¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. ²⁰ God^[a] put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,^[b](A)

¹⁶ When the scribes of^[a] the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat^[b] with tax collectors and sinners?”^{(A) 17} When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”^(B)

⁹ And he said, “If you have ears to hear, then hear!”^(A)

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. ¹¹ And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret^[a] of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables,^{(B) 12} in order that

¹³ And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables?

²⁵ Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Messiah^[a] should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”^{(A) 27} Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.^(B)

Dedication to Theophilus

1 Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative about the events that have been fulfilled among us, ² just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word,^{(A) 3} I, too, decided, as one having a grasp of everything from the start,^[a] to write a well-ordered account for you, most excellent Theophilus,^{(B) 4} so that you may have a firm grasp of the words in which you have been instructed.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach^{(A) 2} until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.^(B)

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

¹⁴ Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding region.^{(A) 15} He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.^(B)

The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth

¹⁶ When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,^{(C) 17} and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.^{(F) 21} Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The Good News of Deliverance

¹⁸ And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, ¹⁹ but the cares of the age and the lure of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing.