Luke

Chapter 1

¹ Since many have attempted to compile an account concerning the things that have been fulfilled among us, ² just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed them down to us, ³ it seemed good to me also, having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, to write for you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ so that you might know the certainty concerning the things that you have been taught.

⁵ In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a certain priest named Zechariah, from the division of Abijah. And his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷ But they did not have a child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they both had advanced in their days.

⁸ And it happened that in his performing as priest before God, in the order of his division, ⁹ according to the custom of the priesthood, he came up by lot to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole crowd of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. ¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell on him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you will call his name John. ¹⁴ And there will be joy and gladness to you, and many will rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵ For he will be great before the Lord, and he must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

¹⁸ Then Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in her days.” ¹⁹ And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand before God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, you will be silent, and not able to speak until that day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delaying in the temple. ²² But when he came out, he was not able to speak to them, and they concluded that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained unable to speak. ²³ And it happened that, when the days of his priestly service were fulfilled, he went away to his home.

²⁴ And after these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying, ²⁵ “This is what the Lord has done for me, in the days in which he looked upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.”

²⁶ And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee that was named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin was Mary. ²⁸ And coming to her, the angel said, “Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹ But she was troubled by his words and she was considering what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. ³³ And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there will be no end of his kingship.” ³⁴ But Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I have not known a man?” ³⁵ And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one who will be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, your relative Elizabeth—she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. ³⁷ For nothing will be impossible for God.” ³⁸ Then Mary said, “Behold, I am the female servant of the Lord. May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel went away from her.

³⁹ Then Mary arose in those days and quickly went into the hill country, to a city of Judah, ⁴⁰ and she entered into the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ And it happened that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby in her womb leaped, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² And she exclaimed in a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. ⁴³ And how has this happened to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, as soon as the sound of your greeting was in my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her from the Lord.” ⁴⁶ And Mary said,

     “My soul magnifies the Lord,

     ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoiced in God my Savior.

     ⁴⁸ For he has looked upon the low condition of his female servant.

     For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed,

     ⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

     and his name is holy,

     ⁵⁰ and his mercy is from generation to generation to those who fear him.

     ⁵¹ He has done mighty deeds with his arm;

     he has scattered those who are proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

     ⁵² He has thrown down rulers from their thrones

     but he has raised up the lowly.

     ⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things,

     but the rich he has sent away empty.

     ⁵⁴ He has helped Israel his servant,

     remembering his mercy,

     ⁵⁵ as he spoke to our fathers—to Abraham and to his seed forever.”

⁵⁶ And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her house.

⁵⁷ Then the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth to deliver her baby, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ And her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

⁵⁹ And it happened on the eighth day that they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him after the name of his father, Zechariah. ⁶⁰ But his mother answered and said, “No. Rather, he will be called John.” ⁶¹ But they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” ⁶² Then they made signs to his father as to what he wanted to call him. ⁶³ And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, saying, “His name is John.” And they all were astonished. ⁶⁴ Then immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue, and he spoke, blessing God. ⁶⁵ And fear came on all those who lived around them, and all these matters were being talked about throughout all the hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ And all those who heard stored these things in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child become?” For indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷ And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

     ⁶⁸ “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

     for he has visited and has accomplished redemption for his people.

     ⁶⁹ And he has raised up a horn of salvation for us

     in the house of his servant David

     ⁷⁰ (as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago),

     ⁷¹ salvation from our enemies

     and from the hand of all those who hate us;

     ⁷² to show mercy to our fathers

     and to remember his holy covenant,

     ⁷³ the oath that he swore to Abraham our father, to grant us ^[1]

     ⁷⁴ to serve him fearlessly,

     having been delivered out of the hand of our enemies, ⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

     ⁷⁶ And indeed, you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,

     for you will go before the Lord to prepare his paths;

     ⁷⁷ to give the knowledge of salvation to his people

     through the forgiveness of their sins,

     ⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God,

     by which the sunrise from on high will visit us,

     ⁷⁹ to shine on those who are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

⁸⁰ And the child was growing and was being strengthened in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Chapter 2

¹ And in those days, it came about that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus for all the world to register. ² This first registration happened while Quirinius was governing Syria. ³ And everyone was traveling to register himself, each one to his own city. ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David. ⁵ He registered himself with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. ⁶ And it came about that, while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸ And there were shepherds in that area, staying in the open and keeping watch over their flock at night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were extremely afraid. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be to all the people. ¹¹ For today has been born for you in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord! ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly a multitude of the heavenly army joined the angel, praising God, and saying,

     ¹⁴ “Glory in the highest to God,

     and on earth, peace among men

     with whom he is pleased.”

¹⁵ And it happened that, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let us indeed go over as far as Bethlehem, and let us see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they hurried there and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ And when they had seen him, they made known concerning the message that had been told to them about this child. ¹⁸ And all those who heard it were amazed concerning the things that were spoken to them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for everything that they had heard and seen, just as it had been spoken to them.

²¹ And when eight days had been fulfilled to circumcise him, then his name was called Jesus, which he had been called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

²² And when the days of their purification had been fulfilled, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb will be called holy to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” ²⁵ And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus for them to do according to the custom of the law, ²⁸ he took him into his arms and blessed God, and he said,

     ²⁹ “You are now dismissing your servant in peace, Lord, according to your word.

     ³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,

     ³¹ which you have prepared before the face of all the peoples:

     ³² A light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory to your people Israel.”

³³ And his father and mother ^[1] were amazed at what was said about him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this one is appointed for the downfall and rising up of many in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against— ³⁵ and a sword will also pierce your own soul—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” ³⁶ And Anna was there, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She had advanced much in days, having lived with her husband for seven years after her virginity, ³⁷ and she was a widow for 84 years. She never left the temple, serving with fastings and prayers night and day. ³⁸ And coming up at that very hour, she began giving thanks to God and speaking about him to all those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. ³⁹ And when they had completed everything that was according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

⁴⁰ And the child grew and was strengthened, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

⁴¹ And his parents went every year to Jerusalem to the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when he was 12 years old, they went up according to the custom of the feast. ⁴³ And when the days were completed, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. ⁴⁴ But thinking that he was with the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey and they sought him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ And not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. ⁴⁶ And it happened that after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, and listening to them, and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all those who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ And when they saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us thus? Behold, your father and I have been tormented searching for you.” ⁴⁹ And he said to them, “Why is it that you were searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in the things of my Father? ^{[2] 50} But they did not understand the word that he spoke to them. ⁵¹ Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subjected to them. But his mother kept all these things in her heart.

⁵² And Jesus was increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Chapter 3

¹ And in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, ² during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas—the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

     “A voice of one calling out in the wilderness,

     ‘Make ready the way of the Lord,

     make his paths straight.

     ⁵ Every valley will be filled,

     and every mountain and hill will be made low,

     and the crooked roads will become straight,

     and the rough roads will become smooth,

     ⁶ and all flesh will see the salvation of God.’”

⁷ So he said to the crowds who were coming out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath that is coming? ⁸ Therefore, produce fruits that are worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. ⁹ But indeed, the ax is already set against the root of the trees. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire.” ¹⁰ And the crowds kept asking him, saying, “What therefore should we do?” ¹¹ So he answered and said to them, “The one who has two tunics must share with the one who does not have, and the one who has food, let him do the same.” ¹² Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” ¹³ So he said to them, “Collect nothing more than what you have been ordered.” ¹⁴ Then soldiers also asked him, saying, “And what should we do?” And he said to them, “Take nothing by force, and do not accuse falsely, and be contented with your wages.”

¹⁵ And the people were expecting and were all wondering in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ. ¹⁶ John answered, saying to them all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I is coming, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand to thoroughly clear off his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse. But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ Therefore, also exhorting many other things, he preached the good news to the people. ¹⁹ But Herod the tetrarch, having been rebuked by him concerning Herodias, the wife of his brother, and concerning all the evil things that Herod had done, ²⁰ added even this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

²¹ And it happened that, when all the people were being baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and while he was praying, the heavens were opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit in bodily form came down on him like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son. I am well-pleased with you.”

²³ And Jesus himself was beginning about 30 years old. He was the son (as it was assumed) of Joseph, of Heli, ²⁴ of Matthat, of Levi, of Melchi, of Jannai, of Joseph, ²⁵ of Mattathias, of Amos, of Nahum, of Esli, of Naggai, ²⁶ of Maath, of Mattathias, of Semein, of Josech, of Joda, ²⁷ of Joanan, of Rhesa, of Zerubbabel, of Salathiel, of Neri, ²⁸ of Melchi, of Addi, of Cosam, of Elmadam, of Er, ²⁹ of Joshua, of Eliezer, of Jorim, of Matthat, of Levi, ³⁰ of Simeon, of Judah, of Joseph, of Jonam, of Eliakim, ³¹ of Melea, of Menna, of Mattatha, of Nathan, of David, ³² of Jesse, of Obed, of Boaz, of Salmon, of Nahshon, ³³ of Amminadab, of Admin, of Arni, of Hezron, of Perez, of Judah, ³⁴ of Jacob, of Isaac, of Abraham, of Terah, of Nahor, ³⁵ of Serug, of Reu, of Peleg, of Eber, of Shelah, ³⁶ of Cainan, of Arphaxad, of Shem, of Noah, of Lamech, ³⁷ of Methuselah, of Enoch, of Jared, of Mahalaleel, of Cainan, ³⁸ of Enos, of Seth, of Adam, of God.

Chapter 4

¹ Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ² where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days, and he was hungry when they were completed. ³ Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, speak to this stone so that it might become bread.” ⁴ And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man will not live on bread alone.’” ⁵ Then he led him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant of time. ⁶ And the devil said to him, “I will give to you all this authority and their glory, for it has been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want. ⁷ So then, if you will bow in worship before me, it will all be yours.” ⁸ But answering, Jesus said to him, “It is written, ‘You will worship the Lord your God, and you will serve only him.’” ⁹ Then he led him to Jerusalem and put him on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written,

     ‘He will give orders to his angels regarding you, to protect you,’

     ¹¹ and, ‘They will lift you up in their hands,

     lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

¹² But answering, Jesus said to him, “It is said, ‘You will not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

¹³ And when he had finished every temptation, the devil went away from him until an opportune time.

¹⁴ Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout the entire surrounding region. ¹⁵ And he began to teach in their synagogues, being praised by all.

¹⁶ And he came to Nazareth, where he had been raised, and according to his custom, he entered into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read aloud. ¹⁷ And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and he opened the scroll and found the place where it was written,

     ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

     because he anointed me to proclaim the gospel to the poor.

     He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives,

     and recovery of sight to the blind,

     to set free those who are oppressed,

     ¹⁹ to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And all the eyes in the synagogue were gazing on him. ²¹ Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.” ²² And everyone spoke well of him and they were amazed at the gracious words that were coming out of his mouth, and they said, “Is this not the son of Joseph?” ²³ And he said to them, “Surely you will say this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, heal yourself. Whatever we heard that happened in Capernaum, also do here in your hometown.’” ²⁴ But he said, “Truly I say to you that no prophet is accepted in his hometown. ²⁵ But in truth I say to you that there were many widows in Israel during the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came upon all the land. ²⁶ But Elijah was sent to none of them except to Zarephath in Sidon, to a widow woman. ²⁷ And there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet, but none of them were healed except Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ Then all in the synagogue were filled with rage when they heard these things. ²⁹ And they rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the edge of the hill on which their town was built, so as to throw him off. ³⁰ But he, passing through the midst of them, went on his way.

³¹ And he went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee, and he was teaching them on the Sabbaths. ³² And they were astonished at his teaching, because his word was with authority. ³³ And in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Ha! What to us and to you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” ³⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” So the demon threw him down in their midst, and came out of him, not hurting him. ³⁶ And astonishment came upon everyone, and they were talking to one another, saying, “What is this word, that he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out?” ³⁷ And news about him began to spread into every part of the surrounding region.

³⁸ Then arising from the synagogue, he entered into the house of Simon. And Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering with a high fever, and they asked him concerning her. ³⁹ And standing over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she got up and began to serve them.

⁴⁰ And when the sun was setting, everyone who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and laying his hands on each one of them, he was healing them. ⁴¹ And demons also came out from many of them, crying out, and saying, “You are the Son of God!” But he was rebuking them, not permitting them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

⁴² And when it became day, he went out to a solitary place, but the crowds were looking for him and came to him, and they restrained him so that he would not go away from them. ⁴³ But he said to them, “I must also proclaim the gospel about the kingdom of God to other cities, because for this I was sent.”

⁴⁴ And he was preaching in the synagogues in Judea.

Chapter 5

¹ Then it happened that the crowd was pressing in on him and listening to the word of God, and he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. ² And he saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. ³ Then he got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little bit from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat. ⁴ Then when he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deeper water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ But Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked through the entire night and caught nothing, but at your word, I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, they caught a very large number of fish, and their nets began to break. ⁷ And they signaled to their partners in the other boat that they should come to help them, and they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at the knees of Jesus, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.” ⁹ For amazement had seized him, and all those with him, at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and likewise also James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹ And when they had brought their boats to the land, they left everything and followed him.

¹² And it happened that he was in one of the cities, and behold, there was a man full of leprosy. And he saw Jesus, fell on his face, and begged him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” ¹³ And he reached out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean.” And immediately the leprosy went away from him. ¹⁴ And he commanded him to tell no one, but, “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer a sacrifice for your cleansing, according to what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.” ¹⁵ But the word about him spread even more, and large crowds came together to hear him and to be healed from their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But he often withdrew into the deserted places and prayed.

¹⁷ And it happened that on one of those days that he was teaching, and there were Pharisees and experts in the Jewish law sitting there who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem, and power from the Lord was upon him to heal. ¹⁸ And behold, some men were carrying on a mat a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him inside and to lay him down before him. ¹⁹ And when they did not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up to the housetop and let him down through the tiles, on his mat, into the midst, before the face of Jesus. ²⁰ And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to debate, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?” ²² But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, answered and said to them, “Why are you debating in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you’ or to say ‘Get up and walk?’ ²⁴ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the one who was paralyzed—”I tell you, get up, and pick up your mat, and go to your house.” ²⁵ And immediately he got up before them, picked up that on which he had been lying, and went away to his house, glorifying God. ²⁶ And amazement took hold of them all, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen astonishing things today.”

²⁷ And after these things, he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax collector’s office, and he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ And leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow him.

²⁹ And Levi made a great banquet in his house for him, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others, who were reclining to eat with them. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “People who are well do not have need of a physician, but those who have sickness. ³² I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

³³ Then they said to him, “The disciples of John often fast and make prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same. But those of yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ Then he said to them, “You cannot make the sons of the bridal chamber fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? ³⁵ But the days will indeed come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then, in those days, they will fast.” ³⁶ Then he also spoke a parable to them. “No one, having torn a piece of cloth from a new garment, sews it onto an old garment. But if he did do that, the new would tear, and the old would not match the piece that is from the new. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. But if he did do that, the new wine would burst the wineskins, and it would be spilled out, and the wineskins would be destroyed. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into new wineskins. ³⁹ No one, after drinking the old, wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”

Chapter 6

¹ Then it happened on a Sabbath that he was going through the grainfields, and his disciples were picking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. ² But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing that which is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ³ And answering them, Jesus said, “Have you not read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, ⁴ how he entered into the house of God, and took the bread of the presence, ate it, and gave it to those with him, which is not lawful to eat, except only for the priests?” ⁵ And he said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁶ Then it happened that on another Sabbath he entered into the synagogue and taught, and there was a man there, and his right hand was withered. ⁷ But the scribes and the Pharisees were watching him closely, whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find to accuse him. ⁸ But he knew their thinking and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Get up, and stand in the midst.” So he got up and stood. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to destroy?” ¹⁰ Then he looked around at them all and said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they were filled with rage and they were talking to each other about what they might do to Jesus.

¹² Then it happened that in those days he went out to the mountain to pray, and he was spending the whole night in prayer to God. ¹³ And when day came, he called his disciples to him, and he chose 12 from them, whom he also named apostles: ¹⁴ Simon (whom he also named Peter) and his brother Andrew; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ and Matthew and Thomas; and James son of Alphaeus; and Simon who was called the Zealot; ¹⁶ and Judas son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. ¹⁷ And he came down with them and stood on a level place with a large crowd of his disciples, and with a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. ¹⁸ They had come to listen to him and to be healed from their diseases. And those who were troubled by unclean spirits were being healed. ¹⁹ And the whole crowd was seeking to touch him because power was coming out from him and healing everyone.

²⁰ And he lifted up his eyes upon his disciples, and said, “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ Blessed are those who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are those who are weeping now, for you will laugh. ²² Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man. ²³ Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward in heaven is great. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way. ²⁴ But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your comfort. ²⁵ Woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to the ones who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. ²⁶ Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.

²⁷ But I say to you who are listening, love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ To the one who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other, and from the one who takes away your cloak, also do not withhold your tunic. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and from the one who takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back. ³¹ And as you desire that men would do to you, do the same to them. ³² And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even the sinners love those who love them. ³³ For if indeed you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even the sinners do the same. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive back, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive back the same. ³⁵ But love your enemies and do good to them, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind toward the ungrateful and evil. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. ³⁷ And do not judge, and you will certainly not be judged. And do not condemn, and you will certainly not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you: a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, spilling over—they will pour into your lap. For with the measure by which you measure, it will be measured back to you.”

³⁹ Then he also told them a parable. “A blind man is not able to guide a blind man, is he? Would not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰ A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone, when he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. ⁴¹ And why do you look at the speck of wood that is in the eye of your brother, but you do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck of wood that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take out the log from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck of wood that is in the eye of your brother. ⁴³ For there is no good tree that produces rotten fruit, nor, on the other hand, any rotten tree that produces good fruit. ⁴⁴ For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from a thornbush, nor do they gather grapes from a briar bush. ⁴⁵ The good man from the good treasure of his heart produces what is good, and the evil man from evil produces what is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

⁴⁶ And why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ Everyone who is coming to me and hearing my words, and doing them, I will show you what he is like. ⁴⁸ He is like a man building a house, who dug down and dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock. Then a flood came, the torrent of water flowed against that house, but it could not shake it, because it had been built well. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears and does not do them, he is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, against which the torrent of water flowed, and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Chapter 7

¹ When he had finished all his words in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum.

² And a certain servant of a centurion, who was highly regarded by him, being sick, was about to die. ³ And having heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come so that he might save his servant. ⁴ And when they had come to Jesus, they asked him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy for you to grant this to him, ⁵ because he loves our nation, and he built the synagogue for us.” ⁶ Then Jesus went on his way with them. But when he was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, because I am not worthy that you would come under my roof. ⁷ For this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you, but speak with a word and let my young man be healed. ⁸ For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me, and I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another one, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ And when Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant was well.

¹¹ And it happened on the next day that he went into a city called Nain. And his disciples and a great crowd were going with him. ¹² And as he approached the gate of the city, and behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother (and she was a widow), and a rather large crowd from the city was with her. ¹³ And when he saw her, the Lord was moved with compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ And he approached and touched the bier, and those who were carrying it stood still. Then he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and he gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Then fear seized all of them, and they were praising God, saying, “A great prophet has been raised among us” and “God has visited his people.” ¹⁷ And this word about him spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding regions.

¹⁸ And his disciples reported to John concerning all these things. Then summoning two of his disciples, John ¹⁹ sent to the Lord to say, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we expect another?” ²⁰ And when they had come to him, the men said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to say, ‘Are you the one who is coming, or should we expect another?’” ²¹ In that hour he healed many from sicknesses and afflictions and evil spirits, and to many blind people he granted to see. ²² And he answered and said to them, “After you have gone on your way, report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind are seeing again, the lame are walking, lepers are being cleansed and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised back to life, the poor are being told the gospel, ²³ and blessed is anyone who is not offended by me.”

²⁴ Then after the messengers of John had gone away, he began to say to the crowds concerning John, “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? Behold, those in expensive clothing and living in luxury are in kings’ palaces. ²⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he concerning whom it is written,

     ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face,

         who will prepare your way before you.’

²⁸ I say to you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John, but the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is.” ²⁹ (And all the people who heard, including the tax collectors, declared God to be righteous, having been baptized with the baptism of John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the experts in Jewish law rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.) ³¹ “To what, then, will I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, who are saying, ‘We played a flute for you, and you did not dance. We sang a funeral song, and you did not wail.’ ³³ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a man, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and of sinners!’ ³⁵ But wisdom is justified by all her children.”

³⁶ Then one of the Pharisees requested him to eat with him. So entering into the house of the Pharisee, he reclined to eat. ³⁷ And behold, a woman was in the city who was a sinner. And when she found out that he was reclining to eat in the house of the Pharisee, she brought an alabaster jar of perfumed oil ³⁸ and stood behind him near his feet, weeping. She began to wet his feet with her tears, and she was wiping them with the hair of her head and kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfumed oil. ³⁹ And when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, saying, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what type the woman is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰ And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he says, “Say it, Teacher!” ⁴¹ “There were two debtors to a certain moneylender. The one owed 500 denarii, and the other 50. ⁴² When they did not have enough to repay, he forgave them both. Therefore, which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered and said, “I suppose that the one to whom he forgave the most.” Then he said to him, “You have judged correctly.” ⁴⁴ And he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I have entered into your house. You did not give me water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but from when I came in she did not stop kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfumed oil. ⁴⁷ Therefore I say to you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven—for she loved much. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.” ⁴⁸ Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ And those reclining with him to eat began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ Then he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Chapter 8

¹ And it happened that soon afterward, he also began traveling through city and village, preaching and proclaiming the gospel about the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with him, ² and certain women who had been healed from evil spirits and diseases: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; ³ and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s manager; and Susanna; and many others, who were serving them out of their possessions.

⁴ And when a large crowd was gathering, and coming to him by city, he spoke in a parable: ⁵ “The sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky devoured it. ⁶ And other seed fell on the rock, and when it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And other seed fell in the midst of the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And other seed fell on the good soil, and when it grew up, it produced fruit 100 times greater.” After saying these things, he called out, “The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

⁹ Then his disciples questioned him, “What is this parable?” ¹⁰ And he said, “To you has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, so that, ‘Seeing, they may not see; and hearing, they may not understand.’ ¹¹ And the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. ¹² And the ones along the path are those who have heard, but then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy. But they have no root; they believe for a time, and in a time of testing they fall away. ¹⁴ And the ones that fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and they do not produce mature fruit. ¹⁵ But the ones on the good soil, these are the ones who, having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold it securely and bear fruit with endurance.

¹⁶ And no one lights a lamp and covers it with a bowl or puts it under a bed. Rather, he puts it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. ¹⁷ For nothing is hidden that will not become visible, nor secret that will certainly not be known and come into visibility. ¹⁸ So be careful how you listen, for whoever has, it will be given to him, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”

¹⁹ Then his mother and brothers came to him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. ²⁰ Then it was reported to him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” ²¹ But he answered and said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear and do the word of God.”

²² And it happened that on one of those days, both he and his disciples got into a boat, and he said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they set sail. ²³ But as they sailed, he fell asleep. Then a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were being filled with water and were in danger. ²⁴ Then they approached and woke him up, saying, “Master! Master! We are perishing!” But he awoke, he rebuked the wind and the waves of the water, and they ceased, and there was a calm. ²⁵ Then he said to them, “Where is your faith?” Then they were afraid and marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?”

²⁶ And they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ And when he came out onto the land, a certain man from the city, who had demons, met him. And for a long time he had not worn clothes, and he did not live in a house, but in the tombs. ²⁸ And when he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said in a loud voice, “What to me and to you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” ²⁹ For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out from the man. For many times it had seized him, and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and breaking his bonds, he would be driven by the demon into the wilderness. ³⁰ Then Jesus questioned him, “What is your name?” and he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him. ³¹ And they were begging him that he would not command them to go away into the abyss. ³² And a large herd of pigs was there feeding on the hillside, and they begged him to permit them go into them. And he gave them permission. ³³ Then the demons came out from the man and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and was drowned. ³⁴ And when those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported it in the city and in the countryside. ³⁵ Then they went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ³⁶ Then those who had seen reported to them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been saved. ³⁷ And all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized by great fear. Then he got into the boat to return. ³⁸ And the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him to be with him, but he sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your house and describe all that God has done for you.” So he went on his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city all that Jesus had done for him.

⁴⁰ Then when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. ⁴¹ And behold, a man came whose name was Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at the feet of Jesus, he begged him to come to his house, ⁴² because he had only a daughter, who was about 12 years old, and she was dying. And as he was going, the crowds were crowding around him.

⁴³ And there was a woman with a flow of blood for 12 years, who, having spent all her living ^[1] on doctors, was not able to be healed by anyone. ⁴⁴ She approached from behind and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her flow of blood stopped. ⁴⁵ And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched me?” But when all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are crowding around and pressing against you.” ⁴⁶ But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I know that power has gone out from me.” ⁴⁷ Then when the woman, having seen that she could not hide, came trembling and fell down before him. Before all the people she declared for what reason she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. ⁴⁸ Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

⁴⁹ While he was still speaking, someone comes from the synagogue leader, saying, “Your daughter has died. Do not trouble the Teacher any longer.” ⁵⁰ But when Jesus heard this, he answered him, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be saved.” ⁵¹ And when he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father of the child, and the mother. ⁵² And they were all wailing and beating their breasts for her, but he said, “Do not wail, for she has not died, but sleeps.” ⁵³ And they laughed at him, knowing that she had died. ⁵⁴ But he, taking hold of her hand, called out, saying, “Child, arise!” ⁵⁵ And her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately, and he ordered something to be given to her to eat. ⁵⁶ And her parents were astonished, but he commanded them to tell no one what had happened.

Chapter 9

¹ And when he had called the twelve together, he gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to cure diseases, ² and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. ³ And he said to them, “Take nothing for the road—neither staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor silver—nor have two tunics. ⁴ And whatever house you enter into, stay there and go out from there. ⁵ And wherever they do not receive you, when you go out from that city, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” ⁶ Then they went out and were going through the villages, proclaiming the gospel and healing everywhere.

⁷ Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, ⁸ and by some that Elijah had appeared, but by others that one of the ancient prophets had risen. ⁹ But Herod said, “I beheaded John, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” So he was seeking to see him.

¹⁰ And when the apostles returned, they described to him what they had done. Then taking them, he withdrew by himself to a city called Bethsaida. ¹¹ But when the crowds came to know, they followed him. And he welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he was healing those who had need of healing. ¹² And the day began to end, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away so that, going into the surrounding villages and countryside, they may find lodging and food, because we are here in a desolate place.” ¹³ But he said to them, “You give them to eat.” But they said, “There are not more than five loaves and two fish with us—unless we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ (For there were about 5000 men.) Then he said to his disciples, “Have them recline to eat in groups of about 50 each.” ¹⁵ And thus they did, and made them all recline to eat. ¹⁶ Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, looking up to heaven, he blessed them and broke them into pieces, and he gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied, and what was left over to them was picked up—12 baskets of broken pieces.

¹⁸ And it happened that while he was praying alone, the disciples were with him, and he questioned them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹ And so they answered and said, “John the Baptist. But others say Elijah, and others say that one of the ancient prophets has risen.” ²⁰ Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Then Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.” ²¹ But he strongly warned them, commanding them to tell this to no one, ²² saying, “It is necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised on the third day.” ²³ Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever would desire to save his life will lose it; but whoever would destroy his life for my sake, this one will save it. ²⁵ For what is a man profited, having gained the whole world, but destroying or losing himself? ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of this one the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷ But I say to you truly, there are some of those who are standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

²⁸ And it happened that about eight days after these words, taking along Peter and John and James, he went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ And it happened that as he was praying, the appearance of his face became different, and his clothing flashed as bright as lightning. ³⁰ And behold, two men began talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who were seen in glory, speaking about his departure, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem. ³² And Peter and those with him were weighted with sleep, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were standing with him. ³³ And it happened that as they were going away from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. So let us make three tents, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (not knowing what he says). ³⁴ But as he was saying this, a cloud appeared and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud. ³⁵ And there was a voice from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, the one who is chosen; listen to him.” ³⁶ And when the voice had happened, Jesus was found alone. Then they were silent and told no one in those days anything that they had seen.

³⁷ And it happened that on the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. ³⁸ And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, saying, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. ³⁹ And behold, a spirit seizes him and he suddenly cries out, and it throws him into convulsions with foam. And it departs from him with difficulty, crushing him. ⁴⁰ And I begged your disciples so that they would drive it out, but they were not able.” ⁴¹ Then Jesus answered and said, “O unbelieving and perverted generation, until when will I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² And while he was coming, the demon threw him down and shook him with convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ Then they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while all were marveling at everything that he was doing, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴ “Put these words in your ears: For the Son of Man is going to be handed over into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵ But they did not understand this word, and it was hidden from them, so they could not understand it, and they were afraid to question him about this word.

⁴⁶ Then an argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, knowing the reasoning in their hearts, took a little child, put him by his side, ⁴⁸ and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. For the one who is least among you all, he is great.”

⁴⁹ Then John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we prevented him, because he does not follow with us.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

⁵¹ And it happened that when the days of his being taken up were fulfilled, then he set his face to go to Jerusalem. ⁵² And he sent messengers before his face, and they went and entered into a Samaritan village to prepare for him. ⁵³ But they did not welcome him, because his face was going to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when the disciples James and John saw, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” ⁵⁵ But he turned and rebuked them, ⁵⁶ and they went on to another village.

⁵⁷ And as they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have dens, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man does not have anywhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ Then he said to another, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me to go first to bury my father.” ⁶⁰ But he said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Then still another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those in my home.” ⁶² But Jesus replied, “No one, having put his hand on a plow, yet looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Chapter 10

¹ And after these things, the Lord also appointed 72 ^[1] others, and sent them out by twos before his face to every city and place where he himself was about to go. ² And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore urge the Lord of the harvest that he would send out laborers into his harvest. ³ Go. Behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. ⁴ Do not carry a money bag, nor a sack, nor sandals, and greet no one on the road. ⁵ Whatever house you enter into, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ ⁶ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. ⁷ And remain in that house, eating and drinking what is from them, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not move around from house to house. ⁸ And whatever city you enter into, and they receive you, eat what is set before you, ⁹ and heal the sick in it, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come close to you.’ ¹⁰ And into whatever city you might enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust from your city that clings to our feet we wipe off against you! But know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹² I say to you that on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that city. ¹³ Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works that happened in you had happened in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, you will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down as far as Hades. ¹⁶ The one who listens to you listens to me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

¹⁷ Then the 72 returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subjected to us in your name.” ¹⁸ And he said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. ¹⁹ Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will harm you at all. ²⁰ Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subjected to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens.”

²¹ At that hour he rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you concealed these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for thus it was well pleasing before you. ²² All things have been handed over to me from my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and to whomever the Son desires to reveal him.” ²³ And having turned around to the disciples, he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! ²⁴ For I say to you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear.”

²⁵ And behold, a certain lawyer stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, doing what, shall I inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ But he said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” ²⁷ And he answered and said, “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And he said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” ²⁹ But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ³⁰ Then Jesus answered and said, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers who, both having stripped him and laid on blows, went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Then by coincidence a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² And likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled along, came upon him, and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. ³⁴ And having approached, he bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then, having put him on his own animal, he brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ And on the next day, he took out two denarii, gave them to the inn-keeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you might spend, when I return, I will repay you.’ ³⁶ Which of these three do you think became a neighbor to the one who fell among the robbers?” ³⁷ And he said, “The one who showed mercy to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “You go and do likewise.”

³⁸ And as they were traveling along, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him. ³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, and she was sitting at the feet of Jesus, ^[2] listening to his word. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much service, and coming up, she said, “Lord, are you not concerned that my sister has left me alone to serve? Therefore, speak to her so that she might help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, ⁴² but one thing is necessary. For Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Chapter 11

¹ And it happened that when he was praying in a certain place, when he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” ² And he said to them, “When you pray, say,

     ‘Father, let your name be made holy.

         Let your kingdom come.

     ³ Give us our daily bread each day.

     ⁴ And forgive us our sins,

         for we also forgive everyone

         who owes us.

     And may you not lead us into temptation.’”

⁵ And he said to them, “Which of you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight, and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, ⁶ since my friend just came to me from the road, and I do not have anything to set before him’? ⁷ And he may answer from inside and say, ‘Do not cause me trouble. The door has already been shut, and my children are in the bed with me. I am not able to get up to give to you.’ ⁸ I say to you, even if he does not get up to give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, rising up, he will give to him as much as he needs. ⁹ I also say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; and the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. ¹¹ And which father among you, his son will ask for a fish, and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake? ^{[1] 12} Or also he will ask for an egg, he will give him a scorpion? ¹³ Therefore, if you who are evil know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

¹⁴ And he was driving out a mute demon. And it happened that, when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowd marveled. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the ruler of demons, he is driving out the demons.” ¹⁶ And others tested him, seeking from him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷ But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is made desolate, and house against house falls. ¹⁸ But if Satan is also divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say I drive out the demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹ But if I drive out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? Because of this, they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. ²¹ When the strong man who is fully armed is guarding his own courtyard, his possessions are at peace, ²² but when one who is stronger than him attacks him, he will overcome him, take away his armor in which he trusted, and divide his spoils. ²³ The one who is not with me is against me, and the one who does not gather with me scatters. ²⁴ When the unclean spirit has gone out from the man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵ And having come, it finds it swept out and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself and they having entered in, it resides there. And the last things of that man becomes worse than the first things.”

²⁷ And it happened that, as he was saying these things, a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed.” ²⁸ But he said, “Rather, blessed are the ones who hear the word of God and keep it.”

²⁹ And as the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks a sign, but a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ³⁰ For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. ³¹ The Queen of the South will stand up in the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, greater than Solomon is here. ³² The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, greater than Jonah is here.

³³ No one, having lit a lamp, puts it in a hidden place, nor under the container, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. ³⁴ The lamp of the body is your eye. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is also illuminated. But when it is bad, your body is also dark. ³⁵ Therefore, beware that the light that is in you is not darkness. ³⁶ If therefore your whole body is illuminated, not having any part that is dark, it will all be illuminated, as when the lamp shines its brightness on you.”

³⁷ And when he spoke these things, a Pharisee asks him that he would dine with him. He went in and reclined to eat. ³⁸ And the Pharisee, seeing this, marveled that he did not first wash before the meal. ³⁹ But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the bowl, but the inside of you is full of greed and evil. ⁴⁰ You foolish ones! Did not the one who made the outside also make the inside? ⁴¹ But give as charity what is inside, and behold, all things are clean to you.

⁴² But woe to you Pharisees, because you tithe the mint and the rue and every garden herb, but you neglect the justice and the love of God. But it is necessary to do these things, and not to neglect those things. ⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees, for you love the first seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴ Woe to you, for you are like the unseen graves, and the men who are walking over them do not know it.”

⁴⁵ Then answering, one of the experts in the Jewish law says to him, “Teacher, saying these things, you insult us too.” ⁴⁶ But he said, “Woe to you also, experts in the Jewish law! For you burden men with burdens difficult to carry, but you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ⁴⁷ Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, but your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸ So you bear witness and you consent to the works of your fathers, for they killed them, and you are building. ⁴⁹ Because of this, the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute’ ⁵⁰ that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world may be required from this generation, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house. Yes, I say to you, it will be required from this generation. ⁵² Woe to you, experts in the Jewish law, because you have taken away the key of knowledge; you have not entered in yourselves, and you have hindered those who are entering.”

⁵³ After he went out from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to argue against him about many things, ⁵⁴ lying in wait for him to trap something from his mouth.

Chapter 12

¹ In those times, when myriads of the crowd were gathered together so that they trampled on each other, he began to say to his disciples first, “Guard yourselves from the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² But nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. ³ Therefore, whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops. ⁴ But I say to you, my friends, you should not be frightened of those who kill the body, and after that do not have anything more to do. ⁵ But I will show you whom to fear. Fear the one who, after he has killed, has authority to throw into Gehenna. Yes, I say to you, fear him. ⁶ Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷ But even the hairs of your head have all been numbered. Do not fear. You are more valuable than many sparrows. ⁸ But I say to you, everyone who confesses me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God, ⁹ but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. ¹⁰ And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but to the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven. ¹¹ And when they bring you to the synagogues, and the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you should speak in your defense, or what you should say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that hour what you ought to say.”

¹³ Then someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But he said to him, “Man, who appointed me a judge or a mediator over you?” ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “Beware and keep yourselves from all covetousness, because one’s life is not in the abounding to him of his possessions.” ¹⁶ Then he spoke to them a parable, saying, “The land of a certain rich man yielded abundantly, ¹⁷ and he reasoned with himself, saying, ‘What should I do, since I do not have anywhere to gather my crops?’ ¹⁸ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will take down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will gather all of my grain and goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods lying in store for many years. Relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Foolish one, this night they are demanding your soul from you, and what you have prepared, whose will it be?’ ²¹ Thus is the one who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

²² Then he said to his disciples, “Because of this I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat—and not about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body than clothes. ²⁴ Consider the ravens, that they neither sow nor reap, to whom is neither storeroom nor barn, but God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵ But which of you by being anxious is able to add a cubit to his lifespan? ²⁶ If then you are not able to do the least, why do you worry about the rest? ²⁷ Consider the lilies—how they grow. They do not labor, neither do they spin. But I say to you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸ And if God so clothes the grass in the field, which exists today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more you, O you of little faith! ²⁹ And you, do not seek what you might eat and what you might drink, and do not be anxious. ³⁰ For all the nations of the world seek these things, but your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ But seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. ³² Do not fear, little flock, because your Father is very pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give alms. Make for yourselves purses that will not wear out—unfailing treasure in the heavens, where thief does not come near, nor moth destroy. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

³⁵ Let your loins be girded, and the lamps be kept burning, ³⁶ and you be like men waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open for him. ³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the master will find watching when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself, and have them recline to eat, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸ Even if he comes in the second, or even in the third watch, and finds them thus, blessed are those. ³⁹ But understand this, that if the owner of the house had known at which hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also be ready, because in that hour you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming.”

⁴¹ Then Peter said, “Lord, are you speaking this parable to us, or also to everyone?” ⁴² And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful, wise manager whom the master will appoint over his care, to give them their portion of food at the right time? ⁴³ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find doing so when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly I say to you that he will appoint him over all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master delays to return,’ and begins to beat the male servants and the female servants, and to eat and drink, and to become drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that servant will arrive in a day that he does not expect, yes, in an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in two and appoint his place with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷ But that servant, the one who knew the will of his master, and did not get ready or do according to his will, will be beaten much. ⁴⁸ But the one who did not know, and did things worthy of blows will be beaten little. But everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required from him, and to whom much has been provided, even more will be asked of him.

⁴⁹ I came to throw fire upon the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled? ⁵⁰ But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am distressed until it is completed! ⁵¹ Do you think that I came to give peace on the earth? No, I say to you, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on there will be five in one house divided—three against two, and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, father against son, and son against father; mother against her daughter, and daughter against her mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ And he was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and it happens thus. ⁵⁵ And when a south wind is blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶ Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the face of the sky and of the earth, but how do you not know how to interpret this time? ⁵⁷ And why do you not even judge for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ For as you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, make an effort on the way to be released from him so that he might not drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I say to you, you will certainly not come out from there until you have paid the very last lepton.”

Chapter 13

¹ And some were present at that time who were reporting to him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ² And he answered and said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the Galileans because they suffered this? ³ No, I say to you. But if you do not repent, you will all perish in the same way. ⁴ Or those 18 in Siloam on whom the tower fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse debtors than all the men who reside Jerusalem? ⁵ No, I say to you. But if you do not repent, you will all likewise perish.”

⁶ Then he spoke this parable, “Someone had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, but did not find any. ⁷ And he said to the gardener, ‘Behold, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and have not found any. Cut it down. For what reason is it even idling the ground?’ ⁸ But answering, he says to him, ‘Master, leave it this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. ⁹ If it bears fruit in the coming one … but if not, you will cut it down!’”

¹⁰ And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, ¹¹ and behold, a woman having a spirit of weakness for 18 years, and she was bent over and was not able to straighten up completely. ¹² And when Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are released from your weakness.” ¹³ And he placed his hands on her, and immediately she was straightened up and she glorified God. ¹⁴ But the synagogue ruler answered, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and said to the crowd, “There are six days on which it is necessary to work. Therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the day of the Sabbath.” ¹⁵ But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead it away to drink? ¹⁶ But this one, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan bound, behold, for 18 years, ought she not to be released from this bond on the day of the Sabbath?” ¹⁷ And as he was saying these things, all those who were opposing him were put to shame, but the whole crowd was rejoicing at all the glorious things that were being done by him.

¹⁸ Then he said, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what will I compare it? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed that a man took and threw into his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”

²⁰ And again he said, “To what will I compare the kingdom of God? ²¹ It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three seahs of flour until it was all leavened.”

²² And he was traveling through cities and villages, teaching and making his journey toward Jerusalem. ²³ And someone said to him, “Lord, if the ones who are being saved are few?” And he said to them, ²⁴ “Struggle to enter through the narrow door, because many, I say to you, will seek to enter, but will not be able. ²⁵ After the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, then you will begin to stand outside and to knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us.’ But he will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from.’ ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank before you, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷ And he will speak, saying to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Get away from me, all you workers of unrighteousness!’ ²⁸ In that place, there will be wailing and the grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you are thrown outside. ²⁹ And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline to eat in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And behold, there are last ones who will be first, and there are first ones who will be last.”

³¹ At that hour, certain Pharisees approached, saying to him, “Leave and go away from here, because Herod wants to kill you.” ³² And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I am driving out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will be finished.’ ³³ Nevertheless, it is necessary for me to journey today, and tomorrow, and the following day, for it is not possible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem. ³⁴ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I have desired to gather your children the way a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing. ³⁵ Behold, your house has been left to you. And I say to you, you will certainly not see me until it happens when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Chapter 14

¹ And it happened that he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, and they were watching him closely. ² And behold, there was in front of him a certain man who was suffering from edema. ³ And Jesus answered and spoke to the experts in the Jewish law and the Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” ⁴ But they kept silent. So he took hold of him, healed him, and sent him away. ⁵ And he said to them, “Of which of you will a son or an ox fall into a well, and he will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” ⁶ And they were not able to give an answer to these things.

⁷ Then he was speaking a parable to those who were invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honor, and saying to them, ⁸ “When you are invited by someone to wedding feasts, do not recline to eat in the place of honor, or perhaps someone more honorable than you may have been invited by him, ⁹ and when the one who invited you and him arrives, he will say to you, ‘Give this one your place,’ and then in shame you will proceed to take the last place. ¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and recline to eat in the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, come up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the sight of all those reclining to eat with you. ¹¹ For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹² Then he also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a lunch or a supper, do not invite your friends nor your brothers nor your relatives nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they may also invite you in return, and that will become repayment to you. ¹³ But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, because they are not able to repay you. For it will be repaid to you in the resurrection of the righteous.”

¹⁵ And when a certain of those who reclined to eat heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is whoever will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” ¹⁶ But he said to him, “A certain man made a large supper and invited many. ¹⁷ And at the hour of the supper, he sent his servant to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, because it is now ready.’ ¹⁸ And they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I have need to go out to see it. I ask you to consider me excused.’ ¹⁹ And another said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen, and I am going to try them out. I ask you to consider me excused.’ ²⁰ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and because of this I am not able to come.’ ²¹ And the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then becoming angry, the master of the house said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor, and crippled, and blind, and lame.’ ²² And the servant said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and there is still room.’ ²³ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the roads and hedges and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴ For I say to you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.’”

²⁵ And large crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and also even his own life, is not able to be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not carry his cross and come after me is not able to be my disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost—whether he has enough for completion? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, everyone who sees it will begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, going to engage another king in war, will not sit down and first determine whether he is able with 10, 000 to meet the one coming against him with 20, 000? ³² But if not, while he is still far away, he sends a delegation requesting terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, then, every one of you who does not renounce everything that he himself possesses is not able to be my disciple. ³⁴ Therefore salt is good, but if the salt indeed is made tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? ³⁵ It is useful neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. They throw it outside. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Chapter 15

¹ And all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming to him to listen to him. ² And both the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling, saying, “This one receives sinners and eats with them.”

³ Then he spoke this parable to them, saying, ⁴ “Which man among you, having 100 sheep and having lost one of them, will not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it across his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes to the house, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I say to you that in the same way, there will be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over 99 righteous who have no need of repentance.

⁸ Or what woman, having ten drachmas, if she would lose one drachma, would not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she has found it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I lost.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I say to you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

¹¹ Then he said, “A certain man had two sons, ¹² and the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of the wealth that falls to me.’ So he distributed his property to them. ¹³ And after not many days, the younger son gathered everything together and went to a distant country, and there he wasted his wealth by living recklessly. ¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a severe famine happened throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ And he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he was longing to eat from the carob pods that the pigs ate, but no one gave them to him. ¹⁷ But when he had come to himself, he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father have more than enough bread, but I am here, perishing from hunger! ¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰ And he got up and went to his own father. But while he was still far away, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and he ran, fell upon his neck, and kissed him. ²¹ Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet. ²³ And bring the fattened calf, kill it, and we will eat and celebrate! ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead, and now is alive again; he was lost, and has been found.’ Then they began to celebrate. ²⁵ And his older son was in the field, and as he came in and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he summoned one of the servants and asked what these things might be. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back in good health.’ ²⁸ But he became angry and was not willing to go in, and his father came out and entreated him. ²⁹ But he answered and said to his father, ‘Behold, these many years I slaved for you, and I never neglected a command of yours, and yet you never gave me a young goat in order that I might celebrate with my friends, ³⁰ but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed for him the fattened calf.’ ³¹ Then he said to him, ‘Child, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But it was proper to celebrate and to rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead, and now is alive; and he was lost, and now is found.’”

Chapter 16

¹ And he also said to the disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager, and he was reported to him as wasting his possessions. ² And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your management, for you are no longer able to manage.’ ³ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking away the management from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management, they will welcome me into their houses.’ ⁵ And he summoned each one of the debters of his master, and he said to the first one, ‘How much do you owe to my master?’ ⁶ And he said, ‘100 baths of olive oil.’ Then he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly, and write 50.’ ⁷ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘100 cors of wheat.’ He says to him, ‘Take your bill, and write 80.’ ⁸ And the master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own generation than are the sons of the light. ⁹ And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. ¹⁰ He who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and he who is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. ¹¹ If therefore you have not been faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will entrust true wealth to you? ¹² And if you have not been faithful in that which belongs to another, who will give to you that which is your own? ¹³ No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and he will love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and he will despise the other. You are not able to serve God and wealth.”

¹⁴ And the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they were ridiculing him. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is detestable in the sight of God. ¹⁶ The law and the prophets were until John. From then on, the gospel of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone forces their way into it. ¹⁷ But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of the law to fall.

¹⁸ Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

¹⁹ Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, celebrating luxuriously every day. ²⁰ But a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, ²¹ and longing to eat from what was falling from the table of the rich man. But even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. ²² Then it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. Then the rich man also died and was buried, ²³ and in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham from far away and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering greatly in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are suffering greatly. ²⁶ And with all these things, between us and you a great chasm has been put in place, so that those who want to cross over from here to you are not able, and none may cross over from there to us.’ ²⁷ Then he said, ‘I beg you then, father, that you would send him to the house of my father— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—in order that he might warn them, so that they would not also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ But Abraham says, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ But he replied, ‘No, Father Abraham, but if someone would go to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone would rise from the dead.’”

Chapter 17

¹ Then he said to his disciples, “It is impossible for the stumbling blocks not to come, but woe to one through whom they come! ² It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³ Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him!”

⁵ And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” ⁶ And so the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would listen to you. ⁷ But which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, who has come in from the field, will say to him ‘Come immediately and recline to eat’? ⁸ Instead, will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something I may eat, and gird yourself, and serve me while I eat and drink, and after these things you will eat and drink’? ⁹ He does not give thanks to the servant because he did what was commanded, does he? ¹⁰ Thus also, when you have done all that was commanded to you, say, ‘We are worthless servants. We have done what we ought to do.’”

¹¹ And it happened that he went up to Jerusalem, and he was passing through between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² And as he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and they raised up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” ¹⁴ And when he saw them, he said to them, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And it happened that as they went away, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ Then one of them, seeing that he had been healed, returned, glorifying God with a loud voice. ¹⁶ And he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to him. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Then Jesus answered and said, “Were not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And he said to him, “Rise up, and go. Your faith has saved you.”

²⁰ And being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with observation. ²¹ Neither will they say, ‘Behold, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.”

²² Then he said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. ²³ And they will say to you, ‘Behold, there!’ or ‘Behold, here!’ Do not go out or run after them, ²⁴ for just as the lightning flashing from a place under the sky shines to another place under the sky, so will the Son of Man be. ^{[1] 25} But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. ²⁶ And just as it happened in the days of Noah, even so it will also be in the days of the Son of Man. ²⁷ They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were giving in marriage—until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise, even as it happened in the days of Lot—they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building. ²⁹ But in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will be according to the same manner in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹ In that day, the one who is on the housetop and his goods are in the house, let him not go down to take them away; and the one in the field, likewise let him not turn back. ³² Remember the wife of Lot. ³³ Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, but whoever will lose it will save it. ³⁴ I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. The one will be taken, and the other will be left. ³⁵ There will be two women grinding at the same place. One will be taken, but the other will be left.” ^36[2] [There will be two in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.] ³⁷ And answering, they say to him, “Where, Lord?” And so he said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered together.”

Chapter 18

¹ Then he spoke a parable to them to show them to always pray and not to become discouraged, ² saying, “In a certain city there was a certain judge, not fearing God and not respecting men. ³ And there was a widow in that city, and she was coming to him, saying, ‘Give justice to me against my opponent.’ ⁴ And for a time he was not willing, but after these things he said to himself, ‘Even if I do not fear God or respect man, ⁵ yet because this widow causes me trouble, I will give justice to her, so that she will not wear me out by continually coming.’” ⁶ Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷ And will God not bring about justice for his elect, the ones crying out to him day and night, and delay long over them? ⁸ I say to you that he will bring justice to them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he indeed find faith on the earth?”

⁹ Then he also spoke this parable to some who were persuaded in themselves that they were righteous and who despised others, ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray—the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood praying this about himself, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the other men—robbers, unrighteous, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I aquire.’ ¹³ But the tax collector stood at a distance, not even willing to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, the sinner.’ ¹⁴ I say to you, this one went down to his house justified rather than that one, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹⁵ And they were also bringing to him their infants so that he might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they were rebuking them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Permit the little children to come to me, and do not forbid them. For of such is the kingdom of God. ¹⁷ Truly I say to you, whoever will not receive the kingdom of God like a child will certainly not enter into it.”

¹⁸ And a certain ruler asked him, saying, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments—do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not testify falsely, honor your father and mother.” ²¹ But he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” ²² But when he heard this, Jesus said to him, “One thing is still lacking to you. All things, as much as you have, sell and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.” ²³ But when he heard these things, he became extremely sad, for he was very rich. ²⁴ Then Jesus looked at him ^[1] and said, “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God! ²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter into the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ Then those who heard it said, “Then who is able to be saved?” ²⁷ Then he said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” ²⁸ Then Peter said, “Behold, we have left everything ^[2] and have followed you.” ²⁹ So he said to them, “Truly, I say to you that there is no one who has left a house, or a wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰ who will not certainly receive much more in this time—and in the age that is coming, eternal life.”

³¹ Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that have been written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. ³² For he will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked, and will be mistreated, and will be spit upon. ³³ And after whipping him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.” ³⁴ And they understood none of these things, and this word was hidden from them, and they did not understand the things that were spoken.

³⁵ And it happened that, as he came near to Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting by the road begging. ³⁶ And hearing a crowd going by, he was asking what this might be. ³⁷ And they reported to him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” ³⁸ And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” ³⁹ And the ones who were walking ahead were rebuking him, so that he would be silent. But he kept crying out much more, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” ⁴⁰ Then Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to him. Then when he had come near, he asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” And so he said, “Lord, that I might recover my sight.” ⁴² And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight. Your faith has saved you.” ⁴³ And immediately he recovered his sight, and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw this, gave praise to God.

Chapter 19

¹ And he entered and was passing through Jericho. ² And behold, there was a man called Zacchaeus by name, and he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³ And he was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able from the crowd, because he was small in stature. ⁴ And he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see him, because Jesus was about to pass that way. ⁵ And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” ⁶ And he hurried and came down and welcomed him joyfully. ⁷ And when they saw this, they all complained, saying, “He has gone in to be a guest with a sinful man.” ⁸ But Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone of anything, I will restore four-fold.” ⁹ Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.”

¹¹ And as they were listening to these things, he proceeded to speak a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and they thought that the kingdom of God was about to appear immediately. ¹² Therefore he said, “A certain man of noble birth traveled to a distant country to receive for himself a kingdom and then to return. ¹³ And so he called ten of his servants, and gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Conduct business until I come back.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this one to rule over us.’ ¹⁵ And it happened that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded be called to him those servants to whom he had given the silver, so that he might know what they had gained by doing business. ¹⁶ Then the first came and said, ‘Master, your mina has gained ten minas.’ ¹⁷ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant. Because you were faithful in very little, you will have authority over ten cities.’ ¹⁸ And the second came and said, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ ¹⁹ Then he also said to this one, ‘And you will be over five cities.’ ²⁰ And the other one came and said, ‘Master, Behold, your mina, which I kept put away in a cloth, ²¹ for I feared you, because you are a demanding man. You take up what you did not put down, and you reap what you did not sow.’ ²² He says to him, ‘By your mouth I will judge you, wicked servant! Did you know that I am a demanding man, taking up what I did not put down, and reaping what I did not sow? ²³ And for what reason did you not put my silver in a bank, and when I returned, I would have collected it with interest?’ ²⁴ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take away from him the mina, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ ²⁵ And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’ ²⁶ ‘I say to you, that to everyone who has, it will be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ²⁷ But these enemies of mine, those who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”

²⁸ And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

²⁹ And it happened that when he came near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the hill that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, ³⁰ saying, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter, you will find a colt tied up on which no one of men has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ And if anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you will say thus, ‘The Lord has need of it.’” ³² And so those who were sent went and found it just as he had told them. ³³ And as they were untying the colt, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” ³⁴ And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” ³⁵ And they brought it to Jesus, and they threw their cloaks upon the colt and they put Jesus on it. ³⁶ And as he went along, they were spreading their cloaks on the road. ³⁷ Then as he was already coming near to the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice concerning all the mighty works which they had seen, ³⁸ saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” ³⁹ And some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” ⁴⁰ And he answered and said, “I tell you that if these will be silent, the stones will cry out.”

⁴¹ And as he approached and saw the city, he wept over it, ⁴² saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which bring peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For the days will come upon you and your enemies will build a barricade around you, and surround you, and press in on you from every side. ⁴⁴ And they will smash you to the ground and your children within you. And they will not leave stone upon stone in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”

⁴⁵ And entering into the temple, he began to drive out those who were selling, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

⁴⁷ And he was teaching each day in the temple. And the chief priests and the scribes and the leaders of the people were seeking to kill him, ⁴⁸ And they could not find that which they might do, for all the people were hanging on, hearing him.

Chapter 20

¹ And it happened that on one of the days when he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came to him with the elders. ² And they spoke, saying to him, “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things, or who is the one who gave you this authority.” ³ And he answered and said to them, “I also will ask you a word, and you tell me. ⁴ The baptism of John: was it from heaven or from men?” ⁵ Then they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John is a prophet.” ⁷ And they answered that they did not know from where. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

⁹ Then he began to speak this parable to the people, “A man planted a vineyard, and rented it out to vine growers, and went into another country for a long time. ¹⁰ And at the time he sent a servant to the vine growers, so that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vine growers beat him and sent him away empty. ¹¹ And he proceeded to send another servant, but they also beat that one and treating him shamefully, they sent him away empty. ¹² And he proceeded to send a third, but they also wounded that one and threw him out. ¹³ Then the lord of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the vine growers saw him, they discussed among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance may become ours.’ ¹⁵ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the lord of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and kill these vine growers, and will give the vineyard to others.” But when they heard this, they said, “May it never be!” ¹⁷ But he looked at them, and said, “What then is this that is written:

     ‘The stone that the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner’?

¹⁸ All who fall on that stone will be broken to pieces. But on whomever it might fall, it will crush him.”

¹⁹ And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him in that hour, for they knew that he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people. ²⁰ And watching him carefully, they sent out spies who pretended themselves to be righteous, so that they might take hold of his word, in order to deliver him up to the rule and to the authority of the governor. ²¹ And they asked him, saying, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and do not receive a face, but you teach the way of God in truth. ²² Is it lawful for us to pay tribute to Caesar or not?” ²³ But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?” And they said, “Caesar’s.” ²⁵ Then he said to them, “Therefore give back the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God.” ²⁶ And they were not able to take hold of his word in front of the people, but marveling at his answer, they became silent.

²⁷ Then some of the Sadducees came, the ones who say that there is no resurrection, and they questioned him, ²⁸ saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if anyone’s brother dies having a wife, and he is childless, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁹ Therefore there were seven brothers, and the first, took a wife, and died childless; ³⁰ and the second ³¹ and the third took her; and likewise the seven also left no children, and died. ³² Afterward the woman also died. ³³ In the resurrection therefore, of which of them will she become a wife? For the seven had her as wife.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵ But those who are regarded as worthy of that age, to obtain also the resurrection which is from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; ³⁶ for neither are they able to die anymore, for they are as angels; and they are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. ³⁷ But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ³⁸ And he is not the God of the dead, but of the living, because all live to him.” ³⁹ Then some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ For they no longer dared to ask him anything.

⁴¹ Then he said to them, “How do they say that the Christ is David’s son? ⁴² For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

     The Lord said to my Lord,

     ‘Sit at my right hand,

     ⁴³ until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’

⁴⁴ David therefore calls him ‘Lord’, so how is he his son?”

⁴⁵ And while all the people were listening, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces, and chief seats in the synagogues, and chief places at the banquets. ⁴⁷ They devour the houses of widows, and for a show they pray at length. These will receive greater condemnation.”

Chapter 21

¹ Then he looked up and saw the rich who were putting their gifts into the treasury. ² And he saw a certain poor widow putting there two lepta. ³ And he said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them. ⁴ for all these put in the gifts out of their abundance. But she, out of her poverty, put in all the livelihood that she had.”

⁵ And as some were speaking about the temple, that it was decorated with beautiful stones and offerings, he said, ⁶ “As for these things that you are looking at, the days will come in which stone upon stone will not be left, which will not be torn down.” ⁷ And so they questioned him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to happen?” ⁸ Then he said, “Be careful that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is approaching.’ Do not go after them. ⁹ But when you hear of wars and rebellions, do not be terrified, for these things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.”

¹⁰ Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹ There will be both great earthquakes, and famines and plagues in various places. There will be both terrifying events and great signs from heaven. ¹² But before all of these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you over to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for the sake of my name. ¹³ It will become for you a testimony. ¹⁴ Therefore resolve in your hearts not to prepare to defend yourself, ¹⁵ for I will give you a mouth and wisdom that all your adversaries will not be able to resist or contradict. ¹⁶ But you will also be delivered up by parents, and brothers, and relatives, and friends; and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷ And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. ¹⁸ Yet not even a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹ By your endurance, you will gain your souls.

²⁰ But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. ²¹ Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those in the midst of it leave, and let those in the country not enter into it. ²² For these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all the things that have been written. ²³ But woe to those who have in the womb and to those who are nursing in those days! For there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people. ²⁴ And they will fall by the mouth of the sword, and they will be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

²⁵ And there will be signs in the sun, and moon, and stars, and distress of nations on the earth, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the surging waves. ²⁶ Men will be fainting from fear and expectation of the things which are coming upon the inhabited world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and much glory. ²⁸ But when these things begin to happen, rise up and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is coming near.”

²⁹ And he spoke a parable to them: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. ³⁰ When they already sprout leaves, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. ³¹ Thus also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly I say to you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things happen. ³³ The heaven and the earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.

³⁴ But pay attention to yourselves, so that your hearts are not burdened with the effects of drinking and drunkenness, and the worries of life, and that day will close on you suddenly ³⁵ as a trap, for it will come upon everyone who is sitting on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ But be alert at all times, praying so that you may be strong enough to escape all these things that are about to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷ And during the days he was teaching in the temple, but during the nights he went out and lodged on the hill that is called Olivet. ³⁸ And all the people were coming to him in the morning in the temple to hear him.

Chapter 22

¹ And the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. ² And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might kill him, for they were afraid of the people.

³ Then Satan entered into Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was from among the number of the twelve. ⁴ And he went and spoke with the chief priests and captains about how he might betray him to them. ⁵ And they rejoiced, and agreed to give him silver. ⁶ And he agreed, and began seeking an opportunity to betray him to them away from the crowd.

⁷ Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, on which it was necessary to sacrifice the Passover. ⁸ And he sent Peter and John, saying, “Go prepare for us the Passover, so that we may eat it.” ⁹ And so they said to him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?” ¹⁰ And he answered them, “Behold, when you have entered into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him into the house into which he enters. ¹¹ And say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ ¹² And he will show you a large furnished upper room. Prepare it there.” ¹³ And they went and found it just as he had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.

¹⁴ And when the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I say to you that I will certainly not eat it until when it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. ¹⁸ For I say to you, I will certainly not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on, until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹ And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in the remembrance of me.” ²⁰ And he took the cup in the same way after the supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. ²¹ But behold, the hand of the one who betrays me is with me at the table. ²² For the Son of Man indeed goes as it has been determined. But woe to that man through whom he is betrayed!” ²³ And they began to discuss among themselves as to which of them therefore might be the one who was about to do this.

²⁴ Then there happened also a quarrel among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. ²⁵ But he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the ones who have authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ ²⁶ But you must not be like this. Instead, let the greatest among you become like the youngest; and the one who leads, like the one who serves. ²⁷ For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. ²⁸ But you are the ones who have continued with me in my trials. ²⁹ I grant to you, just as my Father has granted to me, a kingdom, ³⁰ so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

³¹ Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to sift you as wheat. ³² But I have pleaded concerning you, so that your faith may not fail; and you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” ³³ But Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” ³⁴ But he replied, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today, before you deny three times that you know me.”

³⁵ And he said to them, “When I sent you out without a purse, or a bag, or sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” And they said, “Nothing.” ³⁶ Then he said to them, “But now, the one who has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one. ³⁷ For I say to you, this which is written must be fulfilled in me, ‘And he was counted with the lawless ones.’ For indeed the things concerning me is having its fulfillment.” ³⁸ Then they said, “Lord, behold! Here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough.”

³⁹ And going out, he went according to his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples also followed him. ⁴⁰ And when they came to the place, he said to them, “Pray not to enter into temptation.” ⁴¹ And he went away from them about a stone’s throw, and getting on his knees, he was praying, ⁴² saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless not my will, but yours, be done.” ^43[1] [And an angel from heaven appeared to him, strengthening him. ^44[2] And being in agony, he was praying earnestly, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling on the ground.] ⁴⁵ And when he rose up from the prayer, he came to the disciples, and found them sleeping from their sorrow. ⁴⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray, so that you may not enter into temptation.”

⁴⁷ While he was still speaking, behold, a crowd appeared, and the one who is called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. And he came near to Jesus to kiss him. ⁴⁸ But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” ⁴⁹ Then when those who were around him saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with the sword?” ⁵⁰ And a certain one of them struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. ⁵¹ But Jesus answered and said, “No more of this!” Then he touched his ear, and healed him. ⁵² Then Jesus said to those who had come out against him, chief priests, and captains of the temple, and elders, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? ⁵³ When I was with you each day in the temple, you did not lay your hands on me. But this is your hour, and the authority of the darkness.”

⁵⁴ Then seizing him, they led him away, and brought him into the house of the high priest. But Peter was following from a distance. ⁵⁵ And after they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter was sitting in the midst of them. ⁵⁶ Then a certain female servant, seeing him as he sat in the light, and looked straight at him and said, “This one also was with him.” ⁵⁷ But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” ⁵⁸ And after a little while another saw him, and said, “You are also of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” ⁵⁹ And after about one hour another certain one insisted, saying, “In truth, this one was also with him, for he is also a Galilean.” ⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. ⁶¹ Then the Lord turned and looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he said to him, “Before a rooster crows today you will deny me three times.” ⁶² And he went outside and wept bitterly.

⁶³ And the men who were holding him mocked and beat him. ⁶⁴ And they blindfolded him and questioned him, saying, “Prophesy! Who is the one who hit you?” ⁶⁵ And they spoke many other things to him, blaspheming him.

⁶⁶ And when day came, the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes, and they led him into their Sanhedrin, ⁶⁷ saying, “If you are the Christ, tell us.” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will certainly not believe; ⁶⁸ and if I question you, you will certainly not answer. ⁶⁹ But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” ⁷⁰ Then they all said, “Therefore are you the Son of God?” And he said to them, “You are saying that I am.” ⁷¹ And they said, “What further need do we have of a witness? For we ourselves have heard from his own mouth.”

Chapter 23

¹ Then the whole group of them rose up and brought him to Pilate. ² And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this one perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” ³ Then Pilate questioned him, saying, “Are you the King of the Jews?” But he answered him and said, “You say so.” ⁴ Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “No cause I find in this man.” ⁵ But they were insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, and beginning from Galilee, as far as here.” ⁶ And when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. ⁷ And when he learned that he was under the authority of Herod, he sent him to Herod, himself also being in Jerusalem in those days.

⁸ And when Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he was desiring to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. ⁹ Then he questioned him in many words, but he answered him nothing. ¹⁰ And the chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. ¹¹ Then both Herod and his soldiers despised him and mocked him. Putting elegant clothing around him, they sent him back to Pilate. ¹² Then both Herod and Pilate became friends with each other on that day, for previously there had been hostility between them.

¹³ Then Pilate called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought to me this man as perverting the people; and behold, I examined him before you, and nothing did I find in this man of the cause which you are charging against him. ¹⁵ But neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us, and behold, nothing that is worthy of death has been done by him. ¹⁶ I will therefore punish him and release him.” ^17[1] [Now he was obligated to release to them one prisoner at every feast.] ¹⁸ But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this one, but release to us Barabbas!” ¹⁹ (He was put into prison for a certain rebellion that happened in the city, and for murder.) ²⁰ Then Pilate again addressed them, desiring to release Jesus. ²¹ But they shouted, saying, “Crucify, crucify him.” ²² Then he said to them a third time, “For what evil has this man done? No cause deserving death I have found in him. Therefore, after punishing him, I will release him.” ²³ But they were insisting with loud voices, demanding for him to be crucified, and their voices prevailed. ²⁴ And Pilate decided to grant their demand. ²⁵ But he released the one whom they requested, who had been put in prison for rebellion and murder. But he handed over Jesus to their will.

²⁶ And as they led him away, they seized Simon, a certain Cyrenean coming from the country, putting the cross on him, to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷ And a great crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and wailing for him, were following him. ²⁸ But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that did not give birth, and the breasts that did not nurse.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things while the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³² And two other criminals, were also being led away with him to be put to death.

³³ And when they came to the place that is called “The Skull,” there they crucified him, and the criminals—one on his right hand and one on his left hand. ^34[2] [Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”] Then, dividing up his garments, they threw lots. ³⁵ And the people stood by, watching and mocking. And the rulers also were, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” ³⁶ Then the soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, ³⁷ and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” ³⁸ And there was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

³⁹ Then one of the criminals who was hanging there insulted him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” ⁴⁰ But answering, the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same judgment? ⁴¹ And we justly, for we are receiving things worthy of what we did. But this one did nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

⁴⁴ And it was already about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁵ The sun failed, and the curtain of the temple was torn in the middle. ⁴⁶ And Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And having said this, he breathed his last. ⁴⁷ And when the centurion saw what happened, he began glorifing God, saying, “Certainly this man was righteous.” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds that had come together for this spectacle, seeing the things that had happened, returned, beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ But all his acquaintances stood at a distance, and the women who followed him from Galilee, watching these things.

⁵⁰ And behold, a man named Joseph was a council member, a good and righteous man, ⁵¹ (he had not agreed with the council and their action) from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. ⁵² He approached Pilate, requesting the body of Jesus. ⁵³ And he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, where no one had yet been laid. ⁵⁴ And it was the Day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was about to begin. ⁵⁵ And the women, whoever had accompanied him from Galilee, followed after and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. ⁵⁶ Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.

Then on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Chapter 24

¹ Then at early dawn on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. ² And they found the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, ³ but entering in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ And it happened that, while they were perplexed about this, then behold, two men stood by them in gleaming clothing. ⁵ But they became terrified and bowed down their faces to the ground. They said to them, “Why are you seeking the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying that it is necessary for the Son of Man to be handed over into the hands of sinful men and to be crucified, and on the third day to rise again.” ⁸ And they remembered his words, ⁹ and when they returned from the tomb, they reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ And they were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, telling these things to the apostles. ¹¹ And these words seemed in their sight like idle talk, and they did not believe them. ¹² But Peter rose up, ran to the tomb, and stooping down, he sees only the linen cloths. So he went away to his home, wondering what had happened.

¹³ And behold, on that same day, two of them were going to a distant village which was named Emmaus, 60 stadia from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And they were talking to each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵ And it happened that, while they talked and discussed together, indeed Jesus himself approached and went with them. ¹⁶ But their eyes were being kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷ Then he said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with each other as you are walking?” So they stood there, sad-faced. ¹⁸ But one named Cleopas answered and said to him, “Are you alone visiting Jerusalem and have not realized the things which have happened in it in these days?” ¹⁹ And he said to them, “What things?” And so they said to him, “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, a man who became a prophet mighty in work and word before God and all the people, ²⁰ and how the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to a judgment of death and crucified him. ²¹ But we were hoping that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. But in addition to all these things, this is now the third day since these things happened. ²² But also, some women among us astonished us, having been at the tomb early in the morning ²³ and not finding his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that he is alive. ²⁴ And some of those with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had indeed said. But they did not see him.” ²⁵ And he said to them, “O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. ²⁸ And they drew near to the village where they were going, and he acted as though he were going further. ²⁹ And they compelled him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day has already come to an end.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰ And it happened that, when he had reclined at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, and breaking it, he began giving it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he became invisible to them. ³² And they said one to another, “Was not our heart burning, as he spoke to us on the way, as he opened to us the scriptures?” ³³ And they rose up that same hour, and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven gathered together, and those with them, ³⁴ saying, “The Lord indeed was raised, and was seen by Simon.” ³⁵ And they related the things that happened on the way, and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

³⁶ And as they were saying these things, he himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” ³⁷ But they were terrified, and became full of fear, thinking that they were seeing a spirit. ³⁸ And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your heart? ³⁹ See my hands and my feet, that I am he. Touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me having.” ⁴⁰ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹ And when they still disbelieved from the joy and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have something to eat here?” ⁴² And so they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their sight.

⁴⁴ Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything that was written about me in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the Psalms, must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, ⁴⁶ “Thus it has been written: The Christ would suffer, and rise again from the dead on the third day; ⁴⁷ and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And I am sending upon you the promise of my Father. But you must remain in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

⁵⁰ Then he led them out as far as to Bethany, and lifted up his hands, and blessed them. ⁵¹ And it happened that, while he was blessing them, he departed from them and was carried up into heaven. ⁵² And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, ⁵³ and they were continually in the temple, blessing God.