Beginning

Jesus Teaches about the Day of Rest ^(A)

6 On the next Day of Rest Jesus was walking through the grain-fields. His followers picked grain. They rubbed it in their hands and ate it. ² Some of the proud religious law-keepers said to them, “Why are you doing what the Law says should not be done on the Day of Rest?” ³ Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his men were hungry? ⁴ He went into the house of God and ate the special bread used in the religious worship. He gave some to those who were with him also. The Law says only the religious leaders may eat that bread. ⁵ The Son of Man is Lord of the Day of Rest also.”

Jesus Heals on the Day of Rest ^(B)

⁶ On another Day of Rest Jesus went into the Jewish place of worship and taught. A man with a dried-up hand was there. ⁷ The teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers watched to see if He would heal on the Day of Rest. They wanted to have something to say against Him. ⁸ Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to the man with the dried-up hand, “Stand up and come here.” The man stood up and went to Jesus. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing. Does the Law say to do good on the Day of Rest or to do bad? To save life or to kill?” ¹⁰ Jesus looked around at them all and said to the man, “Put out your hand.” He put it out and his hand was healed. It was as good as his other hand. ¹¹ The teachers of the Law and the proud religious law-keepers were filled with anger. They talked with each other about what they might do to Jesus.

Jesus Calls His Twelve Followers ^(C)

¹² One day Jesus went up on a mountain to pray. He prayed all night to God. ¹³ In the morning He called His followers to Him. He chose twelve of them and called them. ¹⁴ There were Simon, whom He also named Peter, and his brother Andrew. There were James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas. There were James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Canaanite. ¹⁶ There were Judas, who was the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot who would hand Jesus over to be killed.

Jesus Heals Many People ^(D)

¹⁷ Then Jesus came down and stood on a plain with many of His followers. Many people came from the country of Judea and from Jerusalem and from the cities of Tyre and Sidon. They came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. ¹⁸ Those who were troubled with demons came and were healed. ¹⁹ All the people tried to put their hands on Jesus. Power came from Him and He healed them all.

Jesus Teaches on the Mountain ^(E)

²⁰ He looked at His followers and said, “Those of you who are poor are happy, because the holy nation of God is yours. ²¹ Those of you who are hungry now are happy, because you will be filled. Those of you who have sorrow now are happy, because you will laugh. ²² You are happy when men hate you and do not want you around and put shame on you because you trust in Me. ²³ Be glad in that day. Be full of joy for your reward is much in heaven. Their fathers did these things to the early preachers.

²⁴ “It is bad for you who are rich. You are receiving all that you will get. ²⁵ It is bad for you who are full. You will be hungry. It is bad for you who laugh now. You will have sorrow and you will cry. ²⁶ It is bad for you when everyone speaks well of you. In the same way, their fathers spoke well of the false teachers.

Jesus Teaches What the Law Says about Love

²⁷ “I say to you who hear Me, love those who work against you. Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Respect and give thanks for those who try to bring bad to you. Pray for those who make it very hard for you. ²⁹ Whoever hits you on one side of the face, turn so he can hit the other side also. Whoever takes your coat, give him your shirt also. ³⁰ Give to any person who asks you for something. If a person takes something from you, do not ask for it back. ³¹ Do for other people what you would like to have them do for you.

³² “If you love those who love you, what pay can you expect from that? Sinners also love those who love them. ³³ If you do good to those who do good to you, what pay can you expect from that? Sinners also do good to those who do good to them. ³⁴ If you let people use your things and expect to get something back, what pay can you expect from that? Even sinners let sinners use things and they expect to get something back. ³⁵ But love those who hate you. Do good to them. Let them use your things and do not expect something back. Your reward will be much. You will be the children of the Most High. He is kind to those who are not thankful and to those who are full of sin.

Jesus Teaches about Finding Bad in Others

³⁶ “You must have loving-kindness just as your Father has loving-kindness. ³⁷ Do not say what is wrong in other people’s lives. Then other people will not say what is wrong in your life. Do not say someone is guilty. Then other people will not say you are guilty. Forgive other people and other people will forgive you.

³⁸ “Give, and it will be given to you. You will have more than enough. It can be pushed down and shaken together and it will still run over as it is given to you. The way you give to others is the way you will receive in return.”

³⁹ Jesus used a picture-story as He spoke to them. He said, “Can one blind man lead another blind man? Will they not fall into the ditch together? ⁴⁰ The follower is not more important than his teacher. But everyone who learns well will be like his teacher.

Jesus Teaches about Saying What Is Wrong in Others

⁴¹ “Why do you look at the small piece of wood in your brother’s eye and do not see the big piece of wood in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take that small piece of wood out of your eye,’ when you do not see the big piece of wood in your own eye? You pretend to be someone you are not. First, take the big piece of wood out of your own eye. Then you can see better to take the small piece of wood out of your brother’s eye.

Jesus Teaches about False Teachers

⁴³ “A good tree cannot have bad fruit. A bad tree cannot have good fruit. ⁴⁴ For every tree is known by its own fruit. Men do not gather figs from thorns. They do not gather grapes from thistles. ⁴⁵ Good comes from a good man because of the riches he has in his heart. Sin comes from a sinful man because of the sin he has in his heart. The mouth speaks of what the heart is full of.

Jesus Teaches about Houses Built on Rock and Sand

⁴⁶ “And why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ Whoever comes to Me and hears and does what I say, I will show you who he is like. ⁴⁸ He is like a man who built a house. He dug deep to put the building on rock. When the water came up and the river beat against the house, the building could not be shaken because it was built on rock. ⁴⁹ But he who hears and does not do what I say, is like a man who built a house on nothing but earth. The water beat against the house. At once it fell and was destroyed.”

The Healing of the Captain’s Helper ^(F)

7 When Jesus had finished teaching the people, He went back to Capernaum. ² A captain of the army had a servant whom he thought much of. This servant was very sick and was about to die. ³ When the captain heard of Jesus, he sent some Jewish leaders to Him. They were to ask if He would come and heal this servant. ⁴ They came to Jesus and begged Him, saying, “The man is respected and should have this done for him. ⁵ He loves our nation and has built our Jewish place of worship.”

⁶ Jesus went with them. When He was not far from the house, the captain told some friends to tell this to Jesus, “Lord, do not take the time to come to my house, because I am not good enough. ⁷ And I am not good enough to come to You. But just say the word and my servant will be healed. ⁸ For I am a man who works for someone else also, and I have soldiers who work for me. I say to this man, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I say to my workman, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

⁹ Jesus was surprised when He heard this. He turned to the people following Him and said, “I tell you, I have not found so much faith even in the Jewish nation.” ¹⁰ Those who had been sent went back to the captain’s house and found the servant well again.

The Son of a Woman Whose Husband Had Died Was Raised from the Dead

¹¹ The next day Jesus went to a city called Nain. His followers and many other people went with Him. ¹² When they came near the city gate, a dead man was being carried out. He was the only son of a woman whose husband had died. Many people of the city were with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, He had loving-pity for her and said, “Do not cry.” ¹⁴ He went and put His hand on the box in which the dead man was carried. The men who were carrying it, stopped. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ¹⁵ The man who was dead sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Everyone was afraid and they gave thanks to God. They said, “A great Man Who speaks for God has come among us! God has cared for His people!” ¹⁷ The news about Jesus went through all the country of Judea and over all the land.

John the Baptist Asks about Jesus ^(G)

¹⁸ The followers of John the Baptist told him about all these things. ¹⁹ John called two of his followers and sent them to Jesus to ask, “Are You the One Who is to come? Or are we to look for another?” ²⁰ The men came to Jesus and said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask You, ‘Are You the One Who is to come? Or are we to look for another?’”

²¹ At that time Jesus was healing many people of all kinds of sickness and disease and was putting out demons. Many that were blind were able to see. ²² Jesus said to John’s followers, “Go back to John the Baptist and tell him what you have seen and heard. Tell him the blind are made to see. Those who could not walk, are walking. Those with a bad skin disease are healed. Those who could not hear, are hearing. The dead are raised to life and poor people have the Good News preached to them. ²³ The person who is not ashamed of Me and does not turn away from Me is happy.”

Jesus Tells about John the Baptist ^(H)

²⁴ As John’s followers were going away, Jesus began to tell the people about John the Baptist. He said, “Why did you go out to the desert? Did you go out to see a small tree moving in the wind? ²⁵ What did you go out to see? A man dressed in good clothes? Those who are dressed in good clothes are in the houses of kings. ²⁶ But what did you go to see? One who speaks for God? Yes, I tell you, he is more than one who speaks for God. ²⁷ This is the man the Holy Writings spoke of when they said, ‘See! I will send My helper to carry news ahead of You. He will make Your way ready for You!’ ^(I)

²⁸ “I tell you, of those born of women, there is no one greater than John the Baptist. The least in the holy nation of God is greater than he.”

²⁹ All the people who heard Jesus and those who gathered taxes showed they knew God was right and were baptized by John. ³⁰ But the proud religious law-keepers and the men who knew the Law would not listen. They would not be baptized by John and they did not receive what God had for them.

Jesus Speaks Against the People of This Day

³¹ Then the Lord said, “What are the people of this day like? ³² They are like children playing in front of stores. They call to their friends, ‘We have played music for you, but you did not dance. We have had sorrow for you, but you did not have sorrow.’ ³³ John the Baptist did not come eating bread or drinking wine and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you say, ‘See! He likes food and wine. He is a friend of men who gather taxes and of sinners!’ ³⁵ Wisdom is shown to be right by those who are wise.”

A Woman Puts Special Perfume on the Feet of Jesus

³⁶ One of the proud religious law-keepers wanted Jesus to eat with him. Jesus went to his house and sat down to eat. ³⁷ There was a woman in the city who was a sinner. She knew Jesus was eating in the house of the proud religious law-keeper. She brought a jar of special perfume. ³⁸ Then she stood behind Him by His feet and cried. Her tears wet His feet and she dried them with her hair. She kissed His feet and put the special perfume on them.

³⁹ The proud religious law-keeper who had asked Jesus to eat with him saw this. He said to himself, “If this Man were One Who speaks for God, He would know who and what kind of a woman put her hands on Him. She is a sinner.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to him, “I have something to say to you, Simon.” And Simon said, “Teacher, say it.”

⁴¹ “There were two men who owed a certain man some money. The one man owed 500 pieces of silver money. The other man owed 50 pieces of silver money. ⁴² Neither one of them had any money, so he told them they did not have to pay him back. Tell Me, which one would love him the most?” ⁴³ Simon said, “I think it would be the one who owed the most.” And Jesus said to him, “You have said the right thing.”

⁴⁴ He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house and you gave Me no water to wash My feet. She washed My feet with her tears and dried them with the hairs of her head. ⁴⁵ You gave me no kiss, but this woman has kissed my feet from the time I came in. ⁴⁶ You did not put even oil on My head but this woman has put special perfume on My feet. ⁴⁷ I tell you, her many sins are forgiven because she loves much. But the one who has been forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸ Then He said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ Those who were eating with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this Man Who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you from the punishment of sin. Go in peace.”