Beginning

He defends the disciples that pluck the ears of grain. He heals the man with the withered hand, chooses his twelve apostles, gives a sweet sermon, and teaches to do good for evil.

6 It happened on an after-Sabbath that Jesus went through the grain field, and his disciples plucked the ears of grain and ate, rubbing them in their hands. ² And certain of the Pharisees said to them, Why do you do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath days? ³ And Jesus answered them and said, Have you not read what David did when he himself was hungry, and those who were with him? ⁴ How he went into the house of God, and took and ate the loaves of hallowed bread, and gave also to those who were with him – which bread it was not lawful to eat, but for the priests only? ⁵ And he said to them, The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath day.

⁶ And it came about in another Sabbath also that he entered into the synagogue and taught. And there was there a man whose right hand was withered. ⁷ And the scribes and Pharisees watched Jesus to see if he would heal on the Sabbath day, to find an accusation against him. ⁸ But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man that had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stepped forth. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, I will ask you a question: whether it is lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil; to save life, or to destroy it? ¹⁰ And he looked around at them all and said to the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he did so, and his hand was restored and made as whole as the other.

¹¹ And they were filled full of madness, and conferred with each other, what they might do to Jesus.

¹² And it came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. ¹³ And as soon as it was day, he called his disciples. And of them he chose twelve, whom he also called apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alpheus, and Simon called Zelotes; ¹⁶ Judas, James’ son; and Judas Iscariot, which same was the traitor.

¹⁷ And he came down with them, and stood in the open field with the company of his disciples and a great crowd of people out of all parts of Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, ¹⁸ and people also who were vexed with foul spirits, and they were healed. ¹⁹ And all the people pressed in to touch him, because power went out of him and healed them all.

²⁰ And he lifted up his eyes upon the disciples and said, Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. ²² Blessed are you when men hate you and thrust you out of their company, and rail, and abhor your name as an evil thing, for the Son of man’s sake. ²³ Rejoice then, and be glad, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. Likewise did their fathers treat the prophets.

²⁴ But woe is to you who are rich, for you have therein your consolation. ²⁵ Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who now laugh, for you will wail and weep. ²⁶ Woe to you when all men praise you, for likewise did their fathers praise the false prophets.

²⁷ But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. ²⁸ Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who wrongfully trouble you. ²⁹ And to him that strikes you on the one cheek, offer also the other. And him that takes away your gown, forbid not to take your coat also. ³⁰ Give to every man that asks of you. And of him who takes away your goods, ask not for them back. ³¹ And as you would have others do unto you, so do unto them likewise.

³² If you love those who love you, what credit are you worthy of? For the very sinners love their friends. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit are you worthy of? For the very sinners do even the same. ³⁴ If you lend to people from whom you hope to receive, what credit should you have? For the very sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much in return. ³⁵ Therefore love your enemies, do good, and lend, looking for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be the children of the Highest. For he is kind to the unkind and to the evil.

³⁶ Be therefore merciful, as your Father is merciful. ³⁷ Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you: a good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over will men give into your bosoms. For the measure that you use will be measured back to you.

³⁹ And he put forth a similitude to them: Can the blind lead the blind? Do they not both then fall into the ditch? ⁴⁰ The disciple is not above his master, but everyone will be formed even as his teacher is.

⁴¹ Why do you see a speck in your brother’s eye, and not consider the beam that is in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your brother, Brother, let me pull out the speck that is in your eye – when you do not perceive the beam that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First cast the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to pull the speck out of your brother’s eye.

⁴³ It is not a good tree that brings forth bad fruit, nor is that a bad tree that brings forth good fruit. ⁴⁴ For every tree is known by its fruit. Neither is it from thorns that men gather figs, nor from bushes that they gather grapes. ⁴⁵ A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth that which is good. And an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, brings forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks.

⁴⁶ Why do you call me Master, Master, and yet not do as I bid you? ⁴⁷ Whoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man who built a house, and dug deep, and laid the foundation on a rock. When the waters rose, the flood beat upon that house, and could not move it. For it was grounded upon a rock. ⁴⁹ But the person who hears and does not is like a man who built a house without a foundation upon the soil, against which the flood beat, and it fell immediately. And the fall of that house was great.

He heals the centurion’s servant, raises up the widow’s son from death to life, and answers the disciples that John the Baptist sent to him. He commends John, and reproves the Jews for their unfaithfulness. He eats with the Pharisee. The woman washes his feet with her tears, and he forgives her her sins.

7 When Jesus had ended all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum. ² And a certain centurion’s servant was sick and ready to die, whom he made much of. ³ And when the centurion heard of Jesus, he sent to him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ And they came to Jesus and besought him urgently, saying, He is worthy that you should do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue.

⁶ And Jesus went with them. And when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. ⁷ Therefore I did not think myself worthy to come to you. But speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. ⁸ For I likewise am a man under authority, and have under me soldiers. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.

⁹ When Jesus heard this, he marvelled at him, and turned about and said to the people that followed him, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel.

¹⁰ And those who had been sent turned back home again, and found the servant that had been sick, whole.

¹¹ And it happened after that, that he went into a town called Nain. And many of his disciples went with him, and crowds of people. ¹² When he came near to the gate of the town, behold, there was a dead man being carried out. He had been the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a large group of townsfolk were with her. ¹³ And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, Weep not. ¹⁴ And he went and touched the bier, and those who were bearing it stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, arise! ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus delivered him to his mother.

¹⁶ And there came a fear upon them all. And they glorified God, saying, A great prophet is risen among us, and God has visited his people.

¹⁷ And this talk of him went forth throughout all Judea, and throughout all the regions that lie round about.

¹⁸ And the disciples of John reported to him about all these things. ¹⁹ And John called to him two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus, saying, Are you he that was to come, or should we look for another?

²⁰ When the men came to Jesus, they said, John the Baptist sent us to you, saying, Are you he that was to come, or should we wait for another?

²¹ And at that same time, Jesus cured many people of their infirmities and diseases, and of evil spirits; and to many who were blind, he gave sight. ²² And Jesus answered and said to John’s disciples, Go your ways and tell John what things you have seen and heard – how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead arise. To the poor, the glad tidings are preached; ²³ and happy is he who is not offended by me.

²⁴ When the messengers of John had departed, Jesus began to speak to the people about John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? Did you go to see a reed shaken with the wind? ²⁵ But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those who are gorgeously apparelled and live delicately are in kings’ courts. ²⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my messenger before your face, to prepare your way before you. ²⁸ For I say to you, among the children of women there is no greater prophet than John. Nevertheless, one who is less in the kingdom of God, is greater than he.

²⁹ And all the people who heard, and the publicans, justified God, and were baptized with the baptism of John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and scribes rejected the counsel of God against themselves, and were not baptized by him.

³¹ And the Lord said, To what shall I liken the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped to you, and you have not danced; we have mourned to you, and you have not wept. ³³ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say he has the devil. ³⁴ The Son of man has come, and eats and drinks, and you say, Here is a man who is a glutton and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners. ³⁵ Yet wisdom is justified by her children.

³⁶ And one of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house and sat down to food. ³⁷ And behold, a woman in that town who was a sinner, as soon as she knew that Jesus sat at food in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of oyntment. ³⁸ And she stood at his feet behind him, weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with oyntment.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke within himself, saying, If this man were a prophet, he would surely know who and what manner of woman this is that touches him; for she is a sinner. ⁴⁰ And Jesus responded and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Teacher, say on.

⁴¹ There was a certain lender who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² When they had nothing to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them, tell me, will love him most?

⁴³ Simon answered and said, I suppose the one that was forgiven most.

And he said to him, You have truly judged.

⁴⁴ And Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered into your house and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. ⁴⁵ You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. ⁴⁶ My head with oil you did not anoint, but she has anointed my feet with oyntment. ⁴⁷ Therefore I say to you, many sins are forgiven her, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven less, loves less.

⁴⁸ And he said to her, Your sins are forgiven you.

⁴⁹ And those who sat at food with him began to say within themselves, Who is this, who forgives sins in this way?

⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.