Build on the Rock^(A)

²⁴ “Therefore ^(B)whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ²⁵ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

²⁶ “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: ²⁷ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

²⁸ And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that ^(C)the people were astonished at His teaching, ^29 (D)for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus^(A)

²³ Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. ^24 (B)And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. ²⁵ Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

²⁶ But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then ^(C)He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ So the men marveled, saying, ^[a]“Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

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.

Jesus Heals Great Multitudes^(A)

^29 (B)Jesus departed from there, ^(C)skirted the Sea of Galilee, and went up on the mountain and sat down there. ^30 (D)Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, ^[a]maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ ^(E)feet, and He healed them. ³¹ So the multitude marveled when they saw the mute speaking, the ^[b]maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they ^(F)glorified the God of Israel.

The Fig Tree Withered^(A)

^18 (B)Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. ^19 (C)And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

The Lesson of the Withered Fig Tree^(D)

^20 (E)And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?”

The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?^(A)

^13 (B)Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. ¹⁴ When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and ^[a]care about no one; for You do not ^[b]regard the person of men, but teach the ^(C)way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? ¹⁵ Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?”

But He, knowing their ^(D)hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” ¹⁶ So they brought it.

And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”

¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said to them, ^[c]“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to ^(E)God the things that are God’s.”

And they marveled at Him.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth^(A)

¹⁶ So He came to ^(B)Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, ^(C)He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. ¹⁷ And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

²⁰ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. ²¹ And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is ^(F)fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² So all bore witness to Him, and ^(G)marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, ^(H)“Is this not Joseph’s son?”

A Boy Is Healed^(A)

^37 (B)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 ^[a]faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and ^[b]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^(C)

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 (D)“Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” ^45 (E)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.

A House Divided Cannot Stand^(A)

^14 (B)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.