Beginning
Jesus teaches about the Jewish day of rest
6 On a Jewish day of rest, Jesus and his disciples were walking through some fields where wheat was growing. His disciples began to pick some of the wheat. They were rubbing it between their hands and eating the seeds.
2 Some of the Pharisees were walking with them. They said, ‘You should not be doing that on our day of rest. It is against God's Law.’
3 Jesus replied, ‘You have certainly read about what David did one day. He and the men who were with him were hungry. 4 He went into the temple. He took the special bread that was there. It is against God's Law for anyone except the priests to eat that bread. But David ate some of it. He gave some of the bread to his men to eat as well.’
5 Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man has authority over the Law about the day of rest.’[a]
Jesus makes a man well on the day of rest
6 On another Jewish day of rest, Jesus went into the Jewish meeting place and he taught the people. A man was there. His right hand had become small and weak and he could not use it. 7 Some teachers of God's Law and some Pharisees were watching Jesus carefully. They wanted to find a reason to say that he was doing something wrong. So they watched Jesus to see if he would make the man well on the day of rest. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said to the man, ‘Get up and stand in front of everyone.’ The man got up and he stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to the people, ‘Let me ask you something. Is it right for us to do good things on our day of rest? Or should we do bad things? Should we save a person's life? Or should we destroy their life?’ 10 Jesus looked round at everyone. Then he said to the man, ‘Lift up your hand.’ When the man lifted his hand, it became well. He could use it again.
11 Then the Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law were very angry. They began to talk to each other about what they could do to Jesus.
Jesus chooses 12 men
12 One day Jesus went up a mountain to pray. He remained there all night and he was praying to God. 13 In the morning, he asked all his disciples to come to him. Then he chose 12 of them and he called them his apostles.[b] These are their names:
14 Simon (Jesus gave him the name ‘Peter’),
Andrew (he was Simon's brother),
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
15 Matthew,
Thomas,
James, the son of Alphaeus,
Simon the Zealot,
16 Judas, son of James,
Judas Iscariot, who later gave Jesus to his enemies.
Jesus teaches people
17 After Jesus had chosen these 12 men, they all came down the mountain. He stopped and he stood on a flat place. A large crowd of his disciples stood around him. There were also many people from Jerusalem, and from other towns of Judea, and from places on the coast near Tyre and Sidon. 18 These people had all come to hear Jesus teach. Those people who were ill wanted him to make them well. He also made well those people who had bad spirits. 19 All the people were trying to touch him, because he was using great power to make each person well.
20 Jesus looked at his disciples. He spoke this message to them:
‘Happy are you people that are poor. The kingdom of God belongs to you.[c]
21 Happy are you people that are hungry now. God will feed you until you are full.[d]
Happy are you people that are crying now. Later, you will laugh.[e]
22 People may hate you, because you believe in me, the Son of Man. They may say bad things against you and make you go away from them. They may say that you are very bad. When that happens, be happy. 23 God will prepare many good things for you in heaven. So be very happy when people do these bad things to you! Jump up and down because you are so happy. Their ancestors did the same bad things to God's prophets long ago.
24 Listen, you that are rich.
You have a comfortable life now, but it will be very bad for you.
25 Listen, you that are full with food now.
It will be very bad for you and you will be hungry.
Listen, you that are laughing now.
It will be very bad for you. You will be sad and you will cry.
26 If people always say good things about you now, it will be very bad for you. Their ancestors also said good things about the false prophets long ago.’
Love people that want to hurt you
27 Jesus then said, ‘I say this to you who are listening carefully to me: Love the people who want to hurt you. Do good things to people that hate you. 28 Say good things to people that say bad things against you. Pray for people who give you pain.
29 Someone may slap you on one side of your face. Then you should let him slap the other side of your face too. Someone may take away your coat. If he does, do not stop him from taking your shirt too. 30 When anyone asks you for something, give it to him. Someone may take something that belongs to you. If he does, let him keep it. Do not ask to have it back again. 31 Do the good things for other people that you would want them to do for you.
32 Do you only love people who love you? God will not praise you just for doing that! Even bad people love those people who love them. 33 Do you only do good things to people that do good things to you? God will not praise you just for doing that! Even bad people do the same thing. 34 Do you lend things only to people that will give your things back to you? God will not praise you for doing that! Even bad people lend things to other people when they believe that they will get them back again. 35 No! I am telling you to love people that want to hurt you. Do good things to them. Lend things to people even though you may not receive your things back again. Then God will prepare good things for you. He is kind even to people who do not say “thank you”. He is kind even to very bad people. If you live like this, you will show that you really are children of the powerful God who is over all. 36 You should be kind to other people, as God your Father is kind.
37 Do not say to anyone, “You are a bad person.” Then God will not say to you, “You are a bad person.” Do not say to anyone, “God should punish you because you are bad.” Then God will not say that you are guilty. Forgive other people and God will forgive you. 38 Give to other people and God will give to you. He will give to you even more than you gave. He will fill your pocket until no more will go in.[f] It will be so full that it will come out over the top. Think about how you give to other people. God will give in the same way to you.’
39 Jesus also used a story to teach the people. He said, ‘A blind person cannot lead another blind person. If he does, then both of them will fall into a deep hole.
40 A student is not more important than his teacher is. But each student who has learned everything will be like his teacher.
41 Perhaps you want to tell a friend about his little mistake. If you want to tell him, first remember your own bigger mistakes. 42 If you do not do that, you will be like a person who has a big piece of wood in his eye. But then he says to his friend, “My friend, you have a little piece of dirt in your eye. Let me take it out for you.” Do not be like that person. You think you are better than your friend. But you are not. First, you must take the big piece of wood out of your eye. After that, your eyes will be clear and you will see well. Then you can take the small piece of dirt out of your friend's eye.’
A story about a tree and its fruit
43 Jesus said, ‘Good trees only make good fruit. Bad trees only make bad fruit. 44 In this way you can know if a tree is good or bad. You can know this by the fruit that the tree makes. Figs and grapes do not grow on thorn bushes.
45 People are also like that. A good man keeps good things in his mind. In his life, he brings those good things out from there. But a bad man keeps bad things in his mind. He brings those bad thoughts out from there. When a person speaks, his words show what is really in his mind.’
A story about men that are building a house
46 Jesus said, ‘If you refuse to obey me, do not call me, “Master, Master.” 47 Some people come to me. They listen to my message and they obey it. Let me tell you what those people are like. They are like a man who built a house. 48 This man dug down in the ground to the rock. He put the first line of stones on the rock. After that, he built the house on top of the rock. Then a storm came and it brought a lot of water. The water hit the house but it could not move it. The water could not move the house because the man had built it very well.
49 Some other people hear my message but they do not obey it. Those people are like another man who built a house. This man did not dig down deep to the rock. Instead, he put the first line of stones on the top of the ground. Then he built his house on them. A storm came and it brought a lot of water. It hit that house and it fell down immediately. The water completely destroyed it.’
A Roman officer believes that Jesus can help him
7 After Jesus had finished speaking to the people, he went to Capernaum.[g] 2 A Roman officer there had a servant that he liked very much. The servant was very ill and he was dying.
3 The officer heard about Jesus, so he sent some important Jews to speak to him. ‘Please go to Jesus,’ he said to them. ‘I would like him to make my servant well. Ask him if he would come to do that.’ 4 The Jewish leaders went to Jesus. They asked him, ‘Please would you do something to help this Roman officer. 5 He loves the Jewish people. He himself built a meeting place for us.’
6 So Jesus went with them. When he was not very far away from the house, the officer sent some friends to talk to him. He told them to say to Jesus, ‘Sir, I do not want to be a trouble to you. I am not good enough for you to come into my house. 7 That is why I did not come to talk to you myself. Instead, just say that my servant will get better. I know that he will then be well again. 8 In my work, someone has authority over me. I also have authority over other soldiers. I say to one soldier, “Go!” and he goes. I say to another one, “Come!” and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do this!” and he does it.’
9 When Jesus heard this message from the officer, he was very surprised. He turned towards the crowd that was following him. He said to them, ‘I tell you, I have not found anyone like this man in all of Israel. Nobody else believes in me as well as he does.’
10 The friends of the officer then returned to his house. When they arrived there, they saw that the servant was well again.
Jesus makes a dead man alive again
11 The next day, Jesus went to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large group of other people went with him. 12 When he had almost reached the gate of the town, lots of people were coming out. They were carrying a dead man on a wooden board. They were taking him to bury him. His mother had no other sons and her husband was also dead. A large crowd of people from the town was going with her.
13 When the Lord Jesus saw her, he felt very sorry for her. He said to her, ‘Do not cry.’ 14 He went to the board and he touched it. The people who were carrying the dead man stopped. Jesus said, ‘Young man, I am telling you, get up!’ 15 Immediately, the dead man sat up and he began to talk. Jesus then gave him back to his mother.
16 Everyone there was very afraid. They praised God and said, ‘A great prophet of God has appeared among us. God has come to save his people!’
17 This news about Jesus went everywhere in Judea. The people in the places that were near there also heard about it.
Jesus talks about John the Baptist
18 Then some disciples of John the Baptist went to visit him in prison. They told him about all the things that Jesus was doing. So John chose two of them to go to the Lord Jesus for him. 19 He said to them, ‘I want you to ask Jesus, “Are you the special person that God is sending to us? If not, should we still look for someone else?” ’
20 So the two men came to Jesus. They said to him, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you. He wants us to ask you, “Are you the special person that God has promised to send to us? If not, should we still look for someone else?” ’
21 At that time, Jesus was making many people well. They had many different illnesses. Some had bad spirits in them. Jesus also caused many blind people to see again. 22 Then he said to the two men that John had sent, ‘Go back to John. Tell him what you have seen. Tell him what you have heard. Blind people can now see again. People that could not walk can now walk again. People who had a bad disease of the skin are now well again. Deaf people can now hear again. People who had died now live again. Poor people are hearing God's good news. 23 If anyone believes in me and does not turn away, he will be really happy.’[h]
24 The two disciples of John then left. Jesus spoke to the crowd about John. He said to them, ‘You went out to the wilderness. What did you go there to see? Was it a tall piece of grass which the wind was blowing this way and that? No, you did not go to see that. 25 Did you go to see a man who was wearing expensive clothes? No! People like that do not live in the wilderness. They have many beautiful things and they live in great houses. 26 So what did you go to see? Did you go to see a prophet sent by God? Yes! But I tell you, John was even more important than a prophet. 27 This is what they wrote about him a long time ago in the Bible, when God said:
“Listen! I will send someone to go in front of you.
He will speak my message.
He will prepare a way for you.” ’[i]
28 Jesus also said to the people, ‘I tell you, John is greater than any person who has ever lived up to now. But now anyone who belongs in the kingdom of God is greater than John, even the least important of them.’[j]
29 Many people heard what Jesus said. Even the men who took taxes from people agreed with his message. They had gone to John to baptize them. They all said, ‘What God says about us is right.’ 30 But the Pharisees and the men that studied God's Law had not asked John to baptize them. They did not believe the message that God was giving to them.
31 Jesus continued to teach. He said, ‘I will talk to you about the people that are alive today. I will tell you what they are like. 32 They are like children who are sitting in the market place. They are playing games. They shout to other children,
“We made happy music on a flute for you,
but you did not dance.
Then we sang a sad song but you did not cry.”
33 You are like those children. When John the Baptist came to you, he did not eat ordinary food. He never drank wine. So you say that John has a bad spirit in him. 34 Then I, the Son of Man, came. I eat meals with other people and I drink wine. So you say about me, “Look at this man! He eats too much and he drinks too much. He is a friend of bad people and men who take taxes from people.” 35 But God is wise and good. Wise people understand and they show that God is right.’[k]
A woman pours expensive oil on Jesus
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat a meal with him. So Jesus went to the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. 37 In that town was a woman who had done many wrong things. She heard that Jesus was eating a meal at the house of the Pharisee. So she took a small stone jar with oil in it, and she went there. The oil had a very nice smell. 38 She went into the house and she stood behind Jesus. She was crying and she made his feet wet with her tears. Then she made his feet dry again with her hair and she kissed them. She then poured the oil out of the jar onto his feet. 39 When the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, ‘This man cannot be a prophet from God. If he were, he would know all about this woman. He would know that she is a very bad person. He would not let her touch him.’
40 Jesus said to him, ‘Simon, I want to tell you something.’ Simon replied, ‘Yes, Teacher, tell me.’ So Jesus told him a story about two men:
41 ‘Someone had lent two men some money. He had lent one of them 500 silver coins. He had lent the other one 50 coins.[l] 42 Neither of the men had enough money to pay him back. Then the man that had lent them the money forgave them. “You do not need to pay back my money,” he said to them both.’
Jesus then asked Simon, ‘Which of these two men will love that man most?’ 43 Simon replied, ‘I think that it is the man that needed to pay back the most money.’
‘You are right,’ Jesus said. 44 Then he turned towards the woman. ‘You see this woman,’ he said to Simon. ‘When I came into your house, you did not give me water for my feet.[m] But she has washed my feet with her tears and she has made them dry with her hair. 45 You did not say “Hello” to me with a kiss. But this woman began to kiss my feet when she came in. And she has not stopped. 46 You did not put oil on my head. But she has brought oil with a nice smell and put it on my feet. 47 So I tell you, this woman has done many bad things. But I have forgiven her. She loves me a lot, because I have forgiven her for many bad things. If I only forgive someone a little, that person only loves me a little.’
48 Then Jesus said to the woman, ‘Woman, I forgive you for all the bad things that you have done.’
49 The other people at the meal talked among themselves. They said, ‘Who is this man? Can he really forgive the bad things that people have done?’
50 Jesus said to the woman, ‘You have believed in me, so God has saved you. You may go now, and be happy.’
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