and you’ll be relieved. ²⁹ Submit to Me and rely on Me. ^[6] Learn from Me, because I’m meek and humble, so you’ll be relieved. ³⁰ For if you submit to Me and rely on Me, your heavy burdens will become lightweight. And the burden I give you is lightweight.”

11:2 ^[1] See note in Matt. 1:16.

11:14 ^[3] In Mal. 4:5-6, it’s written that the Prophet Elijah would come before the Judgment Day.

11:21 ^[4] Literally, “repented with (by wearing) sack cloth and ashes.” It means that they would have sincerely mourned for their sins, like when people mourn because of the death of a close relative. At that time, they wore rough cloth, which was normally used just for sacks, and placed ashes on their heads.

11:23 ^[5] Literally, “Hades,” the place for all evil people when they die. See Luke 10:15, 16:23; Rev. 20:13-14.

11:29 ^[6] Literally, “Accept My yoke.” A yoke is made of wood and is used to join two cows or water buffalo so that they work together to pull a heavy load. The power of two animals is greater for plowing land or moving something heavy. Jesus’ illustration can be interpreted as that He’ll take part in bearing the burdens of each one of us. Or for Jewish people, the yoke also illustrated the heavy burden that they experienced because of trying to keep all the rules in the Law. (See Acts 15:10; Gal. 5:1.)

11:11-12 ^[2] This verse can also be translated, from the time John the Baptist began serving until now, people actively opposed the work to set up God’s kingdom in this world, and tried to overpower it.

11:10 ^[18] Mal. 3:1

Chapter 12

Jesus is the Lord over the Sabbath Day

¹ On a certain Sabbath Day, Jesus and we disciples of His walked through a large field of wheat. Because we felt hungry, we began to pick some stalks of wheat and eat the grains. ² At that time, there were some Pharisees who saw what happened and said to Jesus, “Why are your disciples doing that? They’re breaking the command about the Sabbath Day.”

³ But He answered, “You know what happened when David and the people who were with him were hungry and needed food, of course. ⁴ He entered God’s Holy Tabernacle and accepted the bread that was always placed in the Holy Room of God’s Tabernacle. David took it to the people who were with him, and then he ate the bread with them. According to the rules of the Law, only the priests could eat it. ^[19] Even so, because they needed it, no one considers what David did to be sin. ⁵ And as another example, you know of course that every Sabbath Day there are priests who work in God’s House. That isn’t considered to be a sin either. ⁶ I’m telling you that what God is doing now through Me ^[1] is more important than God’s House! ⁷ In the Holy Bible, God says, ‘Instead of sacrificing many animals to Me, I want you to show compassion to other people.’ ^[20] If you understood the meaning of that verse, you wouldn’t blame My disciples, who weren’t wrong, of course. ⁸ For I, as the Son of Man, am the Lord who has the right to determine what may or may not be done on the Sabbath Day.”

Jesus heals a man’s hand on the Sabbath day

⁹ Then Jesus left there and entered one of the Jewish synagogues. ¹⁰ And there was a man there who had a paralyzed hand. There were also some Pharisees there who wanted to find a reason to accuse Jesus, so they asked Him, “Is anyone allowed to heal a person on the Sabbath Day?”

¹¹ Jesus answered them, “If one of your sheep falls into a hole on the Sabbath Day, won’t you go and try to get the sheep out of the hole quickly? You wouldn’t leave the sheep there, of course! ¹² People are much more valuable than sheep! For that reason, we’re allowed to do good to a person, for sure, even if it’s on the Sabbath Day.”

¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So the man stretched out his paralyzed hand, and at that very moment his hand was made well, just like his other normal hand! ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out of the synagogue and began to make plans to kill Jesus.

Jesus, the chosen servant of God

¹⁵ When Jesus knew what the Pharisees were planning, he left. But many people followed Him, and He healed everyone who was sick. ¹⁶ But Jesus forbid them to tell other people about Him. ¹⁷ He did those things on purpose so that the testimony of His ministry matched this prophecy of the Prophet Isaiah about Him:

¹⁸ “This is My servant, whom I’ve chosen.

I love Him, and He pleases My heart.

I’ll give My Spirit to Him,

and He’ll tell people that God will judge all non-Jewish people with justice.

¹⁹ He won’t argue with other people or oppose people with a harsh voice.

And He won’t cause a commotion in the streets.

²⁰ He won’t dash the hopes ^[2] of weak people,

and He’ll be gentle with people who’ve almost given up.

In that way, He’ll keep fighting until He wins in every situation and is proven to be just.

²¹ Then people from all non-Jewish people groups will put their hope in Him.” ^[21]

According to the Pharisees, Jesus works with the power of the devil

²² Then a man, who was blind and mute because he was possessed by a demon, was brought to Jesus. And Jesus healed the man so that he could see and speak. ²³ Everyone who witnessed it was really amazed and said, “Maybe this man is the Descendant of David who was promised.” ^[3]

²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard that, they said, “The devil, who is also called Beelzebul, ^[4] the one who leads all kinds of evil spirits, is the one who has given Jesus power so that he can drive out demons.”

^25-26 But Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking, so He said to them, “It's impossible for the devil to drive out spirits who are on his side. If the devil’s cohorts are divided and oppose each other, his kingdom will be destroyed. It’s the same for any country or city. If the residents of any country or city oppose each other and go to war, that country or city will be destroyed. The same is true if division happens among family members. ²⁷ But if it’s true that I drive out demons by the authority of the devil, that means we need to ask, ‘By whose authority do other members of the Pharisees drive out demons?’ Your members themselves will surely say that you’re wrong. ²⁸ But if I drive out demons by the authority of God’s Spirit, it shows that God has already begun to set up His kingdom among you with His authority. ²⁹ I’m here as an enemy of the devil, who came to take away his treasure. No one is brave enough to enter the house of a very strong man in order to steal, but before he enters that strong man’s house, he has to bind him first. Only then can he enter the house and steal his possessions. ³⁰ Whoever isn’t on My side opposes Me, and whoever doesn’t help shepherd the flock of sheep, scatters them.

³¹ “For that reason, I’m telling you that God is ready to forgive people of every kind of sin, including the sin of insulting Him. But the person who insults God’s Spirit ^[5] will never be forgiven. ³² Everyone who insults the Son of Man, who I am, can be forgiven. But the person who insults the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, neither in this time or in the time to come!”

We are known and will be judged by our own words

³³ “Everyone knows that if you want to eat delicious fruit, you pick it from a tree that’s good. Fruit from a tree that isn’t good will definitely not be delicious. For every tree is evaluated by the fruit it produces. ³⁴ Hey you descendants of poisonous snakes! How can you evil people possibly say things that are good?! For the words that come out of a person’s mouth depend on that person’s heart. ³⁵ If a person is good, his heart is good too, so the words that come out of his mouth are also good. If a person is evil, his heart is evil too, so the words that come out of his mouth are also evil. ³⁶ But I’m telling you that on the Judgement Day, everyone will be responsible for every word that he has ever expressed, even what he said carelessly. ³⁷ When God judges everyone, every word that you’ve ever expressed will prove whether you’ll be punished or made right.”

The miraculous sign that will be given to people in an evil age

³⁸ On a certain day, some Pharisees and Law experts said to Jesus, “Teacher, we want to see you perform a miraculous sign as proof that you were sent by God.”

³⁹ He answered them, “You are evil people who aren’t faithful to God, and that’s why you want to see a miraculous sign! But I won’t give any miraculous sign to people like you, except for the miraculous sign that happened to the Prophet Jonah. ^[6] ⁴⁰ Just like Jonah was in the stomach of a big fish for three days and three nights, I the Son of Man, will also be in the grave for three days and three nights before I’m resurrected. ⁴¹ At the Judgement Day, the residents of the city of Ninevah will stand up and testify against each of you who are living in this present age. For at the time Jonah gave God’s message to them, they repented. But even though I’m here and I’m greater than Jonah, you don’t want to repent! ⁴² And on the Judgement Day, the queen of the South ^[7] will stand up to testify against each of you who are living in this present age. That queen came from faraway to learn wisdom from King Solomon. Pay attention, I’m greater than Solomon, and I’m here in front of you, but you don’t want to listen to Me!”

A warning for the people in this evil age

⁴³ “Remember this example. When an evil spirit leaves a person, the spirit is forced to search here and there, even in the desert, to find another person, because the evil spirit wants to take control of a person so that the spirit can be calm. When it doesn’t succeed in finding a new person, ⁴⁴ it thinks, ‘I’ll return to the person that I just left.’ When it returns, it sees that the person has become like an empty house which has been swept clean and neatly arranged. ⁴⁵ Then it goes out and invites seven other spirits to join it that are more evil than it is. When they enter and overpower that person, the situation of that person becomes much worse than before. Something like that will also happen to you who are living in this present evil age.”

Traits of people whom Jesus considers to be His family

⁴⁶ While Jesus was still talking with the crowd, His mother and brothers came and stood outside. They wanted to talk to Him. ⁴⁷ Then someone told Him, “Teacher, your mother and brothers are waiting outside. They want to talk to you.”

⁴⁸ Jesus answered, “Now I’ll show you the people whom I consider to be My mother and brothers!” ^[8] ⁴⁹ And while pointing in the direction of us disciples of His, He said, “People like these are the ones I consider to be My brothers and sisters, and My mother, ⁵⁰ that is people who follow the will of My Father in heaven. They’re the ones whom I consider to be My mother, and My brothers and sisters.”

12:6 ^[1] Literally, “something.” According to the tradition of the Jews at that time, Jesus didn’t say ‘Me’, but the people who heard Him knew that He was speaking about Himself. Jesus meant that just as the priests’ ministry in God’s House was considered to be more important than the rules of the Sabbath Day, His presence among them was also more important than that His disciples ate wheat in a field on the Sabbath Day.

12:20 ^[2] Literally, “He won’t break a bamboo branch that’s damaged, and He won’t extinguish the wick (lamp) that has almost gone out.”

12:23 ^[3] See the note in Matt. 9:27.

12:24 ^[4] See the note in Matt. 10:24-25.

12:31 ^[5] Jesus advises them against the sin of insulting God’s Spirit because the Pharisees said, “Jesus works with the power of the devil.” (verse 24) Their hearts were so closed to Jesus that the good things He did by the power of God’s Spirit were considered to be evil. It isn’t possible for a person who thinks like that to repent. Thoughts that insult God’s Spirit can be compared with 1 John 5:16, where John writes about “the sin which brings death,” which also can’t be forgiven. But for Christians nowadays, we don’t need to be afraid and think, “Have I ever insulted God’s Spirit so that God won’t forgive me?” If we still feel sad and ask for forgiveness when we fall into sin, and if we still want to live well in God’s eyes, then it’s clear that God’s Spirit is still working in our hearts. If we’re still willing to repent, it means we haven’t yet committed the sin of insulting God’s Spirit.

12:39 ^[6] The story about the Prophet Jonah is found in the book of Jonah, in the Old Testament. Jonah was sent by God to the city of Nineveh.

12:42 ^[7] This is the Queen of Sheba, who traveled about 1,500 kilometers to learn wisdom from Solomon. That story is found in 1 Kings 10:1-13.

12:48 ^[8] Literally, “Who’s My mother? Who’re My brothers?” Jesus began teaching a point with a rhetorical question that is translated here as a statement.

12:4 ^[19] Lev. 24:9; 1 Sam. 21:1-6

12:7 ^[20] Hos. 6:6

12:21 ^[21] Is. 42:1-4

Chapter 13

The parable of the farmer and the seeds that were scattered

¹ That same day, Jesus left the house where He had taught, went to the shore of Lake Galilee and sat down there. ² Because many people came and gathered around Him, He climbed into a boat which was anchored there and sat down to teach the crowd, while they kept standing on the shore. ³ Then Jesus taught them many things using parables like the following:

“One day, a farmer went to scatter seeds in a field. ⁴ As he scattered the seeds, some fell on the road. Then birds came and ate the seeds until they were all gone. ⁵ There were some that fell on rocky ground too, so the shoots of those seeds came up quickly because the layer of soil was thin. ⁶ But when the sun’s rays got hot, the shoots of those seeds wilted and dried out because of the thin layer of soil. ⁷ There were also some seeds that fell into thorny weeds. But the thorny weeds grew taller, so they kept the shoots of those seeds from growing. ⁸ But some other seeds fell on fertile soil. The shoots of those seeds produced many other seeds. Some seeds produced up to one hundred seeds, and some others produced sixty seeds, and there were also some that produced thirty seeds. ⁹ You have ears, don’t you?! Listen closely now!”

The reason Jesus taught using parables

¹⁰ Then we disciples of His came and asked Jesus, “Why do You teach the crowd using parables?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “In the past, people weren’t allowed to understand the teachings about God’s kingdom. ^[1] But now you’ve been given permission to understand the teachings that were kept secret. Other people haven’t been given permission yet to understand those things. ¹² So God will give more ability to the person who has ability to understand My teachings, so that it increases. But for the person who doesn’t try to remember and understand My teachings, God will take that ability away from him. ¹³ That’s why I teach them using parables, because even though they see, they don’t pay attention. They hear, but they don’t really pay attention and don’t understand either. ¹⁴ So what Isaiah prophesied about them is fulfilled:

‘Even though they continue to hear teaching,

they won’t understand.

And even though they see miracles,

they won’t be aware of what happened.

¹⁵ For this people group has become hard-headed.

Their ears can barely hear,

and they’ve closed their eyes.

If that weren’t so, they could possibly see and pay attention to what I’m doing

and could understand what I’m saying with their ears and hearts.

In that way, they could repent and return to Me.

And because of My compassion, I’m always ready to heal them.’ ^[22]

¹⁶ But all of you are happy because God has given you great blessings. He has allowed you to truly hear with your ears and see with your eyes. ¹⁷ I’m telling you the truth, many prophets and righteous people have longed to see and hear what you’re seeing and hearing now, but that blessing wasn’t given to them.”

Jesus explains the meaning of the parable of the farmer and the seeds that were scattered

¹⁸ “Because of that, pay attention to the meaning of the parable of the farmer.

¹⁹ “The seeds that fell on the road illustrate people who hear about God’s kingdom but don’t understand it. Then the evil one, that is the devil, comes and snatches away the teaching that was scattered in their hearts.

²⁰ And the seeds that fell on rocky ground illustrate people who hear God’s teaching and immediately accept it with glad hearts. ²¹ But the teaching doesn’t take root in their hearts, so it doesn’t last long. When they’re faced with troubles or tortured because of following that teaching, they quickly forsake the Lord.

²² The seeds that fell into thorny weeds illustrate people who’ve heard God’s teaching but they’re worried about the daily needs of life in this world. And they’re influenced by the desire to become rich. Thoughts like that hinder the teaching so that it can’t produce fruit in their lives.

²³ And the seeds that fell on fertile soil are like people who hear God’s teaching and understand it. Like the fertile soil, they also produce much fruit. ^[2] There are those that produce thirty, sixty or even a hundred seeds from one seed.”

The parable of weeds and wheat

²⁴ Then Jesus told another parable. He said, “God’s kingdom can be illustrated by the owner of a field who ordered his servants to plant good wheat seed in his field. ²⁵ One night, while everyone was sleeping, the owner’s enemy came and scattered seeds from weeds in with the wheat and then left. ²⁶ But when the wheat grew tall and began to produce grain, then the weeds could be seen. ²⁷ The owner’s servants came and asked him, ‘Sir, we planted good seed in that field, right?! So where did the weeds come from that are growing there?’

²⁸ “He answered, ‘My enemy must have done that.’

“So the servants asked again, ‘Sir, do you want us to pull up the weeds?’

²⁹ “He answered, ‘Don’t bother, because if you pull them up, the wheat will also be pulled up, for sure. ³⁰ Let the wheat and weeds grow together until the time for harvesting comes. At that time, I’ll tell those who harvest, “Gather up all the weeds first and tie them up to be burned later. After that, the wheat can all be gathered and put in my storehouse.’””

Parables of the mustard seed and the yeast

³¹ Then Jesus told another parable to illustrate a comparison to God’s kingdom. He said, “God’s kingdom is like a bunch of mustard seeds ^[3] that a man took and scattered in his field. ³² Even though the seeds of that plant are the smallest seeds in the world, when a seed grows, it’ll become the largest plant in the garden. In fact, it can grow to become a tree that’s large enough for birds to come and make nests in its branches for shelter.”

³³ Then he told another parable. “God’s kingdom is also like yeast that a woman mixes into a large amount of flour. ^[4] Even though there’s just a small amount of yeast in a large amount of flour, all of it expands so that it can be made into bread.”

³⁴ Jesus told the crowd these things about God’s kingdom by using various parables. He always used parables to teach them. ³⁵ Jesus did this so that what was told by a prophet would be fulfilled, which was:

“I’ll speak using various parables that show a comparison,

and in that way I’ll reveal things which were kept secret since the world was created.” ^[23]

Jesus explains the parable of the weeds among the wheat

³⁶ After Jesus stopped teaching the crowd, He returned to the house where He was staying. Then we disciples of His came to him and said, “Please explain to us the meaning of the parable of the weeds in the field.”

³⁷ Jesus answered, “The owner of the land who scattered good seeds is Me, the Son of Man, ³⁸ and the field is this world. The good seeds are those who become citizens of God’s kingdom, and the weeds are the devil’s followers. ³⁹ The enemy who scattered the seeds of weeds is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the servants who reap the harvest are the angels.

^40-42 “So at the end of the age, when I rule as the Son of Man, I’ll send My angels to gather up and throw out all the people who persuade others to sin and everyone who does evil. They’re like the weeds which were gathered and then they’re thrown into the place of hell fire. They’ll always be crying there as they suffer severely. ⁴³ But the people who are righteous will enter God’s kingdom to live with their Father, where they’ll shine like the sun. You have ears, don’t you?! So listen closely!”

God’s kingdom is very valuable and beautiful, and gives happiness

⁴⁴ “God’s kingdom can be compared with a treasure of very great value which had been hidden by a person in a field for a long time, and was forgotten. One day, another person found that treasure. He buried it again with great joy, and then went to sell everything he owned so that he could buy that field.

⁴⁵ “God’s kingdom is also like a merchant looking for pearls ^[5] that are very beautiful. ⁴⁶ When he finds a pearl whose beauty is truly unusual, he goes to sell all of his possessions and then buys that pearl.”

The parable of a fish net

⁴⁷ “God’s kingdom is also like a fish net that’s lowered into a lake and then catches all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸ After the net is full of fish, the fishermen pull the net to land. Then they sit down and separate the fish. The good fish are put into a basket, but the bad ones are thrown away. ⁴⁹ The same thing will happen at the end of the age. The angels will come to separate the evil people from the righteous people. ⁵⁰ Then the evil people will be thrown into hell’s fire. They’ll always be crying there because they suffer severely.

⁵¹ Jesus asked us, “Do you understand the meaning of all that?” And we answered, “We understand, Teacher.”

⁵² Then He spoke again, “So because you understand all of those things, you’ll understand this too. Each of you who becomes a teacher of Gods’ kingdom teachings should be like a wise home owner. A person like that understands how to use all the treasures he has stored, both new and old.”

Jesus is rejected in His own village

⁵³ After Jesus finished telling all of that, He left with us. ⁵⁴ When He arrived in the village where He grew up, He was invited to teach in their synagogue. The residents of the village were really amazed when they heard His teaching. But they said to each other, “He's very daring to teach us, isn’t he! Where did he get this knowledge and the authority to do miracles? ⁵⁵ He’s just the son of that carpenter. His mother is Mary, and his younger brothers are James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. ⁵⁶ And all of his younger sisters are still here with us. Why does he think he can teach us?!” ⁵⁷ So because they knew Him, they didn’t want to believe in Him.

Then Jesus said to them, “A prophet is always respected everywhere, except in the place he came from and among his own family.”

⁵⁸ So He didn’t do many miracles there because they didn’t believe in Him.

13:11 ^[1] See the note in Matt. 6:33.

13:23 ^[2] In other places in God’s Word, we see how people can ‘produce fruit’. First, the Good News from God enables people to believe. We also see that a person can ‘produce fruit’ by faithfully doing what God commands in his life. (Matt. 5-7) We also ‘produce fruit’ if the words which come out of our mouths are good in God’s eyes. (Matt. 12:31-37) And we “produce fruit” if we lead other people to repent. (John 15:16) A life like that is good fruit in God’s eyes.

13:31 ^[3] The type of mustard plant that grows in Israel can grow to be bigger than mustard plants that grow in other places. In verse 32, the mustard plant in Israel can “become tall like a tree, and birds can build nests in its branches.” What’s important in this parable is that something which starts out very small will grow to become very large. It’s the same with God’s kingdom.

13:33 ^[4] Literally “three satas.” One sata is the same as thirteen liters.

13:45 ^[5] is a gem stone that’s round in shape and is often white in color. Pearls come from a type of mussel or clam shell. They are formed because there’s some small object or sand that enters the body of the clam. Then it’s repeatedly covered by skin, until it becomes large and round.

13:15 ^[22] Is. 6:9-10

13:35 ^[23] Ps. 78:2

Chapter 14

Herod hears about Jesus

¹ At that time, Herod, the king of the region of Galilee, heard the news about Jesus. He had already killed John the Baptist before this time. ^[1] ² Then Herod said to his servants, “That man is John the Baptist, for sure. Apparently he has risen from the dead, but now he’s calling himself Jesus. ^[2] That’s why he can do those miracles.”

How John the Baptist was killed

^3-4 Long before this event, Herod had run off with Herodiana, ^[3] the wife of his own younger brother, Philip. Then John the Baptist rebuked him over and over again, “According to the Law, you can’t marry the wife of your younger brother.” ^[4] For that reason, Herod ordered his soldiers to arrest John and put him in prison, bound with chains. ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the crowd who believed that John was a prophet.

⁶ After some time, and on the day of Herod’s birthday party, the daughter of Herodiana danced in front of Herod and his guests. That really pleased Herod, ⁷ so Herod promised with an oath to give her whatever she wanted. ⁸ Because she was influenced by her mother, the princess said to Herod, “I’m asking for John the Baptist’s head to be cut off, put on a large plate and brought here!”

⁹ When Herod heard her request, he really regretted it. But because he had taken an oath in front of all his guests, he gave the command to fulfill the princess’ request. ¹⁰ He ordered his soldiers to cut off John’s head in prison. ¹¹ Then the head was brought on a large plate and given to the princess, and she gave it to her mother. ¹² When John the Baptist’s followers heard the news, they went to the prison to take John’s body, and they buried it. Then they went to Jesus and told Him what had happened.

Jesus feeds more than five thousand people

¹³ After Jesus heard the news of John’s death, He went with us disciples of His by boat to a quiet place. But the people heard that He had gone, so they left their cities to follow us by land. ¹⁴ When Jesus got out of the boat, He saw how many people had gathered there, and He had compassion on them. So He healed those who were sick.

¹⁵ Late in the afternoon, we came and said to Him, “It’s already late afternoon and this is a remote area, so it would be best for us to order them to go to the villages to buy food.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to us, “They don’t need to go, just feed them.”

¹⁷ We answered, “We only have five pieces of bread and two fish.”

¹⁸ He said, “Bring the bread and fish to Me.” ¹⁹ Then Jesus ordered the crowd to sit down on the grass. He took the five pieces of bread and the two fish, and then looked up to the sky to thank God for the food. After that, He tore the bread and the fish and then gave it to us disciples of His. So then we distributed the bread to the crowd. ²⁰ Everyone ate until they were satisfied. After that, we gathered the leftover food, which was as much as twelve baskets full. ²¹ The total number of people who ate was about five thousand men, not even including women and children.

Jesus walks on the water

²² Then Jesus ordered us disciples of His to get into the boat first and go ahead of Him to the other side while He ordered the crowd to go home. ²³ After that, He climbed up a hill alone to pray. As night was coming, He was still alone there. ²⁴ At the same time, our boat was already far from shore and it was being struck by waves because a strong wind was blowing from the opposite direction.

²⁵ Early in the morning, He came toward us, walking on top of the water. ²⁶ When we saw Him walking on top of the water, we were really afraid and cried out, “It’s a ghost!”

²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to us, “Take courage in your hearts! It’s Me, so don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it’s really You, order me to come walking to You on top of the water!” ²⁹ He said, “Come here.”

Then Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on top of the water toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the huge waves that were blown by the strong wind, he became frightened and began to sink, and then he cried, “Lord, help me!”

³¹ Jesus immediately held Peter and said, “You don’t have enough faith in Me! Why do you doubt?”

³² After Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the strong wind just stopped blowing. ³³ So we knelt down to worship Him and said, “You really are God’s Son!”

Jesus heals sick people

³⁴ After arriving on the other side of the lake, we got out of the boat on the Gennesaret beach. ³⁵ When the people there recognized that He was Jesus, they went through the whole region telling people that Jesus had returned. Then all the sick people were brought to Him. ³⁶ They asked Him just to let them touch the edge of His robe. And everyone who touched Him got well.

14:1 ^[1] The information that Matthew tells in verses 3-12 was already known by the first readers. It’s expressed here to help today’s readers understand verse 2.

14:2 ^[2] Soon after John was killed, Jesus suddenly became well known as a man who performed many miracles. So some people who had never heard of Jesus thought that maybe John had immediately come back from heaven and was calling himself by a new name. At the time of Jesus, there were many other people named Jesus. Jesus’ name in Greek is the same as the name Joshua in Hebrew. The two names mean “God is My Savior.”

14:3-4 ^[3] This name is often written as “Herodias.” The spelling Herodiana was chosen so that it’s obvious that this is a woman’s name.

14:3-4 ^[4] God forbid a man to marry or have sex with the wife of his brother, (Lev. 18:16; 20:21), unless his brother had died and had no children. Then he could marry the widow of his brother to have children that would be considered to be children of the brother who had died. Deut. 25:5-6; Mark 12:18-27).

Chapter 15

What makes us spiritually unclean in God’s eyes

¹ After that, some of the Pharisees and Law experts came from Jerusalem to meet with Jesus. They said to Him, ² “We don’t approve of your students who don’t follow the rules that were given by our forefathers, because they don’t pour water ^[1] over their hands before eating!”

³ Jesus answered, “And I don’t approve of you who break various laws of God just to obey the cultural customs of our forefathers! ⁴ For God commanded, ‘Honor your mother and father,’ ^[24] and ‘A person who insults his mother and father must be given the death penalty.’ ^5-6 But you teach that a person may say to his mother or father, ‘I can’t help you any more because I’ve promised to give all of my possessions to God later on.’ You teach that a person who has done that doesn’t need to honor his mother and father or listen to their requests. In doing that, you cancel God’s Law in order to follow the cultural customs of our forefathers. ⁷ You only pretend to be good! The prophecy of Isaiah about you was very precise when he said,

⁸ ‘These people respect Me with their mouths,

but their hearts are actually far from Me.

⁹ They worship Me for no reason

because they only teach men’s rules.’” ^[25]

¹⁰ Then Jesus called the crowd and said, “Listen to Me, all of you, and try to understand. ¹¹ Whatever a person puts into his mouth doesn’t make him unholy in God’s eyes, but what comes out of the person’s mouth is what makes him unholy in God’s eyes.”

¹² Then we disciples of His came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended because of what You said?”

¹³ So Jesus used an illustration to answer us. He said, “Every plant that isn’t planted by My Father who is in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. ¹⁴ You don’t need to pay attention to the Pharisees because they’re like blind people leading blind people. All of them will fall into a pit, for sure.”

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the meaning of that new analogy to us.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Don’t you understand yet?! ¹⁷ You certainly understand that all food that enters through the mouth goes down into the stomach and then it’s passed out into the toilet. ¹⁸ But what comes out of a person’s mouth comes from his heart. That’s what makes him unholy in God’s eyes. ¹⁹ Because all evil thoughts come from within the heart, including thoughts of murder, adultery, sex before marriage, stealing, lying and insulting people. ²⁰ Things like that are what make a person unholy, not neglecting to pour water over his hands before eating!”

Jesus tests the heart of a woman who isn’t Jewish

²¹ Then Jesus left that place with us disciples of His and went to the region around Tyre and Sidon. ²² A woman who came from that region, that is the region of Canaan, came to Him. She cried out, “Lord, Descendant of David, ^[2] help me, because my young daughter is possessed by a demon and is really suffering.”

²³ Jesus didn’t answer the woman at all. So we came to Him and said, “Order that woman to go away because she keeps on following us and crying out.”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “God sent Me just to shepherd the sheep of Israel who have strayed.”

²⁵ But the woman came and then knelt down before Him and said, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶ Then Jesus said to her, “You aren’t a Jew, so if I help you that would be like a person taking his children’s food and giving it to the dog.”

²⁷ Then the woman answered, “That’s true, Sir. Let the Jewish children eat first. But usually the dogs eat the leftover food that falls from their master’s table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you really do have faith in Me! Because of that what you requested will happen.” And at that very moment her daughter was well.

Jesus heals many sick people

²⁹ Jesus left that region and returned to walk along the shore of Lake Galilee. Then He climbed a hill and sat there. ³⁰ Many people came to Him, bringing various kinds of sick people, including those who were paralyzed, lame, blind, mute and sick with other diseases. They placed all the sick people in front of Jesus, and He healed them! ³¹ The crowd was really amazed when they saw that the people who used to be paralyzed or lame were able to walk well, the mute could talk and the blind could see. They all praised the God of Israel because of that.

Jesus feeds more than four thousand people

³² Then Jesus called us disciples of His and said, “I have so much compassion on this crowd because they’ve been with Me for three days already, and now they don’t have any more food. I don’t have the heart to order them to go home hungry. I don’t want them to faint on the way.” ³³ We said to Him, “Where can we buy enough bread, in a lonely place like this, for the needs of this many people?!”

³⁴ Jesus answered, “How many pieces of bread do you have?”

We answered, “Just seven pieces, and there are some small fish.” ³⁵ Then He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Jesus just took the seven pieces of bread and the fish. After giving thanks, He broke the bread and the fish, and then He gave it to us. So we distributed it to the crowd. ³⁷ The whole crowd ate until they were satisfied. After that, as many as seven large baskets of leftover food were gathered. ³⁸ There were about four thousand men who ate it, not even counting women and children. ³⁹ After that, Jesus ordered them to go home. Then He climbed into a boat with us and went to the region of Magadan.

15:2 ^[1] Pouring water over their hands here wasn’t like what we usually do now, which is washing our hands with soap before we eat. This custom of hand washing wasn’t commanded in the Old Testament and apparently was only done by the Pharisees. They dipped their hands in water or a servant poured water over their hands. This was done as a religious regulation and not like washing hands with soap. See Mark 7:3-4.

15:22 ^[2] See the note in Matt. 9:2.

15:4 ^[24] Ex. 20:12; Deut. 5:16

15:9 ^[25] Is. 29:13

Chapter 16

The Jewish leaders look for a way to accuse Jesus

¹ Then some of the Pharisees and Sadducees came and began to debate with Jesus. They tried to find a reason to accuse Him, so they ordered Him to do a miracle as proof that God had sent Him. ^[1]

² Jesus answered with the following illustration, “When the sun begins to set and the sky looks red, you say, ‘The weather will be good tomorrow.’ ³ But if the sky is red and it’s dark out in the early morning you say, ‘It’ll rain today.’ You can understand the meaning of the signs in the sky, right! Why don’t you know the signs of this age that are happening right now?! ⁴ Only evil people who are unfaithful to God, like you, demand to see a miracle as proof! This is the only sign that you’ll be given, that is the miracle like what happened to the Prophet Jonah.” Then He went and left them.

Jesus warns His disciples not to be affected by the yeast of the Pharisee and Sadducee groups

⁵ When Jesus and we disciples of His reached the other side of Lake Galilee, we realized that we had forgotten to bring bread. ⁶ Jesus said to us, “Beware! Don’t be affected by the yeast ^[2] of the Pharisee and Sadducee groups.”

⁷ Then we began to talk to each other about that, saying, “He said that because we didn’t bring bread.”

⁸ Jesus knew what we were saying, so He asked, “Why are you talking about the bread you forgot to bring? You don’t have enough faith in Me! ⁹ It’s so unusual that you don’t yet understand! Why is it hard for you to remember?! When I fed five thousand people with five pieces of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up? ¹⁰ And when I also fed four thousand people with seven pieces of bread, how many baskets full of leftover bread did you pick up? ¹¹ So why don’t you understand that I wasn’t talking about bread earlier, when I said, ‘Don’t be affected by the yeast of the Pharisee and Sadducee groups?!’”

¹² We finally understood Jesus’ point that He wasn’t warning us to beware of the yeast that’s used to make bread, but to guard against the Pharisees and Sadducees’ teaching.

Peter admits that Jesus is the King of Salvation

¹³ After we all arrived in the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked us disciples of His, “What position do people say I, the Son of Man, am serving in?” ^[3]

¹⁴ We answered, “There are people who say that You are the successor of John the Baptist, and those who say that You’re the Prophet Elijah or Jeremiah who has come back to life. And there are also those who say that You are one of the other former prophets who has come back to life.”

¹⁵ Then He asked again, “But what’s your opinion of Me?”

¹⁶ So Peter, who is also called Simon, answered, “You are the King of Salvation, ^[4] and the Son of the living God!” ^[5]

¹⁷ Jesus answered, “Simon, son of Jonah, you’ve been really blessed by God because it wasn’t man who made you understand that, but it was My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And now I’m telling you, you are Peter, (the Great Rock). ^[6] and on that foundation stone I will set up My unified church. ^[7] And every creature that has power in death’s kingdom ^[8] won’t be able to defeat My unified church. ¹⁹ I’ll give you the keys of God’s kingdom. In that way, every door that you lock on this earth will also be locked in heaven, and every door that you open on earth will also be opened in heaven.” ^[9] ²⁰ Then Jesus sternly ordered all of us not to tell anyone that He was the Christ. ^[10]

Jesus begins to teach that He’ll suffer and be killed

²¹ At that time, Jesus began to show us disciples of His that He had been appointed by God to go to Jerusalem. And He explained, “There the Jewish leaders, chief priests and Law experts will make Me really suffer. Then I’ll be killed and on the third day I’ll be made alive again by God.”

²² But Peter thought that it wasn’t possible for the King of Salvation to suffer, so he pulled Jesus aside from the rest of us and began to rebuke Him, “God wouldn’t possibly allow that to happen. Don’t think that You’ll experience those things.”

²³ Jesus turned to look at Peter and said to him, “Get away from My presence, you devil! ^[11] You’re becoming an obstacle for Me, because you’re following man’s thinking, not God’s thinking!”

²⁴ Then Jesus said to us, “Whoever wants to follow Me must abandon his own desires, ^[12] and keep following Me, thinking like this, ‘Even if I die by crucifixion, I’ll keep following the Lord.’ ²⁵ For everyone who fights to keep his life will still die, but the person who’s killed because of following Me will gain eternal life. ²⁶ Think about this, what good is it for you to become rich to the point of owning all of earth’s treasures, if you don’t have eternal life. Because there’s no treasure that can buy eternal life! ²⁷ For I, as the Son of Man, will leave this earth and will come back with power and with My Father’s shining glory, accompanied by the angels. At that time, I’ll repay everyone according to his deeds. ²⁸ I’m telling you the truth, some of you who are here won’t die before they see the moment I the Son of Man, come and begin to set up My kingdom on this earth.” ^[13]

16:1 ^[1] Literally, a miracle “from heaven.” In the Jewish culture, ‘heaven’ was used to prevent saying ‘God’ directly.

16:6 ^[2] In a Jewish analogy, they compared yeast with sin because when yeast is put into bread dough, the dough expands. So they compared yeast with sin, which can expand and spread to other people. See 1 Cor 5:6-8 and Gal 5:9.

16:13 ^[3] Literally, “Who am I?” The purpose of this question wasn’t to ask what his name was, because then they would have answered, “Everyone knows Your name is Jesus.” Compare with Matt. 14:2 and Luke 9:7-9.

16:16 ^[4] Literally, “Messiah.” See the note in Matt. 1:16.

16:16 ^[5] See the note in Matt. 4:3

16:18 ^[6] The meaning of the name Peter is explained by John in John 1:42.

16:18 ^[7] The word in Greek that’s translated as ‘church’, which is ‘ekklesia’, means ‘a gathering of people’. What Jesus meant was to set up a unified people of God which consists of each person who is filled with God’s Spirit, who are the body of Christ in this world. (Eph. 1:27)

16:18 ^[8] Literally, “the doors of Hades.” Hades is hell.

16:19 ^[9] The meaning of this verse is very broad. If the analogy of the keys is translated as is, without using the illustration of keys and doors, then the meaning is like this: “I’ll give you the authority of God’s kingdom. In that way, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will also be permitted in heaven.”

16:20 ^[10] means the King of Salvation, who was promised. See note in Matt. 1:16.

16:23 ^[11] Jesus literally used one of the devil’s names, which is “Satan.” That name means “enemy.” Jesus considered that Peter was speaking as His enemy.

16:24 ^[12] Literally, “deny himself.”

16:28 ^[13] When Jesus healed sick people, it showed that God’s kingdom had already defeated sickness, demons and even death. God’s kingdom was also revealed when His disciples saw Jesus on the mountaintop in the glory of heaven. (Matt. 17:1-13). In fact, the moment Jesus died, the Roman officer acknowledged Him as God’s Son, and that meant that Jesus deserved to rule. (Matt. 27:54). And Jesus’ resurrection (Matt. 28) very clearly shows that God’s kingdom already has authority on this earth. Things like that show that a new government has already begun and is visible on this earth.

Chapter 17

Jesus appears to be shining on top of a mountain

¹ Six days later, Jesus went with Peter, James and John, the brother of James, up on a high mountain to be alone. ² Then the three of them saw Jesus’ body and clothing change. His face shone like the sun, and His clothing became shining white, as if it glowed. ³ Suddenly, His three disciples saw the Prophets Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus.

⁴ Then Peter said to Jesus, “Wow, Teacher, it’s so wonderful to be here together! If You want, I’ll make three shelters here, one for You, one for Moses and one more for Elijah.”

⁵ While Peter was talking, suddenly a very bright, white cloud came down and covered them. And a voice was heard from inside the cloud that said, “This is My Son, whom I love so much. He’s the one who pleases My heart, so listen closely to Him.”

⁶ When the three of them heard that voice, they were very afraid, and knelt down with their faces to the ground. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Stand up, and don’t be afraid!” ⁸ When they opened their eyes and lifted their heads, they saw that Jesus was all alone. ⁹ While all of them were coming down from the mountain, Jesus strictly ordered them, “Don’t tell anyone about what you saw on top of this mountain until the Son of Man, who I am, comes back to life after death.”

¹⁰ Then the three disciples asked Him, “Why do the Law experts teach that the Prophet Elijah must come first, before the King of Salvation arrives?” ^[1]

¹¹ Jesus answered them, “It’s true, Elijah has to come earlier to prepare everything before the Son of Man comes. ¹² But I’m telling you that Elijah already came earlier, before Me, but people didn’t know him. And they treated him as they pleased! And they will cause Me, the Son of Man, to suffer in the same way.” ¹³ That was when the disciples finally understood that He was talking about John the Baptist, who replaced the Prophet Elijah.

Jesus drives a demon from a boy who was sick with epilepsy

¹⁴ When Jesus and His three disciples came back to the crowd, a man came and bowed down in front of Him. ¹⁵ The man said, “Lord, have compassion on my child. He’s sick with epilepsy and is really suffering. He often falls into fire or into water. ¹⁶ I brought him to Your disciples, but they weren’t able to heal him.”

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “This is no joke, you’re really lost and don’t believe in God! How long do I have to be patient with you! Haven’t I been with you long enough! Bring that child here.” ¹⁸ Then Jesus firmly ordered the demon to get out of the boy. At that very moment, the demon came out and the boy was healed!

¹⁹ Later we disciples of His came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive out that demon?”

^20-21 Jesus said, “You couldn’t drive the demon out because you don’t have enough faith in the power of God. I’m telling you the truth, if you only have faith as big as a mustard seed, ^[2] you can say to this mountain, ‘Move over there!’ And the mountain will move, of course. Then there won’t be anything that you can’t do.” ^[3]

Jesus tells about His death again

²² One time, when Jesus and we disciples of His were together in Galilee, He said to us, “I the Son of Man, will be turned over into the hands of evil people. ²³ They’ll kill Me, but on the third day I’ll be raised up from death.” We were very sad to hear Him say that.

The teaching of Jesus about taxes

²⁴ After Jesus returned with us to Capernaum, the time came to pay the annual tax for God’s House. The people who collected it came to Peter and asked, “Does your teacher always pay the annual tax for God’s House, or not?”

²⁵ Peter answered, “He always pays it!”

Then when Peter went into the house where Jesus was staying, before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “In your opinion, from what kind of people do kings always collect taxes? Do they collect them from their own close family or from other people?”

²⁶ Peter answered, “From other people.”

So Jesus said, “So we, the children of the greatest King, are free from paying that tax! ²⁷ But in order not to offend the feelings of those who collect the donation, go catch a fish in the lake. When you catch the first fish, open its mouth and you’ll find a silver coin that’s enough to pay the annual tax for two people. Then give them that money as payment for taxes for you and Me.”

17:10 ^[1] That teaching comes from Mal. 3:1, 4:5-6.

17:20-21 ^[2] See the note in Matt. 13:31.

17:20-21 ^[3] Several ancient manuscripts add these words: “But demons of that type can only be driven out with prayer and fasting.” This addition came from Mrk. 9:29. Eventually over time those words became counted as verse 21.

Chapter 18

The character of a person who is most important in God’s kingdom

¹ At that time, we disciples of Jesus came to Him and asked, “When You set up God’s kingdom on this earth, which one of us will be number one?”

² So He called a small child to come to Him and placed him between us. ³ Then He said, “I’m telling you the truth. If you don’t all repent of your own self-importance and become humble like children, you won’t become citizens of God’s kingdom. ⁴ Because the person who’s first in God’s kingdom is the person who humbles himself like this little child.”

⁵ “If you accept and serve ^[1] a little child like this, for the purpose of glorifying My name, you’ve accepted and served Me. ⁶ If a person causes a young child who believes in Me to sin, that person will receive a very harsh punishment from God. Before he commits such a great sin, it would be better for a huge stone to be tied around his neck, ^[2] and for him to be thrown into the deepest ocean. To experience that trouble would be much less than to experience eternal punishment from God for causing a person who isn’t yet mature spiritually to fall into sin!

⁷ “A person who causes another person in this world to sin is so unfortunate! There will always be temptations in this world, of course, but the person who causes another person to sin is very unfortunate. ⁸ If your hand or foot causes you to sin, it would be better for you to cut it off and throw it away so that you’ll have eternal life in heaven. It’s better to enter eternal life without a whole hand or foot than for you to have a complete body but be thrown into the fire of hell that burns forever. ⁹ And if one of your eyes causes you to sin, dig it out and throw that eye away. It would be better for you to enter God’s kingdom with just one eye than to have two eyes, yet be thrown into the fire of hell.

Story of the lost lamb

^10-11 “Beware! Don’t look down on any little children like these. For I’m telling you that they each have an angel who’s always ready to speak to My Father in heaven.” ^[3]

¹² “If you have a hundred shee, and one of them strays, what would you do? You would leave the ninety-nine sheep on the hill, of course, and then go find the sheep that strayed. ¹³ And I’m telling you the truth, if you succeed in finding that sheep, you’ll be happier because of finding that one sheep, for sure, than for the ninty-nine who aren’t lost. ¹⁴ It’s the same with your Father who is in heaven. He doesn’t want even one of the little children who believe in Him to be lost and perish.”

The way to rebuke your brother in the faith who is wrong

¹⁵ “If your brother in the faith does wrong to you, go to him in a private way and tell him what he did wrong. If he admits his wrong and repents, you’ll be at peace with your brother again. ¹⁶ But if he doesn’t want to admit his wrong, meet with him again along with one or two other brothers in the faith. Do what the Law says, ‘Every wrong has to be supported by two or three eyewitnesses and only then can the problem be decided on in an official way.’ ^[26] ¹⁷ If he still refuses to hear those eyewitnesses too, tell the whole church about it. And if he doesn’t want to hear the advice of the church either, all the brothers in the faith should distance themselves from him, just like the Jews who don’t have relationships with people that don’t know God or with tax collectors. ¹⁸ I’m telling you the truth. Every door that the church locks on earth will be locked in heaven too, and every door that the church opens on earth will be opened in heaven too. ^[4] ¹⁹ I’m also telling you that if two or more of you agree to ask for something in prayer, then it will be done by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰ For if two or more of you gather and pray with the purpose of glorifying My name, it means that I’m there among you too.”

The parable of the employee who didn’t forgive his fellow man

²¹ Then Peter approached Jesus and asked, “Lord, if my brother in the faith keeps doing wrong to me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Is seven times enough?”

²² Jesus answered, “Seven times? No. Seventy-seven times? No. But keep forgiving without counting. ^[5]

²³ “Let Me explain why I answered like that. The situation between brothers in the faith in God’s kingdom is like this story. One day, there was a king who wanted to settle all of the accounts of money that he had loaned to his employees. ^[6] ²⁴ When the accounting began, there was an employee who had a debt of thousands of kilograms of gold. ^[7] So the employee was brought before the king, ²⁵ but the employee wasn’t able to pay his debt. Then the king commanded his soldiers to sell the employee, his wife and children and all of his possessions. Then the proceeds from the sale would be used to pay his debt.

²⁶ “So the employee knelt down and pleaded, ‘Oh, Sir, please be patient! I’ll pay off all my debt!’ ²⁷ The king’s heart was touched, and he had compassion on him. So he and his family were released and all of his debt was erased.

²⁸ “Then what happened to the employee whose debt was erased? He went out and met one of his friends, who was a fellow employee of the kingdom, who owed him just a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him, and choked him saying, ‘Pay your debt!’

²⁹ “His friend knelt down and pleaded, ‘Oh, Sir, please be patient! I’ll pay off all my debt!’

³⁰ “But he wouldn’t be patient. Instead, he reported his friend to a judge in order to put him in prison until he paid off all his debt.

³¹ “When the other employees saw what had happened, they were really sad. So they reported what happened to the king. ³² Then the king called the evil employee and said, ‘Hey, you evil employee! I erased all of your debt just because you asked me for patience. ³³ So you should have had compassion on your friend too, just like I had compassion on you!’ ³⁴ The king was so angry that he ordered the evil employee to be imprisoned. And the prison guard was also ordered to beat him every day until his debt was paid in full.

³⁵ “My Father in heaven will do the same thing to each of you if you don’t wholeheartedly forgive everyone who does wrong to you.”

18:5 ^[1] Literally, “welcome/accept.” In the Greek language, the root meaning of this word is to give hospitality and food to someone that you don’t know yet.

18:6 ^[2] Literally, “a donkey’s grinding stone.” This is a huge stone that’s turned by the power of a donkey to grind grains of wheat to make flour.

18:18 ^[4] See the footnote for Matt. 16:19.

18:22 ^[5] Literally, “seventy times seven times, which is 490 times.”

18:23 ^[6] Literally, “his slaves.” At the time Jesus told this parable, many high government officials were slaves of the king. In order fo this parable not to seem too strange for today’s readers, the word ‘employee’ is used.

18:24 ^[7] Literally, “10,000 talents.” One talent is the same as 26-36 kilograms of gold, silver or copper coins. So the total was around 300,000 kilograms.

18:10-11 ^[3] Several ancient manuscripts add these words, and after a long time they became counted as verse 11, “For the Son of Man has come to save people who are lost.”

18:16 ^[26] Deut. 19:15

Chapter 19

Jesus teaches about husbands and wives

¹ After Jesus taught all of that, He left the province of Galilee with us disciples of His and went to the region of the Judean province, across the Jordan River. ² Many people followed Him there, and He healed those of them who were sick. ³ But some of the Pharisees came because they wanted to find a reason to accuse Him. So they asked, “Can a man divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

⁴ Jesus answered them, “You’ve read what’s written in the Holy Bible, for sure, that from the beginning God created people as ‘one man and one woman.’ ^[27] ⁵ And God also said,

‘For that reason, in marriage a man always leaves his father and mother and is united with a woman, so that the two of them become one.’ ^[28]

⁶ In that way, in God’s eyes husband and wife are no longer two but one. Because of that, a husband and his wife who are united by God in marriage can’t be separated by man.”

⁷ Then the Pharisees asked Him, “If that’s so, why did Moses permit a husband to divorce his wife by giving her a letter explaining the divorce?” ^[29]

⁸ Jesus answered, “Moses allowed you to divorce your wives because you’ve hardened your hearts to God’s command. But from the beginning of creation it wasn’t like that. ⁹ I’m telling you that every husband, who divorces his wife so that he can have sex with another woman, commits adultery in God’s eyes. The only reason a husband may divorce his wife is if his wife has committed adultery.” ^[1]

¹⁰ So we disciples said to Jesus, “If the husband-wife marriage relationship can’t be separated like that, it would be better not to seek a partner for life and just live as a bachelor!”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “Not everyone is able to live like that. ^[2] Only certain people who’ve been prepared by God can live like that. ¹² For there are people who are born that can’t have sex, of course. But there are also those who’ve been made like that by another person. And there are also people who choose not to find a partner so that they can better serve in God’s kingdom. People who are able to live according to this teaching should live like that.”

Jesus blesses the children

¹³ Then there were some people who brought their children to Jesus so that He would lay His hands on them, while praying that God would bless them. So we disciples of His sternly forbid the people to do that. ¹⁴ But Jesus said, “Let the children come to Me and don’t forbid them, because people like these are the ones who become citizens of God’s kingdom.” ¹⁵ After He laid His hands on each of them and prayed for them, He left with us to go to another place.

It’s very hard for rich people to enter heaven

¹⁶ There was a young man who came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good things do I need to do so that I can have eternal life?”

¹⁷ He answered, “Why are you asking Me about what’s good? God alone is the only one who’s good. If you want to have eternal life, obey the commandments in the Law.”

¹⁸ The man asked again, “Which commandments do I have to obey?”

Jesus answered, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t give a false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your parents and love your fellow man like you love yourself.” ^[30]

²⁰ The young man said, “I’ve obeyed all of those things. So what else do I need to do?”

²¹ Jesus spoke to the man again, “If you want God’s perfect will for yourself, go and sell all of your possessions. Then distribute that money to people who are poor. In that way, you’ll have treasure in heaven, and then come and follow Me.”

²² When the young man heard what Jesus said, he left with a sad heart because he was very rich and didn’t want to sell his possessions.

²³ Then Jesus said to us disciples of His, “I’m telling you the truth. It’s very difficult for a rich person to become a citizen of God’s kingdom! ²⁴ I’m telling you the truth again. It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle ^[3] than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”

²⁵ When we heard that, we were really amazed and asked, “If that’s so, then who can be saved and go to heaven?”

²⁶ But Jesus looked at us and said, “It’s impossible for man, but God is able to do everything.”

²⁷ Then Peter said to Him, “How about us? We’ve left everything we own and followed You. So what’ll we get?”

²⁸ Jesus answered us, “I’m telling you the truth. When God makes everything new, I as the Son of Man, will sit on a throne displaying My glory. At that time, all of you who became My apostles will also sit on twelve thrones to rule and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And every one who has left his house, his brothers and sisters, his parents, his children or his fields in order to follow Me, will receive one hundred times of the same thing. And he’ll also receive eternal life. ³⁰ But many people who have a low status now, will have a high status in days to come. And many people who have a high status now, will have a low status in days to come.”

19:9 ^[1] The reverse is true for the wife too. See Mark 10:12.

19:11 ^[2] Jesus’ answer can also be translated, “Not everyone can accept my teaching about that.” But because of verse 12, it’s more likely that Jesus point was like what’s translated in this text.

19:24 ^[3] There’s a false teaching that has been taught everywhere, that at the time of Jesus, there was a normal-sized door next to the big gates of Jerusalem. It has been taught that the smaller door was named ‘Eye of the Needle’, and that a camel could enter there, but only if all it's baggage was taken off. However doors next to gateways like that were only found in European countries and were only built several centuries after Jesus’ time. Jesus’ teaching here is that it’s completely impossible for a rich person to become a citizen of God’s kingdom! But according to verse 26, what is impossible for humans to do can still happen with God’s help.

19:4 ^[27] Gen. 1:27, 5:2

19:5 ^[28] Gen. 2:24

19:7 ^[29] Deut. 24:1

19:19 ^[30] Ex. 20:12-16; Deut. 5:16-20; Lev. 19:18

Chapter 20

The parable of the workers who were paid to work in a vineyard

¹ Jesus continued His teaching, “God’s kingdom can be compared to a person who owned a large vineyard. He went to the market very early one morning, where all the daily workers usually gathered, because he was looking for some workers to work in his vineyard. ² He met some workers and they agreed to work for the usual wage, which was one silver coin ^[1] per day. Then he told them to work in his vineyard.

³ “Around nine o’clock in the morning, he went to the market again and met some workers who were doing nothing. ⁴ So he said to them, ‘Work in my vineyard and I’ll pay you a proper wage.’ They agreed and went to work in his vineyard. ⁵ Around twelve noon and about three o’clock in the afternoon, he went and did the same thing again.

⁶ “About five o’clock in the evening, he went to the market again and saw some other workers there who were still doing nothing. He asked them, ‘Why are you wasting time here all day long and not working at all?!’ ⁷ “They answered, ‘No one gave us work to do.’

“So the vineyard owner said, ‘Go work in my vineyard too.’

⁸ “At sunset he said to his foreman, ‘Call all of the workers and pay their wages, starting with those who came last and ending with those who came first.’ ⁹ Then all the workers who began work at five o’clock in the afternoon came and got their wages, and each of them received one silver coin. ¹⁰ But when it was time for the workers who had worked since very early in the morning to receive their wages, they thought that they would receive more than the others. As it turned out, each of them received one silver coin too. ¹¹ So when they got it, they began to complain to the owner of the vineyard. ¹² They said, ‘Sir, the workers who came last only worked for an hour, yet you paid them the same wage as us. But we’ve worked hard all day long under the hot sun!’

¹³ “But the vineyard owner answered one of them, ‘Friend, I’m not being unfair to you! Didn’t you agree ahead of time to work all day long for one silver coin?! ¹⁴ So take your wages now and go home. I decided to pay the workers who came last the same wage as yours. ¹⁵ I can do whatever I want with my own money, right?! Or are you jealous because I’m being generous to someone else.’

¹⁶ “In the same way, people who have a low status now will have a high status later on. And people who have a high status now will have a low status later on.”

Jesus tells about His death

¹⁷ When Jesus and we twelve disciples were on our way to Jerusalem, He brought us together privately, away from all the other followers and said, ¹⁸ “Listen closely! We’re heading toward Jerusalem. I the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and Law experts there. And they’ll give Me the death sentence. ¹⁹ Then they’ll hand Me over to the leaders who aren’t Jewish. And they’ll insult Me and whip Me and then kill Me by crucifixion. But on the third day after I die, I’ll be raised up again.”

The request of James and John’s mother

²⁰ Later the wife of Zebedee, James and John’s mother, came to Jesus with her two sons, and then knelt down in front of Jesus to ask something.

²¹ Jesus asked her, “What do you want, Ma’am?”

She answered, “When You become king later on, and sit on the throne of the kingdom, promise that my two sons will be given the highest positions, that is one of them will sit at Your right side and the other at Your left side.”

²² Jesus answered her two sons, “You don’t understand what you’re requesting. Are you able to accept suffering like I’ll soon experience?” ^[2]

They answered, “Yes, we’re able to.”

²³ Jesus said to them, “You’ll definitely experience suffering like I’ll experience. But I don’t have the right to determine who will sit at My right side or at My left side. My Father will give those two places to those whom He has determined to give them.”

²⁴ When the rest of us disciples heard that, we were really angry with the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called to us all and said, “You know that the leaders and heads of non-Jewish people groups like to rule people harshly and trample on their rights. ²⁶ But you can’t be like them. Instead, if one of you wants to become first, he has to take the lowest place and become your servant. ²⁷ And whoever wants to become the number one person has to be a slave for all the rest of you. ²⁸ You have to follow My example. Because I, the Son of Man, didn’t come to this earth to be served by other people, but to serve other people and to give My life as a sacrifice to redeem many people from slavery to their sins.”

Jesus makes two blind men able to see

²⁹ When Jesus and all of us left the city of Jericho, many people followed us. ³⁰ There were two blind men sitting on the side of the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by on that road, they began to cry out, “Lord, Descendant of David, ^[3] have compassion on us!” ³¹ The crowd that followed rebuked them so that they would be quiet, but they cried out even louder, “Lord, Descendant of David, have compassion on us!” ³² Then Jesus stopped and said to the two of them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

³³ They answered, “Oh, Lord, may our eyes be able to see again.” ³⁴ Jesus had such compassion on them, so He touched their eyes. And at that very moment they could see again. Then they followed Him too.

20:2 ^[1] Literally, “one denarius.” The denarius was Roman money made of real silver. At that time, the value of one denarius was the wage of a worker for one day.

20:22 ^[2] Literally, “drink the cup which I’ll drink.”

20:30 ^[3] See note in Matt. 9:27.

Chapter 21

Jesus is welcomed like a king in Jerusalem

¹ When Jesus and we disciples of His were near Jerusalem, we came to the village of Bethphage which is below the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus ordered two of His disciples to walk ahead, ² and He said to them, “Go to the village up ahead. As soon as you enter, you’ll see a female donkey tied up with her colt. Untie both of them and bring them to Me. ³ And if anyone asks you what you’re doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs both of these donkeys,’ and they’ll quickly allow you to take them.”

⁴ This happened so that what was spoken by God through a prophet would be fulfilled, which is:

⁵ “Tell all the residents of Jerusalem,

‘Pay attention, your King is coming to you!

He’s humble and carried by a pack donkey,

even a young donkey.’” ^[31]

⁶ Then the two disciples went and did exactly what Jesus told them to do. ⁷ They brought the donkey along with her colt and placed their robes on the backs of both donkeys as a covering to sit on. Then Jesus climbed onto the young donkey. ^[1] ⁸ In order to honor Jesus, most of the crowd who had gathered there took off their robes and spread them on the road. And there were also some who covered the road with leafy branches. ^[2] ⁹ The people who went ahead of Jesus and also behind Him all shouted,

“Hosanna! ^[3] Praise God for the coming of this Descendant of David!

May God bless this king who comes to represent the Lord. ^[32]

Praise God in the highest level of heaven.”

¹⁰ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, all the inhabitants of the city were stirred up. So the people asked, “Who is this man?”

¹¹ The crowd following Jesus answered, “This is Jesus! He’s the prophet that comes from Nazareth in the province of Galilee!”

Jesus drives out people who made God’s House into a market

¹² Then Jesus entered the courtyard of God’s House and drove out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables that were used by the money changers. ^[4] And He also overturned the benches that were used by the people who sold doves.

¹³ He said to them, “In the Holy Bible God says,

‘My House will be called the house of prayer.’ ^[33]

But you have changed it into ‘a hiding place for thieves!’” ^[34]

¹⁴ Then many blind and lame people came to Him in the courtyard of God’s House, and He made all of the blind people see and all of the lame people walk. ¹⁵ And when the chief priests and Law experts saw the miracles Jesus did, and heard the little children shouting in the courtyard of God’s House, “Hosanna, praise God for this Descendant of David,” they became very angry. ¹⁶ They said to Him, “You hear those children, don’t you?! Why don’t you forbid them to say that?!”

He answered them, “Yes, I hear. But how long will it take before you understand God’s Word?! For the writer of the Psalms said to God,

‘You’ve taught children and babies to give Me perfect praise.’” ^[35] ¹⁷ Then Jesus and we disciples left them, and went out of the city to the village of Bethany, to spend the night there.

Jesus curses a fig tree that doesn’t bear fruit

¹⁸ Very early the next morning, as Jesus was returning with us to the city of Jerusalem He felt hungry. ¹⁹ He saw a fig tree on the side of the road and approached the tree to see if it had any fruit. But there was obviously no fruit, just leaves. So He said to the tree, “From now on you’ll never bear fruit again.” And at that very moment the tree dried up.

²⁰ When we disciples of His saw that, we were extremely amazed and asked, “How could the fig tree dry up right away?!”

²¹ Jesus answered, “If each of you believes in your heart without doubting, you’ll also be able to do miracles like I did to this tree and even greater miracles than this. For example, you can ask God to move this mountain into the sea, and it’ll happen. ²² Everything that you ask for in prayer, believe that God is giving it, and then you’ll receive it.”

Jesus is asked about His right to teach

²³ When Jesus had returned to the courtyard of God’s House and was teaching there, the chief priests and Jewish leaders came to Him and said, “Who gave you the right to teach and change our traditions like you did yesterday?! In whose name did you do that?”

²⁴ He answered, “I want to ask you something too. If you answer Me, then I’ll also tell you Who gave Me that right. ²⁵ Who gave John the Baptist the right to baptize people? Was it God who gave it or did he work of his own will?”

Then they said to each other, “If we answer ‘God gave it,’ then he’ll ask us, ‘If so, why didn’t you believe in John?’ ²⁶ But we can’t answer, ‘He worked of his own will,’ because we’re afraid that this crowd will get mad at us!” They were afraid of the crowd because everyone who gathered there believed that John was a prophet. ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then He said to them, “If that’s so, I won’t tell you Who gave Me the right to do things like that either.”

The parable of the vineyard owner’s two sons

²⁸ “Now tell me your opinion about this story. There was a father who had two sons. One day he told the first one, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’

²⁹ “His son said, ‘I don’t want to!’ But later he regretted that, and went to work in the vineyard.

³⁰ “Then the father told the second son to work in the vineyard. The son answered, ‘Yes, Dad, I’ll go.’ But he didn’t go.

³¹ “In your opinion, which of the two sons did his father’s will?”

They answered, “The first one.”

Then Jesus said to them, “What I’m telling you is true. Sinners, like tax collectors and prostitutes, will more likely be allowed to enter God’s kingdom than you will be! ³² For John came and showed you what it means to live according to God’s will, and you didn’t want to believe his teaching. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed in him. Even though you witnessed that amazing thing, you had no regrets and you didn’t start believing in John’s teachings.”

The Jews always reject God’s messengers

³³ “Listen to another story. There was a land owner who ordered his servants to make a large vineyard, complete with a fence around it. Then they dug a hole as a place for pressing grapes and built a tall guard building so that the watchman could see if there were thieves or animals trying to get into the vineyard. After that, he rented out the vineyard to several tenant farmers and then went to another land with his servants. ³⁴ When the harvest season came, he ordered his servants to go back to the tenant farmers to collect his share of the vineyard’s produce.

³⁵ “But the tenant farmers captured the servants. They beat one, killed another and threw stones at another one until he died. ³⁶ The vineyard owner sent other servants, more than the first time. But the tenant farmers treated them the same way. ³⁷ Finally he sent his own son to the tenant farmers thinking, ‘They’ll certainly respect my own son.’

³⁸ “But when they saw the son coming, they said to each other, ‘Look! The guy who’s coming is the owner’s own son! He’ll be the owner of this vineyard when his father dies later on. Let’s kill him, so that the vineyard becomes ours.’ ³⁹ So they caught him and dragged him out of the vineyard and then killed him.”

⁴⁰ Then Jesus asked them, “So, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenant farmers?”

⁴¹ One of the people who heard Him answered, “He’ll torture those tenant farmers and destroy them, of course! Then he’ll rent out the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will faithfully give him his share of the produce when the harvest season comes.”

⁴² Then Jesus said to them, “How long will it be before you understand God’s Word?! For it is written,

‘The stone that the builders considered useless

God made into the most important foundation stone.

What God did is truly amazing to us!’ ^[36]

⁴³ “For that reason, I’m telling you that the rights of citizenship in God’s kingdom will be taken from you Jewish people and will be given to other people groups, that is to those who faithfully do God’s will. ⁴⁴ Everyone who trips on that foundation stone will be destroyed. And everyone on whom that stone falls will be totally demolished into tiny pieces.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard those parables, they understood that Jesus spoke about them. ⁴⁶ So they looked for a way to arrest Him, but they couldn’t, because they were afraid of the crowd who believed that Jesus was a prophet.

21:7 ^[1] What Matthew wrote can be interpreted, “climbed on top of the cloaks,” or “climbed on top of the two donkeys.” The second interpretation can mean that Jesus rode one of the donkeys, then rode the other, because it’s impossible to ride both donkeys at the same time. According to the way Matthew writes in this Gospel, he liked meant the two donkeys, because the quote in verse 5 mentions two kinds of donkeys— namely “onon” (donkey) and “polon” (young donkey). This translation chooses the colt as the one ridden by Jesus, because Mark and Luke’s Gospels say that Jesus rode a young donkey that had never been ridden by anyone else. See Mark 11:2 and Luke 19:30

21:8 ^[2] The crowd did these traditional things to welcome the coming of a king. The main road was covered so that the feet of the king didn’t touch the ground. And by putting their cloaks under the feet of the coming king, it meant they were submitting to the rule of that king. But according to the Word of the Lord quoted in verse 5, Jesus’ coming wasn’t like a king’s coming. A king would usually come riding a tall, strong horse, like a war horse. But Jesus just rode on a pack donkey to show that He came with a humble heart.

21:9 ^[3] In the ancient Hebrew language, hosanna meant, ‘Lord, save us!’ or ‘Praise the Lord!’ But at the time of Jesus, the meaning had changed into being praise for the king, similar to ‘long live the king’, in English. In using the word hosanna, it’s clear that the crowd was praising God because they accepted Jesus as the Messiah, the King of Salvation who had been promised.

21:12 ^[4] At that time, the king of Rome governed the whole Jewish region and many other provinces. For that reason, the money used daily was the currency of Rome. But all the chief priests had declared that the money of the country of Rome couldn’t be offered to the Lord. So people who came to God’s House had to change their money first so that they could use the money that was allowed and valid for use in God’s House. At the time, the money that was allowed to be used was the currency from Tyre. The chief priests also had authority over everything that was sold in God’s House. So they became rich from the profits of the people who sold things and from the money changers.

21:5 ^[31] Zech. 9:9

21:9 ^[32] Ps. 118:25-26

21:13 ^[33] Is. 56:7

21:13 ^[34] Jer. 7:11

21:16 ^[35] Ps. 8:3

21:42 ^[36] Ps. 118:22-23

Chapter 22

The parable about the kinds of people invited to the king’s son’s wedding feast

¹ While the Jewish leaders were still present, Jesus taught using several more parables. He said, ² “Those who are chosen to be citizens of God’s kingdom can be illustrated by a king who held a wedding feast for his son. ³ When the feast was ready to begin, the king ordered his servants to call the people who had been invited to the feast. But the invited guests didn’t want to come.

⁴ “Once again the king ordered other servants to go saying, ‘Tell the invited guests that all the food for the feast is ready. Many fattened bulls and calves have been butchered and everything has been prepared. Come to the wedding feast!’

⁵ “Yet the invited guests didn’t care about the invitation and each of them went out and did his own work. Some went to work in the field or to sell merchandise and to do other work. ⁶ Some even captured the king’s servants, tortured them and finally killed them. ⁷ So the king became very angry and then ordered his soldiers to kill the people who had killed his servants and burn their city.

⁸ “Then the king said to his servants again, ‘The wedding feast is ready but the people whom I invited weren’t worthy to be invited, for sure. ⁹ So go to the main roads and invite everyone you meet there to come to this wedding feast.’ ¹⁰ Then the servants went to the main roads, and they invited everyone they met, both those who were considered sinners as well as those who were good, until the party room was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king went in and saw the guests who were sitting there, he saw one guest who wasn’t wearing the special clothing which had been prepared by the king for the guests of the wedding feast. ^[1] ¹² Then the king said to the man, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wearing special clothing?’ But the man had no answer for him. ¹³ Then the king said to his servants, ‘Bind that man’s hands and feet and throw him out into the darkest place. The people who are there will always cry and suffer severely.’”

¹⁴ Then Jesus ended the parable by saying, “God invites many people to be citizens of His kingdom, but only a few are actually chosen to be citizens of that kingdom.”

The Pharisees make a pact to incite Jesus to oppose the Roman government

¹⁵ Then some members of the Pharisee group left Jesus and planned how they could trap Him. They wanted to persuade Jesus to say something opposing the aspirations of Jews in general or to say something to oppose the government. At that time, some friends of King Herod were also present. ¹⁶ According to plan, they sent some of their members and some friends of Herod to say to Him, “Teacher, we know that you are an honest person and you also teach honestly about what God wants us to do. You aren’t afraid of anyone’s opinion because you don’t regard a person’s status. ¹⁷ So we want to ask your opinion. According to the Law, are we allowed to pay taxes to the government of Rome or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus already knew their evil plan. Because of that He said, “You are people who only pretend to be good! You think you can trap Me with a question like that, huh?! ¹⁹ Show Me a silver coin that’s usually used to pay taxes.” Then they showed Him the coin. ²⁰ And He asked, “Whose face is engraved here, and whose name is written here?”

²¹ They answered, “The king of Rome.”

Then He said to them, “If that’s so, give back to the king what the king owns, and give back to God what God owns.”

²² They were utterly amazed when they heard that answer! Then they left Him, and went away.

The Sadducees ask about living again after death

²³ That same day, several members of the Sadducee group ^[2] came to Jesus. (The Sadducee group believed that no one who died would live again.) Then they asked Him, ²⁴ “Teacher, Moses taught that if a man who has a wife dies and doesn’t have children yet, then his brother should marry the widow in order to continue the family line for the older brother who died. ^[37] ²⁵ There were seven brothers among us. The first man married a woman and then he died. Because he didn’t have children, the second man married his brother’s widow. ²⁶ Then the second brother also died without having a child. The same thing happened to the third and so on, until the seventh. They all died and didn’t have any children by that woman. ²⁷ And finally the widow herself died too. ²⁸ So if it’s true that people who’ve died will be made alive again, then whose wife will the widow be called? Because all seven brothers had married her.”

²⁹ Then Jesus answered, “You’re really mistaken because you don’t know what’s written in the Holy Bible, and you don’t know the power of God. ³⁰ Because when dead people live again, they won’t marry any more. They’ll live like the angels in heaven who have never married. ³¹ But regarding living again after death, how long will it be until you understand God’s Word which is so well-known, that is when God said, ³² ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ ^[38] God spoke of our three forefathers as people who are still living and worshiping Him. Even though dead people are no longer on earth, they keep living before God.”

³³ The crowd there was truly amazed when they heard His teaching.

Jesus tells about God’s most important command

³⁴ Then the Pharisees heard that Jesus had defeated the Sadducees when they presented a question to test Jesus. So they got together to find a way to defeat Jesus. ³⁵ Then one of the members of their group, who was also an expert of the Law, looked for a way to find fault with Jesus by asking, ³⁶ “Teacher, in your opinion, of all the Laws which command is the most important?”

³⁷ Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with all your breath of life and with all your mind.’ ^[39] ³⁸ That command is the most important and the very foremost. ³⁹ And the second command which is almost as important as that is, ‘Love your fellow man just like you love yourself.’ ^[40] ⁴⁰ For those two commands are the basis of the whole Law and of all the commands that are found in the writings of the prophets.”

Jesus shows that He isn’t merely a descendant of David

⁴¹ While the Pharisees were still with Jesus, He asked this question to teach them. ⁴² “What’s your opinion about the Christ? ^[3] Whose descendant will He come as later on?”

They answered, “The descendant of King David.”

⁴³ He said to them, “If that’s true, why did David, when he prophesied through the power of the Holy Spirit, call the Christ ‘my Lord’? For he spoke like this,

⁴⁴ ‘The Lord God said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right side and rule as King

until I defeat everyone who opposes You and make them Your slaves.’” ^[41]

⁴⁵ So if David respected the Christ that much by calling Him ‘My Lord,’ why do you teach that He’s merely a descendant of David?” ⁴⁶ The Pharisees who were trying to test Jesus just kept silent when they heard His question. And after that, no one was ever bold enough to present a question like that to Him again.

22:11 ^[1] Literally, “wedding feast clothes.” According to many commentators, the implicit information in this story is that kings often prepared special clothing for the people who attended large feasts.

22:23 ^[2] Most of the members of the Sadducee group were leaders of the Jewish religion, and most of them were priests. They only believed in the first five books of the Old Testament written by Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. See Acts 23:8.

22:42 ^[3] See note in Matt. 1:16.

22:24 ^[37] Deut. 25:5

22:32 ^[38] Ex. 3:6

22:37 ^[39] Deut. 6:5

22:39 ^[40] Lev. 19:18

22:44 ^[41] Ps. 110:1; Acts 2:34-35; 1 Cor. 15:25; Heb. 1:13

Chapter 23

Don’t imitate the Law experts way of life

¹ Then Jesus said to the crowd and to us disciples of His, ² “The Law experts and the Pharisees sit in the position of Moses as legitimate judges to explain and teach Moses’ Law. ³ For that reason, obey and do everything they teach you. But don’t imitate the deeds of the Law experts and the Pharisees because they don’t do what they teach. ⁴ They burden us with many religious rules which are very difficult to follow, yet they themselves only pretend to to be people that carry out all those rules. And when we feel it’s difficult to carry out all the rules, those who teach the rules don’t care about us. In fact, they’re too lazy to lift a finger to help us overcome our difficulties. ⁵ And all the good deeds that they do are just for show. For example, they enlarge their reminder boxes ^[1] and lengthen the tassels on the four corners of their robes. ^[2] ⁶ In the synagogues, or at dinner parties, they like to sit in the front row seats. ⁷ And when they walk around in the market, they’re really happy when people greet them respectfully like this, ‘Good day, Teacher.’

⁸ “But don’t let other people call you ‘Teacher.’ For you have just one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And don’t call anyone in this world, ‘Father.’ For we only have one Father, our Father who is in heaven. ¹⁰ And don’t desire to be called ‘Leader’ either. For you only have one Leader, and that’s Me, the Christ. ¹¹ Instead, the person whom God considers to be the greatest among you is the person who is humble and serves all of you. ¹² Whoever makes himself seem great will be humbled by God. And whoever humbles himself will be made great by Him.”

^13-14 Then while the crowd was still there, Jesus rebuked the Jewish leaders directly, “You Law experts and you Pharisees are so unfortunate! You just pretend to be good people! You put obstacles in the way for other people so that it’s difficult for them to become citizens of God’s kingdom, while you yourselves don’t follow the way to enter God’s kingdom. Instead you become a huge obstacle for other people who want to enter there. ^[3]

¹⁵ “You Law experts and you Pharisees are so unfortunate! You only pretend to be good people! Not many people want to become members of your group. So you look far and wide, even crossing land and sea to find one person who wants to become a member of your group. And when that person becomes a member of your group, you make him a candidate for hell who is twice as evil as you are yourselves.

¹⁶ “You are so unfortunate because you want to be guides for other people, but you yourselves are blind! You teach, ‘If a person strengthens his promise by calling on God’s House only, ^[4] he doesn’t have to keep his promise. But if he strengthens his promise by calling on the gold that’s in God’s House, then he has to keep his promise.’ ¹⁷ You are blind and stupid people! How can you not realize that in God’s eyes, His House is more important than the gold mentioned? Because God’s House is what makes that gold holy! ¹⁸ You also teach, ‘If a person strengthens his promise by calling on the altar in God’s House, he isn’t bound to keep his promise. But if he strengthens his promise by calling on the offering on the altar, he has to keep that promise.’ ¹⁹ You are blind people! How can you not realize that in God’s eyes, the altar is more important than the offering? Because it’s the altar that makes the offering on it holy! ²⁰ For whoever strengthens his promise by calling on the altar, has involved both God’s altar, and all the offerings on the altar. ²¹ And whoever strengthens his promise by calling on God’s House, has involved both God’s House, and He who lives there. ²² And whoever strengthens his promise by calling on heaven, has involved the throne of God Himself, and He who sits on the throne.

²³ “You Law experts and you Pharisees are so unfortunate! You just pretend to be good people! You only follow the easy rules of the Law, but you forget to do God’s most important commands. For example, each of you gives a tithe to God’s House of the spices produced in your gardens, such as basil, dill, and cumin. ^[5] But you forget to follow God’s most important commands, which are showing compassion, doing what’s just and keeping your promises to other people. You should do the things that are most important and not forget to do the things that are easy, either. ²⁴ Hey, you who want to become guides for other people even though you yourselves are blind! The way you follow God’s commands can be illustrated by someone who takes a gnat out of his drinking water but just swallows the camel that’s in the water!

²⁵ “You Law experts and you Pharisees are so unfortunate! You just pretend to be good people! The way you follow God’s commands can be illustrated by a person who only washes a plate or cup on the outside, but forgets to wash the inside which is very dirty. Your hearts are full of filth like that too, that is you don’t control yourselves, and you deceive people to get money. ²⁶ Hey, you Pharisees who are blind! How long will it be before you become aware that you have to clean the inner part first and then the outer part will be clean too!

²⁷ “You Law experts and you Pharisees are so unfortunate! You just pretend to be good people! You are like graves that have been painted white. The outsides look good of course, but inside they’re full of rotting flesh and bones, and many kinds of filth. ²⁸ It’s the same with you. Because when other people see you from the outside, you look like righteous people. Yet your hearts are actually full of desires to break God’s commands, and you only pretend to be righteous.

^29-31 “You Law experts and you Pharisees are so unfortunate! You just pretend to be good people! You’re descendants of the people who murdered the prophets! Your forefathers are the ones who killed the prophets, and now you’re rebuilding and decorating the prophets’ graves. And with your own mouths you say, ‘If we had lived in the time of our forefathers, we certainly wouldn’t have taken part in killing those righteous people’. But by saying that, it’s clear that you admit that you’re descendants of those murderers! ³² So if that’s true, go on and finish the work your forefathers started to do!

³³ “You’re just like poisonous snakes, and your forefathers were poisonous snakes! How can people like you possibly escape from the punishment of hell?! It’s impossible, of course. ³⁴ For that reason, pay attention! I’ll keep sending you prophets, wise people, and teachers of God’s Word. You’ll kill some of them, crucify some of them ^[6] and whip some others in your synagogues. You’ll persecute some of the others and chase them from one city to another.

^35-36 “For that reason, God has decided to lay the most severe punishment on you Jewish leaders for the blood of all the righteous people you’ve killed because they taught in His name. I’m telling you the truth. You who have witnessed My ministry will bear the punishment for all the murders of righteous people in our history, beginning with the murder of Abel up to the murder of Zechariah, ^[7] the son of Barachiah. Abel was killed just because he lived righteously, whereas Zechariah was the person you killed between the Holy Room and the altar in God’s House.”

Jesus warns the people in Jerusalem

³⁷ “Hey, all of you residents of Jerusalem. You are the ones who always kill God’s prophets and messengers who come and prophesy in the name of My Father! You’ve stoned some to death, and you’ve killed some in other ways. I’ve stretched out My hands to hug and protect you many times, like a mother hen gathers her chicks and protects them under her wings, yet you always refuse to come to Me. ³⁸ Since the time of Moses, God has camped among you people of Israel. But pay attention, the time has almost come when God won’t dwell here in His House any longer. ³⁹ Believe this, from now on you won’t see Me again until I return, and you’ll say, ‘May God bless our King, who’s coming to represent the Lord!’” ^[42]

23:5 ^[1] At that time, the Jews tied small boxes to their foreheads or arms that were filled with four important parts from the Holy Bible. (Ex. 13:1-10; 11-16; Deut. 6:4-9; 11:18-21). The small boxes were made from leather and were used to help remind them that they had inherited the Law. (Deut. 6:6-9) But people in the Pharisee group made those boxes bigger than normal, in order to brag about themselves that they were more devout than others.

23:5 ^[2] According to the Law’s rules, all Jewish men had to attach tassels to the four corners of their robes. (Numb. 15:38-40; Deut. 22:12) Those tassels were to remind all the Jewish people to faithfully follow all the Law’s commands too.

23:16 ^[4] In the Ten Commandments, it was forbidden to say the name of God casually. For that reason, Jewish people used other words to keep from directly saying ‘God’. So when a Jewish person swore or promised something, they rarely said, “May God see me if I lie!” If a person strengthened a promise by saying ‘God’, it meant he was held to that promise. For that reason they usually strengthened their promises by using other words. For example, a person could say, “May Heaven see me if I lie,” or “May God’s House see me...,” So because of their custom, the Law experts needed to determine which words that were used truly bound a person to his promise or oath in God’s eyes, and which words were considered insignificant.

23:23 ^[5] Moses’ Law said that the Jews were to give a tithe of all food produced in their fields (Lev. 27:30-32; Deut. 26:12). That didn’t include the small plants that were mentioned in this verse. This meant that the Law experts and the Pharisees had given more than the Law demanded, in order to show how great they were at keeping the Law.

23:34 ^[6] See the footnote for Matt. 27:22.

23:13-14 ^[3] Several ancient Greek copies add these words from Mark 12:40, which after several hundred years have been considered to be verse 14: “All of you Law experts and you Pharisees are so unfortunate! You usually deceive widows using this excuse, ‘I’ll help you manage the possessions of your husband who died.’ But you actually only pretend to help, because you want to steal those possessions until they’re all gone. And to cover up that evil, you pray long prayers in the synagogues so that people think you’re a good person. As the result of doing deeds like that, God will certainly give you a very harsh punishment.”

23:35-36 ^[7] Abel was the first person to be murdered in the Old Testament, and Zechariah was the last to be killed. (Gen. 4:8; 2 Chron. 24:21)

23:39 ^[42] Ps. 118:26; Matt. 21:9

Chapter 24

Jesus teaches about the end of the age

¹ After Jesus left the courtyard of God’s House, we disciples approached him as we walked and said to Him, “Wow, God’s House and all the buildings in this complex are so great!”

² Then Jesus answered, “Yes, pay close attention to the greatness of these buildings! I’m telling you the truth, the time is coming when everything you see will be torn down. Not even one stone will be left on top of another.”

³ After that, Jesus went with us to the Mount of Olives. While He was sitting there alone, we came to Him and asked, “Please tell us when this disaster will happen, and what signs will happen before You return and before the world ends?”

⁴ Jesus answered, “You should all be watching so that you aren’t deceived! ⁵ Many people will appear and say, ‘I’m the Christ that you’re waiting for’, and they’ll lead many people astray in that way. ⁶ You’ll hear about wars going on, or that will happen, but don’t be worried. For God has determined that those things must happen, of course. But those events aren’t signs that you’re in the time of the end of the world. ⁷ There’ll be wars between tribes and countries. And later on there’ll also be earthquakes and famines in various places. ⁸ But all of those things are just the beginning. They’re like a pregnant woman feeling pain when she’s going to give birth, and then the pain gets even worse.

⁹ “At that time, people will hand you over to the authorities to be tortured, even to be killed. You’ll be hated by all people groups because you believe in Me. ¹⁰ Then many people will stop believing in Me because of that persecution. And people you had considered to be brothers in the faith will hate you and turn you over to the authorities. ¹¹ Many false prophets will appear and they’ll deceive many people. ¹² And because everyone will break the commands of God more and more, love between fellow men will become lukewarm. ¹³ But everyone who continues to believe and follow Me until the end of the world or until the end of their lives, will be saved. ¹⁴ The Good News of how God sets up His kingdom will be told in the whole world so that people from every ethnic group have the opportunity to believe in the news of salvation. Only after that will the end of the world occur.

¹⁵ “I’m giving this sign to you, in agreement with the Prophet Daniel’s prophecy, you’ll see an enemy set up ‘something in God’s House that truly defiles and is a sign of destruction.’” ^[43]

I Matthew, ask people who are reading this book to others, please explain Daniel’s prophecy to your listeners. Then Jesus continued His teaching.

¹⁶ “When you see this disaster take place, people who are in Jerusalem and the province of Judea should run away to the mountains. ¹⁷ If any of you are on the terrace of your house at the time, ^[1] don’t go back in to take anything. Run away immediately! ¹⁸ The same is true for a person working in a field. He shouldn’t go back to his house to get his robe. ¹⁹ At the time of that disaster, pity the women who are pregnant and nursing. They’ll really suffer because it’ll be so difficult for them to run away. ²⁰ Pray that this great trouble won’t happen on a Sabbath Day or in the winter. If so, it’ll be too difficult for you to run away. ²¹ For in those days, the most terrible trouble will happen. Trouble like this has never happened since the beginning of the world, until now. And after that, it’ll never happen again. ^[44] ²² But because God has compassion on the chosen people who still live on earth at that time, He decided that this terrible disaster won’t be long. If it lasted too long, no one would be able to endure life on earth.

²³ “At that time, if a person says, ‘Look! The Christ that we’re waiting for is here,’ or ‘He’s over there,’ don’t believe it. ²⁴ For later on, there’ll be many people who come and do various great miracles in order to deceive you. They’ll claim that they themselves are prophets who give news from God or there will also be those who claim, ‘I’m the Christ.’ Their deceptions will be truly amazing to the point that God’s chosen people will almost be led astray by them. ²⁵ Remember! I’ve told you about these things beforehand.”

Jesus teaches about His return from heaven

²⁶ “So if people say to you, ‘Look! The Christ that we’re waiting for is already in some remote area,’ don’t go there. Or if a person says, ‘It’s true! He’s avoiding the crowds, and He’s in that house over there,’ don’t believe it. ²⁷ For when I the Son of Man come, it won’t happen in a secret way but will be seen everywhere, like lightning that flashes from the east to the west. ²⁸ People often say, ‘Wherever there’s a carcass, the birds of prey gather.’ In the same way, all of those things will be clear signs that My coming is near. ^[2]

²⁹ “And immediately after that time of great trouble

‘The sun will become dark,

and the moon won’t shine anymore.

The stars will even fall from the sky,

and all the leaders of the powers of darkness in the heavens will be thrown down.’ ^[3]

³⁰ “At that time, a certain sign that will show that I the Son of Man am coming will appear in the sky. Then people from every ethnic group on earth who don’t believe in Me will mourn in great fear when they see Me coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹ Then I’ll order My angels to sound the trumpet of heaven and gather all the people of God the Father. They’ll be gathered from every place under heaven, even from the farthest points east and west, and from the north and south.

³² “We can illustrate the signs of the end of the age with a fig tree. If the branches become soft and shoots from the branches can be seen, you know that summer is already near. ³³ In the same way, if you see those signs begin to happen, you should know that the time of My return is near. ³⁴ I’m telling you the truth, all of those signs will happen while people of this age are still living. ³⁵ All of those things will definitely happen. Heaven and earth won’t continue to exist but these teachings of Mine will continue to be valid forever.”

Advice to be watching

³⁶ “But no one knows the day or hour of My return to this earth, not even the angels in heaven. Even I God’s Son don’t know. Just the Father knows.

³⁷ “The situation when I the Son of Man return will be like what happened in the time of Noah. ^38-39 In the days before that great flood came, people didn’t ever think that a great disaster would fall on them. They were busy eating and drinking, men were marrying women and women were married by men. They kept living as usual until the time came when Noah went into that great ship and the flood suddenly came and destroyed them. It’ll be the same for people who don’t believe in Me before I the Son of Man come back too. ⁴⁰ “Things like this will happen at the time of My coming: two men will be working in a field, one will be carried away by the angels, and the other one will be left. ⁴¹ And in another place, two women will be grinding wheat with a millstone, one will be carried away, and the other one will be left.

⁴² “For that reason, keep on guard and be ready because you don’t know the day that I your Master will return. ⁴³ This is an important example. If the owner of a house knows that a thief will come tonight, he’ll keep watching so that the thief can’t break into his house. ⁴⁴ For that reason you should always be ready too, because I the Son of Man will come when you aren’t expecting it.”

Be a faithful and wise servant

⁴⁵ “Prove that you are each My wise and faithful servants! If a land owner goes on a trip, certainly one of his wise and faithful servants will be entrusted with the special duty to feed the other servants at the right time. ⁴⁶ If the master suddenly returns and finds his servant doing his duty, the master will be very happy with his servant and bless him. ⁴⁷ I’m telling you the truth, the master will entrust all of his possessions to that wise and faithful servant.

⁴⁸ But if the servant who was given that duty is evil, he’ll say in his heart, ‘My master won’t return for a long time.’ ⁴⁹ Then he’ll begin to hit the other servants and also eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ But the master will suddenly return without giving notice ahead of time and on a day and hour when he isn’t expected. ⁵¹ Then the master will destroy the evil servant and make his fate the same as that of people who only pretend to be righteous. That is, the master will throw him in prison where the people continually weep and suffer severely.”

24:17 ^[1] Matthew literally wrote, “on the roof of your house”. In the land of Israel, the roofs of houses were flat and were used like people use a terrace or yard.

24:28 ^[2] The last sentence is added so that today’s readers understand the meaning of the proverb that Jesus quoted.

24:29 ^[3] These things were prophesied in Is. 13:10, 34:4; Ez. 32:7; Joel 2:10, 2:31, 3:15. The second line is literally, “and the authorities that are in the (levels of the) heavens will be shaken.”

24:15 ^[43] Dan. 9:27, 11:31, 12:11

24:21 ^[44] Dan. 12:1

Chapter 25

The parable of ten young unmarried women

¹ “When I the Son of Man return and am welcomed as King of this world, that event can be illustrated by this story. On a certain night, there was a wedding feast. There were ten young unmarried women who were getting ready to attend the wedding feast, and each of them brought a lamp and went to welcome the groom. ² As it turned out, five of the young women were wise and the other five were foolish. ^3-4 Each of the wise young women brought an extra bottle of oil for their lamps. But the five foolish ones just brought their lamps without bringing extra oil. ⁵ But the groom took a long time in coming, so all of the young women got sleepy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight someone cried out, ‘The groom’s coming! Let’s welcome him!’

⁷ “The young women quickly woke up and fixed their lamp wicks so that they shone brighter. ⁸ Then each of the foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Give me a little of your oil, because my lamp is going out.’

⁹ “But each of the wise ones answered, ‘Oh, I can’t! If I give you some, there won’t be enough for me any more. You'd better go and buy some from the oil merchant.’

¹⁰ “While they went to buy oil, the groom arrived. The five wise young women who were ready went into the place of the wedding feast. Then the door was locked.

¹¹ “Not long after that, the foolish young women came too and said, ‘Sir, sir, please, open the door for us!’

¹² “The groom answered, ‘I’m telling you the truth, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “For that reason always be prepared, because you don’t know the day or the hour of My return!”

The parable of faithful and unfaithful servants

¹⁴ “The situation of those of you waiting for the beginning of God’s kingdom can be illustrated by this parable. There was a rich man who was preparing to visit another land far away. Before he left, he said to his servants, ‘Keep working and trading with my money that I’m going to entrust to you.’ ¹⁵ Then he distributed his money to those servants according to each one’s ability. For example, the first servant received five bags of gold coins. ^[1] The second servant received two bags of gold coins, and the third servant received just one bag of gold coins. Then the rich man left. ¹⁶ The first servant, who received five bags of gold coins, quickly went to use the money as capital for buying and selling, and he made a profit of five bags of gold coins. ¹⁷ It was the same for the second servant who had received two bags of gold coins. He made a profit of two bags of gold coins. ¹⁸ But the third servant, who received one bag of gold coins, went and dug a hole in the ground and hid the money in the hole so that it would be safe.

¹⁹ “After a long time, the rich man came home. Then he called his servants to give a report about the results of their efforts. ²⁰ So the first servant came and turned over ten bags of gold coins saying, ‘At that time, you entrusted five bags of gold coins to me, Sir, and now look! Because of my efforts that money has become twice as much.’

²¹ “Then his master said to him, ‘Great! You're a good and faithful servant! Because you can be trusted with a small responsibility, I’ll give you greater responsibilities. Come and take part in my homecoming party and share my joy with me.’

²² “Then the second servant came and turned over four bags of gold coins, saying, ‘At that time, you entrusted me with two bags of gold coins, Sir, and now look! Because of my efforts that money has become twice as much.’

²³ “And his master said to him, ‘Great! You're a good and faithful servant! Because you can be trusted with a small responsibility, I’ll give you greater responsibilities. Come and take part in my homecoming party and share my joy with me.’

²⁴ “Then the third servant came too and said to his master, ‘Sir, I know that you’re a harsh man who makes a lot of profit from other people’s efforts. For example, you harvest in places where you didn’t plant, and you take produce from places where you didn’t scatter seeds. ²⁵ Because of that I was afraid, and thought, “I don’t want to cause loss to my master!” So I went and kept the money safe in the ground and now look! Here’s your money.’

²⁶ “So his master answered him, ‘You're a lazy, evil servant! You know that I make a lot of profit from the efforts of other people, including taking produce where I’ve never planted or scattered seeds. ²⁷ So you should have saved my money in the bank so that they could use it and I could’ve gotten my money back with interest.’

²⁸ “Then the rich man said to his other servants, ‘Because of that, take that money from him and give it to the first servant who already has ten bags of gold coins.’” ²⁹ Then Jesus summarized it like this, “God will give even more to every person who works faithfully with what God gave him, until he has an abundance. But for everyone who doesn’t work faithfully with what was given to him, whatever he still has will be taken from him. ³⁰ And after that, the rich man said to his other servants, ‘Throw this useless servant out into the darkest prison. The people will always weep there because of suffering severely.’”

The Son of Man will judge righteous and wicked people

³¹ “When I come with My angels and in My glory as the Son of Man and High King, I’ll sit on the throne that displays My glory. ³² Then the angels will gather people in front of Me from every ethnic group. And I’ll separate them into two groups, like a shepherd separates sheep from goats. ³³ I’ll place those whom I determine to be sheep on My right side and the goats on My left side.

³⁴ “As the King who judges, I’ll say to those on My right side, ‘Come you who’ve been blessed by My Father! Take part in My kingdom which has been prepared for you since the world was created. ³⁵ For when I was hungry, you were the ones who fed Me. And when I was thirsty, you were the ones who gave Me a drink. When I came as a foreigner to your land, you were the ones who gave me a place to stay. ³⁶ And when I needed clothing, you were the ones who gave Me clothes. When I was sick, you were the ones who took care of Me. And when I was in prison, you were the ones who visited Me.’

³⁷ “Then the people who are righteous will ask Me, ‘Lord, when did we see You were hungry and feed You or thirsty and give You a drink? ³⁸ When did we see You as a foreigner and give You a place to stay. Or when did You need clothing and we gave clothes to You? ³⁹ And when did we see You sick and we took care of You, or when were You in prison and we visited You?’

⁴⁰ “And I’ll answer them, ‘I’m telling you the truth. Every time you took the opportunity to do things like that for one of these brothers and sisters of Mine, even for the lowliest person, you’ve done it for Me.’

⁴¹ “Then I’ll say to the people who’re on My left side, ‘Hey, you who are cursed! Get away from Me and go into the fire that won’t be extinguished forever, which is the place that was prepared for the devil and all the angels who are on his side. ⁴² For when I was hungry, you didn’t feed Me, and when I was thirsty, you didn’t give me a drink. ⁴³ When I was a foreigner, you didn’t give Me a place to stay, and when I needed clothing, you didn’t give Me clothes. When I was sick, or in prison, you didn’t visit Me either.’

⁴⁴ “Then they’ll ask, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or as a foreigner or needing clothing or sick or in prison and we didn’t pay attention to Your needs?’

⁴⁵ “And I’ll answer them, ‘I’m telling you the truth. Every time you didn’t take the opportunity to do those things for one of My lowliest brothers or sisters, you didn’t do it for Me either.’

⁴⁶ “So those people will enter the place of eternal punishment, but the righteous people will enter the place of eternal life.”

25:15 ^[1] Literally, “talents.” One talent was approximately the price of 26-36 kilograms of gold or silver.

Chapter 26

The Jewish leaders plan to kill Jesus

¹ After Jesus finished teaching all of those things, He said to us disciples of His, ² “You know that Passover Day will be in two more days. At that time I the Son of Man will be handed over to My enemies to be crucified.”

³ On the same day, the chief priests and Jewish elders got together at the palace of Caiphas, the high priest. ⁴ They secretly made plans for how to arrest and kill Jesus. ⁵ But they said, “Let’s not arrest him during Passover because it would be dangerous if a riot occurred between us and the crowd that likes Jesus.”

A woman pours perfume on Jesus’ head

⁶ While Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon, who was also called The Leper, ^[1] ⁷ a woman came carrying a bottle ^[2] of very expensive perfume to Him. Then while Jesus was eating, the woman poured the perfume on Jesus’ head. ⁸ But when we disciples of His saw that, we became angry and said, “Why was that perfume just wasted like that?! ⁹ If we had sold that perfume, we could have gotten a lot of money, of course, and then we could have distributed that money to poor people.”

¹⁰ But Jesus knew what we were saying, so He said to us, “You don’t need to rebuke this woman, because she’s done a good deed for Me! ¹¹ For there are always opportunities for you to help poor people, ^[3] but I won’t always be with you. ¹² So actually, by anointing My body, she has prepared Me to be buried. ^[4] ¹³ I’m telling you the truth. When the Good News about Me is spread throughout the whole world, what this woman did now will continue to be told so that she’ll never be forgotten.”

Judas betrays Jesus

¹⁴ Then Judas from the village of Cariot, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, went to meet the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, “What will you give me if I turn Jesus over to you?” Then they gave him thirty silver coins. ¹⁶ And from that moment on, Judas looked for an opportunity to turn Jesus over to them.

Jesus gives some food as a reminder of His body and blood

¹⁷ On the first day of the Passover Celebration, ^[5] we came to Jesus and said, “Where do You want us to prepare the Passover meal for us to eat?”

¹⁸ Then Jesus answered, “Go to our friend in Jerusalem. Say to Him, ‘Sir, our Teacher sends this news, "My time has come. And I want to celebrate the Passover with My disciples in your house." ’ ” ¹⁹ Then some of us disciples of His were instructed to go and prepare the food for the Passover Celebration, just like He had commanded.

²⁰ When night came, Jesus ate with us. ²¹ While we were eating, He said, “I’m telling you the truth. One of you will sell Me to My enemies.”

²² That made us feel really sad. Then each of us began saying to Him, “It isn’t me, is it Lord?!”

²³ Jesus answered, “The person who dips his bread into the bowl with Me is the one who will sell Me. ²⁴ Of course, I as the Son of Man will die according to what’s written in the Holy Bible. But the man who hands Me over to My enemies is so unfortunate. It would be better if that man had never been born!” ²⁵ Then Judas who had already sold Him and would soon hand Him over said, “It's not me, is it?”

Jesus answered, “You said so.”

²⁶ While we were still eating, Jesus took a piece of bread and gave thanks to God for the bread. Then He broke it and while giving it to us disciples of His, He said, “Take this bread and eat it. This is My body.”

²⁷ After that, Jesus took a cup full of wine. Then He gave thanks to God and while giving it to us He said, “Each of you take a drink from this cup. ²⁸ This is My blood which will be poured out for many people so that their sins will be forgiven. The blood from My death is the sign that a new promise between God and man has become official. ²⁹ I’m telling you the truth. From now on, I won’t drink wine like this again until the time comes when the kingdom promised by My Father is visible. At that time, I’ll drink new wine with you.”

³⁰ Then we sang a song of praise to God, and after that we went to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus says outright that Peter will deny Him

³¹ Then Jesus said to us disciples of His, “Tonight you’ll all stop believing in Me and leave Me because it has to happen according to what’s written in the Holy Bible, where God says,

‘I’ll strike and kill the Shepherd.

At that time, His sheep will run here and there.’ ^[45]

³² But after God raises Me up again from the dead, I’ll go ahead of you to Galilee.”

³³ Then Peter said, “Maybe our other friends will stop believing and leave You, but I won’t!”

³⁴ Jesus answered, “I’m telling you the truth. Tonight before the rooster crows, you’ll have said this three times about Me, ‘I don’t know that person.’”

³⁵ Then Peter said, “If I really have to die with you, I’m ready to, because I won’t say that I don’t know You!” And all of the rest of us said the same thing.

Jesus prays alone in the garden of Gethsemane

³⁶ After Jesus and we disciples got to the garden called Gethsemane, He said to us, “Sit here first because I want to go and pray.” ³⁷ Then He told James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, and Peter to follow Him. At that time Jesus felt very sad and His heart was really troubled. ³⁸ Then He said to them, “My heart is feeling really sad. It feels like it’s dying. Stay here and keep awake with Me while you pray.”

³⁹ Then He went a little farther away from them, and knelt down and prayed. He said, “Oh My Father, if possible, don’t allow Me to go through this suffering! ^[6] But let it happen as You desire, and not according to My will.” ⁴⁰ After praying like this, He returned to the three of His disciples and saw that they were sleeping. Then He said to Peter, “You obviously aren’t able to keep awake while praying with me for just an hour! ⁴¹ Keep awake and pray so that none of you sins when you’re tempted by the devil. Of course your spirits want to do what’s good, but your bodies can't.”

⁴² For the second time, Jesus went to pray again, “My Father, if it isn’t possible for Me to avoid this suffering, then may it happen according to Your will.”

⁴³ When He came back, He saw them sleeping again because they were really sleepy. ⁴⁴ So He left them there again and went to pray for the third time. He prayed the same thing again. ⁴⁵ After that He went back to His disciples and said, “So you’re still sleeping and resting, huh! That’s enough! Look, the time has come! Now I the Son of Man will be turned over into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Wake up! Let’s go. Look, the person who is handing Me over to My enemies has come!”

Jesus is arrested

⁴⁷ While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of us twelve disciples, came to guide the crowd who brought swords and wooden clubs. They were the people sent by the chief priests and Jewish leaders. ⁴⁸ Before that, Judas had told them this, “The person I hug is Jesus. Arrest him!” ⁴⁹ As soon as Judas got there, he approached Jesus and said, “Greetings Teacher.” Then he hugged Jesus. ^[7]

⁵⁰ Jesus answered, “Hey friend, do what you’ve planned to do.”

Then those people quickly approached Jesus and arrested Him. ⁵¹ Then suddenly one of us who was with Jesus pulled out his sword and attacked the high priest’s slave, but he just cut off one of the slave’s ears.

⁵² Then Jesus said to our friend, “Put your sword back in it’s sheath, because whoever kills a person with the sword will also be killed with a sword! ⁵³ Don’t forget that I have authority to ask My Father for help, and He’s ready to quickly send more than twelve battallions ^[8] of angels to help Me. ⁵⁴ But if I did that, then what was prophesied in the Holy Bible about Me wouldn’t be fulfilled.”

⁵⁵ Then Jesus said to the crowd, “So you think I’m a criminal and that you have to bring swords and wooden clubs here, huh?! Yet every day I sat teaching in the courtyard of God’s House. So why didn’t you arrest Me there? ⁵⁶ But all of this is happening so that what the prophets foretold would be fulfilled.” Then all of us disciples of His ran away, leaving Him alone.

Jesus is brought before the council of the Jewish Religious Court

⁵⁷ After that, those who arrested Jesus brought Him to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. Then the Law experts and the Jewish leaders got together there. ⁵⁸ But Peter followed far behind Jesus until he entered the yard of the high priest’s house. He sat there with the high priest’s guards so that he could find out what would happen to Jesus.

^59-60 At that time, the chief priests and the entire Religious Court tried to prove that Jesus had done wrong, so that they could sentence Him to death according to the Law. For that reason they looked for and found some men who were on their side, who were ready to give false testimonies about Jesus. But even though quite a few people came forward and gave testimonies, what they said was different than the others. Because of that, the Court council didn’t succeed in proving anything wrong with Jesus. There were finally two people who came forward to testify. ⁶¹ They said, “This man said, ‘I can tear down God’s House and in just three days I’ll rebuild it.’”

⁶² Then the high priest stood and said to Jesus, “Why don’t you answer?! Many people have testified about your wrongdoings.” ⁶³ But Jesus just remained silent.

Then the high priest said to Him again, “In the name of the living God, I order you to answer truthfully. Are you the Christ, ^[9] God’s Son?”

⁶⁴ Jesus replied to him, “You are right. And I’m telling you that from now on you’ll see Me as the Son of Man ^[10] sitting in the most honored place next to the Almighty. And when I return from heaven, you’ll see Me coming in the clouds.”

⁶⁵ When the high priest heard that, he tore the tunic ^[11] he was wearing and said, “He has insulted God! Why should we look for any more witnesses?! Now you’ve heard him insult God yourselves! ⁶⁶ So what’s your decision?”

They answered, “He’s guilty and must be given the death sentence!”

^67-68 After that, there were some of them who spit in Jesus’ face and slapped Him. They covered His eyes with a piece of cloth and while hitting Him they said, “Hey Christ! If you’re a prophet, try to guess the name of the person who just hit you?!”

Peter says that he doesn’t know Jesus

⁶⁹ While that was happening, Peter was sitting in the yard of that house. Then a servant girl approached him and said, “You’re one of Jesus the Galilean’s followers, right?!”

⁷⁰ But Peter denied it in front of all of them, saying, “I don’t understand what you said.”

⁷¹ Then he went to the gate in the yard and another servant girl saw him and said to some people who were there, “This man was a follower of Jesus, the Nazarene.”

⁷² Peter again denied it by swearing, “May the Lord be a witness to what I’m saying. I don’t know that man!”

⁷³ Not long after that, the people who stood there said, “It’s true! You’re one of them because from your accent we know that you’re a Galilean too.”

⁷⁴ Then Peter began to say, “I don’t know that man! If I’m lying, may the Lord in heaven punish me!” The very moment he said that, a rooster crowed immediately. ⁷⁵ And Peter quickly remembered that Jesus had said, “Tonight before the rooster crows, you’ll have said three times that you don’t know me.” Then Peter went out of the yard of that house, and cried because he was so sad.

26:6 ^[1] Many expert commentators say that it’s likely that this Simon had already been healed of his disease before this time. The disease of leprosy in Bible times wasn’t the same as what’s called leprosy today. See the note about skin diseases in Matt. 8:2.

26:7 ^[2] The bottle mentioned was made from a type of white stone that’s called alabaster.

26:11 ^[3] Jesus almost quoted Deut. 15:11.

26:12 ^[4] The Jews usually put perfumed oils and spices on the body of a dead person before burial (as in Mark 16:1). But this woman, (Mary), probably didn’t know that Jesus would die. She poured perfumed oil on Jesus’ body because she loved Him and maybe because she wanted to honor Him and thank Him in a special way because Jesus had raised her brother Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:38-44; 12:1-8).

26:17 ^[5] The “Celebration of Unleavened Bread” is literally just one word in Greek. The “Celebration of Unleavened Bread” began on Passover Day and continued for eight days, including two Sabbath days. The two celebrations were combined. See Ex. 12; Luke 22:1.

26:39 ^[6] Literally, “take this cup far away from Me.”

26:49 ^[7] Literally, “kissed.” That was the natural way Jewish people greeted each other.

26:53 ^[8] in the Greek language it’s called, “legion.” One Roman legion consisted of about 5,000 soldiers.

26:63 ^[9] See note in Matt. 1:16.

26:64 ^[10] See the note in Matt. 9:6. What Jesus said about Himself is quoted from Ps. 110:1 and Dan. 7:13.

26:65 ^[11] In Jewish culture, tearing one’s tunic was a sign of great sadness or true disagreement. In Mark 14:63, Mark used words in the Greek language to show that the tunic torn was a thin inner garment, not his thick outer robe. (Gen. 37:34, Josh. 7:6, 2 Sam. 1:11, 2 Kings 18:37, 19:1)

26:31 ^[45] Zech. 13:7

Chapter 27

Jesus is turned over to Pilate

¹ Very early the next morning, all the chief priests and Jewish leaders planned how to pressure the Roman governor to kill Jesus. ² So they tied Him up and took Him to hand Him over to Governor Pilate.

Judas kills himself

³ When Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus, saw that Jesus was sentenced to die, he regretted his actions. Then he returned the thirty silver coins that he had received to the chief priests and the Jewish leaders. ⁴ He said to them, “I’ve sinned because I’ve sold an innocent man to be killed.”

But the Jewish leaders answered, “Why are you telling us that?! If you’ve sinned, that’s your own responsibility!”

⁵ Then Judas threw the silver coins into God’s House and left. After that, he went out of the city and committed suicide by hanging himself.

⁶ Then, when the chief priests took the silver coins, they said, “The Law forbids putting this money into the offering box because this money is the profit for selling a person’s life.” ⁷ So after talking about it, they decided to use that money to buy a field which had been owned by a potter. Then that land became a burial place for all newcomers and foreigners who died in Jerusalem. ⁸ Because all of the residents of Jerusalem knew about this, that field is known by the name “Field of Spilled Blood” even to this day. ^[1] ⁹ In that way, without being aware of it, they fulfilled what was foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah,

“They’ll take the thirty silver coins which is the price the Israelites determined for Him,

¹⁰ and they’ll use that money to buy a field which had been owned by a potter. This was determined by the Lord and was told to me.” ^[2]

Governor Pilate examines Jesus

¹¹ When Jesus was presented to Governor Pilate, he asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “That's correct.”

¹² But when the chief priests and all the Jewish leaders reported the accusations about Jesus’ wrong-doings, Jesus didn’t answer anything.

¹³ So Pilate said to Him, “Don’t you hear how many accusations they’re reporting about you?”

¹⁴ But Jesus still didn’t answer even a single word. Because of that, Pilate was really amazed.

Pilate turns Jesus over to be sentenced to death

¹⁵ Every year on Passover Day in Jerusalem, it had become the tradition of each Roman governor to release one person from prison according to the people’s choice. ¹⁶ At that time, there was a well-known criminal in prison who was also named Jesus, but he was also called Barabbas.

¹⁷ It just so happened that a crowd had gathered at the governor’s palace that morning because of that tradition. Then Pilate asked them, “Who do you want released, Jesus, who is also called Barabbas, or the Jesus whom some of you consider to be the Christ?” ^[3] ¹⁸ Pilate purposely spoke like that because he already knew that the chief priests envied Jesus. He knew that was the reason they had handed Jesus over to Him.

¹⁹ While Pilate was sitting in the judgment seat, his wife sent a message to him. “Don’t do anything to that innocent man whom you’re judging now because I had a dream about him last night, and it really haunts me.”

²⁰ At the same time, the chief priests and all the Jewish leaders kept inciting the crowd to demand that Pilate release Barabbas and give Jesus the death sentence. ²¹ So Pilate asked again, “Which of these two people do you want me to release?”

They replied, “Barabbas!”

²² Then Pilate asked, “If that’s so, what do want me to do with Jesus, whom you call ‘the Christ’?”

They all shouted, “Crucify him!” ^[4]

²³ Then Pilate asked them again, “Why? What has he done wrong?”

But they shouted even more loudly, “Crucify him!”

²⁴ At that moment, Pilate realized that his effort to release Jesus wasn’t succeeding but was causing a riot instead. So he ordered someone to bring him a bowl of water, and then he washed his hands in front of them while saying, “I can’t be blamed for this man’s death! You yourselves will bear the responsibility of God’s punishment for his death.”

²⁵ Everyone there answered, “Yes, we and our children will bear the responsibility of God’s punishment for his death.”

²⁶ Then Pilate released Barabbas according to their request, and he handed Jesus over to the soldiers with the command to whip Him and crucify him.

The soldiers make fun of Jesus

²⁷ Then Pilate’s soldiers brought Jesus into the part of the governor’s palace that was their barracks, and they called all of the other soldiers to gather around Him. ²⁸ Then they began to make fun of Jesus because He claimed to be the king. They took off all His clothes, and they put a red robe on Him to mock Him. ^[5] ²⁹ Then they made a crown from thorny vines and placed it on His head. And they put a bamboo stick in His right hand, so that it looked like a king’s scepter. Then they knelt in front of Him and made fun of Him, saying, “Your majesty, king of the Jews!” ³⁰ Then they spit on Him and took the bamboo stick from His hand and beat Him over and over again on the head with it. ³¹ After they finished making fun of Him like that, they took off the red robe and put His own robe back on Him. Then they took Jesus out to be crucified.

Jesus is crucified

³² While they were on their way out of the city, the soldiers who took Jesus met a man named Simon from the city of Cyrene, and they forced ^[6] him to carry Jesus’ cross. ³³ Then they reached a certain place called Golgotha, which means “place of the skull.” ^[7] ³⁴ They gave Him sour wine there, mixed with bile. After He tasted it, He refused to drink it.

³⁵ After Jesus was crucified, the soldiers divided His clothes between them by casting lots. ^[8] ³⁶ Then they sat there to guard Him. ³⁷ They attached a writing to the top of His cross which explained the reason He was crucified. The writing was, “This is Jesus, king of the Jews.”

³⁸ After that, they crucified two thieves along with Jesus, one on His right side and the other on His left. ³⁹ People who went past made fun of Him. As they shook their heads ⁴⁰ they said, “Hey, you said that you would tear down God’s House and rebuild it in just three days! If you really are God’s Son, save yourself and come down from that cross!”

⁴¹ The chief priests, the Law experts and the Jewish leaders also laughed at Jesus and made fun of Him. They said, ⁴² “He can save other people but he can’t save himself! If he’s really the king of Israel, let him come down from that cross now! Then we can believe him. ⁴³ According to his own words, he trusts in God. So if it’s true that ‘God is really pleased with him’, let God save him now’, ^[9] because he really did say, ‘I’m the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ And the two criminals who were crucified with Jesus also insulted Him.

Jesus dies

⁴⁵ At noon, the whole area around there suddenly became dark until three o’clock in the afternoon. ⁴⁶ Around three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani”, which means, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned Me?” ^[46]

⁴⁷ Then some people who stood there misunderstood what Jesus said, and they said, “He’s calling the Prophet Elijah.”

⁴⁸ One of them quickly ran to get a piece of sponge, ^[10] and put it on the end of a bamboo stick. Then he dipped the sponge in sour wine ^[11] and put it up to Jesus’ mouth, so He could drink. ⁴⁹ But other people said, “Wait! Don’t give it to him yet. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰ Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice and let out his last breath.

⁵¹ When Jesus died, the curtain which always hung in the doorway of the Holy Room ^[12] in God’s House, suddenly tore in two by itself from top to bottom. And an earthquake happened, and many huge rocks were split apart. ⁵² Graves were even opened, and many holy people who had already died came back to life ⁵³ and came out of their graves. Then after Jesus rose from the dead they entered the holy city (Jerusalem) and were seen by many people.

⁵⁴ When the officer and all of the soldiers who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and the other miracles, they were really afraid and said, “It’s true, this Man really was God’s Son!”

⁵⁵ There were also some women there who stood and watched from far away. They were the women who often served Jesus and us disciples of His, who had followed us to Jerusalem from the region of Galilee. ⁵⁶ Among them were the mother of James and John, ^[13] Mary, who came from the village of Magdala, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, the younger brothers of Jesus.

Jesus’ body is buried

⁵⁷ When it was almost night, a rich man named Joseph came. He was from the city of Arimethea and had often followed Jesus too. ⁵⁸ He approached Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered the soldiers to give Jesus’ body to Joseph. ⁵⁹ So Joseph and several other people took His body and wrapped it in a burial cloth that he had just bought. ⁶⁰ Then they laid Jesus’ body in a tomb that Joseph himself owned, which had been newly made like a cave in a hill of rock. Then the opening of the cave-like tomb was closed by rolling a large rock that had been prepared as the door. After that, Joseph and the others went home. ⁶¹ While they prepared the body of Jesus, the two women named Mary sat facing the opening of the cave-like tomb.

Jesus’ tomb is guarded

⁶² The day they buried Jesus was called Preparation Day. The next day, which was the Sabbath Day, the chief priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. ⁶³ They said, “Sir, we remember when Jesus, that misleader, was still alive he said, ‘Three days after I die, I’ll be brought back to life.’ ⁶⁴ For that reason, please order that his tomb be guarded by soldiers until the third day. Don’t let his disciples steal his body and announce that Jesus has risen up from among dead people. If that happens, that lie would be worse than the first lie when he claimed that he himself was the Christ.”

⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “I give you permission. Take those on duty and do all that’s needed in order to secure the tomb.” ⁶⁶ Then the Jewish leaders went with the soldiers to the tomb. They placed an authorized seal on the rock door of the tomb, and the soldiers remained on guard there.

27:8 ^[1] Literally, “Field of Blood.” The word ‘blood’ means the blood of a murdered person. The name of that field can also mean, ‘the field that was bought from the profit of selling a person’s life.’

27:10 ^[2] Because of the way prophecy is expressed, this verse is translated with the word “will”, to show that the time was yet to come. The Hebrew and Greek languages both use the past tense verb to express prophecy. Apparently this quotation is mixed from Zech. 11:12-13 and Jer. 32:6-9.

27:17 ^[3] See the note in Matt. 1:16.

27:22 ^[4] At the time of Jesus, the Roman government had a special way to carry out the death penalty for criminals, that is by crucifixion. They made a cross from two beams of wood shaped like the letter T. Before the criminal was crucified, he would be whipped until almost dead. Then he was nailed to a cross with big nails. His hands were lifted up and nailed to the left and right of the cross, and his feet were also nailed to the cross. Then the cross was erected by planting it in a hole in the ground or in a large stone. A person who was crucified on a cross usually didn’t die immediately. He might live for hours or days and suffer terribly. A person who was sentenced to die by crucifixion didn’t only suffer in a physical way but was also deeply shamed. Criminals who were sentenced like that were always crucified naked, and people who passed by the place would insult them and make fun of them. The death sentence by crucifixion didn’t apply to citizens of the kingdom of Rome, but just to slaves or people from other countries that were colonized by the kingdom of Rome.

27:28 ^[5] A red robe, like the color of blood, was always worn by military commanders.

27:32 ^[6] translation of a special term in Greek that can also be translated “ordered.” In all the provinces colonized by the Roman government, all Roman soldiers were allowed to order people to carry things for them. This event showed that Jesus had already become too weak to carry His own cross.

27:33 ^[7] Golgotha (place of the skull) came from the everyday Hebrew language. In Latin, which was the language of Italy and the capitol city Rome, it was called “Calvary.” That hill was to the north of Jerusalem, and it didn’t get its name because of human skulls being left there. It just so happened that part of the hill stuck out, and it looked like a large skull.

27:35 ^[8] Matthew made this verse look the same as Ps. 22:18.

27:43 ^[9] When they made fun of Jesus, they quoted from Ps. 22:9.

27:48 ^[10] A type of sea plant that can soak up water.

27:48 ^[11] When they gave Him the sour wine, at that very moment what was written in Ps. 69:22 was fulfilled.

27:51 ^[12] This curtain was a thick cloth which always hung in the doorway of the Holy Room. It isn’t clear here if this was the curtain in the doorway to the Holy Room, or the curtain which separated the Holy Room from the Holiest Room. The spiritual meaning of this miracle is explained in Heb. 9, which is that there’s no longer any obstacle separating man from God. (See Ex. 26:31-33, Heb. 9:1-8.)

27:56 ^[13] Literally, “the sons of Zebedee.”

27:46 ^[46] Ps. 22:2

Chapter 28

Jesus lives again and reveals Himself to the women

¹ Very early Sunday morning, after the Sabbath day was over, Mary from the village of Magdalene and the other Mary who was mentioned ^[47] went to see Jesus’ tomb.

² Suddenly, an unusual earthquake happened when an angel came down from heaven and rolled the stone away from the door of the tomb. After that, he sat on top of the stone. ³ The angel’s body shone as bright as lightning, and his clothes were very white, like a white cloud. ⁴ The guards were extremely frightened to the point that they trembled and fainted, like dead men.

⁵ Then the angel said to the two women, “Don’t be afraid! I know you’re looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He isn’t here because He has been raised up by God like He had said. Come in and see the place where His body had been placed. ⁷ Now go quickly and tell His disciples this, ‘Jesus has been raised up from the dead and now He’s going ahead of you to Galilee! You’ll meet Him there.’ Pay attention to the news I’ve told you.”

⁸ Then the the two women quickly left the tomb. They ran to tell us disciples of His what had happened, with mixed feelings of fear and gladness. ⁹ On their way, Jesus suddenly met them and said, “Greetings.” So they approached Him, knelt down and held onto His feet, and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go and tell My followers ^[1] to go to Galilee. And they’ll meet Me there.”

The guard soldiers’ false story

¹¹ While the two women were on there way to tell us what had happened, some of the soldiers guarding the tomb went to the city and reported to the chief priests about everything that had happened. ¹² So the chief priests quickly held a meeting with the Jewish leaders, where they decided to give a lot of money to bribe those guards ¹³ with this order, “You must tell people this, ‘His disciples came in the night and stole His body while we were sleeping.’ ¹⁴ And if the governor hears this story, we’ll talk to him so that you won’t be punished.” ¹⁵ Then they accepted the bribe money and spread the false story like they were ordered to do. And up until now that false story is still spread among Jewish circles.

Jesus sends out His disciples

¹⁶ Then we eleven disciples of Jesus’ went to a hill in Galilee that Jesus had told us about. ¹⁷ When we met Jesus on the hill, we knelt down to worship Him, even though it was so amazing that some of us had a hard time believing this was actually happening. ¹⁸ Then Jesus approached us and said, “God has given all authority to Me to rule over all of His creation, both things in heaven and things on earth. ¹⁹ For that reason, go and teach people from every ethnic group to become My followers. Baptize them as followers of Me, My Father and the Holy Spirit. ^[2] ²⁰ Teach them to obey everything I’ve taught you, and be sure of this, I’ll always be with you, even until the end of the world.”

28:10 ^[1] Literally, “My brothers.” Here that word doesn’t mean the biological brothers of Jesus, but the disciples and the brothers and sisters who believed in Him.

28:19 ^[2] Literally, “in the name of the Father, in My name and in the name of the Holy Spirit.” According to the Jewish culture at the time of Jesus, ‘name’ meant the whole person’s identity. Jesus didn’t mean here that it’s just enough to state those three Names when people are baptized. At the time of Jesus, baptism was a ceremony which showed that the person being baptized had become a follower who would be faithful to the Trinity as named. Those three names don’t show that there are three Gods, and they don’t show that one God has three names, nor that God is divided into three parts either. Those three ideas are wrong. What’s clear is this, in His Word, the One and Only God has shown Himself to people in three Persons, and this can’t be fully understood by human thinking.

28:1 ^[47] Matt. 27:56, 61

open-licensed biblical content

Matthew

Chapter 1

List of the forefathers of Christ Jesus

The birth of Christ Jesus

Chapter 2

Astrologers visit Jesus

Jesus’ parents take Him to Egypt

Herod kills all the little boys of Bethlehem

Joseph and Mary return from Egypt

Chapter 3

John the Baptist prepares God’s people for Jesus’ coming

John baptizes Jesus

Chapter 4

Jesus is tempted by the devil

Jesus begins His ministry in Galilee

Jesus chooses His disciples

Jesus teaches and heals

Chapter 5

Jesus teaches a crowd

The salt and light of the world

Jesus teaches about the Law

Jesus teaches about anger

Jesus teaches about the sin of adultery

Jesus teaches about divorce

Jesus teaches about oaths and promises

Jesus teaches about people who oppose us

Love the people who oppose you

Chapter 6

Jesus teaches about how to do good deeds

Jesus teaches how to pray

Jesus teaches how to fast

You can’t be a servant of God and be a servant of money at the same time

Put God’s kingdom first

Chapter 7

Jesus teaches about judging

People who don’t deserve to study the teaching about spiritual matters in depth

Jesus’ advice to persist in prayer

The most important law

The way to heaven and the way to hell

The way to know a false prophet

A wise person and a foolish person

Chapter 8

Jesus healed a man who suffered from a contagious skin disease

Jesus heals the servant of a Roman officer

Jesus heals many people

Regarding the decision to follow Jesus

Jesus stops a storm

Jesus drives evil spirits out of men from the Gadarenes

Chapter 9

Jesus heals a paralyzed man in Capernaum

Matthew follows Jesus

Jesus answers a question about fasting

Jesus heals a woman with a bleeding disorder and brings the daughter of a Jewish leader back to life

Jesus makes two blind men able to see and expels a demon from a mute man

Jesus feels compassion for the crowd

Chapter 10

Jesus sends out His disciples

Beware of the trouble that will come

Fear and respect God, not humans

The trouble that Jesus’ followers will experience

God blesses those who accept you

Chapter 11

John the Baptist presents a question, and Jesus teaches about John’s ministry

People who don’t want to believe need to beware

Jesus invites His disciples to rest

Chapter 12

Jesus is the Lord over the Sabbath Day

Jesus heals a man’s hand on the Sabbath day

Jesus, the chosen servant of God

According to the Pharisees, Jesus works with the power of the devil

We are known and will be judged by our own words

The miraculous sign that will be given to people in an evil age

A warning for the people in this evil age

Traits of people whom Jesus considers to be His family

Chapter 13

The parable of the farmer and the seeds that were scattered

The reason Jesus taught using parables

Jesus explains the meaning of the parable of the farmer and the seeds that were scattered

The parable of weeds and wheat