Read the Gospels in 40 Days
Hearts Harden
7 Now the Pharisees and some of the Torah scholars who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Yeshua. 2 And they saw that some of His disciples were eating bread with unclean hands, that is, not washed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all Jewish people do not eat unless they wash their hands up to the elbow, keeping the tradition of the elders. 4 And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing.[a] There are many other traditions they have received and hold, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels.)[b]
5 The Pharisees and Torah scholars questioned Yeshua, “Why don’t Your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders? Why do they eat bread with unwashed hands?”
6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people honors Me with their lips
but their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’[c]
8 Having left behind the commandment of God, you hold on to the tradition of men.”
9 He was also telling them, “You set aside the commands of God, in order that you may validate your own tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.’ [d] 11 But you say if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever you might have gained from me is korban (that is, an offering to God),’ 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 making void the word of God with your tradition that you’ve handed down. And you do many such things.”[e]
14 Then Yeshua called the crowd again and began saying to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand. 15 There is nothing outside the man that can make him unholy by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of the man that makes the man unholy.” [f] (16) [g]
17 When He had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. 18 And He said to them, “Are you then also lacking understanding? Don’t you grasp that whatever goes into the man cannot make him unholy? 19 For it does not enter into the heart but into the stomach, and then goes out into the sewer, cleansing all foods.”[h]
20 And He continued, “It is what comes out of the man that makes the man unholy. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, come evil intentions, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustfulness, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and make the man unholy.”
Miracles Touch Gentile Lives
24 Yeshua got up and left from there to the region of Tyre. When He had entered a house, He didn’t want anyone to know; but He couldn’t escape notice. 25 A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him. She came immediately and fell at His feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, from Syrophoenicia. And she kept begging Yeshua to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 He was telling her, “First let the children get their fill, for it’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
28 “Yes, Master,” she said to Him, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then He said to her, “Because of this word, go your way! The demon has left your daughter.” 30 She went home and found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
31 Again He left the region of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis. 32 They bring Him a deaf man who had a speech impediment, and they beg Him to lay His hand on him. 33 Yeshua took him aside from the crowd to a private place, and He put His fingers in the man’s ears. After spitting, He touched the man’s tongue. 34 Looking up to heaven, He says to the man, “Ephphatha,”[i] which means “Be opened!”
35 Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak plainly. 36 Yeshua ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more He ordered them, the more they continued proclaiming it. 37 People were completely astounded, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
Do You Still Not Understand?
8 In those days, there was another large crowd with nothing to eat, and Yeshua called the disciples. He said to them, 2 “I have compassion for the crowd, because they’ve stayed with Me for three days now and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry they’ll pass out on the way, for some of them have come from very far away.”
4 His disciples answered Him, “How can anyone satisfy these people with bread here in a wasteland?”
5 “How many loaves do you have?” Yeshua was asking them.
“Seven,” they said.
6 He directed the crowd to recline on the ground. After taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, He broke them and began giving them to His disciples to serve; and they served them to the crowd. 7 They also had a few small fish and, after offering a bracha for them, He commanded these to be served as well. 8 They ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over—seven baskets. 9 About four thousand[j] were there, and Yeshua sent them away.
10 Right away, He got into the boat with His disciples and went to the area of Dalmanutha. 11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with Him, demanding a sign from heaven, to test Him. 12 Sighing deeply in His spirit, Yeshua said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Amen, I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 Leaving them, He got back into the boat and crossed to the other side.
The Un-Seeing Disciples
14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they had only one loaf in the boat. 15 Yeshua was warning them, “Watch out! Beware of the hametz of the Pharisees and the hametz of Herod.”
16 They began to discuss with each other that they had no bread. 17 And Yeshua, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss that you have no bread? You still don’t get it? Don’t you understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes, don’t you see? And having ears, don’t you hear? And don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”
“Twelve,” they say to Him.
20 “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”
“Seven,” they say to Him.
21 He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”
Eyes that Need Opening
22 They come to Bethsaida. Some people bring a blind man to Yeshua and beg Him to touch the man. 23 Taking the blind man by the hand, Yeshua brought him outside the village. After spitting on the man’s eyes and laying His hands on him, Yeshua asked the man, “Do you see anything?”
24 The man looked up and said, “I see men! They look like trees walking about.” 25 Then Yeshua put His hands on the man’s eyes again. The man looked intently, his sight was restored, and he began to see everything clearly.
26 Yeshua sent him straight home, saying, “Don’t even enter the village!”
27 Now Yeshua and His disciples went out to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
28 They told Him, “John the Immerser; and others Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.”[k]
29 Then He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered Him, “You are the Messiah!” 30 And He warned them not to tell anyone about Him.
Revealing the Mission
31 Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and ruling kohanim and Torah scholars, and be killed, and after three days rise again. [l] 32 He was speaking openly about this. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter. He said, “Get behind Me, satan! You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but the things of men.”
34 Then He called the crowd, along with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and keep following Me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the sake of the Good News will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 For what could a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels!”
9 Yeshua was telling them, “Amen, I tell you, there are some standing here who will never taste death until they see the kingdom of God come with power!”
A Glimpse of His Glory
2 After six days, Yeshua takes with Him Peter and Jacob and John, and brings them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became radiant and brilliantly white, whiter than any launderer on earth could bleach them. 4 Then Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Yeshua.
5 Peter responds to Yeshua, “Rabbi, it’s good for us to be here. Let’s make three sukkot—one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 (He didn’t know what to say, for they were terrified.)
7 Then a cloud came, overshadowing them;[m] and out of the cloud came a voice, “This is My Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!” [n] 8 Suddenly when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Yeshua.
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Yeshua ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose up from the dead. 10 They kept this word to themselves, discussing among themselves what it is to rise up from the dead. 11 And they questioned Him, saying, “Why do the Torah scholars say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Now He told them, “Indeed Elijah comes first;[o] he restores all things. And how is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be treated with contempt? [p] 13 I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him.”[q]
The Secret of Prayer
14 When they came to the disciples, they saw a big crowd around them and the Torah scholars arguing with them. 15 Suddenly, when the whole crowd saw Yeshua, they were amazed and began running to greet Him. 16 He questioned them, “What are you arguing about with them?”
17 And a man from the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes stiff. I told Your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t!”
19 And answering them, He said, “Oh faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me.”
20 They brought the boy to Yeshua. When the spirit saw Him, immediately it threw the boy into a convulsion. The boy fell to the ground and began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. 21 Yeshua asked the father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
“Since he was a child,” the man answered. 22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion and help us!”
23 “‘If You can’?” Yeshua said to him. “All things are possible for one who believes!”
24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I believe! Help my unbelief!”
25 When Yeshua saw that a crowd was gathering fast, He rebuked the unclean spirit, telling it, “I command you, deaf and mute spirit, come out of him and do not ever enter him again!”
26 After howling and shaking the boy wildly, it came out. The boy became so much like a corpse that many were saying, “He’s dead!” 27 But Yeshua took him by the hand and lifted him, and the boy stood up.
28 After Yeshua came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him in private, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29 And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out except by prayer.”[r]
30 They left from there and passed through the Galilee. Yeshua didn’t want anyone to know, 31 for He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, three days later He will rise up.” 32 But the disciples didn’t understand this statement, and they were afraid to question Him about it.
The Secret of Childlike Humility
33 Then they came to Capernaum. And when Yeshua was in the house, He began to ask the disciples, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept quiet, because on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, He called the Twelve and said to them, “If any man wants to be first, he shall be least of all and the servant of everyone.” 36 Taking a small child, He set him in the midst of them. And taking him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these children in My name, welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes not Me but the One who sent Me.”
38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”
39 But Yeshua responded, “Don’t stop him! No one who does a miracle in My name will be able soon afterward to speak evil about Me. 40 He who is not against us is for us. 41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name because you belong to Messiah, amen I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”
42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who trust in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone put around his neck and to be thrown into the sea!”
The Secret of Salt
43 “And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than, having two hands, to go to Gehenna,[s] into the unquenchable fire. (44) [t] 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off! It’s better for you to enter life lame than, having your two feet, to be thrown into Gehenna. (46) 47 If your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out! It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be thrown into Gehenna, 48 where
‘their worm does not die
and the fire is not quenched.’[u]
49 “For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you flavor it? Have salt in yourselves, and keep shalom with one another.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.