to a town called Nazareth, and lived there. And so what ·God had said [was spoken; ^Cthe passive verb implies God as subject] through the prophets ·came true [was fulfilled]: “He will be called a Nazarene [^Ca person from the town of Nazareth; perhaps a reference to Is. 11:1, where the Hebrew word translated “branch” sounds like “Nazarene”].”

Jesus answered, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘A person lives not on bread alone, but by ·everything God says [^Levery word that comes out of God’s mouth; Deut. 8:3].’”

“And when you pray, don’t be like ·those people who don’t know God [the pagans/Gentiles/heathen]. They ·continue saying things that mean nothing [babble; repeat empty phrases], thinking ·that God will hear them [^Lthey will be heard; ^Cthe passive verb implies God as subject] because of their many words.

You teach that person ·not to [that he need not] honor his father or his mother. You ·rejected [invalidated; canceled; nullified] ·what God said [^Lthe word of God] for the sake of your own ·rules [tradition].

The ·people [crowds] were walking ahead of Jesus and ·behind [following] him, shouting, “·Praise [^LHosanna! ^Ca Hebrew word originally used in praying for help, but by this time a joyful shout of praise to God] to the Son of David [^Ca title for the Messiah]! ·God bless [Blessed is] the One who comes in the name of the Lord [Ps. 118:26]! ·Praise to God in heaven [^LHosanna in the highest; ^Ceither “in highest heaven” or “to the Most High God”]!”

Jesus answered, “·Those are your words [^LYou have said it/so; ^Can indirect affirmation]. But I tell you, ·in the future [^Lfrom now on] you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God, the ·Powerful One [or the place of power; ^Lpower], and coming on ·clouds in the sky [the clouds of heaven; Ps. 110:1; Dan. 7:13–14].”

About ·three o’clock [^Lthe ninth hour] Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” This means, “My God, my God, why have you ·abandoned [forsaken] me [Ps. 22:1; ^Cthese words are a mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic]?”

Many people gathered together so that there was no room in the house, not even ·outside [near; in front of] the door. And Jesus was ·teaching them God’s message [^Lspeaking the word to them].

Sometimes the ·teaching [word; message] falls ·on the road [along the path]. This is like the people who hear the ·teaching of God [word; message], but Satan quickly comes and takes away the ·teaching [word; message] that was ·planted [sown] in them.

The people were walking ahead of Jesus and behind him, shouting, “·Praise God! [^LHosanna! ^CA Hebrew word originally used in praying for help, but by this time a joyful shout of praise to God.] ·God bless [Blessed is] the One who comes in the name of the Lord [Ps. 118:26]!

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength’ [Deut. 6:4–5; ^Cthese are the opening words of the Shema, the prayer said by pious Jews twice a day].

They have written the same things that ·we learned from [^Lwere handed down by] others—the ·people who saw those things [^Leyewitnesses] from the beginning and ·served God by telling people his message [^Lwere servants of the word; Acts 10:39–41; 1 John 1:1–3].

Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests [^CAnnas was the former high priest and father-in-law of Caiaphas, the official high priest]. At this time, ·the word of [a message from] God came to John son of Zechariah in the ·desert [wilderness].

Jesus’ First Followers

One day while Jesus was standing beside ·Lake Galilee [^Lthe Lake of Gennesaret; ^Canother name for the Sea of Galilee], many people were ·pressing [crowding] all around him to hear the word of God.

But Jesus said, “·No [^LRather; On the contrary], blessed are those who hear the ·teaching [word] of God and ·obey [practice; keep] it.”

Jesus said to them, “What ·are you talking about [^Lthings]?” They said, “About Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet ·who said and did many powerful things [^Lpowerful in deed and word] before God and all the people.

Christ Comes to the World

In the beginning [Gen. 1:1] ·there was the Word [the Word already existed; ^Cthe Word refers to Christ, God’s revelation of himself]. The Word was ·with [in the presence of; in intimate relationship with] God [^Cthe Father], and the Word was [fully] God.

The Word became ·a human [^Tflesh] and ·lived [made his home; pitched his tabernacle; ^CGod’s glorious presence dwelt in Israel’s tabernacle in the wilderness] among us. We saw his ·glory [majesty]—the glory that belongs to the ·only Son [one and only; ^Tonly begotten] ·of [who came from] the Father—and he was full of ·grace and truth [God’s gracious love and faithfulness; Ex. 34:5–7].

[^LFor] The One whom God sent speaks the words of God, because God gives him the Spirit ·fully [^Lwithout measure/limit].

Jesus ·said [answered; replied], “If you only knew the ·free gift [^Lgift] of God and who it is that is asking you ·for water [^L“Give me a drink”], you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” [^C“Living water” in Greek can mean fresh running water, but Jesus means “water which gives eternal life”; the woman misunderstands this play on words.]

The person who belongs to God ·accepts what God says [^Lhears/obeys the words of God]. But you don’t ·accept what God says [hear; obey], because you don’t belong to God.”

I did works among them that no one else has ever done. If I had not done these works, they would not be guilty of sin. [^CJesus’ words and actions resulted in their guilt because they rejected him despite the evidence (the “signs”) that God was working through him; see Matt. 11:20–24; Luke 11:31–32.] But now they have seen what I have done, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.

“·People of Israel [^LMen, Israelites], ·listen to [hear] these words: Jesus ·from Nazareth [or the Nazarene] was a very special man. God clearly ·showed [attested; pointed out] this to you by the ·miracles [mighty deeds], wonders, and signs he did through Jesus. You all know this, because it happened ·right here among you [^Lin your midst].

The ·twelve apostles [Twelve] called the whole group of ·followers [^Ldisciples] together and said, “It is not right for us to ·stop our work of teaching God’s word [^Lleave/abandon the word of God] in order to serve tables.

Then we [apostles] can ·continue [devote ourselves] to pray and to ·teach [^Lthe ministry/service of] the word of God.”