The Parallel Gospels
5. The Last Few Months

^{MT 17:1}Six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. ²And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. ³And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

⁴Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

⁵While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

⁶When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and were terrified.

⁷And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” ⁸And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.

⁹As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

¹⁰And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things; ¹²but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

¹³Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

^{MK 2:2}Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; ³and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. ⁴Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.

⁵Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified.

⁷Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!”

⁸All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.

⁹As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead.

¹⁰They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. ¹¹They asked Him, saying, “Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

¹²And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? ¹³But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.”

^{LK 9:28}Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. ³⁰And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, ³¹who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

³²Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.

³³And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying.

³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”

³⁶And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.

And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

^{MT 17:14}When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, ¹⁵“Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. ¹⁶I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.”

¹⁷And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” ¹⁸And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.

¹⁹Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?”

²⁰And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. ²¹But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

^{MK 9:14}When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. ¹⁵Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him. ¹⁶And He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?”

¹⁷And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; ¹⁸and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.”

¹⁹And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”

²⁰They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. ²¹And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”

And he said, “From childhood. ²²It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”

²³And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”

²⁴Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.”

²⁶After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!”

²⁷But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up.

²⁸When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?”

²⁹And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

^{LK 9:37}On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. ³⁸And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only boy, ³⁹and a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. ⁴⁰I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.”

⁴¹And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴²While he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. ⁴³And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.

But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, ⁴⁴“Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.”

⁴⁵But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

^MT17:22And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; ²³and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.

^{MK 9:30}From there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it. ³¹For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.” ³²But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

^{MT 17:24}When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?”

²⁵He said, “Yes.”

And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?”

²⁶When Peter said, “From strangers,”

Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt. ²⁷However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.”

^{MT 18:1}At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

²And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, ³and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; ⁶but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

^{MK 9:33}They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?”

³⁴But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.

³⁵Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

³⁶Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, ³⁷“Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.”

^{LK 9:46}An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, ⁴⁸and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

^{MK 9:38}John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.”

³⁹But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. ⁴⁰For he who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

^{LK 9:49}John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us.”

⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.”

^{MT 18:7}“Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! ⁸“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.

⁹“If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.

¹⁰“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. 11For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

^{MK 9:42}“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.

⁴³“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, 44where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

⁴⁵“If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, ⁴⁶where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.

⁴⁷“If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,

⁴⁸where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. ⁴⁹For everyone will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰“Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

^{MT 18:12}“What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? ¹³If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. ¹⁴So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

^{MT 18:15}“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. ¹⁷If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

¹⁸“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. ¹⁹Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

^{MT 18:21}Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

²²Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

²³“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.

²⁵“But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. ²⁶So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’

²⁷“And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

²⁸“But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’

²⁹“So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’

³⁰“But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.

³¹“So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.

³²Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.

³⁵“My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

^{LK 9:51}When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; ⁵²and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. ⁵³But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem.

⁵⁴When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

⁵⁵But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; ⁵⁶for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”

And they went on to another village.

^{MT 8:18}Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. ¹⁹Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”

²⁰Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

²¹Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”

²²But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

^{LK 9:57}As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.”

⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

⁵⁹And He said to another, “Follow Me.”

But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.”

⁶²But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

^{JN 7:1}After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.

²Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. ³Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. ⁴For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵For not even His brothers were believing in Him.

⁶So Jesus said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. ⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. ⁸Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.” ⁹Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. ¹⁰But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret.

¹¹So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?” ¹²There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.” ¹³Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. ¹⁵The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?”

¹⁶So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. ¹⁷If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. ¹⁸He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. ¹⁹Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?”

²⁰The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?”

²¹Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel. ²²For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. ²³If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? ²⁴Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

²⁵So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? ²⁶Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? ²⁷However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”

²⁸Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. ²⁹I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”

³⁰So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. ³¹But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him.

³³Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. ³⁴You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

³⁵The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? ³⁶What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

^{JN 7:40}Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.”

⁴¹Others were saying, “This is the Christ.”

Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? ⁴²Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”

⁴³So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. ⁴⁴Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

⁴⁵The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?”

⁴⁶The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”

⁴⁷The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you? ⁴⁸No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? ⁴⁹But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.”

⁵⁰Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, ⁵¹“Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?”

⁵²They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”

⁵³Everyone went to his home.

^{JN 8:1}But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.

³The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, ⁴they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. ⁵Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” ⁶They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him.

But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. ⁷But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.

¹⁰Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”

¹¹She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

^{JN 8:12}Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

¹³So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.”

¹⁴Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.

¹⁶“But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. ¹⁷Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”

¹⁹So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?”

Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”

²⁰These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

²¹Then He said again to them, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.”

²²So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”

²³And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. ²⁴Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

²⁵So they were saying to Him, “Who are You?”

Jesus said to them, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning? ²⁶I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.”

²⁷They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.

²⁸So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. ²⁹And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”

³⁰As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.

³¹So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

³³They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. ³⁵The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. ³⁸I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”

³⁹They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. ⁴⁰But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. ⁴¹You are doing the deeds of your father.”

They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. ⁴³Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. ⁴⁴You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

⁴⁸The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. ⁵¹Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.”

⁵²The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.’ ⁵³Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?”

⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; ⁵⁵and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. ⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”

⁵⁹Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

^{JN 9:1}As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. ²And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”

³Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

⁶When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, ⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.

⁸Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, “Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?” ⁹Others were saying, “This is he,” still others were saying, “No, but he is like him.”

He kept saying, “I am the one.”

¹⁰So they were saying to him, “How then were your eyes opened?”

¹¹He answered, “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.”

¹²They said to him, “Where is He?”

He said, “I do not know.”

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind. ¹⁴Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.

¹⁵Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

¹⁶Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.”

But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.

¹⁷So they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?”

And he said, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸The Jews then did not believe it of him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, ¹⁹and questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?”

²⁰His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” ²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. ²³For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.”

²⁵He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

²⁶So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”

²⁷He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?”

²⁸They reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.”

³⁰The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. ³²Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

³⁴They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”

³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.”

³⁸And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him.

³⁹And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”

⁴⁰Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, “We are not blind too, are we?”

⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

^{JN 10:1}“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. ²But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. ³To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

⁶This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.

⁷So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. ⁹I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. ¹¹I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

¹²“He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.

¹⁴“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, ¹⁵even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. ¹⁸No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

¹⁹A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?”

²¹Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?”

^{JN 10:22}At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; ²³it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. ²⁴The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. ²⁶But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. ²⁷My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; ²⁸and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one.”

³¹The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. ³²Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?”

³³The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Has it not been written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), ³⁶do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? ³⁷If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ³⁸but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” ³⁹Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.

^{JN 10:40}And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. ⁴¹Many came to Him and were saying, “While John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.” ⁴²Many believed in Him there.

^{LK 10:1}Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

²And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. ³Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

⁴“Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. ⁵Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ ⁶If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. ⁷Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. ⁸Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; ⁹and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

¹⁰“But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹²I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.

¹³“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.

¹⁵“And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!

¹⁶“The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”

^{LK 10:17}The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

¹⁸And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. ¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. ²⁰Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

²¹At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. ²²All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

²³Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see, ²⁴for I say to you, that many prophets and kings wished to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them.”

^LK10:25And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”

²⁷And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

²⁸And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; Do this and you will live.”

²⁹But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. ³¹And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

³²“Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

³³“But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, ³⁴and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’

³⁶“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”

³⁷And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

^{LK 10:38}Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. ³⁹She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.”

⁴¹But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; ⁴²but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

^{LK 11:1}It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”

²And He said to them, “When you pray, say:

‘Father, hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

³Give us each day our daily bread.

⁴And forgive us our sins,

For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation.’”

⁵Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; ⁷and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.

¹¹“Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? ¹²Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? ¹³If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

^{MT 12:22}Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. ²³All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?”

²⁴But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. ²⁸But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²⁹“Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

³⁰“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

³¹“Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. ³²Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

³³“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. ³⁵The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.

³⁶“But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. ³⁷For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

³⁹But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; ⁴⁰for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ⁴¹The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. ⁴²The Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. ⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

^{LK 11:14}And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. ¹⁵But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”

¹⁶Others, to test Him, were demanding of Him a sign from heaven.

¹⁷But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls. ¹⁸If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. ²⁰But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²¹“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. ²²But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder.

²³“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.

²⁴“When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

²⁷While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.”

²⁸But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

²⁹As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. ³⁰For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. ³¹The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. ³²The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

³³“No one, after lighting a lamp, puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. ³⁴The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. ³⁵Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness. ³⁶If therefore your whole body is full of light, with no dark part in it, it will be wholly illumined, as when the lamp illumines you with its rays.”

^{LK 11:37}Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. ³⁸When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal.

³⁹But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. ⁴⁰You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.

⁴²“But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

⁴³“Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places.

⁴⁴“Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

⁴⁵One of the lawyers said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say this, You insult us too.”

⁴⁶But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well! For you weigh men down with burdens hard to bear, while you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers.

⁴⁷“Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. ⁴⁸So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, ⁵⁰so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, ⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.’

⁵²“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”

⁵³When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, ⁵⁴plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.

^{LK 12:1}Under these circumstances, after so many thousands of people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ²But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. ³Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon the housetops.

⁴“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!

⁶“Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

⁸“And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; ⁹but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. ¹⁰And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.

¹¹“When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; ¹²for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

^{LK 12:13}Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

¹⁴But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

¹⁵Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

¹⁶And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’

²⁰“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’

²¹“So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

^{LK 12:22}And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. ²³For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

²⁴“Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? ²⁶If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?

²⁷“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!

²⁹“And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. ³⁰For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

³²“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. ³³Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. ³⁴For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

^{LK 12:35}“Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. ³⁶Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. ³⁷Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. ³⁸Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹“But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”

⁴¹Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?”

⁴²And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

⁴⁵“But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; ⁴⁶the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, ⁴⁸but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

^{LK 12:49}“I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! ⁵¹Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; ⁵²for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

^{LK 12:54}And He was also saying to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. ⁵⁵And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. ⁵⁶You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?

^{LK 12:57}“And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? ⁵⁸For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent.”

^{LK 13:1}Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? ³I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. ⁴Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

^{LK 13:6}And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. ⁷And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ ⁸And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; ⁹and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”

^{LK 13:10}And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. ¹²When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” ¹³And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God.

¹⁴But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

¹⁵But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? ¹⁶And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?”

¹⁷As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

^{LK 13:18}So He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? ¹⁹It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

^{LK 13:20}And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? ²¹It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

^{LK 13:22}And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. ²³And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?”

And He said to them, ²⁴“Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

²⁵“Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ ²⁶Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; ²⁷and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers.’

²⁸“In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. ²⁹And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”

^{LK 13:31}Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away, leave here, for Herod wants to kill You.”

³²And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal.’ ³³Nevertheless I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.

³⁴“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! ³⁵Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

^{LK 14:1}It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely. ²And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. ³And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

⁴But they kept silent.

And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. ⁵And He said to them, “Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?”

⁶And they could make no reply to this.

^{LK 14:7}And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, ⁸“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, ⁹and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. ¹⁰But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. ¹¹For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

¹²And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. ¹³But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

^{LK 14:15}When one of those who were reclining at the table with Him heard this, he said to Him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

¹⁶But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; ¹⁷and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’

¹⁸“But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’

¹⁹“Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’

²⁰“Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’

²¹“And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’

²²“And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’

²³“And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’”

^{LK 14:25}Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, ²⁶“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

²⁸“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, ³⁰saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

³¹“Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³²Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

³³“So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

³⁴“Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? ³⁵It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

^{LK 15:1}Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. ²Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

³So He told them this parable, saying, ⁴“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ ⁷I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

^{LK 15:8}“Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

^{LK 15:11}And He said, “A man had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his wealth between them. ¹³And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.

¹⁴“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

¹⁷“But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’

²⁰“So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. ²¹And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; ²³and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. ²⁷And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’

²⁸“But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. ²⁹But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; ³⁰but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’

³¹“And he said to him, ‘Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

^{LK 16:1}Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. ²And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’

³“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’

⁵“And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

⁶“And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’

“And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’

⁷“Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’

“He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

⁸“And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. ⁹And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

^{LK 16:10}He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. ¹¹“Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? ¹²And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? ¹³No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

^{LK 16:14}Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him.

¹⁵And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. ¹⁶The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. ¹⁷But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

^{MT 19:1}When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; ²and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

³Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?”

⁴And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

⁷They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

⁸He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

¹⁰The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.”

¹¹But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. ¹²For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

^{MK 10:1}Getting up, He went from there to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds gathered around Him again, and, according to His custom, He once more began to teach them.

²Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife.

³And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

⁵But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. ⁶But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. ⁷for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, ⁸and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

¹⁰In the house the disciples began questioning Him about this again.

¹¹And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; ¹²and if she herself divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”

^{LK 16:18}“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.

^{LK 16:19}“Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. ²⁰And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, ²¹and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. ²²Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.

²³“In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’

²⁵“But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. ²⁶And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’

²⁷“And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— ²⁸for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹“But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

³⁰“But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’

³¹“But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

^{LK 17:1}He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! ²It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble.

³“Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

⁶And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you. ⁷Which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat’? ⁸But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me while I eat and drink; and afterward you may eat and drink’? ⁹He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? ¹⁰So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”

^{LK 17:11}While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. ¹²As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; ¹³and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”

¹⁴When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed.

¹⁵Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, ¹⁶and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? ¹⁸Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” ¹⁹And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”

^{LK 17:20}Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; ²¹nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

^{LK 17:22}And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. ²³They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them. ²⁴For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. ²⁵But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶“And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

²⁸“It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; ²⁹but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

³⁰“It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹On that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house must not go down to take them out; and likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back.

³²“Remember Lot’s wife. ³³Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.

³⁴“I tell you, on that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁵There will be two women grinding at the same place; one will be taken and the other will be left. ³⁶Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.”

³⁷And answering they said to Him, “Where, Lord?”

And He said to them, “Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.”

^{LK 18:1}Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, ²saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. ³There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’

⁴“For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, ⁵yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’”

⁶And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; ⁷now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? ⁸I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

^{LK 18:9}And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

¹⁰“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

¹³“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’

¹⁴“I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

^{MT 19:13}Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵After laying His hands on them, He departed from there.

^{MK 10:13}And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.

¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” ¹⁶And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

^{LK 18:15}And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them.

¹⁶But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

^{MT 19:16}And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?”

¹⁷And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸Then he said to Him, “Which ones?”

And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; ¹⁹honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

²⁰The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

²¹Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

²²But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

²³And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?”

^{MK 10:17}As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”

²⁰And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.”

²¹Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

²²But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

²³And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

^{LK 18:18}A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁹And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. ²⁰You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’”

²¹And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”

²²When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

²³But when he had heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. ²⁴And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶They who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”

²⁷But He said, “The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”

^{MT 19:27}Then Peter said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?”

²⁸And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

^{MK 10:28}Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.”

²⁹Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, ³⁰but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”

^{LK 18:28}Peter said, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.”

²⁹And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”

^{MT 20:1}“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ²When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³“And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; ⁴and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went.

⁵“Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing.

⁶“And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’

⁷“They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’

⁸“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’

⁹“When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. ¹⁰When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, ¹²saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

¹³“But he answered and said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. ¹⁵Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’

¹⁶“So the last shall be first, and the first last.”

^{MT 20:17}As Jesus was about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and on the way He said to them, ¹⁸“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, ¹⁹and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”

^{MK 10:32}They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to Him, ³³saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴They will mock Him and spit on Him, and scourge Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise again.”

^{LK 18:31}Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. ³²For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, ³³and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.”

³⁴But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

^{MT 20:20}Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. ²¹And He said to her, “What do you wish?”

She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”

²²But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”

They said to Him, “We are able.”

²³He said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.”

²⁴And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. ²⁶It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, ²⁷and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; ²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

^{MK 10:35}James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.”

³⁶And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

³⁷They said to Him, “Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.”

³⁸But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”

³⁹They said to Him, “We are able.”

And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. ⁴⁰But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. ⁴²Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. ⁴³But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; ⁴⁴and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

^{MT 20:29}As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. ³⁰And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

³¹The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

³²And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

³³They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.”

³⁴Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

^{MK 10:46}Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.”

So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.”

⁵⁰Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!”

⁵²And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.”

Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.

^{LK 18:35}As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. ³⁶Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. 37They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.

³⁸And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

³⁹Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, ⁴¹“What do you want Me to do for you?”

And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!”

⁴²And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”

⁴³Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

^{LK 19:1}He entered Jericho and was passing through. ²And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. ³Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. ⁴So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.

⁵When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” ⁶And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly.

⁷When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

⁸Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”

⁹And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

^{LK 19:11}While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. ¹²So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. ¹³And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I come back.’

¹⁴“But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

¹⁵“When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done.

¹⁶“The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’

¹⁷“And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’

¹⁸“The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’

¹⁹“And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’

²⁰“Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; ²¹for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’

²²“He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? ²³Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’

²⁴“Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’

²⁵“And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’

²⁶“I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. ²⁷But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”