Mark

Chapter 1

¹ This is the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, who is the Son of God. ² This good news began just as the prophet Isaiah said that it would begin when he wrote {long ago these words that God said to Jesus}, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you. He will prepare people for your coming. ³ He will be a voice calling out in the desolate place to anyone who hears him, saying

     ‘Make yourselves ready to welcome the Lord. Get everything organized for his coming.’”

⁴ The messenger that Isaiah wrote about was John. People called him “The Baptizer.” John was in a desolate area near the Jordan River. He was baptizing people and telling them, “If you want God to forgive your sins, you must reject wrong ways of living. Then I will baptize you. ⁵ A great number of people from the region of Judea and the city of Jerusalem went out to the desolate place to hear John speak. Many of those who heard him agreed that they had sinned. Then John baptized them in the Jordan River. ⁶ John wore {rough} clothes made of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. His food was grasshoppers and honey that he found in that desolate area. ⁷ John was preaching this message: “Soon someone else will come who is very much greater than I am. He is so great that I am not even worthy to stoop down and untie his sandals. ⁸ I baptized you with water {to show that you want God to remove your sin}, but {when this person does remove your sin,} it will be like he is baptizing you, but with the Holy Spirit.”

⁹ Later during the time when John was preaching, Jesus came from Nazareth, a town in the Galilee region. Jesus went to where John was preaching, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. ¹⁰ As soon as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven tear open and the Spirit of God descending {from there} on himself. The Spirit of God came down from heaven {looking} like a dove. ¹¹ Then, God spoke from heaven and said, “You are my Son, whom I love dearly. I am very pleased with you.” ¹² Right after that, the Spirit of God sent Jesus out into the desolate area. ¹³ Jesus was in the desolate area for 40 days. During that time, Satan was tempting him. There were wild animals in that place, and angels were taking care of him.

¹⁴ Later, after the governor Herod Antipas had put John the Baptizer in prison, Jesus went to the region of Galilee. In Galilee, he was preaching God’s good news. ¹⁵ He preached this message: “The time {that God set for this} has come {at last}. God is now making it possible for you to be a part of his kingdom. Be done with your sinful way of living. Believe this good news.”

¹⁶ One day, while Jesus was walking along the shore of the lake of Galilee, he saw two fishermen there. One man was Simon and the other was Andrew, Simon's brother. As Jesus watched, they were casting their fishing nets into the lake {to catch fish in them}. ¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, "You know how to gather fish, but come with me and I will teach you how to gather people." ¹⁸ As soon as Jesus said this, Simon and Andrew dropped their fishing nets and went with Jesus. ¹⁹ After they had gone on a little farther, Jesus saw two other men, James and James’ {younger} brother, John. They were the sons of a man named Zebedee. They were all in a boat fixing their fishing nets. ²⁰ As soon as Jesus saw them, he told them to come with him. Right away, they left their father Zebedee in the boat with his servants, and they went away with Jesus.

²¹ Jesus, along with Peter, Andrew, James and John went into a nearby town called Capernaum. There, Jesus began teaching in the Jewish meeting place on the Sabbath. ²² Those who were listening were amazed at the way he taught. He taught like a teacher who relies on what he himself knows. He did not teach like those who taught the Jewish laws, who repeated the different things that other men had taught. ²³ In the Jewish preaching place where Jesus taught, there was a man that an evil spirit controlled. The man with the evil spirit began shouting, ²⁴ “Hey! Jesus, from Nazareth! We evil spirits have nothing to do with you! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are the Holy One from God!” ²⁵ Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, saying, “Be quiet and come out of that man!” ²⁶ The evil spirit shook the man violently. It screamed loudly, and then he came out of the man and left. ²⁷ All the people who were in the synagogue were amazed. As a result, they discussed this among themselves, saying, “This is something we have never seen before! Not only does he teach in a new and authoritative way, but he also commands the evil spirits and they obey him!” ²⁸ The people very soon told many others throughout the entire Galilee region what Jesus had done.

²⁹ After they left the Jewish preaching place, Jesus, Simon and Andrew, along with James and John, went directly to the house of Simon and Andrew. ³⁰ Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed because she was feeling sick due to having a fever. Right away someone told Jesus about her being sick. ³¹ Jesus went to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. Right away she recovered from the fever and began serving Jesus and his disciples.

³² That evening, after the sun had gone down, people from the surrounding area brought to Jesus many others who were sick and those that evil spirits controlled. ³³ It seemed as though everyone who lived in the town had gathered at the doorway of Simon’s house. ³⁴ Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases. He also forced many evil spirits to come out from people. He did not allow the evil spirits to tell people about him, because they knew that he was the Holy One from God.

³⁵ Jesus got up very early the next morning while it was still dark. He left the house and went away from the town to a place where there were no people. Then he prayed. ³⁶ Simon and his companions searched for him. ³⁷ When they found him they said, “Everyone in town is looking for you.” ³⁸ Jesus said to them, “We need to go to the other towns in this region so that I can preach there as well. This is the reason I came here.” ³⁹ So they went throughout Galilee region. As they went, Jesus would preach in the Jewish preaching places and forced evil spirits to come out from people.

⁴⁰ One day a man who had a bad skin disease called leprosy came to Jesus. He knelt down in front of Jesus and pleaded with him, saying, “Please make me clean, because you are able to make me clean if it is your will!” ⁴¹ Jesus felt compassion for him. He reached out his hand and touched the man. Then he said to him, “It is my will to heal you, so be healed!” ⁴² Right away the man was healed! He was no longer a leper! ⁴³ Jesus gave the man a warning as he was sending him away, ⁴⁴ saying, “Do not tell anyone what just happened. Instead, go to a priest and show yourself to him in order that he may examine you and see that you no longer have leprosy. Then make the offering that Moses commanded for people whom God has healed from leprosy. This will be the testimony to the community that you no longer have leprosy.” ⁴⁵ The man did not follow Jesus’ instruction. He began telling many people about how Jesus had healed him. As a result, Jesus was no longer able to enter towns publicly because the crowds of people would surround him. Instead, he remained outside the towns in places where no one lived. But people kept coming to him from all over that region.

Chapter 2

¹ After some days had passed, Jesus returned to the town called Capernaum. People spread the news quickly to others that Jesus had returned and was in a certain house. ² Soon a great number of people gathered where Jesus was staying. The number was so great that the house was full. There was no longer space to stand, not even around the doorway. Jesus spoke God’s message to them. ³ Some people came to the house, who were bringing to Jesus a man who was paralyzed. Four men carried him on a sleeping pad. ⁴ They were not able to bring the man close to Jesus because of the crowd that had gathered. So, they went up on the roof of the house and made a big hole in the roof above Jesus. They lowered the paralyzed man on his sleeping pad through the hole in front of Jesus. ⁵ After Jesus perceived that the men believed that he could heal this man, he said to the paralyzed man, “My child, I have forgiven your sins!” ⁶ Some men who taught the Jewish laws were sitting there. They started thinking to themselves, ⁷ “Who does this man think he is talking like that? He insults God by saying that! No person can forgive sins—only God can!” ⁸ Jesus knew right away within himself what they were thinking. He said to them, “Why are you thinking that I don’t have the right to forgive sins? ⁹ Which would be easier for me to say to the paralyzed man, ‘I have forgiven your sins’ or to say, ‘Stand up! Take your sleeping pad and walk’? ¹⁰ I will demonstrate to you that God has given the Son of Man authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then he said to the paralyzed man, ¹¹ “Stand up! Pick up your sleeping pad and go home!” ¹² The man stood up right away. He picked up the sleeping pad, and he walked out of the house while all the people there were watching. They were all amazed, and they praised God and said, “We have never before seen anything like what happened just now!”

¹³ Jesus left the town of Capernaum and walked again along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd came to him and he taught them. ¹⁴ As he was walking, he saw a man named Levi whose father’s name was Alpheus. He was sitting in his office where he collected taxes. Jesus said to him, “Come with me and be my disciple.” He got up and went with Jesus. ¹⁵ Later, Jesus was eating a meal in Levi’s house. Many men who collected taxes and others who the religious leaders considered to be sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples. There were many people like this who were going everywhere with Jesus. ¹⁶ Men who taught the Jewish laws and who were members of the Pharisee sect saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and men who collected taxes. They asked Jesus’ disciples, “Why does he eat and drink with sinners and men who collect taxes?” ¹⁷ After Jesus heard what they were asking, he said to the men who taught the Jewish laws, “Healthy people do not need a doctor. On the contrary, it is those who are sick who need a doctor. I did not come to invite those who think they are righteous to come to me, but those who know that they have sinned.”

¹⁸ Now at this time, the students of John the Baptizer and some men who belonged to the Pharisee sect were abstaining from food, as they often did. Some men came to Jesus and asked him, “The disciples of John and of the Pharisees often abstain from food. Why do your students not abstain from food?” ¹⁹ Jesus said to them, “When a man is marrying a woman, his friends will certainly not abstain from food while he is still with them. The wedding is a time of feasting and celebrating with the groom. It is not a time for abstaining from food, especially while the groom is with them. ²⁰ But some day, the groom will be taken away from his friends. Then in those days, they will abstain from food.”

²¹ Jesus went on to say to them, “People do not sew a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old garment in order to mend a hole. If they did, when they washed the garment, the patch would shrink and the new piece of cloth would tear off more of the old cloth. As a result, the hole would become even bigger! ²² Similarly, people do not put new wine into old animal skin bags to store it. If they did, the new wine will burst the skin bags because they would not stretch when the wine ferments and expands. As a result both the wine and the skin bags would be ruined! On the contrary, people must put new wine into new skin bags!”

²³ On one Jewish day of rest, Jesus was walking through some grain fields with his students. As they were walking along through the grain fields, Jesus' disciples were plucking some of the heads of grain. ²⁴ Some of the Pharisees saw what they were doing and said to Jesus, “Look at this! They are breaking the Jewish law concerning the day of rest. Why are they doing that?” ²⁵ Jesus said to them, “Have you never read the scriptures concerning King David and the men who were with him when they were hungry? ²⁶ During the time Abiathar was high priest, King David entered the house of God and asked for some bread. The high priest gave him some of the bread that had been on display before God. According to our laws, only the priests could eat that bread! But David ate some of it. Then he also gave some of it to the men who were with him.” ²⁷ Jesus said to them further, “God made the day of rest for the sake of mankind. He did not make the day of rest to be a burden on mankind. ²⁸ So, to be clear, the Son of Man is Lord, even of the day of rest!”

Chapter 3

¹ On another Jewish day of rest, Jesus again went into a Jewish meeting place. There was a man there whose hand was shriveled. ² Some men of the Pharisee sect watched him carefully to see whether he would heal the man on the day of rest. For they wanted to be able to accuse him of doing something wrong. ³ Jesus said to the man whose hand was shriveled, “Stand up here in front of everyone!” {So the man stood up.} ⁴ Then Jesus said to the people, “Do the laws that God gave Moses permit people to do good on the day of rest, or to do evil? Do the laws permit us to save a person’s life on the day of rest, or permit us to refuse to help a person and let them die?” But they did not reply. ⁵ He looked around at them angrily. He was very disappointed that they were stubborn {and not willing to help the man}. So he said to the man, “Extend your hand!” When the man extended his shriveled hand, it became healthy again! ⁶ The Pharisees left the meeting place. Right away they met with some of the Jews who supported Herod Antipas, who ruled the region of Galilee. Together they planned how they could kill Jesus.

⁷ Jesus and his disciples left that town and went to an area further along the sea of Galilee. A great crowd of people followed him. The people that followed him came from the regions of Galilee and Judea, ⁸ from the city of Jerusalem, from the region of Idumea, from the region on the east side of the Jordan River, and from the region around the cities of Tyre and Sidon. They all came to Jesus because they had heard about what he was doing. ^9-10 Because he had healed many people, many other people who had various illnesses pushed forward in order to touch him. They believed that if only they touched him, it would make them well. So he told his disciples that they should get a small boat ready for him in order that the crowd would not crush him when they pushed forward to touch him. ¹¹ Whenever the evil spirits saw Jesus, they caused the people whom they controlled to fall down in front of Jesus and call out to him, “You are the Son of God!” ¹² Jesus commanded the evil spirits strongly that they must not tell anyone who he was.

¹³ Jesus went up into the hills. There, he summoned those that he wanted to go with him and they followed him. ¹⁴ He appointed twelve men to travel with him, whom also he would send out to preach. He called them his representatives. ¹⁵ He also gave them power to be able to force evil spirits to come out from people. ¹⁶ These were the twelve men he appointed: Simon (and Jesus gave him the new name Peter). ¹⁷ And along with Peter, Jesus also appointed James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James. He gave both of them the new name, ‘Men who are like Thunder’ because of their fiery zeal; ¹⁸ and he appointed Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, and James who was the son of Alphaeus; and he appointed Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot (who later caused him to get arrested).

²⁰ Jesus and his disciples went to a house. Again a crowd gathered where he was staying. Many people crowded around him. He and his apprentices did not even have time to eat. ²¹ When his relatives heard about this, they went to take him home with them because some people were saying that he was insane.

²² Some men who taught the Jewish laws came downhill from the city of Jerusalem. They heard that Jesus was forcing evil spirits to come out of people. So they were telling people, “Beelzebul, who rules the evil spirits, controls Jesus. He is the one who gives Jesus the power to force evil spirits out from people!” ²³ So Jesus summoned those men over to himself. Jesus spoke to them in parables and said, “How can Satan expel Satan? ²⁴ If people who live in the same country are fighting against one another, their country will cease to be a united country. ²⁵ And if people who live in the same house fight each other, they will certainly not remain united as one family. ²⁶ Similarly, if Satan and his evil spirits were fighting one another, instead of remaining strong, he would become powerless. ²⁷ No one can go into the house of a strong man and take his possessions away from him unless he first ties up the strong man. Only then will he be able to steal the things in that man’s house.” ²⁸ Jesus also said, “Consider this carefully! People may sin in many ways and they may speak evil about God. Yet God can still forgive them, ²⁹ but if anyone speaks evil words about the Holy Spirit, God will never forgive them. That person is eternally guilty of sin.”

³⁰ Jesus told them this because they were saying, “An evil spirit is controlling him!”

³¹ Jesus’ mother and younger siblings came to where Jesus was teaching. While they stood outside, they sent someone inside to tell Jesus to come to them. ³² A crowd was sitting around Jesus. Some of them said to him, “Listen! Your mother and younger siblings are outside. They want to see you.” ³³ Jesus asked them, “Who is my mother? Who are my siblings?” ³⁴ After he looked around at those who sat with him, he said, “Look here! You are my mother and my siblings. ³⁵ For those who do what God wants are my brother, my sister, or my mother!”

Chapter 4

¹ Another time Jesus began to teach people alongside the sea of Galilee. As he was teaching, a very large crowd gathered around him. Because {the crowd was so big}, he got into a boat and pushed out onto the water. The crowd listened to his teaching from the shore of the sea. ² Then he taught them many parables. While he was teaching them, he told them this: ³ “Listen to this: A man went out to his field to plant some seeds. ⁴ As he was scattering them over the soil, some of the seeds fell on the path. Then some birds came and ate those seeds. ⁵ Other seeds fell on ground where there was little soil, and it was filled with rocks. Very soon the seeds appeared through the soil because the soil was not very deep. ⁶ Later that day, after the sun shone on those young plants, it scorched them. Then they withered because their roots were not deep enough in the ground. ⁷ As he sowed, other seeds fell on ground that contained roots of thorny plants. The seeds grew, but the thorny plants also grew up and crowded out the good plants. So the plants produced no grain. ⁸ But as he sowed, other seeds fell on good soil. As a result, they sprouted, grew large, and then they produced plenty of grain. Some plants bore thirty times as much as the seed that the man had planted. Some bore sixty times as much. Some bore one hundred times as much.” ⁹ Then Jesus said, “Whoever is willing to listen, listen to what I say.”

¹⁰ Later, when only the twelve disciples and other close followers were with him, they asked him about the parables. ¹¹ He said to them, “To you I have explained the message about how God reveals himself as king, but to the others I have spoken in parables.

     ¹² When they see what I am doing, they will not learn {why I do it}.

     When they hear what I say, they will not understand what it means.

     This is so that they would not repent,

     and God would not forgive them.”

¹³ Jesus also said to his disciples, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand when I teach you other parables? ¹⁴ In the parable that I told you, the man who sows seeds represents someone who teaches God’s message to others. ¹⁵ Some people are like the instance when the seeds fell along the path. When they hear God’s message, Satan comes at once and causes them to forget what they have heard. ¹⁶ Some people are like the seed which the farmer sows upon the rocky soil. As soon as they hear God’s message, they accept it with joy. ¹⁷ But, they did not have their own strong roots, but their roots were weak. Because of this, when people cause them to suffer because of the message of God, they quickly stop believing. ¹⁸ Some people are like the soil that has thorny weeds in it. Those people hear God’s message, ¹⁹ but only care about earthly things and becoming rich, and they forget God’s message. These things therefore choke the message which they received, and the person becomes fruitless. ²⁰ But some people are like the seed which was sowed on the good soil. They hear God’s message and they accept it and they believe it, and they do the things that God wants them to do. They are like the good plants that produced thirty, sixty, or one hundred grains.”

²¹ He told the disciples another parable: “People certainly do not light an oil lamp and then bring it in the house in order to put something over it to cover its light. Instead, they put it on a lampstand so that the light will shine. ²² Similarly, things that were hidden—one day everyone will know them, and the things that have happened in secret—one day everyone will see them in full light. ²³ “Whoever is willing to listen, listen to what I say.”

²⁴ “Consider carefully what you hear me say to you, for God will let you understand to the same degree that you consider what I say. He will let you understand even more than that. ²⁵ For if a person has some understanding, he will receive even more. But if a person does not have understanding, even what little he has, he will lose.”

²⁶ Jesus also said, “When God begins to show himself as king, it is like a man who has scattered seed on the ground. ²⁷ Afterwards he slept each night and rose up each day without worrying about the seeds. During that time the seeds sprouted and grew in a way that he did not understand. ²⁸ The ground produced the crop on its own. First the stalks appeared. Then the heads appeared. Then the full kernels in the heads appeared. ²⁹ As soon as the grain was ripe he sent people to harvest it because it was time to harvest the grain.”

³⁰ Jesus told them another parable. He said, “When God begins to show himself as king, what is it like? What parable can I use to describe it? ³¹ It is like mustard seeds, which are the smallest seeds that are planted in the ground, smaller than any other seed upon the earth. ³² After they are planted, they grow up and become larger than the other garden plants. They put out big branches so that birds are able to make nests in their shade.”

³³ Jesus used many parables when he talked to the people about God’s message. He told them as much as they were able to understand. ³⁴ He always used parables when he spoke to them. But he explained all the parables to his own apprentices when he was alone with them.

³⁵ On that same day, when the sun was setting, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.” ³⁶ Jesus was already in the boat, so they left the crowd of people and sailed away. Other people also went along with them in their boats. ³⁷ A strong wind came up and the waves started coming into the boat! The boat was in danger of being filled with water ³⁸ Jesus was in the back part of the boat. He was sleeping with his head on a cushion. So the disciples woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Are you not concerned that we are about to die?” ³⁹ So Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and he spoke to the lake, “Be quiet! Be still!” The wind stopped blowing and then the Sea of Galilee became very calm. ⁴⁰ He said to the disciples, “Why are you afraid? Do you not yet believe that I can protect you?” ⁴¹ They were terrified. They said to one another, “Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Chapter 5

¹ Jesus and his disciples arrived on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. People called the Gerasenes lived near the place where they landed. ² When Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man came out from the tombs in a cemetery. Evil spirits controlled the man. ³ The man was coming out of the cemetery because he lived among the tombs. The people at times tried to restrain him. They could not restrain him, not even with {metal} chains. ⁴ Whenever they used chains and shackles, the man would break them apart. He was so strong that no one was able to control him. ⁵ Day and night the man would spend his time among the places in the cemetery where people were buried. In the hill-country he would scream out loud and cut himself with sharp stones. ⁶ When he saw Jesus in the distance getting out of the boat, he ran over to him and knelt before him. ^7-8 The demon cried out in a loud voice, “Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! Swear by the name of God that you will not torture me! The demon said this because Jesus was saying to him, “Go out from that man, unclean spirit!” ⁹ Jesus asked the unclean spirit, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion because there are many of us evil spirits in this man.” ¹⁰ Then the evil spirits kept asking Jesus fervently that he not send them out of the region. ¹¹ At the same time, a large herd of pigs was grazing nearby on the hillside. ¹² So the evil spirits pleaded with Jesus saying, “Allow us to go to the pigs in order that we might enter them!” ¹³ Jesus permitted them to do that. So the evil spirits left the man and entered the pigs. The herd, which numbered about two thousand, rushed down the steep hill into the Sea of Galilee, where they drowned.

¹⁴ The men who were tending the pigs ran and reported in the town and the countryside what had happened. Many people {from those places} went to see for themselves what had happened. ¹⁵ All of the people came to the place where Jesus was. Then they saw the man whom evil spirits had previously controlled. He was sitting there with clothes on and no longer acting like evil spirits controlled him. They were afraid when they saw all this. ¹⁶ The people who had seen what Jesus did told those who had come from the town and from the countryside. They told the people about what had happened to the man whom the evil spirits previously controlled. They also described what had happened to the pigs. ¹⁷ Then the people pleaded with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ As Jesus got in the boat to leave, the man whom the evil spirits previously controlled begged Jesus, “Please let me go with you!” ¹⁹ But Jesus did not let the man go with him. Instead, he said to him, “Go home to your family and tell them everything the Lord has done for you, and tell them how he has been so kind to you.” ²⁰ So the man went and traveled around the Ten Towns in that region. He told people everything Jesus had done for him. All the people who heard what the man said were amazed.

²¹ After Jesus crossed again in a boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. ²² One of the men who was in charge of a Jewish meeting place, whose name was Jairus, came there. When he saw Jesus, he knelt at his feet. ²³ Then he pleaded with Jesus earnestly, “My daughter is sick and nearly dead! Please come to my house and place your hands on her. Heal her and keep her alive!” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed him and many pushed in close to him. ²⁵ There was a woman in the crowd who had a bleeding disorder. She had been bleeding every day for twelve years. ²⁶ She suffered many times by the hand of many doctors. At the same time, she had spent all of her money, and did not get better, but instead got worse. ^27-28 When she heard that Jesus healed people, she joined the crowd which was following him, and touched his garment. For she was thinking, “If I only touch his clothes, it will heal me.” So she touched Jesus’ clothes. ²⁹ At once her bleeding stopped. At the same time, she felt within her body that Jesus cured her of her illness. ³⁰ As soon as she touched Jesus, he sensed within himself that his power had healed someone. So he turned around in the crowd and then he asked, “Who touched my clothes?” ³¹ His disciples replied, “You can see that many people are pushing close to you! Probably many people have touched you! So why do you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” ³² But Jesus kept looking around in order to see the one who had touched him. ³³ The woman was very afraid and trembling because she knew that when she touched Jesus, he healed her. She knelt before him and told him what she had done. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, because you have believed that I could heal you, I have now healed you. Be at peace, knowing that I permanently healed you from your illness.”

³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking to that woman, some people arrived who had come from Jairus’ house. They said to Jairus, “Your daughter has now died. So there is no need to bother the teacher any longer in bringing him to your house.” ³⁶ But when Jesus heard what these men said, he said to Jairus, “Do not be afraid that your daughter is dead! Just believe that she will live!” ³⁷ Then he allowed only his three closest disciples, Peter, James, and John, to go with him to the house. He did not allow any other people to go with him. ³⁸ After they arrived near Jairus’ house, Jesus saw that the people there were in turmoil. They were weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ He entered the house and then he said to the people there, “Why are you so upset and crying? The child is not dead, but only sleeping.” ⁴⁰ The people laughed at him, because they knew that she was dead. He sent all the other people outside the house. Then he took the child’s father and mother and the three disciples who were with him and they went into the room where the child was lying. ⁴¹ He took hold of the child’s hand and said to her in her own language, “Talitha koum!” That means, “Little girl, get up!” ⁴² At once the girl got up and walked around. (It was not surprising that she could walk, because she was twelve years old.) When this happened, all who were present were greatly amazed. ⁴³ Jesus ordered them strictly, saying, “Do not tell anyone about what I have done!” Then he told them to give the girl something to eat.

Chapter 6

¹ Jesus and his disciples left the city of Capernaum and went to the the town of his birth, Nazareth. ² On the Jewish day of rest, Jesus entered the Jewish meeting place and taught the people. Many who were listening to him were amazed. They wondered where he gained all his wisdom and the power to perform miracles. ³ They said, “He is just an ordinary carpenter! We know him and his family! We know Mary his mother! We know his younger brothers James, Joses, Judas and Simon! And his younger sisters also live here with us!” So they were troubled by his teachings. ⁴ Jesus said to the people, “It is certainly true people honor prophets in other places, but not in their hometowns! Even their relatives and the people who live in their own houses do not honor them!”

⁵ So, although he healed a few sick people there by placing his hands on them, he was not able to perform any other miracle. ⁶ He was amazed that so few of the people believed in him. Jesus and his disciples continued going through their villages and teaching them.

⁷ One day, Jesus summoned the twelve disciples together. He then told them that he was going to send them out two by two to teach people in various towns. He also gave them power to force evil spirits out of the people who they controlled. ^8-9 He also instructed them to only wear sandals and to take along a walking stick when they were traveling. He told them not to take food, nor a bag in which to put supplies, nor any money for their journey. He also did not allow them to take an extra tunic. ¹⁰ He also instructed the twelve disciples, “If someone invites you to stay in his house, live in their house until you leave that town. ¹¹ Wherever the people do not welcome you and wherever the people do not listen to you, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that place. By doing this, you will testify that they {did not welcome you or your message}.” ¹² So after the disciples went out to various towns, they were preaching in order that people might repent {of their sins}. ¹³ They were also forcing many evil spirits out from people, and they were anointing many sick people with olive oil and healing them.

¹⁴ Now King Herod Antipas heard about what Jesus was doing, because many people were talking about him. Some people were saying about Jesus, “He must be John the Baptizer! He has risen from the dead! That is why he has the power to perform these miracles!” ¹⁵ Others were saying about Jesus, “He is the ancient prophet Elijah, whom God promised to send back again.” Others were saying about Jesus, “No, he is a different prophet, like one of the other prophets who lived long ago.” ¹⁶ After hearing what the people were saying, King Herod Antipas himself said, “The man performing those miracles must be John the Baptizer! I commanded my soldiers to cut off his head, but he is alive again!” ¹⁷ For previously, King Herod had arrested John and thrown him in prison. He did this because Herod married his brother Philip's wife, Herodias. ¹⁸ Herod put John in prison because he was saying to Herod, “God's law does not allow you to marry the wife of your brother.” ¹⁹ Herodias was angry at John because he was saying this, so she desired to kill him. She was not able to kill him because he was in prison. ²⁰ Herod respected John the Baptizer, for he knew that John was a righteous and holy man. Because of this, he kept him safe in prison from Herodias. Herod, after listening to him, would often become confused, but desired to keep listening to him. ²¹ A timely day came to have someone execute John when they honored King Herod on his birthday. Herod invited the most important government officials, the most important army leaders, and the most important people in the district of Galilee to eat and celebrate with him. ²² During the celebration, Herodias’ daughter came into the room and danced for the king and his guests. She pleased King Herod and his guests so much that he said to her, “Ask me for whatever you wish and I will give it to you!” ²³ He also promised to her, “Ask for whatever you would like! For I am willing to give to you as much as half of my kingdom.“ ²⁴ After this, the daughter went to Herodias and told her what Herod said. Then she asked her, “What should I ask for?” Her mother replied, “Ask the king to give you the head of John the Baptizer!” ²⁵ The girl quickly reentered the room and went to the king. Then, she made her request, saying, “I want you to command someone to cut off the head of John the Baptizer and bring it to me at once on a platter!” ²⁶ The king became very distressed when he heard what she asked for. But he could not refuse what she requested because he had promised that he would give her anything she asked for, and his guests had heard him make this promise. ²⁷ So King Herod at once ordered someone to go and cut off John’s head and bring it to the girl. Then, that man went to the prison and cut off John’s head. ²⁸ He put the head on a platter and gave it to the girl {as she requested}. The girl took it to her mother, Herodias. ²⁹ After John’s disciples heard what happened to John, they went to the prison and took John’s body and buried it in a tomb.

³⁰ Those whom Jesus chose to represent him returned to Jesus from the places where he had sent them. They reported to him what they had done and what they had taught to people. ³¹ He said to them, “Come with me to a place where there are no people, in order that we can be alone and rest a little while!” {He said this} because many people were coming to them and going away again, with the result that Jesus and his disciples did not even have time to eat. ³² So they went away by themselves in a boat to a place where no people were living. ³³ Many people saw them leaving to go rest. Because they could see where they were going, many people from the cities ran ahead of them and got there first. ³⁴ As Jesus and his disciples got out of the boat, Jesus saw this great crowd. He felt compassion for them because they needed guidance, like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them many things.

³⁵ Late in the afternoon the disciples came to him and said, “This is a place where no one lives, and it is very late in the day. ³⁶ So send the people away in order that they may go to the surrounding towns in order that they can buy for food themselves!” ³⁷ But Jesus replied to them, “No, you yourselves give them something to eat!” They replied to him, “How will we go out and spend 200 denarii on bread to give to them to eat? {We do not have enough money to do this!} ³⁸ But Jesus replied to the disciples, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and find out!” They went {to where they carried their food} and found out and then they told him, “We have only five flat loaves and two cooked fish!” ³⁹ Jesus instructed the disciples to tell all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So the people sat in groups. There were fifty people in some groups and one hundred people in other groups. ⁴¹ Jesus took the five flat loaves and the two fish {from the disciples}. He looked up toward heaven and thanked God for them. Then he broke the loaves and fish into pieces and was handing them out to his disciples in order that they would distribute them to the people. Jesus also divided up the two fish among all of the people there. ⁴² Everyone ate the bread and fish until they all had enough to eat! ⁴³ After everyone was done eating, the disciples {walked around and} collected twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and of the fish that were left over. ⁴⁴ There were about five thousand men who ate the bread and fish. They did not even count the women and children.

⁴⁵ Right away Jesus told his disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the town across the Sea of Galilee called Bethsaida. Meanwhile, he stayed and told the crowd to return to their homes. ⁴⁶ After the people had left, Jesus went up into the hills in order to pray. ⁴⁷ When it was evening, the boat which the disciples were on was in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was by himself on the land. ⁴⁸ Jesus saw that the disciples were struggling to row against an opposing wind. It was early in the morning, and Jesus came to them, walking upon the sea. He was desiring to pass by them. ⁴⁹ The disciples saw him walking on the water, but they thought that he was a ghost. {This terrified them, so} they cried out in fear. ⁵⁰ For they all saw Jesus walking on the water, and this terrified them. But right away, Jesus spoke with them, saying “Be calm! Do not be afraid, for it is me! ⁵¹ He got into the boat and sat down with them, and the strong wind stopped blowing. The disciples in the boat were completely amazed about what he had done. ⁵² Although they had seen Jesus multiply the bread and the fish, they did not understand why he did it. This is because God did not allow them to understand.

⁵³ After they crossed the sea of Galilee in their boat, they came to shore at the town of Gennesaret. Then they tied up the boat there. ⁵⁴ As soon as they got out of the boat, the people there recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵ So the people ran throughout the whole region in order to tell others that Jesus was there. Then the people placed those who were sick on sleeping pads and carried them to wherever they heard that Jesus was. ⁵⁶ In whatever village, town or place in the countryside where he went, they would bring to the marketplaces those who were sick. Then the sick people would beg Jesus to let them touch even the edge of his clothes in order that Jesus might heal them. All those who touched his robe were healed.

Chapter 7

¹ One day, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. ² They saw that some of his disciples were frequently eating without washing their hands first. ³ {They noticed this} because the Pharisees and all of the other Jews would not eat unless they washed their hands. They learned this ritual from their elders.

⁴ Likewise, they will not eat food from the marketplace until they are able to wash their hands. There are many other rituals which they hold to. They also washed their cups, pots, and copper utensils. ⁵ So, when they saw the disciples {eating without first washing their hands, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law questioned Jesus. They said, “Your disciples disobey the traditions of our elders! Why do they eat food if they have not washed their hands using our ritual?” ⁶ Jesus said to them, “Isaiah prophesied accurately against you people who only pretend to be good! He wrote these words that God said:

     ‘These people speak as if they honor me,

     but they really do not think about honoring me at all.

     ⁷ But their worship to me has no purpose,

     because they teach rules that people have made

     as if I myself had made those rules.’

⁸ You no longer obey what God has commanded you, but you obey only what people have taught you.” ⁹ Jesus also said to them, “You have refused to do what God commanded just so that you can obey your own traditions! ¹⁰ For example, our ancestor Moses wrote God’s command, ‘Honor your father and your mother’. He also wrote, ‘Anyone who speaks in an evil way about their father or mother God will punish with death.’ ¹¹ But you teach people that it is all right if people give their things to God instead of giving their things to their father and mother {to take care of them}. ¹² As a result, you are not allowing people to take care of their father and mother as Moses commanded. ¹³ In this way you disregard what God commanded! You teach your own rules to others and tell them that they should obey them! And you do many other things like that.”

¹⁴ Then Jesus again summoned the crowd to come closer. Then he said to them, “All of you people listen to me! Try to understand what I am about to tell you. ¹⁵ Nothing that people eat causes God to consider them to be defiled. On the contrary, it is that which comes from people’s hearts that causes God to consider them to be defiled.” ^16[1] [“Whoever is willing to listen, listen to what I say.”.]

¹⁷ After they had entered the house away from the crowd, the disciples were asking him about the parable he had just told. ¹⁸ He replied to them, “Did you also not understand what it meant? You ought to understand that food that people eat does not cause God to consider them to be defiled. ¹⁹ Instead of entering and corrupting us before God, food goes into our stomachs, and afterwards, it passes out of our bodies.” By saying this, Jesus was declaring that people can eat any food without causing God to consider them unacceptable to him. ²⁰ Jesus also said, “It is the thoughts and actions that come from within people that cause God to consider them unacceptable to him. ²¹ Specifically, it is people’s desires that causes them to do things that are evil. They act immorally, they steal things, they commit murder, ²² They commit adultery, they are greedy, they act maliciously, they deceive people. They also act indecently, they envy people, they speak evil about others, they are proud, and they act foolishly. ²³ People think these thoughts and then they do these evil actions, and that is what causes God to consider them unacceptable to him.”

²⁴ Jesus and his disciples arose and left Galilee. They went to the region around the cities of Tyre and Sidon. While he stayed at a house, he did not want anyone to know {he was in the area}, but people soon found out that he was there. ²⁵ A certain woman, whose daughter an evil spirit controlled, heard about Jesus. At once she came to him and knelt at his feet. ²⁶ This woman was Greek, and had been born in the area around the region of Phoenicia, in the district of Syria. She pled with Jesus that he might force the evil spirit out from her daughter. ²⁷ He said to the woman, “First let the children eat all they want, because it is not good for someone to take the food the mother has prepared for the children and then throw it to the little dogs.” ²⁸ She replied to him, “Lord, what you say is correct, but even the house dogs, who lie under the table, eat the crumbs that the children drop.” ²⁹ Jesus said to her, “Because of what you have said, go home. I have caused the evil spirit to leave your daughter.” ³⁰ The woman returned to her house and saw that her child was lying quietly on the bed and that the evil spirit had left her.

³¹ Jesus and his disciples left the region around Tyre and went through Sidon. Then they traveled to the part of the Sea of Galilee which is in the region of the Ten Towns. ³² There, people brought to him a man who was deaf and could not talk. They begged Jesus to lay his hands on him {in order to heal him}. ³³ So Jesus took him away from the crowd in order that the two of them could be alone. Then he put one of his fingers into each of the man’s ears. After he spat on his fingers, he touched the man’s tongue with his fingers. ³⁴ Then he looked up toward heaven, he sighed and then said in his own language, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up!” ³⁵ At once the man could hear plainly. He also began to speak clearly because what was causing him to be unable to speak was healed. ³⁶ Jesus told the people not to tell anyone what he had done. But, although he ordered them and others repeatedly not to tell anyone about it, they kept talking about it even more. ³⁷ People who heard about it were utterly amazed and were saying, “Everything he has done is wonderful! Besides doing other amazing things, he enables deaf people to hear! And he enables those who cannot speak to speak!”

Chapter 8

¹ Around the same time, another large crowd gathered around Jesus who had nothing to eat. {Having seen this,} Jesus called his disciples to himself and said, ² “I am very concerned for the people in this crowd. For they have been with me three days now without eating anything. ³ If I send them home while they are still hungry, some of them will grow weary on the way home. Some of them have come from far away.” ⁴ His disciples knew that he was suggesting that they give the people something to eat, so they replied, “No one could possibly find enough food for this crowd. No one sells food in this place! ⁵ Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?” They replied, “We have seven flat loaves.” ⁶ Jesus commanded the crowd, saying, “Sit down on the ground.” After they sat down, he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. ⁷ They also had a few small fish. So after Jesus thanked God for these, he told his disciples, “Distribute these also.” ⁸ The people ate this food, and there was enough for all of them. then, his disciples collected the pieces of food that were left over and filled seven large baskets. ⁹ There were about four thousand people who ate on that day. Then after they finished eating, Jesus dismissed the crowd. ¹⁰ Soon after that, he got into the boat along with his disciples. They went around the Sea of Galilee to the region of Dalmanutha.

¹¹ Then some Pharisees came to Jesus. They began arguing with him and insisting that he perform a miracle. They did this in order to test him and see if God had really sent him. ¹² Jesus sighed deeply within himself, and then he said, “Why are you asking me to perform a miracle? I will certainly not do a miracle for you!” ¹³ Then he left the Pharisees again. He got into the boat, along with his disciples, and they went further around the Sea of Galilee. ¹⁴ His apprentices had forgotten to bring more bread onto the boat for their journey, so they only had one loaf with them. ¹⁵ As they were going, Jesus warned them saying, “Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!” ¹⁶ The disciples were arguing amongst themselves about the fact that they did not have enough bread with them on the boat. ¹⁷ Jesus knew what they were discussing among themselves. So he said to them, “Why are you talking about not having enough bread? You should understand what I have said by now! You have become stubborn. ¹⁸ You have eyes, but you do not perceive what I have shown you! You have ears, but you do not understand what I say!” Then he said, “You do not remember what I have done! ¹⁹ when I broke only five loaves and fed the five thousand people? Not only was everyone satisfied, but there was food left over! How many baskets of pieces of bread that were left over did you collect?” They replied, “We collected twelve baskets full.” ²⁰ Then he asked, “When I broke the seven loaves in order to feed the four thousand people, again when everyone had plenty to eat, how many large baskets of pieces of bread that were left over did you collect?” They replied, “We collected seven large baskets full.” ²¹ Then he said to them, “You still do not understand what I am telling you!”

²² They arrived in the boat at the town of Bethsaida. People brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him touch the man in order to heal him. ²³ Jesus took the hand of the blind man and led him outside the town. Then he spat into the man’s eyes, put his hands on the man and then asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ The man looked up and then he said, “Yes, I see people! They are walking around, but I cannot see them clearly. They look like trees!” ²⁵ Then Jesus again touched the eyes of the blind man. The man looked intently, and at that moment he was completely healed! He could see everything clearly. ²⁶ Jesus said to him, “Do not go into the town!” Then he sent the man to his home.

²⁷ Jesus and his disciples left the town of Bethsaida and went to the villages near the town of Caesarea Philippi. On the way there he asked them, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ They replied, “Some people say that you are John the Baptizer, who has come back to life. Others say that you are the prophet Elijah. And others say that you are one of the other former prophets.” ²⁹ He asked them, “What about you? Who do you say that I am?” Peter replied to him, “We believe that you are the Messiah!” ³⁰ Then Jesus warned them strongly that they should not tell anyone yet that he was the Messiah.

³¹ Then Jesus began to teach them that he, the Son of Man, would certainly suffer very much. He would be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the men who teach the Jewish laws. He would even be killed. But on the third day after he died, he would become alive again. ³² He said this to them clearly. But Peter took Jesus aside and started to scold him for talking this way. ³³ Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples. Then he rebuked Peter, saying, “Stop thinking like that! Satan is causing you to talk like that! Instead of wanting what God wants me to do, you are wanting me to do only what people would want me to do.”

³⁴ Then he called the crowd together along with his disciples so that they might listen to him. He told them, “If any one of you wants to be my disciple, you must disregard what you desire. You must also be willing to suffer pain like criminals who are forced to carry crosses to the places where they will be crucified. That is what anyone who wants to be my apprentice must do. ³⁵ This is because those who try to save their lives by denying that they belong to me will suffer for an eternity. Those who are killed because they are my disciples and because they tell others the good news will live forever with me. ³⁶ For it benefits no one eternally to save their life now, and then for God to punish them eternally after they finally die. ³⁷ For there is nothing in this world which is worth the price which God puts on the life of a person. ³⁸ Those who refuse to say that they belong to me, and who reject what I say in these days when many people have turned away from God and are very sinful, I, the Son of Man, will also refuse to say that they belong to me when I come back with the holy angels and have the glory that my Father has!”

Chapter 9

¹ Jesus also said to the crowds and his disciples, “Listen carefully! Some of you who are here now will not die before you see God ruling powerfully!”

² Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and James’ brother John and led them up a high mountain. While they were alone up there, he appeared very different to them. ³ His clothes became dazzling white. They were whiter than anyone on earth could make them by bleaching them. ⁴ Two prophets, who had lived long ago, Moses and Elijah, appeared to them. Then the two of them began talking with Jesus. ⁵ After a short time, Peter said, “Teacher, it is wonderful to be here! So allow us to make three shelters. One will be for you, one will be for Moses, and one will be for Elijah!” ⁶ He said this because he wanted to say something, but he did not know what to say because he and the other two disciples were terrified. ⁷ Then a shining cloud appeared that covered them. God spoke to them from the cloud saying, “This is my Son. He is the one whom I love. Therefore, listen to him!” ⁸ When the three disciples looked around, they suddenly saw that only Jesus was with them, and that Elijah and Moses were no longer there.

⁹ While they were coming down the mountain, Jesus told them that they should not tell anyone yet what had just happened to him. He said, “You may tell them after I, the Son of Man, become alive again after I die.” ¹⁰ So they did not tell others about it for a long time. But they discussed among themselves what it meant when he said that he would rise from the dead.

¹¹ The three disciples asked Jesus, “The men who teach the Jewish laws say that Elijah must come back to the earth before the Messiah comes to earth, {but we have just seen Elijah,} so is what they are teaching wrong?” ^12-13 Jesus answered them, “It is true that God promised to send Elijah to come first to put everything as it should be. But Elijah has already come, and our leaders treated him very badly, just like they wanted to do, as prophets long ago had said they would. But there is much written in the scriptures about me, the Son of Man. The scriptures say that I will suffer much and that people will reject me.”

¹⁴ Then Jesus and those three disciples arrived where the other disciples were. They saw a large crowd around the other disciples and some men who taught the Jewish laws arguing with them. ¹⁵ The crowd was very surprised to see Jesus come. So they ran to him and greeted him. ¹⁶ Jesus asked them, “What are you arguing about?” ¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son here to you {in order that you would heal him}. There is an evil spirit in him that makes him unable to talk. ¹⁸ Whenever the spirit begins to control him, it throws him down. He foams at the mouth, he grinds his teeth together, and he becomes stiff. I asked your disciples to expel the spirit, but they were not able to do it.” ¹⁹ Jesus replied to them by saying, “You faithless people! I have become greatly wearied by your unbelief! Bring the boy to me.” ²⁰ So they brought the boy to Jesus. As soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus, it shook the boy severely, and the boy fell on the ground. He rolled around and foamed at the mouth. ²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” He replied, “This started to happen when he was a child. ²² The spirit does not only do this, but he also often throws him into the fire or into the water in order to kill him. Pity us and help us, if you can!” ²³ Jesus exclaimed to him, “Of course I can! God can do anything for people who believe that he is able to do it!” ²⁴ Immediately the child’s father shouted, “I believe that you can help me, but I do not believe strongly. Help me to believe more strongly!” ²⁵ Jesus saw that the crowd was growing. He rebuked the evil spirit: “You evil spirit, you who are causing this boy to be deaf and unable to talk! I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!” ²⁶ The evil spirit shouted and shook the boy violently, and then it left the boy. The boy did not move. He seemed like a dead body. So most of the people there said, “He has died!” ²⁷ However, Jesus took the boy by the hand and helped him get up. Then the boy stood up. ²⁸ Later, when Jesus and his disciples were alone in a house, they asked him, “Why were we not able to force the evil spirit out?” ²⁹ Jesus said to them, “You can force this type of evil spirit out only by abstaining from food and praying to God. There is no other way that you can expel them.”

³⁰ After Jesus and his disciples left that region, they traveled through the region of Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone else to know where he was. ³¹ Jesus wanted to have time to teach his disciples. He was telling them, “Some day my enemies will arrest me, the Son of Man, and I will be put into the hands of other men. Those men will kill me. But on the third day after I die, I will become alive again!” ³² The disciples did not understand what Jesus was telling them, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.

³³ Then Jesus and his disciples returned to the town of Capernaum. When they were in the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you talking about while we were traveling on the road?” ³⁴ But the disciples did not reply. They were ashamed to reply because, while they were traveling, they had been arguing with each other about which one of them was the most important. ³⁵ Jesus sat down, he called the twelve disciples to come close to him, and then he said to them, “If anyone wants God to consider him to be the most important person of all, he must consider himself to be the least important person of all, and he must serve everyone else.” ³⁶ Then Jesus took a child and placed him among them. He took the child in his arms and then he said to them, ³⁷ “Those who welcome a child like this one because they love me, God considers that they are welcoming me. Whoever welcomes me, it is as though they are also welcoming God who sent me to represent him.”

³⁸ John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone who was forcing evil spirits out of people. He claimed that he had authority from you to do that. So we told him to stop doing it because he was not one of us disciples.” ³⁹ Jesus said, “Do not tell him to stop doing that. For no person will say bad things about me soon after performing a mighty deed with my authority. ⁴⁰ Those who are not opposing us are trying to achieve the same goals that we are. ⁴¹ God will certainly reward those who help you in any way, even if they simply give you a cup of water to drink because you follow me, the Messiah!”

⁴² Jesus also said, “But if you cause someone who believes in me to sin{, God will severely punish you}. If someone tied a very heavy stone around your neck and threw you into the sea, it would be better for you than if God punished you for causing a person who believes in me to sin. ⁴³ So if you are wanting to use one of your hands to sin, do not use it! Even if you have to cut your hand off and throw it away to avoid sinning, do it! It is better that you live eternally, even though you lack one of your hands while you are here on earth. But it is not good that you sin and as a result God throws your whole body into hell. There the fires never go out! ^44[1] [where worms never stop feeding on them, and the fire that burns them never goes out.] ⁴⁵ If you are wanting to use one of your feet to sin, stop using your foot! Even if you have to cut off your foot to avoid sinning, do it! It is good that you {not sin and} live eternally, even though you lack one of your feet while you are here on earth. But it is not good {that you sin and as a result} God puts your whole body into hell. ^46[2] [where worms never stop feeding on them, and the fire that burns them never goes out.] ⁴⁷ If because of what you see you are tempted to sin, stop looking at those things! Even if you have to gouge out your eye and throw it away to avoid sinning, do it! It is better to have only one eye and for God to agree to rule over you, than him to throw you with two eyes into hell. ⁴⁸ In that place worms feed on the people there forever and the fires are never put out.”

⁴⁹ “For God will put fire on everyone, just like people put salt on their food. ⁵⁰ Salt is useful to put on food, but you cannot make it taste salty again if it becomes flavorless. We are to be like salt that adds flavor to food. And live in peace with one another.”

Chapter 10

¹ Jesus left that place with his disciples, and they went through the region of Judea and on across to the east side of the Jordan River. When crowds of people again gathered around him, he taught them again, as he regularly did. ² While Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees approached him and asked him, “Does our law permit a man to divorce his wife?” They asked that in order to be able to criticize him no matter whether he answered “yes” or “no.” ³ Jesus answered them, “What did Moses command your ancestors about a man divorcing his wife?” ⁴ One of them replied, “Moses permitted that a man may write out divorce papers so that he may send her away.” ⁵ Jesus said to them, “It was because your ancestors stubbornly wanted just what they desired that Moses wrote that law for your ancestors, and you are just like them. ⁶ Remember that Moses also wrote that, when God first created people, God made one man, and one woman to become that man's wife. ⁷ That explains why God said, ‘When a man and woman marry, they should no longer live with their fathers and mothers after they marry. ⁸ Instead, the two of them will live together, and they will become so closely united that they are like one person.’ Therefore, although the people who marry were two separate persons before, God regards them as one person now{, so he wants them to remain married}. ⁹ Because that is true, a man must not divorce his wife. God has joined them together and he wishes them to stay together!”

¹⁰ When Jesus and his disciples were alone in a house, they asked him again about this. ¹¹ Jesus said to them, “God considers that any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman is committing adultery. ¹² God also considers a woman who divorces her husband and marries another man to be committing adultery.”

¹³ Now people were bringing children to Jesus so that he would lay his hands on them and bless them. But his disciples scolded those people. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw that, he became angry. He said to his disciples, “Allow the children to come to me! Do not forbid them! It is people who are humble and trust God as they do who can experience God ruling in their lives. ¹⁵ Note this: Those who do not welcome God as their king in the same manner as children would, God will certainly not agree to rule over them.” ¹⁶ Then Jesus held the children in his arms. He also put his hands on them and called on God to do good to them.

¹⁷ As Jesus was starting to travel again with his disciples, a man ran up to him. He knelt before Jesus and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do so that I can live with God eternally?” ¹⁸ Jesus said to him, “You do not realize what you are saying by calling me good! Only God is good! ¹⁹ {But to answer your question,} you know the commandments of Moses: ‘Do not murder anyone, do not commit adultery, do not steal from anyone, do not lie about others, do not cheat anyone, and be respectful towards your father and mother’.” ²⁰ The man said to him, “Teacher, I have obeyed all those commandments ever since I was young.” ²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. He said to him, “There is one thing that you have not yet done. You must go home, sell all that you possess, and then give the money to poor people. As a result, you will be spiritually rich in heaven. After you have done what I have told you, come with me and be my disciple!” ²² The man became disappointed when he heard Jesus’ instructions. He went away sad, because he was very rich. ²³ Jesus looked around at the people. Then he exclaimed to his disciples, “It is very difficult for people who are wealthy to decide to let God rule over them.” ²⁴ The disciples were surprised by what Jesus said. {They thought that God favored the rich people, so if God did not save them, he would not save anyone.} Jesus said again, “You dear believers who are under my care, it is very difficult for anyone to decide to let God rule his life. ²⁵ It is impossible for a very large animal like a camel to go through the eye of a needle. It is almost as difficult for rich people to decide to let God rule their lives.” ²⁶ The disciples were very amazed. So they said to Jesus, “If that is so then how can anyone be saved!” ²⁷ Jesus looked at them and then he said, “Yes, it is impossible for people to save themselves! But God certainly can save them, because God can do anything!” ²⁸ Peter said, “Look, we have left behind everything and we have become your disciples.” ²⁹ Jesus replied, “I want you to know this: Those who have left their houses, their brothers, their sisters, their father, their mother, their children, or their plots of ground to be my disciples and to proclaim the good news, ³⁰ they will receive in this life a hundred times as much as they left behind. That will include houses and people as dear as brothers and sisters and mothers and children, and plots of ground. Also, people will persecute them {here on earth because they believe in me}, but in the future age they will live with God eternally. ³¹ But I want you all to know: Many people who right now are considered by others to be very important will be considered unimportant by God at that future time, and many people who right now are considered by others to be unimportant will be considered very important by God at that future time!”

³² Some days later as they continued to travel, Jesus and his disciples were walking on the road that leads up to the city of Jerusalem. Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were astonished and the other people who were with them were afraid. Along the way Jesus took the twelve disciples to a place by themselves again. Then he began to tell them about what was going to happen to him; ³³ he said, “Listen carefully! We are going up to Jerusalem. There the chief priests and the teachers of the Jewish laws will arrest me, the Son of Man. They will declare that I must die. Then they will take me to the Roman authorities. ³⁴ Their men will ridicule me and spit on me. They will scourge me, and then they will kill me. But on the third day after that, I will become alive again!”

³⁵ Along the way, James and John, who were the two sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us what we will ask you to do!” ³⁶ Jesus said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³⁷ They said to him, “When you rule gloriously, let one of us sit at your right side and one sit at your left side.” ³⁸ But Jesus said to them, “You do not understand what you are asking for.” {Then he asked them,} “Can you endure suffering like I am about to suffer? Can you endure people killing you as they will kill me?” ³⁹ They said to him, “Yes, we are able to do that!” Then Jesus said to them, “It is true that you will endure suffering like I will suffer, and you will endure people killing you as they will kill me. ⁴⁰ But I am not the one who chooses who will sit next to me. God will give those places to the ones whom he chooses in advance.”

⁴¹ The other ten disciples later heard about what James and John had requested. {As a result,} they were angry with them {because they also wanted to rule with Jesus in the highest positions}. ⁴² Then, after Jesus called them all together, he said to them, “You know that those who rule the non-Jews enjoy showing that they are powerful. You also know that their officials enjoy commanding others. ⁴³ But do not be like them! On the contrary, all those of you who want God to consider them great must become like servants to the rest of you. ⁴⁴ Furthermore, if anyone of you wants God to consider him to be the most important, he must act like a slave for the rest of you. ⁴⁵ I, the Son of Man, even though I came from heaven, did not come to have people serve me. On the contrary, I came in order to serve others and to allow others to kill me, in order that my dying for people would be like a payment to rescue many people from God punishing them for their sins.”

⁴⁶ On the way to the city of Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples came to the city of Jericho. Then, while they were leaving Jericho along with a great crowd, a blind man who habitually begged for money was sitting beside the road. His name was Bartimaeus, and his father’s name was Timaeus. ⁴⁷ When he heard people say that Jesus from Nazareth was passing by, he shouted, “Jesus! you who are descended from King David, help me!” ⁴⁸ Many people scolded him and told him that he should be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, “You who are descended from King David, be merciful to me!” ⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him to come over here!” They called the blind man, saying, “Jesus is calling you! So cheer up and stand up and come!” ⁵⁰ He threw aside his cloak as he jumped up, and he came to Jesus. ⁵¹ Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Teacher, I want to be able to see again!” ⁵² Jesus said to him, “Because you have trusted in me, I have healed you! So you may go!” He could see immediately. And he went with Jesus along the road.

Chapter 11

¹ When Jesus and his disciples came close to Jerusalem, they came to the villages of Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead of them. ² Jesus said to them, “Go to that village just ahead of us. As soon as you enter it, you will see a young donkey that no one has ever ridden, that people have tied up . Untie it, and bring it to me. ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing that?’ say, ‘Jesus needs it. He will send it back here with someone as soon as he no longer needs it.’” ⁴ So the two disciples went and they found the donkey. It was tied close to the door of a house, and was standing in the street. Then they untied it. ⁵ Some of the people who were there said to Jesus' two disciples, “Why are you untying the donkey?” ⁶ They told them what Jesus had instructed them to say. So the people permitted them to take the donkey. ⁷ The two disciples took the donkey to Jesus and put their robes on it {to make something for him to sit on}. Jesus then sat on the donkey. ⁸ Many people spread their robes on the road in front of him. Others cut branches from palm trees in nearby fields and spread them along the road. ⁹ The people who were going in front of him and behind him were all shouting, “Praise God!” {and} “May God bless this one who comes as his representative.” ¹⁰ {They also shouted,} May God bless you when you rule like our ancestor King David ruled!” “Praise God who is in the highest heaven!”

¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem with them, and then he went into the temple courtyard. After he looked around at everything there, he left the city because it was already late in the afternoon. He returned to the village of Bethany with the twelve disciples.

¹² The next day, as Jesus and his disciples were leaving Bethany, he felt hungry. ¹³ He saw in the distance a fig tree with all its leaves, so he went to it to see if he could find any figs on it. But when he came to it, he found no fruit on it, only leaves. This was because it was not yet the time when normal fig trees have ripe figs. ¹⁴ He said to the tree, “No one will ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard this.

¹⁵ Jesus and his disciples went back into Jerusalem and entered the temple courtyard. He saw people who were selling and buying animals for sacrifices. He chased those people from the temple courtyard. He also overturned the tables of those who were selling temple tax money in exchange for Roman coins. And he overturned the seats of the men who were selling pigeons for sacrifice. ¹⁶ He would not allow anyone who was carrying anything to sell to go through the temple area. ¹⁷ Then as he taught those people, he said to them, “One of the prophets wrote in the scriptures that God said, ‘I want people to call my house a house where people from all nations may pray,’ but you robbers have made it like a cave where robbers hide.” ¹⁸ The chief priests and the men who taught the Jewish laws later heard about what Jesus had done. They were planning how they might kill him, but they feared him because they realized that the whole crowd was amazed at what he was teaching. ¹⁹ That evening, Jesus and his disciples left the city {and again slept in Bethany}.

²⁰ The next morning while they were going along the road toward Jerusalem, they saw that the fig tree that Jesus had cursed had withered completely. ²¹ Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the fig tree and he said to Jesus, “Teacher, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered!” ²² Jesus replied, “You should not be surprised that God did what I asked! You must trust that God will do whatever you ask him to do! ²³ Also note this: If anyone says to this mountain, ‘Rise up and then throw yourself into the sea!’ and if he does not doubt that what he asks for will happen, that is, if he believes that it will happen, God will do it for him. ²⁴ So I tell you, whenever you ask God for something when you pray, believe that you will receive it, and, if you do, God will do it for you. ²⁵ Now, I tell you this also: Whenever you are praying, if you have a grudge against any person because they have sinned against you, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven will likewise forgive you for your sins.” ^26[1] [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins.]

²⁷ Jesus and his disciples arrived in the temple courtyard in Jerusalem again. While Jesus was walking there, a group consisting of chief priests, some men who taught the Jewish laws, and elders came to him. ²⁸ They said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who authorized you to do things like those you did here yesterday?” ²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. If you answer me, then I will tell you who authorized me to do those things. ³⁰ Was it God who authorized John to baptize those who came to him? Or was it people who authorized him?” ³¹ They debated among themselves as to what they should answer. They said to each other, “If we say that it was God who authorized him, he will say to us, ‘Then you should have believed what John said!’ ³² On the other hand, if we say that it was people who authorized John, then what will happen to us?” They were afraid to say that about where John got his authority, because they knew that the people would be very angry with them. They knew that all the people truly believed that John was a prophet whom God had sent. ³³ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know who authorized John to baptize people.” Then Jesus said to them, “Because you did not answer my question, I will not tell you who authorized me to do those things here yesterday.”

Chapter 12

¹ Then Jesus began to tell the Jewish leaders a parable. He said, “A certain man planted a vineyard. He built a fence around it in order to protect it. He made a stone tank to collect the grape juice that they would press out of the grapes. He also built a tower for someone to sit in to guard his vineyard. Then he rented the vineyard to some people who would take care of it. Then he went away to another country. ² When the time came to harvest the grapes, the owner of the vineyard sent a servant to the people who were taking care of his vineyard because he wanted to receive from them his share of the grapes that the vineyard had produced. ³ But when the servant arrived, they grabbed him and beat the servant, and they did not give him any fruit. Then they sent him away. ⁴ Later the owner sent another servant to them. But they beat that one on the head and they insulted him. ⁵ Later the owner sent still another servant. That man the people who were caring for the vineyard killed. They also mistreated many other servants whom he sent. Some they beat and some they killed. ⁶ The owner still had one other person with him, his son, whom he loved very much. So, finally he sent his son to them because he thought that they would respect him. ⁷ But when the people who were caring for the vineyard saw his son coming, they said to each other, ‘Look! Here comes the owner’s son, who will some day inherit the vineyard! So let us kill him in order that this vineyard will be ours!’ ⁸ They seized the owner’s son and killed him. Then they threw his body outside the vineyard. ⁹ So I will tell you what the owner of the vineyard will do? He will come, and he will kill those evil men who were taking care of his vineyard. Then he will arrange for other people to take care of it. ¹⁰ Now think carefully about these words, which you have read in the scriptures:

“The men who were building the building refused to use a certain stone. But the Lord has put that same stone in its proper place, and it has become the most important stone in the building! ¹¹ The Lord has done this, and we marvel as we look at it.”

¹² Then the Jewish leaders realized that Jesus was accusing them when he told this story about what those wicked people did. So they wanted to arrest him. But they were afraid of what the crowds of people would do if they did that. So they left him and went away.

¹³ The Jewish leaders sent to Jesus some Pharisees {who thought that the Jews should pay only the tax that their own Jewish authorities required people to pay}. They also sent some members of the party that supported Herod Antipas and the Roman government. They wanted to trick Jesus; they wanted to make Jesus say something that would make one of those groups angry with him so they could bring charges against him. ¹⁴ After they arrived, one of them said to Jesus, “Teacher, we know that you teach only what is true. We also know that you are not concerned about people's opinion. Instead, you teach all people truthfully what God wants them to do without paying attention to whether or not they are an important or powerful person. {So tell us what you think about this matter:} Is it right that we pay taxes to the Roman government, or not? Should we pay the taxes, or should we not pay them?” ¹⁵ Jesus knew that they did not really want to know what God wanted them to do. So he said to them, “I know that you are just trying to make me say something wrong for which you can accuse me. {But I will answer your question anyway.} Bring me a coin so that I might look at it.” ¹⁶ After they had brought him a coin, he asked them, “Whose picture is on this coin? And whose name is on it?” They replied, “It is a picture and the name of Caesar{, the man who rules the Roman government}.” ¹⁷ Jesus said to them, “{That is correct, so} give to the government what belongs to the government, and give to God what belongs to him.” They were amazed by what he said.

¹⁸ Men who belong to the Sadducee group deny that people become alive again after they die. {In order to discredit Jesus by ridiculing the idea that people will live again, some of them} came to him and asked him, ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses instructed us Jews that if a man who has no children dies, his brother should marry the dead man's widow. Then if those two bear children, everyone will consider that those children are the children of the man who died, and in that way the dead man will continue to have descendants. ²⁰ So here is an example. There were seven brothers in one family. The oldest one married a woman, but he and his wife did not bear any children. Then he later died. ²¹ The second brother {followed this law and} married that woman and he, too, did not bear any children. Then he later died. The third brother did like his other brothers did. But he also did not bear any children, and later died. ²² Eventually all seven brothers married that woman one by one, but no one had any children, and one by one they died. Afterwards the woman died, too. ²³ {Therefore, if it were true what some people say, that people will become alive again after they die,} whose wife do you think that woman will be when people become alive again? Keep in mind that she had been married to all seven brothers!” ²⁴ Jesus replied to them, “You are certainly wrong. You do not know what the scriptures teach about this. You also do not understand God’s power to make people alive again. ²⁵ {That woman will not be the wife of any of those brothers,} because when people become alive again, instead of men having wives and women having husbands, they will be like the angels in heaven. {Angels do not marry.} ²⁶ But let me talk about people becoming alive again after they die. In the book that Moses wrote, he said something about people who have died that I am sure that you have read. When Moses was looking at the bush that was burning, God said to him, ‘I am the God whom Abraham worships and the God whom Isaac worships and the God whom Jacob worships.’ {God would not have said that if he had not made those men alive again and he were not still their God.} ²⁷ Now it is not dead people who worship God. It is living people who worship him. So when you say that dead people do not become alive again, you are very wrong.”

²⁸ A man who taught the Jewish laws heard their discussion. He knew that Jesus had answered the Sadducees’ question very well. So he stepped forward and asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the most important?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, you people of Israel! The Lord our God, he only is our God. ³⁰ You must love the Lord your God in all that you want and feel, in all that you think, and in all that you do!’ ³¹ The next most important commandment is: ‘You must love the people around you as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these two!” ³² The man said to Jesus, “Teacher, you have answered well. You say truthfully that God is the only God and that there is no other God. ³³ You have also said correctly that we should love God in all that we want and feel, in all that we think, and in all that we do. And you have said correctly that we must love people with whom we come in contact as much as we love ourselves. And you have also correctly said that doing these things pleases God more than burning food or animals as an offering or giving other sacrifices.” ³⁴ Jesus realized that this man had answered wisely. So he said to him, “{I perceive that} you are close to deciding to let God rule over you.” After that, the Jewish leaders were afraid to ask him any more questions like that to try to trap him.

³⁵ Later, while Jesus was teaching in the temple area, he said to the people, “How is it that those who teach the Jewish laws say—and they are correct in saying—that the Messiah is a descendant of King David? ³⁶ The Holy Spirit caused David to say about the Messiah, ‘God said to my Lord, “Sit here beside me at my right hand, in the place where I will highly honor you above everyone else! Sit here until the time when I completely defeat your enemies!”’ ³⁷ Therefore, because David himself calls the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be just a man who descended from King David? He must be much greater than David!” Many people listened gladly to him as he taught those things.

³⁸ While Jesus was teaching the people, he said to them, “Beware that you do not act like the men who teach our Jewish laws. They like people to honor them, so they put on long robes and walk around in order to show people how important they are. They also like people to greet them respectfully in the marketplaces. ³⁹ They like to sit in the most important seats in the Jewish meeting place. At festivals, they like to sit in the seats where the most honored people sit. ⁴⁰ They {also} steal all the property of widows. But to make other people think that they are righteous, they pray for a long time {in public}. God will certainly punish them severely!”

⁴¹ Later, Jesus sat down in the temple area opposite the boxes in which people put offerings for God. As he was sitting there, he watched as many people put money into one of the boxes and noticed many rich people put in large amounts of money. ⁴² Then a poor widow came along and dropped in two small copper coins, which together are equal in value to one Roman quadrans. ^43-44 Jesus gathered his disciples around him and said to them, “The truth is that those other people have a lot of money, but they gave only a small part of it. But this woman, who is very poor, has put in all the money that she had to pay for the things she needed for today. So this poor widow has put more money into the box than all the others!”

Chapter 13

¹ While Jesus was leaving the temple area, one of his apprentices said to him, “Teacher, look at how marvelous these huge cut blocks of stone in the walls are and how wonderful these buildings are!” ² Jesus said to him, “Yes, these buildings that you are looking at are wonderful, but I want to tell you something about them. They will be destroyed completely. No block of stone here in this temple area will remain on top of another block.”

³ After they arrived at the Mount of Olives across the valley from the temple, Jesus sat down. When Peter, James, John, and Andrew were alone with him, they asked him, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things that God has planned happen? What will happen to show us these things are about to take place?” ⁵ Jesus replied to them, “Beware that no one deceive you concerning what will happen! ⁶ Many people will come and say that I sent them. They will say, ‘I am the Messiah!’ They will deceive many people. ⁷ When you hear the sound of soldiers fighting battles, or when you hear news about wars that are far away, do not be troubled. These things will definitely happen. But when they do happen, do not think that God will finish all that he has planned at that time! ⁸ Groups who live in various countries will fight each other, and various kings and leaders will fight each other. There will also be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines. Yet, when these things happen, people will have only just begun to suffer. These first things that they suffer will be like the first pains a woman suffers who is about to bear a child. They will suffer much more after that.

⁹ Be ready for what people will do to you at that time. They will arrest you and put you on trial before groups of leaders. People will beat you in various synagogues. They will put you on trial in the presence of high government authorities. As a result, you will be able to tell them about me. ¹⁰ My followers must proclaim the good news to people in all nations before God finishes everything that he has planned. ¹¹ When people arrest you, do not worry about what you will say. Instead, say what God puts into your mind at that time. Then it will not be just you who will be speaking. It will be the Holy Spirit who will be speaking through you. ¹² Some brothers and sisters will betray other brothers and sisters. Some fathers will betray their children. Some children will betray their parents so that government officials will kill their parents. ¹³ Most people will hate you because you believe in me. But all you who continue to trust in me until your life is finished will be saved.

¹⁴ During that time the detestable thing will enter the temple. It will defile the temple and cause people to abandon it. When you see it where it should not be, you should run away quickly! (May everyone who is reading this pay attention to this warning!) At that time those people who are in the district of Judea should flee to higher hills. ¹⁵ Those people who are outside their houses should not enter their houses in order to get anything. ¹⁶ Those who are working in a field should not return to their houses in order to get additional clothes. ¹⁷ I feel very sorry for women who will be pregnant and women who will be nursing their babies in those days, because it will be very difficult for them to run away! ^18-19 In those days people will suffer very severely. People have never suffered like that since the time when God first created the world until now; and people will not suffer that way again. So pray that this painful time will not happen in winter, when it will be hard to travel. ²⁰ If the Lord God had not decided that he would shorten that time when people suffer so much, everyone would die. But he has decided to shorten that time because he is concerned about the people whom he has chosen. ^21-22 At that time people will falsely say that they are the Messiah. And some will appear claiming to be prophets from God. Then they will perform many kinds of miracles. They will even try to deceive the people whom God has chosen. So at that time if someone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’, or if someone says, ‘Look, there he is!’, do not believe it! ²³ Be alert! Remember that I have warned you about all this before it happens!

²⁴ After the time when people suffer like that, God will cause the sun to become dark, and the moon will not shine; ²⁵ God will cause the stars to fall from the sky, and all the things in the sky to shake out of their place. ²⁶ Then people will see me, the Son of Man, coming through the clouds powerfully and gloriously. ²⁷ Then I will send out my angels so they can gather together the people whom God has chosen from everywhere, from the most remote places on earth.

²⁸ Now I want you to learn something from how fig trees grow. When their branches become tender and their leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near for us. ²⁹ Similarly, when you see what I have just described happening, you yourselves will know that it is very near the time for me to return. It will be as though I am already at the door. ³⁰ Keep this in mind: this generation will not die until these things take place. ³¹ You can be certain that these things that I have prophesied will happen. The earth and what is in the sky will one day be destroyed, but these things that I have told you will certainly happen. ³² But no one knows the exact time when I will return. The angels in heaven also do not know. Even I, God’s Son, do not know. Only my Father knows. ³³ So be ready! Always be alert, because you do not know when that time will come when God will cause all these events to happen! ³⁴ When a man who wants to travel to a distant place is about to leave his house, he tells his servants that they should manage the house. He tells each one what he should do. Then he tells the doorkeeper to be ready for his return. ³⁵ That man must always be ready, because he does not know whether his master will return in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or at dawn. Similarly, you also must always be ready, because you do not know when I will return. ³⁶ May it not happen that when I come suddenly, I will find that you are not ready! ³⁷ These words that I am saying to you apprentices I am saying to everyone: Always be ready!”

Chapter 14

¹ It was only two days before the people would begin to celebrate the week-long festival that they called the Passover. During those days they also celebrated the festival which they called Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the men who taught the Jewish laws were planning how they could arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death. ² But they were saying to one another, “We must not do it during the festival because if we do it then, the people will be very angry with us and riot!”

³ Jesus was at Bethany town in the house of Simon, whom Jesus had healed from leprosy. While they were eating, a woman came to him. She was carrying a stone jar that contained expensive, fragrant perfume called nard. She opened the jar and then poured all the perfume on Jesus’ head. ⁴ Some of the people who were present became angry and said to themselves, “It is terrible that she wasted that perfume! ⁵ It could have been sold for almost a year’s wages and then the money could have been given to poor people!” So they scolded her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Stop scolding her! She has done to me what I consider to be very appropriate. So you should not bother her! ⁷ You will always have poor people among you. So you can help them whenever you want to. But I will not be here with you much longer. ⁸ It is appropriate that she has done what she could do. It is as if she had known that I was going to die soon, because she has anointed my body ahead of time so that it is ready for burial. ⁹ I will tell you this: Wherever my followers preach the good news throughout the world, they will also tell what she has done, and people will remember her.”

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests to talk about helping them to capture Jesus. He did that even though he was one of the twelve apprentices. ¹¹ When the chief priests heard what he was willing to do for them, they were very happy. They promised that they would give him a large amount of money in return. Judas agreed and began watching for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them.

¹² On the first day of the festival that they call Unleavened Bread, when they kill the lambs for the Passover, Jesus’ apprentices said to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare the meal for the Passover Celebration so that we can eat it?” ¹³ So Jesus chose two of his apprentices to prepare everything. He said to them, “Go into Jerusalem city. A man will meet you, who will be carrying a large jar full of water. Follow him. ¹⁴ When he enters a house, say to the man who owns the house, ‘Our teacher wants us to prepare the meal of the Passover Celebration so that he can eat it with us his disciples. Please show us the room.’ ¹⁵ He will show you a large room that is on the upper floor of the house. It will be furnished and ready for us to eat a meal in it. Then prepare the meal there for us.” ¹⁶ So the two apprentices left. They went into the city and found everything to be just like he had told them. They prepared the meal for the Passover Celebration there. ¹⁷ When it was evening, Jesus arrived at that house with the twelve apprentices.

¹⁸ As they were all sitting there and eating, Jesus said, “Listen carefully to this: One of you will make it possible for my enemies to arrest me. It is one of you who is eating with me right now!” ¹⁹ The apprentices became very sad and they said to him one by one, “Surely it is not I?” ²⁰ Then he said to them, “It is one of you twelve apprentices, the one who is dipping bread into the sauce in the dish along with me. ²¹ It is certain that I, the Son of Man, will die, because that is what has been written about me. But there will be terrible punishment for the man who betrays me! In fact, he would have been better off if he had never been born!”

²² While they were eating, he took a flat loaf of bread and thanked God for it. Then he broke it into pieces and gave it to them and said to them, “This bread is my body. Take it and eat it.” ²³ Afterwards, he took a cup that contained wine and thanked God for it. Then he gave it to them and they all drank. ²⁴ He said to them, “This wine is my blood, which is about to be shed when my enemies kill me. With this blood I will confirm the covenant that God has made to forgive the sins of many people. ²⁵ I want you to know this: I will not drink any more wine until the time when I drink it again when God shows himself as king.” ²⁶ After they sang a hymn, they went out toward the Mount of Olives.

²⁷ While they were on their way, Jesus said to them, “They wrote in the scriptures that God said about me, ‘I will kill the shepherd and scatter his sheep.’ Those words will come true. You will leave me and run away. ²⁸ But after God makes me alive again, I will go ahead of you to the district of Galilee and meet you there.” ²⁹ Then Peter said to him, “Perhaps all the other disciples will leave you, but I will not! I will not leave you!” ³⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “The truth is that this very night, before the rooster crows two times, you will say about me three times, that you do not know me. ³¹ But Peter replied strongly, “Even if they kill me, I will not say that I do not know you.” And all the other apprentices said the same thing.

³² On the way, Jesus and his apprentices came to the place that people call Gethsemane. Then he said to some of his disciples, “Stay here while I pray!” ³³ Then he took Peter, James, and John with him. He became extremely upset. ³⁴ He said to them, “I am very sorrowful. It is as if I were about to die. You men stay here and keep watch!” ³⁵ He went a bit farther and threw himself on the ground. Then he prayed that if it were possible, he would not have to suffer. ³⁶ He said, “O my Father, because you are able to do everything, rescue me so that I do not have to suffer now! But do not do what I want. Instead, do what you want!” ³⁷ Then he returned and found his apprentices sleeping. He woke them up and said, “Simon Peter! Are you sleeping? Were you not able to stay awake for just a short time?” ³⁸ And he said to them, “You want to do what I say, but you are weak. So keep awake and pray so that you can resist when you are tempted!” ³⁹ Then he went away again and prayed again what he prayed before. ⁴⁰ When he returned, he found that they were sleeping again; they were so sleepy that they could not keep their eyes open. Because they were ashamed, they did not know what to say to him when he awakened them. ⁴¹ Then he went and prayed again. He returned a third time and found them sleeping again. He said to them, “You are still asleep? No more of this! The time for me to suffer is about to begin. Look! Someone is about to enable sinful men to capture me, the Son of Man. ⁴² So get up! Let us go! Look! Here comes the one who is enabling them to capture me!”

⁴³ While he was still speaking, Judas arrived. Even though he was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, he came to enable Jesus’ enemies to capture him. A crowd who carried swords and clubs was with him. The leaders of the Jewish council had sent them. ⁴⁴ Judas, who was betraying Jesus, had previously told this crowd, “The man whom I kiss is the one whom you want. When I kiss him, seize him and lead him away.” ⁴⁵ So, when Judas arrived, he immediately went to Jesus and said, “My teacher!” Then he kissed Jesus. ⁴⁶ Then the crowd grabbed Jesus. ⁴⁷ But one of his apprentices who was standing nearby drew his sword. He struck the servant of the high priest with it, but he only cut off his ear. ⁴⁸ Jesus said to them, “Have you come here to seize me with swords and clubs, as if I were a bandit?

⁴⁹ Day after day I was with you in the temple courtyard teaching the people Why did you not seize me then? But this is happening in order that what the prophets have written in the Scriptures about me may happen.” ⁵⁰ All his apprentices at once left him and ran away. ⁵¹ At that time, a young man was following Jesus. He was wearing only a linen cloth around his body. The crowd grabbed him, ⁵² but, as he pulled away from them, he left behind the linen cloth in their hands, and then he ran away naked.

⁵³ The men who had seized Jesus led him away to the high priest’s house. All of the Jewish council were gathering there. ⁵⁴ Peter followed Jesus at a distance. He went into the courtyard of the house where the high priest lived, and he sat there with the men who guarded the house of the high priest. He was warming himself beside a fire. ⁵⁵ The chief priests and all the rest of the Jewish council were looking for evidence against Jesus that would be strong enough to put him to death. But they did not find any evidence that would require the officials to put him to death. ⁵⁶ Many other people told lies about Jesus, but the statements they made did not agree with each other. And so, their statements were not strong enough to make a charge against Jesus. ⁵⁷ Finally, some stood up and accused him falsely by saying, ⁵⁸ “We heard him when he said, ‘I will destroy this temple that was built by men, and then within three days I will build another temple without help from anyone else.’” ⁵⁹ But what some of these men said also did not agree with what others of them said.

⁶⁰ Then the high priest himself stood up in front of them and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to reply? What do you say about all the things that they are saying in order to accuse you?” ⁶¹ But Jesus was silent and did not reply. Then the high priest tried again. He asked him, “Are you the Messiah? Do you say that you are the Son of God?” ⁶² Jesus said, “I am. Furthermore, you will see me, the Son of Man, ruling beside God, who is completely powerful. You will also see me coming down through the clouds in the sky!” ⁶³ When Jesus said this, the high priest tore his own outer garment in protest, and the high priest said, “Do we need more witnesses to testify against this man? ⁶⁴ You have heard his blasphemous claim to be God!” They all agreed that Jesus was guilty and that he deserved to be put to death. ⁶⁵ Then some of them began spitting on Jesus. They put a blindfold on him, and then they began striking him and saying to him, “If you are a prophet, tell us who hit you!” And those who were guarding Jesus struck him with their hands.

⁶⁶ While Peter was outside in the courtyard of the high priest’s house, one of the girls who worked for the high priest came near him. ⁶⁷ When she saw Peter warming himself beside the fire, she looked at him closely. Then she said, “You also were with Jesus, that man from Nazareth!” ⁶⁸ But he denied it by saying, “I do not know what you are talking about! I understand nothing of it!” Then he went away from there to the gate of the courtyard. ⁶⁹ The servant girl saw him there and said again to the people who were standing nearby, “This man is one of those who have been with that man they arrested.” ⁷⁰ But he denied it again. After a little while, those who were standing there said to Peter again, “We can tell that you also are from Galilee district. So it is certain that you are one of those who accompanied Jesus!” ⁷¹ But he began to say that God could punish him if he were not telling the truth; he said, “I do not know the man that you are talking about!” ⁷² Immediately the rooster crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him earlier: “Before the rooster crows a second time, you will deny three times that you know me.” When he realized that he had denied him three times, he started crying.

Chapter 15

¹ Very early in the morning the chief priests met together with the rest of the Jewish council in order to decide how to accuse Jesus before the Roman governor. Their guards tied Jesus’ hands again. They took him to the residence of Pilate, the governor. ² Pilate asked Jesus, “Do you say that you are the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered him, “You yourself have said so.” ³ Then the chief priests claimed that Jesus had done many bad things. ⁴ So Pilate asked him again, “Do you have nothing to reply? Listen to how many bad things they are saying that you have done!” ⁵ But even though Jesus was not guilty, he did not say anything more. The result was that Pilate was very much surprised.

⁶ Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover Celebration to release one person who was in prison. He usually released any prisoner the people requested. ⁷ At that time there was a man called Barabbas who was in prison with some other men. They had committed murder when they rebelled against the Roman government. ⁸ A crowd approached Pilate and asked him to release someone, just as in the past. ⁹ Pilate answered them, “Would you like me to release for you the man whom you people say is your king?” ¹⁰ He asked this because he realized what the chief priests were wanting to do. They were accusing Jesus because they were jealous of him because many people were becoming his disciples. ¹¹ But the chief priests urged the crowd to request that Pilate release Barabbas for them instead of Jesus. ¹² Pilate said to them again, “If I release Barabbas, what do you want me to do with your king?” ¹³ Then they shouted back, “Command your soldiers to crucify him!” ¹⁴ Then Pilate said to them, “Why? What crime has he committed?” But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!” ¹⁵ So because Pilate wanted to please the crowd, he released Barabbas to them. Then his soldiers flogged Jesus; after that, Pilate told them to take him away and crucify him.

¹⁶ The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the barracks. Then they summoned the whole cohort who were on duty there. ¹⁷ After the soldiers gathered together, they put a purple robe on Jesus. Then they placed on his head a crown that they had woven from thornbush branches. They did those things in order to ridicule him by pretending that he was a king. ¹⁸ Then they greeted him like they would greet a king, in order to ridicule him; they said, “Greetings, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ They repeatedly struck his head with a reed and spat on him. They knelt down in front of him to pretend to honor him. ²⁰ When they had finished mocking him, they pulled off the purple robe. They put his own clothes on him, and then they led him outside of the city in order to nail him to a cross.

²¹ Now a man named Simon from Cyrene came along. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus, and he was passing by Jesus on his way to the city from somewhere else. The soldiers compelled Simon to carry the cross for Jesus. ²² The soldiers brought them both to a place that they call Golgotha. That name means, “A place like a skull.” ²³ Then they tried to give Jesus wine that was mixed with myrrh. They wanted him to drink it so that he would not feel so much pain when they crucified him. But he refused to drink it. ²⁴ Some of the soldiers took his clothes. Then they nailed him to a cross. Afterwards, they divided his clothes among themselves by gambling for them.

²⁵ It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ They attached to the cross above Jesus’ head a sign on which it had been written the reason why they were nailing him to the cross. It said, “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷ At the same time, they also nailed to crosses two men who were robbers. They nailed one to a cross at the right side of Jesus and one to a cross at his left side. ^28[1] [The scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘He was counted with the lawless ones.’] ²⁹ The people who were passing by insulted him by shaking their heads at him. They said, “Aha! You said that you would destroy the temple and then you would build it again within three days. ³⁰ If you could do that, then rescue yourself by coming down from the cross!” ³¹ The chief priests, along with the men who taught the Jewish laws, also wanted to make fun of Jesus. So they said to each other, “He has saved others from trouble, but he cannot save himself! ³² He said, ‘I am the Messiah. I am the King who rules the people of Israel.’ If his words are true, he should come down now from the cross! Then we will believe him!” The two men who were nailed onto crosses beside him also insulted him.

³³ At noon the whole land became dark, and it stayed dark until three o’clock in the afternoon. ³⁴ At three o’clock Jesus shouted loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” That means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?” ³⁵ When some of the people who were standing there heard the word ‘Eloi’, they misunderstood it and said, “Listen! He is calling for the prophet Elijah!” ³⁶ One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine. He placed it on the tip of a reed, and then held it up to try to get Jesus to suck on it. He said, “Wait! Let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down from the cross!” ³⁷ And then Jesus shouted loudly, stopped breathing, and died. ³⁸ At that moment the curtain in the temple sanctuary split into two pieces from top to bottom. That showed that ordinary people could now go into the presence of God. ³⁹ The officer who supervised the soldiers who nailed Jesus to the cross was standing in front of Jesus. When he saw how Jesus had died, he exclaimed, “Truly, this man was the Son of God!” ^40-41 There were also some women there; they were watching these events from a distance. They had accompanied Jesus when he was in Galilee, and they had provided what he needed. They had come with him to Jerusalem. Among those women was Mary from Magdala. There was another Mary, who was the mother of the younger James and of Joses. There was also Salome.

^42-43 When evening was near, a man named Joseph from Arimathea came there. He was a member of the Jewish council, one whom everyone respected. He was also one of those who had been waiting expectantly for when God would show himself as king. Evening was now approaching. It was the day before the Sabbath, a day the Jews called the day of preparation. So he went with courage to Pilate and asked him to permit him to take the body of Jesus down from the cross and bury it immediately. ⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised when he heard that Jesus was already dead. So he summoned the officer who was in charge of the soldiers who had crucified Jesus, and he asked him if Jesus had already died. ⁴⁵ When the officer told Pilate that Jesus was dead, Pilate allowed Joseph to take away the body. ⁴⁶ After Joseph had bought a linen cloth, he and others took Jesus’ body down from the cross. They wrapped it in the linen cloth and laid it in a tomb that previously had been dug out of the rock cliff. Then they rolled a huge flat stone in front of the entrance to the tomb. ⁴⁷ Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where they placed Jesus’ body.

Chapter 16

¹ On Saturday evening when the Jewish day of rest had ended, Mary from Magdala, Mary the mother of the younger James, and Salome bought fragrant ointments to follow the Jewish custom and anoint Jesus’ body for burial. ² Very early on Sunday, the first day of the Jewish week, just after the sun rose, they took the fragrant ointment and started going toward the tomb. ³ While they were going there, they were asking each other, “Who will roll away for us the stone that blocks the entrance of the tomb?” ⁴ After they arrived, they looked up and were surprised to see that someone had rolled away the stone because it was very large. ⁵ They entered the tomb and saw an angel who looked like a young man. He was sitting at the right side of the cave. He was wearing a white robe. As a result, they were astonished. ⁶ The young man said to them, “Do not be astonished! I know that you are looking for Jesus, the man from Nazareth, who was put to death by being nailed to a cross. But he has become alive again! He is not here! Look! Here is the place where they placed his body. ⁷ Go and tell his apprentices. Particularly be sure that you tell Peter. Tell them, ‘Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee district, and you will see him there, just like he told you previously’!” ⁸ The women went outside and ran from the tomb. They were trembling because they were afraid, and they were astonished. But they did not say anything to anyone about this because they were afraid.

^9[1] [When Jesus became alive again early on Sunday morning, the first day of the Jewish week, he appeared first to Mary from Magdala. She was the woman from whom he had previously forced out seven evil spirits. ¹⁰ She went to those who had been with Jesus, while they were mourning and crying. She told them what she had seen. ¹¹ But when she told them that Jesus was alive again and that she had seen him, they refused to believe it. ¹² Later that day, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of his apprentices while they were walking from Jerusalem to the surrounding area. ¹³ After they recognized him, those two went back to Jerusalem. They told his other apprentices what had happened, but they did not believe it. ¹⁴ Later Jesus appeared to the eleven apprentices while they were eating. He scolded them because they had stubbornly refused to believe the reports of those who saw him after he had become alive again.

¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into the whole world and preach the good news to everyone! ¹⁶ God will save everyone who believes your message and who is baptized. He will condemn everyone who does not believe. ¹⁷ Those who believe the good news will perform miracles to show that I am with them. By my power they will do miracles like these: they will force evil spirits out of people. They will speak in languages that they have not learned. ¹⁸ If they pick up snakes or if they drink any poisonous liquid accidentally, they will not be hurt. God will heal sick people on whom they lay their hands.”

¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus had said this to his apprentices, God took him up into heaven. Then he sat down on his throne beside God at the place of highest honor at his right hand, to rule with him. ²⁰ As for the apprentices, they went out from Jerusalem, and then they preached everywhere. Wherever they went, the Lord enabled them to perform miracles. By doing that, he showed people that God’s message is true.]