Matthew 1-11

The Voice

Messenger of the Lord: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to wed Mary and bring her into your home and family as your wife. She did not sneak off and sleep with someone else—rather, she conceived the baby she now carries through the miraculous wonderworking of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will have a son, and you will name Him Jesus, which means “the Lord saves,” because this Jesus is the person who will save all of His people from sin.

Wise Men: ² Where is this newborn, who is the King of the Jews? When we were far away in the East we saw His star, and we have followed its glisten and gleam all this way to worship Him.

Scribes and Priests: ⁵ An ancient Hebrew prophet, Micah, said this:

Herod: Go to Bethlehem and search high and low for this Savior child; and as soon as you know where He is, report it to me so that I may go and worship Him.

Messenger of the Lord (to Joseph): Get up, take the child and His mother, and head to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you it is safe to leave. For Herod understands that Jesus threatens him and all he stands for. He is planning to search for the child and kill Him. But you will be safe in Egypt.

Messenger of the Lord: ²⁰ You may go home now. Take the child and His mother and go back to the land of Israel, for the people who were trying to take the child’s life are now dead.

John: ² Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near.

John: You children of serpents! You brood of vipers! Did someone suggest you flee from the wrath that is upon us? ^8-9 If you think that simply hopping in the Jordan will cleanse you, then you are sorely mistaken. Your life must bear the fruits of turning toward righteousness. Nor are you correct if you think that being descended from Abraham is enough to make you holy and right with God. Yes, the children of Abraham are God’s chosen children, but God can adopt as daughters and sons anyone He likes—He can turn these stones into sons if He likes.

¹⁰ Even now there is an ax poised at the root of every tree, and every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and tossed into the fire. ¹¹ I ritually cleanse you through baptism^[j] as a mark of turning your life around. But someone is coming after me, someone whose sandals I am not fit to carry, someone who is more powerful than I. He will wash^[k] you not in water but in fire and with the Holy Spirit. ¹² He carries a winnowing fork in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor; He will gather up the good wheat in His barn, and He will burn the chaff with a fire that cannot be put out.

John: I need to be cleansed^[m] by You. Why do You come to me?

Jesus: ¹⁵ It will be right, true, and faithful to God’s chosen path for you to cleanse Me with your hands in the Jordan River.

Voice from Heaven: ¹⁷ This is My Son, whom I love; this is the Apple of My eye; with Him I am well pleased.

Devil: If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.

Jesus (quoting Deuteronomy): ⁴ It is written, “Man does not live by bread alone. Rather, he lives on every word that comes from the mouth of the Eternal One.”^[o]

Devil: ⁶ If You are the Son of God, jump! And then we will see if You fulfill the Scripture that says,

Jesus: ⁷ That is not the only thing Scripture says. It also says, “Do not put the Eternal One, your God, to the test.”^[q]

Devil: ⁹ If You bow down and worship me, I will give You all these kingdoms.

Jesus: ¹⁰ Get away from Me, Satan. I will not serve you. I will instead follow Scripture, which tells us to “worship the Eternal One, your God, and serve only Him.”^[r]

Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Jesus: ¹⁹ Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

¹¹ And blessed are you, blessed are all of you, when people persecute you or denigrate you or despise you or tell lies about you on My account. ¹² But when this happens, rejoice. Be glad. Remember that God’s prophets have been persecuted in the past. And know that in heaven, you have a great reward.

¹³ You, beloved, are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes bland and loses its saltiness, can anything make it salty again? No. It is useless. It is tossed out, thrown away, or trampled.

¹⁴ And you, beloved, are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Similarly it would be silly to light a lamp and then hide it under a bowl. When someone lights a lamp, she puts it on a table or a desk or a chair, and the light illumines the entire house. ¹⁶ You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it.

¹⁷ Do not think that I have come to overturn or do away with the law or the words of our prophets. To the contrary: I have not come to overturn them but to fulfill them.

¹⁸ This, beloved, is the truth: until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter, not one pen stroke, will disappear from the sacred law—for everything, everything in the sacred law will be fulfilled and accomplished. ¹⁹ Anyone who breaks even the smallest, most obscure commandment—not to mention teaches others to do the same—will be called small and obscure in the kingdom of heaven. Those who practice the law and teach others how to live the law will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you this: you will not enter the kingdom of heaven unless your righteousness goes deeper than the Pharisees’, even more righteous than the most learned learner of the law.

²¹ As you know, long ago God instructed Moses to tell His people, “Do not murder;^[t] those who murder will be judged and punished.” ²² But here is the even harder truth: anyone who is angry with his brother will be judged for his anger. Anyone who taunts his friend, speaks contemptuously toward him, or calls him “Loser” or “Fool” or “Scum,” will have to answer to the high court. And anyone who calls his brother a fool may find himself in the fires of hell.

²³ Therefore, if you are bringing an offering to God and you remember that your brother is angry at you or holds a grudge against you, ²⁴ then leave your gift before the altar, go to your brother, repent and forgive one another, be reconciled, and then return to the altar to offer your gift to God.

²⁵ If someone sues you, settle things with him quickly. Talk to him as you are walking to court; otherwise, he may turn matters over to the judge, and the judge may turn you over to an officer, and you may land in jail. ²⁶ I tell you this: you will not emerge from prison until you have paid your last penny.

²⁷ As you know, long ago God forbade His people to commit adultery.^{[u] 28} You may think you have abided by this Commandment, walked the straight and narrow, but I tell you this: any man who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye leads you into sin, gouge it out and throw it in the garbage—for better you lose one part of your body than march your entire body through the gates of sin and into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand leads you into sin, cut it off and throw it away—for better you lose one part of your body than march your entire body through the gates of sin and into hell.

³¹ And here is something else: you have read in Deuteronomy that anyone who divorces his wife must do so fairly—he must give her the requisite certificate of divorce and send her on her way, free and unfettered.^{[v] 32} But I tell you this: unless your wife cheats on you, you must not divorce her, period. Nor are you to marry someone who has been married and divorces, for a divorced person who remarries commits adultery.

³³ You know that God expects us to abide by the oaths we swear and the promises we make. ³⁴ But I tell you this: do not ever swear an oath. What is an oath? You cannot say, “I swear by heaven”—for heaven is not yours to swear by; it is God’s throne. ³⁵ And you cannot say, “I swear by this good earth,” for the earth is not yours to swear by; it is God’s footstool. And you cannot say, “I swear by the holy city Jerusalem,” for it is not yours to swear by; it is the city of God, the capital of the King of kings. ³⁶ You cannot even say that you swear by your own head, for God has dominion over your hands, your lips, your head. It is He who determines if your hair be straight or curly, white or black; it is He who rules over even this small scrap of creation. ³⁷ You need not swear an oath—any impulse to do so is of evil. Simply let your “yes” be “yes,” and let your “no” be “no.”

³⁸ You know that Hebrew Scripture sets this standard of justice and punishment: take an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.^{[w] 39} But I say this, don’t fight against the one who is working evil against you. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, you are to turn and offer him your left cheek. ⁴⁰ If someone connives to get your shirt, give him your jacket as well. ⁴¹ If someone forces you to walk with him for a mile, walk with him for two instead. ⁴² If someone asks you for something, give it to him. If someone wants to borrow something from you, do not turn away.

⁴³ You have been taught to love your neighbor and hate your enemy.^{[x] 44} But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— ⁴⁵ in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner. ⁴⁶ It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. ⁴⁷ And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! ⁴⁸ But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

6 Jesus: But when you do these righteous acts, do not do them in front of spectators. Don’t do them where you can be seen, let alone lauded, by others. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give to the poor, do not boast about it, announcing your donations with blaring trumpets as the play actors do. Do not brazenly give your charity in the synagogues and on the streets; indeed, do not give at all if you are giving because you want to be praised by your neighbors. Those people who give in order to reap praise have already received their reward. ^3-4 When you give to the needy, do it in secret—even your left hand should not know what your right hand is doing. Then your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

⁵ Likewise, when you pray, do not be as hypocrites who love to pray loudly at synagogue or on street corners—their concern is to be seen by men. They have already earned their reward. ⁶ When you pray, go into a private room, close the door, and pray unseen to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not go on and on, excessively and strangely like the outsiders; they think their verbosity will let them be heard by their deities. ⁸ Do not be like them. Your prayers need not be labored or lengthy or grandiose—for your Father knows what you need before you ever ask Him.

⁹ Your prayers, rather, should be simple, like this:

¹⁴ If you forgive people when they sin against you, then your Father will forgive you when you sin against Him and when you sin against your neighbor. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive your neighbors’ sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

¹⁶ And when you fast, do not look miserable as the actors and hypocrites do when they are fasting—they walk around town putting on airs about their suffering and weakness, complaining about how hungry they are. So everyone will know they are fasting, they don’t wash or anoint themselves with oil, pink their cheeks, or wear comfortable shoes. Those who show off their piety, they have already received their reward. ¹⁷ When you fast, wash your face and beautify yourself with oil, ¹⁸ so no one who looks at you will know about your discipline. Only your Father, who is unseen, will see your fast. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

¹⁹ Some people store up treasures in their homes here on earth. This is a shortsighted practice—don’t undertake it. Moths and rust will eat up any treasure you may store here. Thieves may break into your homes and steal your precious trinkets. ²⁰ Instead, put up your treasures in heaven where moths do not attack, where rust does not corrode, and where thieves are barred at the door. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

²² The eye is the lamp of the body. You draw light into your body through your eyes, and light shines out to the world through your eyes. So if your eye is well and shows you what is true, then your whole body will be filled with light. ²³ But if your eye is clouded or evil, then your body will be filled with evil and dark clouds. And the darkness that takes over the body of a child of God who has gone astray—that is the deepest, darkest darkness there is.

Jesus: ²⁴ No one can serve two masters. If you try, you will wind up loving the first master and hating the second, or vice versa. People try to serve both God and money—but you can’t. You must choose one or the other.

²⁵ Here is the bottom line: do not worry about your life. Don’t worry about what you will eat or what you will drink. Don’t worry about how you clothe your body. Living is about more than merely eating, and the body is about more than dressing up. ²⁶ Look at the birds in the sky. They do not store food for winter. They don’t plant gardens. They do not sow or reap—and yet, they are always fed because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are even more precious to Him than a beautiful bird. If He looks after them, of course He will look after you. ²⁷ Worrying does not do any good; who here can claim to add even an hour to his life by worrying?

²⁸ Nor should you worry about clothes. Consider the lilies of the field and how they grow. They do not work or weave or sew, and yet their garments are stunning. ²⁹ Even King Solomon, dressed in his most regal garb, was not as lovely as these lilies. ³⁰ And think about grassy fields—the grasses are here now, but they will be dead by winter. And yet God adorns them so radiantly. How much more will He clothe you, you of little faith, you who have no trust?

³¹ So do not consume yourselves with questions: What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? ³² Outsiders make themselves frantic over such questions; they don’t realize that your heavenly Father knows exactly what you need. ³³ Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be given to you too. ³⁴ So do not worry about tomorrow. Let tomorrow worry about itself. Living faithfully is a large enough task for today.

7 Jesus: If you judge other people, then you will find that you, too, are being judged. ² Indeed, you will be judged by the very standards to which you hold other people.

Jesus: ³ Why is it that you see the dust in your brother’s or sister’s eye, but you can’t see what is in your own eye? ⁴ Don’t ignore the wooden plank in your eye, while you criticize the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eyelashes. ⁵ That type of criticism and judgment is a sham! Remove the plank from your own eye, and then perhaps you will be able to see clearly how to help your brother flush out his sawdust.

⁶ Don’t give precious things to dogs. Don’t cast your pearls before swine. If you do, the pigs will trample the pearls with their little pigs’ feet, and then they will turn back and attack you.

⁷ Just ask and it will be given to you; seek after it and you will find. Continue to knock and the door will be opened for you. ⁸ All who ask receive. Those who seek, find what they seek. And he who knocks, will have the door opened.

⁹ Think of it this way: if your son asked you for bread, would you give him a stone? Of course not—you would give him a loaf of bread. ¹⁰ If your son asked for a fish, would you give him a snake? No, to be sure, you would give him a fish—the best fish you could find. ¹¹ So if you, who are sinful, know how to give your children good gifts, how much more so does your Father in heaven, who is perfect, know how to give great gifts to His children!

¹² This is what our Scriptures come to teach: in everything, in every circumstance, do to others as you would have them do to you.

¹³ There are two paths before you; you may take only one path. One doorway is narrow. And one door is wide. Go through the narrow door. For the wide door leads to a wide path, and the wide path is broad; the wide, broad path is easy, and the wide, broad, easy path has many, many people on it; but the wide, broad, easy, crowded path leads to death. ¹⁴ Now then that narrow door leads to a narrow road that in turn leads to life. It is hard to find that road. Not many people manage it.

¹⁵ Along the way, watch out for false prophets. They will come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath that quaint and innocent wool, they are hungry wolves. ¹⁶ But you will recognize them by their fruits. You don’t find sweet, delicious grapes growing on thorny bushes, do you? You don’t find delectable figs growing in the midst of prickly thistles. ¹⁷ People and their lives are like trees. Good trees bear beautiful, tasty fruit, but bad trees bear ugly, bitter fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear ugly, bitter fruit; nor can a bad tree bear fruit that is beautiful and tasty. ¹⁹ And what happens to the rotten trees? They are cut down. They are used for firewood. ²⁰ When a prophet comes to you and preaches this or that, look for his fruits: sweet or sour? rotten or ripe?

²¹ Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven. Simply calling Me “Lord” will not be enough. Only those who do the will of My Father who is in heaven will join Me in heaven. ²² At the end of time, on that day of judgment, many will say to Me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name? Did we not drive demons out of the possessed in Your name? Did we not perform miracles in Your name?” ²³ But I will say to them, “I never knew you. And now, you must get away from Me, you evildoers!”

²⁴ Those people who are listening to Me, those people who hear what I say and live according to My teachings—you are like a wise man who built his house on a rock, on a firm foundation. ²⁵ When storms hit, rain pounded down and waters rose, levies broke and winds beat all the walls of that house. But the house did not fall because it was built upon rock. ²⁶ Those of you who are listening and do not hear—you are like a fool who builds a house on sand. ²⁷ When a storm comes to his house, what will happen? The rain will fall, the waters will rise, the wind will blow, and his house will collapse with a great crash.

Leper: Lord, if You wish to, please heal me and make me clean!

Jesus (stretching out His hand): ³ Of course I wish to. Be clean.

Jesus: ⁴ Don’t tell anyone what just happened. Rather, go to the priest, show yourself to him, and give a wave offering as Moses commanded. Your actions will tell the story of what happened here today.

Officer: ⁶ Lord, I have a servant who is lying at home in agony, paralyzed.

Jesus: ⁷ I will come to your house, and I will heal him.

Officer: ⁸ Lord, I don’t deserve to have You in my house. And, in truth, I know You don’t need to be with my servant to heal him. Just say the word, and he will be healed. ⁹ That, after all, is how authority works. My troops obey me whether I am next to them or not—similarly, this sickness will obey You.

Jesus (to His followers): This is the plain truth: I have not met a single person in Israel with as much faith as this officer. ¹¹ It will not be just the children of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob who celebrate at their heavenly banquet at the end of time. No, people will come from the East and the West—and those who recognize Me, regardless of their lineage, will sit with Me at that feast. ¹² But those who have feigned their faith will be cast out into outer darkness where people weep and grind their teeth.

Jesus: You may go home. For it is as you say it is; it is as you believe.

Scribe: Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.

Jesus: ²⁰ Foxes have dens in which to sleep, and the birds have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.

Disciple: ²¹ Jesus, before I do the things You’ve asked me to do, I must first bury my father.

Jesus: ²² Follow Me! And let the dead bury their own dead.

Disciples: Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!

Jesus: ²⁶ Please! What are you so afraid of, you of little faith?

Disciples: Who is this? What sort of man is He, that the sea and the winds listen to Him?

Demons (screaming at Jesus): ²⁹ Why are You here? Have You come to torture us even before the judgment day, O Son of God?

Demons: ³¹ If You cast us out of the bodies of these two men, do send us into that herd of pigs!

Jesus: ³² Very well then, go!

Jesus: Rest assured, My son; your sins are forgiven.

Scribes and Teachers (to themselves): This man is blaspheming!

Jesus: Why do you hold such hardness and wickedness in your hearts? ⁵ Look, is it easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or “Get up and walk”? ⁶ To make clear that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins (turning to the paralytic man on the mat), Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.

Jesus (to Matthew): Follow Me.

Pharisees: Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?

Jesus (overhearing this): ¹² Look, who needs a doctor—healthy people or sick people? ¹³ I am not here to attend to people who are already right with God; I am here to attend to sinners. In the book of the prophet Hosea, we read, “It is not sacrifice I want, but mercy.”^[ab] Go and meditate on that for a while—maybe you’ll come to understand it.

John’s Disciples: What’s the story with fasting? We fast and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast!

Jesus: ¹⁵ When you celebrate—as at a wedding when one’s dearest friend is getting married—you do not fast. The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them. Then My friends and followers will fast. ¹⁶ You would begin by washing and shrinking a patch you would use to mend a garment—otherwise, the patch would shrink later, pull away from the garment, and make the original tear even worse. ¹⁷ You wouldn’t pour new wine into old wineskins. If you did, the skins would burst, the wine would run out, and the wineskins would be ruined. No, you would pour new wine into new wineskins—and both the wine and the wineskins would be preserved.

Official: My daughter just died. Would You come and lay Your hands on her? Then, I know, she would live again.

Jesus: Take heart, daughter. Your faith has healed you.

Jesus (to the crowd): ²⁴ Go away, and do your ministering somewhere else. This girl is not dead. She is merely asleep.

Blind Men: Son of David! Have mercy on us!

Jesus: Do you believe that I am able to do this?

Blind Men: Yes, Lord.

Jesus (touching their eyes): ²⁹ According to your faith, it will be done to you.

Jesus: Don’t tell anyone about this.

Crowd: Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.

Pharisees: ³⁴ It must be the prince of demons who gives Him the power to cast out demons.

Jesus: Don’t go to the outsiders or to the towns inhabited by Samaritans, a people whose Jewish ancestors married Gentiles. ⁶ Go instead to find and heal the lost sheep of Israel. ⁷ As you go, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, and cleanse those who have leprosy. Drive out demons from the possessed. You received these gifts freely, so you should give them to others freely. ⁹ Do not take money with you: don’t take gold, silver, or even small, worthless change. ¹⁰ Do not pack a bag with clothes. Do not take sandals or a walking stick. Be fed and sheltered by those who show you hospitality. ¹¹ When you enter a town or village, look for someone who is trustworthy and stay at his house as long as you are visiting that town. ¹² When you enter this home, greet the household kindly. ¹³ And if the home is indeed trustworthy, let your blessing of peace rest upon it; if not, keep your blessing to yourself. ¹⁴ If someone is inhospitable to you or refuses to listen to your testimony, leave that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. ¹⁵ This is the truth: Sodom and Gomorrah, those ancient pits of inhospitality, will fare better on judgment day than towns who ignore you tomorrow or next week.

¹⁶ Listen: I am sending you out to be sheep among wolves. You must be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves. ¹⁷ You must be careful. You must be discerning. You must be on your guard. There will be men who try to hand you over to their town councils and have you flogged in their synagogues. ¹⁸ Because of Me, naysayers and doubters will try to make an example out of you by trying you before rulers and kings. ¹⁹ When this happens—when you are arrested, dragged to court—don’t worry about what to say or how to say it. The words you should speak will be given to you. For at that moment, ²⁰ it will not be you speaking; it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹ Your task will be fraught with betrayal: brother will betray brother, even to the point of death; fathers will betray their children, and children will rebel against their fathers, even to the point of death. ^22-23 When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next town. This is the truth: you will not be able to witness to every town in Israel before the Son of Man comes. Everyone will hate you because of Me. But remember: the one who stays on the narrow path until the end will be saved.

²⁴ A student is no greater than his teacher, and a servant is never greater than his master. ²⁵ It is sufficient if the student is like his teacher and the servant like his master. If people call the head of a house “Beelzebul,” which means “devil,” just imagine what they’re calling the members of his household.

²⁶ Do not be afraid of those who may taunt or persecute you. Everything they do—even if they think they are hiding behind closed doors—will come to light. All their secrets will eventually be made known. ²⁷ And you should proclaim in the bright light of day everything that I have whispered to you in the dark. Whatever whispers you hear—shout them from the rooftops of houses.

²⁸ Don’t fear those who aim to kill just the body but are unable to touch the soul. The One to fear is He who can destroy you, soul and body, in the fires of hell. ²⁹ Look, if you sold a few sparrows, how much money would you get? A copper coin apiece, perhaps? And yet your Father in heaven knows when those small sparrows fall to the ground. ^30-31 You, beloved, are worth so much more than a whole flock of sparrows. God knows everything about you, even the number of hairs on your head. So do not fear.

³² Whoever knows Me here on earth, I will know him in heaven. And whoever proclaims faith in Me here on earth, I will proclaim faith in him before My Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns Me here, I will disown before My Father in heaven.

³⁴ Do not imagine that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵ I have come to turn men against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law. ³⁶ You will find you have enemies even in your own household.^{[ac] 37} If you love your father or mother more than you love Me, then you are not worthy of Me. If you love your son or daughter more than you love Me, then you are not worthy of Me. ³⁸ If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me on the narrow road, then you are not worthy of Me. ³⁹ To find your life, you must lose your life—and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Jesus: ⁴⁰ Anyone who welcomes you welcomes Me, and anyone who welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me. ⁴¹ Anyone who welcomes a prophet and surrenders to his prophecy will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who welcomes a righteous person and conforms to the righteousness that surrounds him and proceeds from him will receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴² And anyone who has given so much as a cup of cold water to one of the little ones, because he is My disciple, I tell you, that person will be well rewarded.

John’s Followers: Are You the One we have been expecting as Savior for so long? Are You the One Scripture promised would come? Or should we expect someone else?

Jesus: ⁴ Go back and tell John the things you have heard and the things you have seen. ⁵ Tell him you have seen the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers cured, the deaf hear, the dead raised, and the good news preached to the poor. ⁶ Blessed are those who understand what is afoot and stay on My narrow path.

Jesus: What did you go into the desert to see? Did you expect to see a reed blowing around in the wind? ⁸ No? Were you expecting to see a man dressed in the finest silks? No, of course not—you find silk in the sitting rooms of palaces and mansions, not in the middle of the wilderness. ⁹ So what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes. Yes, a prophet and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ When you saw John, you saw the one whom the prophet Malachi envisioned when he said,

¹¹ This is the truth: no one who has ever been born to a woman is greater than John the Baptist.^[ae] And yet the most insignificant person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ^12-13 All of the prophets of old, all of the law—that was all prophecy leading up to the coming of John. Now, that sort of prepares us for this very point, right here and now. When John the Baptist^[af] came, the kingdom of heaven began to break in upon us, and those in power are trying to clamp down on it—why do you think John is in jail? ¹⁴ If only you could see it—John is the Elijah, the prophet we were promised would come and prepare the way. ¹⁵ He who has ears for the truth, let him hear.

¹⁶ What is this generation like? You are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out, ¹⁷ “When we played the flute, you did not dance; and when we sang a dirge, you did not mourn.” ¹⁸ What I mean is this: When John came, he dressed in the clothes of a prophet, and he did not eat and drink like others but lived on honey and wild locusts. And people wondered if he was crazy, if he had been possessed by a demon. ¹⁹ Then the Son of Man appeared—He didn’t fast, as John had, but ate with sinners and drank wine. And the people said, “This man is a glutton! He’s a drunk! And He hangs around with tax collectors and sinners, to boot.” Well, Wisdom will be vindicated by her actions—not by your opinions.

Jesus: ²¹ Woe to you, Chorazin! And woe to you, Bethsaida! Had I gone to Tyre and Sidon and performed miracles there, they would have repented immediately, taking on sackcloth and ashes. ²² But I tell you this: the people from Tyre and Sidon will fare better on the day of judgment than you will. ²³ And Capernaum! Do you think you will reign exalted in heaven? No, you’ll rot in hell. Had I gone to Sodom and worked miracles there, the people would have repented, and Sodom would still be standing, thriving, bustling. ²⁴ Well, you know what happened to Sodom. But know this—the people from Sodom will fare better on the day of judgment than you will.

Jesus: I praise You, Father—Lord of heaven and earth. You have revealed Your truths to the lowly and the ignorant, the children and the crippled, the lame and the mute. You have hidden wisdom from those who pride themselves on being so wise and learned. ²⁶ You did this, simply, because it pleased You. ²⁷ The Father has handed over everything to My care. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son—and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal the Father. ²⁸ Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Put My yoke upon your shoulders—it might appear heavy at first, but it is perfectly fitted to your curves. Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. When you are yoked to Me, your weary souls will find rest. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.