Chronological

Lord of the sabbath

12 At that time Jesus went through the cornfields on the sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck ears of corn and eat them. ² When the Pharisees observed this they said to him, “Look here! Your disciples are doing something that’s not permitted on the sabbath!”

³ “Did you never read what David did?” replied Jesus. “When he and his men were hungry, ⁴ they went into God’s house and ate the holy bread which neither he nor his men were allowed to eat—only the priests had that right. ⁵ Or didn’t you read in the law that the priests in the Temple do things on the sabbath which are against sabbath law—and they aren’t guilty? ⁶ Let me tell you this: something greater than the Temple is here. ⁷ If you’d known what this saying means:

you wouldn’t have passed judgment on blameless people. ⁸ Yes, you see: the son of man is master of the sabbath, too.”

⁹ He left the place and went into their synagogue, ¹⁰ where there was a man with a withered hand.

They put the question to him: “Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath?”

(They asked this so that they could frame a charge against him.)

¹¹ “Supposing one of you has just one sheep,” replied Jesus, “and it falls into a ditch on the sabbath. You’ll grab it and haul it out, won’t you? ¹² Well then, think how much more important a human being is than a sheep! So, you see, it is permitted to do good on the sabbath.”

¹³ Then he said to the man, “Stretch your hand out.” He stretched it out, and it was restored to health, just like the other one. ¹⁴ But the Pharisees went off and plotted against him, with the intention of doing away with him.

The servant

¹⁵ Jesus discovered the plots against him, and left the district. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all, ¹⁶ giving them strict instructions not to tell people about him. ¹⁷ This was so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might come true:

Healing of the man with the withered hand

3 Once more Jesus went to the synagogue. There was a man there with a withered hand. ² People were watching to see if Jesus would heal him on the sabbath, so that they could frame a charge against him.

³ “Stand up,” said Jesus to the man with the withered hand, “and come out here.” And he said to them, ⁴ “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath, or to do evil? To save life or to kill?” They stayed quiet.

⁵ He was deeply upset at their hard-heartedness, and looked round at them angrily. Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out—and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees went out right away and began to plot with the Herodians against Jesus, trying to find a way to destroy him.

The Twelve are appointed

⁷ Jesus went off towards the sea with his disciples, and a large crowd from Galilee followed him. A great company, too, from Judaea, ⁸ Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordan, and the region of Tyre and Sidon, heard what he was doing and came to him.

⁹ There was a real danger that he might be crushed by the crowd, so he told his disciples to get a boat ready for him. ¹⁰ He healed large numbers, and sick people were pushing towards him to touch him. ¹¹ Whenever unclean spirits saw him, they fell down in front of him and yelled out, “You are the son of God!” ¹² He gave them strict orders not to reveal his identity.

¹³ Jesus went up the mountain, and summoned the people he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴ He appointed twelve (naming them “apostles”) to be with him and to be sent out as heralds, ¹⁵ and to have authority to cast out demons. ¹⁶ In appointing the Twelve, he named Simon “Peter”; ¹⁷ James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John, he named “Boanerges,” which means “sons of thunder.” The others were ¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananaean, ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot (the one who handed him over).

Jesus and Beelzebul

²⁰ He went into the house. A crowd gathered again, so that they couldn’t even have a meal. ²¹ When his family heard it, they came to restrain him. “He’s out of his mind,” they said.

²² Experts who had come from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! He casts out demons by the prince of demons!”

²³ Jesus summoned them and spoke to them in pictures. “How can the Accuser cast out the Accuser? ²⁴ If a kingdom splits into two factions, it can’t last; ²⁵ if a household splits into two factions, it can’t last. ²⁶ So if the Accuser revolts against himself and splits into two, he can’t last—his time is up! ²⁷ But remember: no one can get into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless first they tie up the strong man; then they can plunder his house.

²⁸ “I’m telling you the truth: people will be forgiven all sins, and all blasphemies of whatever sort. ²⁹ But people who blaspheme the holy spirit will never find forgiveness. They will be guilty of an eternal sin.” ³⁰ That was his response to their claim that he had an unclean spirit.

Jesus’ family

³¹ Jesus’ mother and brothers appeared. They waited outside the house, and sent in a message, asking for him.

³² “Look!” said the crowd sitting around Jesus. “Your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside! They’re searching for you!”

³³ “Who is my mother?” replied Jesus. “Who are my brothers?”

³⁴ He looked around him at the people sitting there in a ring. “Here is my mother!” he said. “Here are my brothers! ³⁵ Anybody who does God’s will is my brother! And my sister! And my mother!”

Teachings on the sabbath

6 One sabbath, Jesus was walking through some cornfields. His disciples were plucking and eating ears of grain, rubbing them with their hands.

² “Why,” asked some Pharisees, “are you doing something that isn’t permitted on the sabbath?”

³ “Haven’t you read what David did?” replied Jesus. “When he and his men were hungry, ⁴ he went into God’s house and took the ‘bread of the presence,’ which no one but the priests was allowed to eat. He ate some, and gave it to his companions.

⁵ “The son of man,” he declared, “is Lord of the sabbath.”

⁶ On another sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching. A man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ The scribes and Pharisees were watching him, to see if he would heal him on the sabbath, so that they could find an accusation against him.

⁸ He knew what they were thinking.

“Get up,” he said to the man with the withered hand, “and come out here in the middle.” He got up and came out.

⁹ “Let me ask you something,” Jesus said to them. “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath or to do evil? To save life or to destroy it?”

¹⁰ He looked round at all of them.

“Stretch out your hand,” he said to the man.

He did so; and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they were filled with rage, and discussed with each other what they might do to Jesus.

The Beatitudes

¹² It happened around that time that Jesus went up into the mountain to pray, and he spent all night in prayer to God. ¹³ When day came, he called his disciples, and chose twelve of them, calling them “apostles”: ¹⁴ Simon, whom he called Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called “the hothead,” ¹⁶ Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who turned traitor.

¹⁷ He went down with them, and took up a position on a level plain where there was a large crowd of his followers, with a huge company of people from all Judaea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. ¹⁸ They came to hear him, and to be cured from their diseases. Those who were troubled by unclean spirits were healed, ¹⁹ and the whole crowd tried to touch him, because power was going out from him and healing everybody.

²⁰ He lifted up his eyes and looked at his disciples, and said:

Loving your enemies

²⁷ “But this is my word,” Jesus continued, “for those of you who are listening: love your enemies! Do good to people who hate you! ²⁸ Bless people who curse you! Pray for people who treat you badly!

²⁹ “If someone hits you on the cheek—offer him the other one! If someone takes away your coat—don’t stop him taking your shirt! ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and don’t ask for things back when people have taken them.

³¹ “Whatever you want people to do to you, do that to them. ³² If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Think about it: even sinners love people who love them. ³³ Or again, if you do good only to people who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Sinners do that too. ³⁴ If you lend only to people you expect to get things back from, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to get paid back. ³⁵ No: love your enemies, do good and lend without expecting any return. Your reward will be great! You will be children of the Highest! He is generous, you see, to the stingy and wicked. ³⁶ You must be merciful, just as your father is merciful.

³⁷ “Don’t judge, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned. Forgive, and you’ll be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you: a good helping, squashed down, shaken in, and overflowing—that’s what will land in your lap. Yes: the ration you give to others is the ration you’ll get back for yourself.”

Judging others and true obedience

³⁹ Jesus told them this riddle. “What do you get when one blind man guides another? Both of them falling in a ditch! ⁴⁰ Students can’t do better than the teacher; when the course is done, they’ll all be just like the teacher.

⁴¹ “Why look at the speck of dust in your brother’s eye, when you haven’t noticed the plank in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Dear brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you can’t see the plank in your own? You’re a fraud! First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you’ll see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

⁴³ “You see, no good tree bears bad fruit; nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. ⁴⁴ Every tree is known by its fruit. You don’t pick figs from thorns; nor do you get grapes from a briar-bush. ⁴⁵ The good person brings good things out of the good treasure of the heart; the evil person brings evil things out of evil. What comes out of the mouth is what’s overflowing in the heart.

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do what I say? ⁴⁷ I’ll show you what people are like when they come to me, and hear my words, and do them. ⁴⁸ They are like a wise man building a house: he dug, he went down deep, and he laid a foundation on rock. When a flood came, the river burst its banks all over the house, but it couldn’t shake it because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But when people hear but don’t obey—that’s like a man who built a house on the ground, without a foundation. When the river burst over it, it fell down at once. The ruin of that house was devastating.”