Difficult Cases

Moses said to Israel:

^8-12 It may be difficult to find out the truth in some legal cases in your town. You may not be able to decide if someone was killed accidentally or murdered. Or you may not be able to tell whether an injury or some property damage was done by accident or on purpose. If the case is too difficult, take it to the court at the place where the Lord your God chooses to be worshiped.

This court will be made up of one judge and several priests^[a] who serve at the Lord's altar. They will explain the law to you and give you their decision about the case. Do exactly what they tell you, or you will be put to death. ¹³ When other Israelites hear about it, they will be afraid and obey the decisions of the court.

^19 (A) I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth. But he will not allow anything you don't allow.

Who Is the Greatest?

(Matthew 18.1-5; Mark 9.33-37)

^46 (A) Jesus' disciples were arguing about which one of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷ Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he had a child stand there beside him. ^48 (B) Then he said to his disciples, “When you welcome even a child because of me, you welcome me. And when you welcome me, you welcome the one who sent me. Whichever one of you is the most humble is the greatest.”

An Argument about Greatness

^24 (A) The apostles got into an argument about which one of them was the greatest. ^25 (B) So Jesus told them:

Foreign kings order their people around, and powerful rulers call themselves everyone's friends.^{[a] 26 (C)} But don't be like them. The most important one of you should be like the least important, and your leader should be like a servant. ^27 (D) Who do people think is the greatest, a person who is served or one who serves? Isn't it the one who is served? But I have been with you as a servant.

²⁸ You have stayed with me in all my troubles. ²⁹ So I will give you the right to rule as kings, just as my Father has given me the right to rule as a king. ^30 (E) You will eat and drink with me in my kingdom, and you will each sit on a throne to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus at a Wedding in Cana

2 Three days later Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at a wedding feast in the village of Cana in Galilee. ² Jesus and his disciples had also been invited and were there.

³ When the wine was all gone, Mary said to Jesus, “They don't have any more wine.”

⁴ Jesus replied, “Mother, my time hasn't yet come!^[a] You must not tell me what to do.”

⁵ Mary then said to the servants, “Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.”

⁶ At the feast there were six stone water jars that were used by the people for washing themselves in the way that their religion said they must. Each jar held about 100 liters. ⁷ Jesus told the servants to fill them to the top with water. Then after the jars had been filled, ⁸ he said, “Now take some water and give it to the man in charge of the feast.”

The servants did as Jesus told them, ⁹ and the man in charge drank some of the water that had now turned into wine. He did not know where the wine had come from, but the servants did. He called the bridegroom over ¹⁰ and said, “The best wine is always served first. Then after the guests have had plenty, the other wine is served. But you have kept the best until last!”

¹¹ This was Jesus' first miracle,^[b] and he did it in the village of Cana in Galilee. There Jesus showed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. ^12 (A) After this, he went with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples to the town of Capernaum, where they stayed for a few days.

Jesus in the Temple

(Matthew 21.12,13; Mark 11.15-17; Luke 19.45,46)

^13 (B) Not long before the Jewish festival of Passover, Jesus went to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ There he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves in the temple. He also saw moneychangers sitting at their tables. ¹⁵ So he took some rope and made a whip. Then he chased everyone out of the temple, together with their sheep and cattle. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins.

¹⁶ Jesus said to the people who had been selling doves, “Get those doves out of here! Don't make my Father's house a marketplace.”

^17 (C) The disciples then remembered that the Scriptures say, “My love for your house burns in me like a fire.”

¹⁸ The Jewish leaders asked Jesus, “What miracle^[c] will you work to show us why you have done this?”

^19 (D) “Destroy this temple,” Jesus answered, “and in three days I will build it again!”

²⁰ The leaders replied, “It took 46 years to build this temple. What makes you think you can rebuild it in three days?”

²¹ But Jesus was talking about his body as a temple. ²² And when he was raised from death, his disciples remembered what he had told them. Then they believed the Scriptures and the words of Jesus.

Jesus Knows What People Are Like

²³ In Jerusalem during Passover many people put their faith in Jesus, because they saw him work miracles.^{[d] 24} But Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and he would not let them have power over him. ²⁵ No one had to tell him what people were like. He already knew.