The Beatitudes^(A)

5 And seeing the multitudes, ^(B)He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. ² Then He opened His mouth and ^(C)taught them, saying:

^11 (N)Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of ^(O)evil against you falsely for My sake. ^12 (P)Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for ^(Q)so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Believers Are Salt and Light^(R)

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; ^(S)but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

^14 (T)“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they ^(U)light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, ^(V)that they may see your good works and ^(W)glorify your Father in heaven.

Christ Fulfills the Law

^17 (X)“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For assuredly, I say to you, ^(Y)till heaven and earth pass away, one ^[b]jot or one ^[c]tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. ^19 (Z)Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds ^(AA)the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Murder Begins in the Heart^(AB)

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those ^[d]of old, ^(AC)‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that ^(AD)whoever is angry with his brother ^[e]without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ^(AE)‘Raca!’^[f] shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ^[g]‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of ^[h]hell fire. ²³ Therefore ^(AF)if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ^24 (AG)leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ^25 (AH)Agree with your adversary quickly, ^(AI)while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.

Adultery in the Heart

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said ^[i]to those of old, ^(AJ)‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that whoever ^(AK)looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ^29 (AL)If your right eye causes you to ^[j]sin, ^(AM)pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to ^[k]sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Marriage Is Sacred and Binding^(AN)

³¹ “Furthermore it has been said, ^(AO)‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³² But I say to you that ^(AP)whoever divorces his wife for any reason except ^[l]sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

Jesus Forbids Oaths

³³ “Again you have heard that ^(AQ)it was said to those of ^[m]old, ^(AR)‘You shall not swear falsely, but ^(AS)shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, ^(AT)do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is ^(AU)God’s throne; ³⁵ nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of ^(AV)the great King. ³⁶ Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. ^37 (AW)But let ^[n]your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

Go the Second Mile^(AX)

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ^(AY)‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ^39 (AZ)But I tell you not to resist an evil person. ^(BA)But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. ⁴¹ And whoever ^(BB)compels you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks you, and ^(BC)from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

Love Your Enemies^(BD)

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ^(BE)‘You shall love your neighbor ^(BF)and hate your enemy.’ ^44 [o]But I say to you, ^(BG)love your enemies, bless those who curse you, ^(BH)do good to those who hate you, and pray ^(BI)for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for ^(BJ)He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ^46 (BK)For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet your ^[p]brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the ^[q]tax collectors do so? ^48 (BL)Therefore you shall be perfect, just ^(BM)as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic^(A)

9 So He got into a boat, crossed over, ^(B)and came to His own city. ^2 (C)Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. ^(D)When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

³ And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”

⁴ But Jesus, ^(E)knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” ⁷ And he arose and departed to his house.

⁸ Now when the multitudes saw it, they ^(F)marveled^[a] and glorified God, who had given such power to men.

Matthew the Tax Collector^(G)

^9 (H)As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

^10 (I)Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with ^(J)tax collectors and ^(K)sinners?”

¹² When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ But go and learn what this means: ^(L)‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, ^(M)but sinners, ^[b]to repentance.”

Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting^(N)

¹⁴ Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, ^(O)“Why do we and the Pharisees fast ^[c]often, but Your disciples do not fast?”

¹⁵ And Jesus said to them, “Can ^(P)the ^[d]friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and ^(Q)then they will fast. ¹⁶ No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for ^[e]the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. ¹⁷ Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins ^[f]break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed^(R)

^18 (S)While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.” ¹⁹ So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His ^(T)disciples.

^20 (U)And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and ^(V)touched the hem of His garment. ²¹ For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” ²² But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; ^(W)your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

^23 (X)When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw ^(Y)the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, ²⁴ He said to them, ^(Z)“Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him. ²⁵ But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and ^(AA)took her by the hand, and the girl arose. ²⁶ And the ^(AB)report of this went out into all that land.

Two Blind Men Healed

²⁷ When Jesus departed from there, ^(AC)two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, ^(AD)“Son of David, have mercy on us!”

²⁸ And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

²⁹ Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” ³⁰ And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, ^(AE)“See that no one knows it.” ^31 (AF)But when they had departed, they ^[g]spread the news about Him in all that ^[h]country.

A Mute Man Speaks

^32 (AG)As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. ³³ And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, ^(AH)“He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

The Compassion of Jesus^(AI)

³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, ^(AJ)teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease ^[i]among the people. ^36 (AK)But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were ^[j]weary and scattered, ^(AL)like sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, ^(AM)“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ^38 (AN)Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”