The Model Prayer^(A)

11 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

² So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

A Friend Comes at Midnight

⁵ And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷ and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? ⁸ I say to you, ^(D)though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking^(E)

^9 (F)“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; ^(G)seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ^11 (H)If a son asks for ^[e]bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give ^(I)good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

A House Divided Cannot Stand^(J)

^14 (K)And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled. ¹⁵ But some of them said, ^(L)“He casts out demons by ^[f]Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

¹⁶ Others, testing Him, ^(M)sought from Him a sign from heaven. ^17 (N)But ^(O)He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls. ¹⁸ If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub. ¹⁹ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I cast out demons ^(P)with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. ^21 (Q)When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. ²² But ^(R)when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his ^[g]spoils. ^23 (S)He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

An Unclean Spirit Returns^(T)

^24 (U)“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶ Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and ^(V)the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

Keeping the Word

²⁷ And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ^(W)“Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!”

²⁸ But He said, ^(X)“More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Seeking a Sign^(Y)

^29 (Z)And while the crowds were thickly gathered together, He began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks a ^(AA)sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah ^[h]the prophet. ³⁰ For as ^(AB)Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation. ^31 (AC)The queen of the South will rise 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 indeed a ^(AD)greater than Solomon is here. ³² The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for ^(AE)they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

The Lamp of the Body^(AF)

^33 (AG)“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a ^(AH)basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. ^34 (AI)The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is ^[i]good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is ^[j]bad, your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵ Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. ³⁶ If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”

Woe to the Pharisees and Lawyers

³⁷ And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. ^38 (AJ)When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.

^39 (AK)Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but ^(AL)your inward part is full of ^[k]greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰ Foolish ones! Did not ^(AM)He who made the outside make the inside also? ^41 (AN)But rather give alms of ^[l]such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.

^42 (AO)“But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and ^(AP)pass by justice and the ^(AQ)love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ^43 (AR)Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the ^[m]best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. ^44 (AS)Woe to you, ^[n]scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ^(AT)For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them.”

⁴⁵ Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, “Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also.”

⁴⁶ And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! ^(AU)For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ^47 (AV)Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. ⁴⁸ In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹ Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ^(AW)‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰ that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, ^51 (AX)from the blood of Abel to ^(AY)the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

^52 (AZ)“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”

^53 [o]And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, ⁵⁴ lying in wait for Him, ^[p]and ^(BA)seeking to catch Him in something He might say, ^[q]that they might accuse Him.

Sending Out the Twelve^(A)

9 Then ^(B)He called His twelve disciples together and ^(C)gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. ^2 (D)He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. ^3 (E)And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.

^4 (F)“Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ^5 (G)And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, ^(H)shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

^6 (I)So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Herod Seeks to See Jesus^(J)

^7 (K)Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; 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, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again. ⁹ Herod said, “John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?” ^(L)So he sought to see Him.

Feeding the Five Thousand^(M)

^10 (N)And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. ^(O)Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. ¹¹ But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. ^12 (P)When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.”

¹³ But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.”

And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ For there were about five thousand men.

Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” ¹⁵ And they did so, and made them all sit down.

¹⁶ Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He ^(Q)blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. ¹⁷ So they all ate and were ^[a]filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ^(R)

^18 (S)And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹ So they answered and said, ^(T)“John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”

²⁰ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

^(U)Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection^(V)

^21 (W)And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, ²² saying, ^(X)“The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

Take Up the Cross and Follow Him^(Y)

^23 (Z)Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross ^[b]daily, and follow Me. ^24 (AA)For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ^25 (AB)For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ^26 (AC)For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ^(AD)ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. ^27 (AE)But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus Transfigured on the Mount^(AF)

^28 (AG)Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. ³⁰ And behold, two men talked with Him, who were ^(AH)Moses and ^(AI)Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of His ^[c]decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² But Peter and those with him ^(AJ)were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. ³³ Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three ^[d]tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

³⁴ While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the ^(AK)cloud. ³⁵ And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ^(AL)“This is ^[e]My beloved Son. ^(AM)Hear Him!” ³⁶ When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. ^(AN)But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.

A Boy Is Healed^(AO)

^37 (AP)Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. ³⁸ Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. ³⁹ And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. ⁴⁰ So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

⁴¹ Then Jesus answered and said, “O ^[f]faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and ^[g]bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.

Jesus Again Predicts His Death^(AQ)

⁴³ And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.

But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, ^44 (AR)“Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” ^45 (AS)But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.

Who Is the Greatest?^(AT)

^46 (AU)Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. ⁴⁷ And Jesus, ^(AV)perceiving the thought of their heart, took a ^(AW)little child and set him by Him, ⁴⁸ and said to them, ^(AX)“Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and ^(AY)whoever receives Me ^(AZ)receives Him who sent Me. ^(BA)For he who is least among you all will be great.”

Jesus Forbids Sectarianism^(BB)

^49 (BC)Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.”

⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for ^(BD)he who is not against ^[h]us is on ^[i]our side.”

A Samaritan Village Rejects the Savior

⁵¹ Now it came to pass, when the time had come for ^(BE)Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, ⁵² and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. ⁵³ But ^(BF)they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when His disciples ^(BG)James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, ^[j]just as ^(BH)Elijah did?”

⁵⁵ But He turned and rebuked them, ^[k]and said, “You do not know what manner of ^(BI)spirit you are of. ^56 [l]For ^(BJ)the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

The Cost of Discipleship^(BK)

^57 (BL)Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man ^(BM)has nowhere to lay His head.”

^59 (BN)Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹ And another also said, “Lord, ^(BO)I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”

⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is ^(BP)fit for the kingdom of God.”

The Seventy Sent Out

10 After these things the Lord appointed ^[m]seventy others also, and ^(BQ)sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. ² Then He said to them, ^(BR)“The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore ^(BS)pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. ³ Go your way; ^(BT)behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. ^4 (BU)Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and ^(BV)greet no one along the road. ^5 (BW)But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ ⁶ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. ^7 (BX)And remain in the same house, ^(BY)eating and drinking such things as they give, for ^(BZ)the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. ⁸ Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. ^9 (CA)And heal the sick there, and say to them, ^(CB)‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ^11 (CC)‘The very dust of your city which clings to ^[n]us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ ^12 [o]But I say to you that ^(CD)it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.

Woe to the Impenitent Cities^(CE)

^13 (CF)“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! ^(CG)For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done 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 (CH)And you, Capernaum, ^[p]who are ^(CI)exalted to heaven, ^(CJ)will be brought down to Hades. ^16 (CK)He who hears you hears Me, ^(CL)he who rejects you rejects Me, and ^(CM)he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”

The Seventy Return with Joy

¹⁷ Then ^(CN)the ^[q]seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

¹⁸ And He said to them, ^(CO)“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹ Behold, ^(CP)I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. ²⁰ Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but ^[r]rather rejoice because ^(CQ)your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Rejoices in the Spirit^(CR)

^21 (CS)In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. ^22 (CT)All^[s] things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and ^(CU)no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

²³ Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, ^(CV)“Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; ²⁴ for I tell you ^(CW)that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”

The Parable of the Good Samaritan^(CX)

²⁵ And behold, a certain ^[t]lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, ^(CY)“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”

²⁷ So he answered and said, ^(CZ)“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ^(DA)‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and ^(DB)you will live.”

²⁹ But he, wanting to ^(DC)justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among ^[u]thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. ³¹ Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, ^(DD)he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. ³³ But a certain ^(DE)Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had ^(DF)compassion. ³⁴ So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵ On the next day, ^[v]when he departed, he took out two ^(DG)denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ ³⁶ So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”

³⁷ And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”

Then Jesus said to him, ^(DH)“Go and do likewise.”

Mary and Martha Worship and Serve

³⁸ Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named ^(DI)Martha welcomed Him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, ^(DJ)who also ^(DK)sat at ^[w]Jesus’ feet and heard His word. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

⁴¹ And ^[x]Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴² But ^(DL)one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”