Read the Gospels in 40 Days

15 Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus.

² They asked him, `Why do your disciples break the law our fathers made? They do not wash their hands before they eat.'

³ Jesus asked them, `Why do you break God's law so that you can keep your own law?

⁴ God said, "Respect your father and your mother." And God said, "Anyone who says wrong things to his father or his mother will surely die."

⁵ `But you say, "Tell your father or your mother that you have given to God what you were going to give to them." You say, "If anyone says that, then he does not need to help his father or mother."

⁶ You make God's law to mean nothing so you can keep your own laws!

⁷ You are not true to yourselves! What Isaiah said about you was true. He said,

⁸ "These people respect me with their mouth but their heart is far from me.

⁹ They do not mean it in their hearts when they worship me. Their teachings are only the words of men." '

¹⁰ Jesus called the people to him. He said to them, `Listen to me and understand what I say.

¹¹ What goes into a person's mouth does not make him dirty. But what comes out of a person's mouth makes him dirty.'

¹² Then the disciples came to Jesus. They said, `The Pharisees were angry when they heard what you said. Did you know that?'

¹³ Jesus answered, `Every plant that my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled out by the roots.

¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind men who are trying to lead blind men. If a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a hole.'

¹⁵ Peter said to Jesus, `Tell us the meaning of that story.'

¹⁶ Jesus said, `Do you still not understand?

¹⁷ Do you not know this? What goes into the mouth goes into the stomach, and then it goes out of the body.

¹⁸ But what comes out of the mouth, comes from the heart. This is what makes a person dirty.

¹⁹ Here is what comes from the heart: wrong thoughts, killing people, all kinds of adultery, stealing, lying, and saying wrong things about people.

²⁰ These things make a person dirty. To eat with hands that are not washed does not make him dirty.'

²¹ Jesus left that place and went to the country of Tyre and Sidon. 22A woman of the people of Canaan was in that country. She called out, `Sir, you are the Son of David. Help me! My daughter is being troubled very much by a bad spirit.'

²² Jesus did not answer her. His disciples came to him and said, `Send her away. She keeps calling after us.'

²³ He said, `I was sent only to the people of Israel. They are like lost sheep.'

²⁴ But the woman came and bowed down in front of Jesus and worshipped him. She said, `Sir, help me.'

²⁵ He said, `It is not right to take the children's food and give it to the little dogs.'

²⁶ She answered, `Yes, sir. But even the little dogs eat the food that falls from the tables of their masters.'

²⁷ Then Jesus answered, `Woman, you believe very much. The thing you want me to do will be done.' And her daughter was healed at that very time.

²⁸ Jesus went on from there along the Sea of Galilee. He went up on a hill and sat down there.

²⁹ Many people came to him. They brought sick people with them. Some were lame. Some were hurt. Some were blind. Some could not talk. And there were many others. They laid them down in front of Jesus. And he healed them.

³⁰ The people were surprised. They saw that people who had not been able to talk were talking. They saw that people who were hurt were made well. They saw that lame people were walking. They saw that blind people could see. And they praised the God of Israel.

³¹ Jesus called his disciples to him. He said, `I share the suffering of the people. They have been with me for three days and they have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry. If they go away hungry, they will get weak and fall on the way.'

³² The disciples said to him, `Where can we get enough food in this lonely place to feed so many people?'

³³ Jesus said to them, `How many loaves of bread have you?' They said, `We have seven, and a few small fish.'

³⁴ He told the people to sit down on the ground.

³⁵ Then he took the seven loaves of bread and the fish. He thanked God for them. Then he broke the bread and gave it to the disciples. The disciples gave it to the people.

³⁶ They all ate and had enough. They gathered seven baskets full of pieces that were left.

³⁷ The number of people who ate was about four thousand men, besides some women and children.

³⁸ Jesus sent the people away. Then he got in the boat and went to the country around Magadan.

16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus. They wanted to test him, so they asked him to show them a sign from the sky.

² He answered them, `In the evening you say, "It will be a nice day tomorrow because the sky is red."

³ In the morning you say, "It will be a stormy day, because the sky is red and there are clouds." You know the meaning of these signs in the sky. But you do not know the meaning of the signs about the time in which we are living.

⁴ People today are wrong. They have gone away from God. They want a sign. No sign will be given them but the sign of Jonah.' Then Jesus went away and left them.

⁵ When the disciples reached the other side of the sea, they found they had forgotten to bring any bread with them.

⁶ Jesus said, `Watch! Do not let the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees spoil you.'

⁷ The disciples said to each other, `He said that because we did not bring any bread.'

⁸ Jesus knew what they were saying. He said to them, `You don't believe very much in me. Why are you saying to each other, "We have no bread".

⁹ Do you not yet understand? When there were five thousand people, there were only five loaves of bread. Do you not remember how many baskets full of pieces you gathered up?

¹⁰ When there were four thousand people, there were only seven loaves. Do you not remember how many baskets full of pieces you gathered up?

¹¹ Why do you not understand that I was not talking about bread? Take care. Do not let the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees spoil you.'

¹² Then they understood that he was not talking about bread. He did not mean that the yeast of bread would spoil them. They understood that he was talking about the things the Pharisees and Sadducees taught.

¹³ Jesus went to the country of Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, `I am the Son of Man. Whom do people say I am?'

¹⁴ They answered, `Some people say you are John the Baptizer. Others say you are Elijah. And others say you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'

¹⁵ Jesus said to them, `Whom do you say I am?'

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, `You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

¹⁷ Jesus answered, `Simon, Jonah's son, God has blessed you. No person on earth has showed you this. But my Father in heaven has showed you.

¹⁸ I tell you this. You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church. The power of death will not destroy it.

¹⁹ I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What you tie on earth will be tied in heaven. What you set free on earth will be set free in heaven.'

²⁰ Then Jesus said to the disciples, `Do not tell anyone that I am the Christ.'

²¹ From that time on, Jesus began to teach his disciples. He said, `I must go to Jerusalem. I will have much trouble from the leaders, the chief priests, and the scribes. I will be killed. On the third day, I will be raised from death.'

²² Peter took him to one side and began to talk to him. He said, `Lord! May God stop it! This must never happen to you.'

²³ But Jesus turned to Peter and said, `Get away from me Satan! You are trying to make me do wrong. You are not thinking the way God thinks, but the way people think.'

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, `If anyone wants to come with me, he must leave what he himself wants to do. He must be willing to carry his cross and come with me.

²⁵ Anyone who wants to keep his life will lose it. And anyone who gives up his life for my sake will find it.

²⁶ What good will it do a man if he gets the whole world for himself, but loses his life? What can a person give to get back his life?

²⁷ The Son of Man will come with his angels and will be great like his Father. Then he will pay every man for what he has done.

²⁸ I tell you the truth. Some people are standing here who will not die before they see the Son of Man come in his kingdom.'