Chapter 4

The Temptation of Jesus

1 aJesus, full of the Holy Spirit, breturned from the Jordan and was led around 1by the Spirit in the wilderness

2 for aforty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry.

3 And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘aMan shall not live on bread alone.’ ”

5 aAnd he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of 1bthe world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and 1its glory; afor it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

7 “Therefore if You 1worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”

8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘aYou shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’ ”

9 aAnd he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here;

10 for it is written,

‘aHe will command His angels concerning You to guard You,’

11 and,

‘aOn their hands they will bear You up,

So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’ ”

12 And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘aYou shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

Jesus’ Public Ministry

14 And aJesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and bnews about Him spread through all the surrounding district.

15 And He began ateaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

16 And He came to aNazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, bHe entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and cstood up to read.

17 And the 1book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the 1book and found the place where it was written,

18 “aThe Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set free those who are oppressed,

19 aTo proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

20 And He aclosed the 1book, gave it back to the attendant and bsat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your 1hearing.”

22 And all were 1speaking well of Him, and wondering at the 2gracious words which 3were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “aIs this not Joseph’s son?”

23 And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done aat Capernaum, do here in byour hometown as well.’ ”

24 And He said, “Truly I say to you, ano prophet is welcome in his hometown.

25 “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel ain the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but aonly to 1Zarephath, in the land of bSidon, to a woman who was a widow.

27 “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but aonly Naaman the Syrian.”

28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;

29 and they got up and adrove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.

30 But apassing through their midst, He went His way.

31 And aHe came down to bCapernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath;

32 and athey were amazed at His teaching, for bHis 1message was with authority.

33 In the synagogue there was a man 1possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

34 “Let us alone! 1aWhat business do we have with each other, Jesus 2of bNazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—bthe Holy One of God!”

35 But Jesus arebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

36 And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is 1this message? For awith authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.”

37 And athe report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district.

Many Are Healed

38 aThen He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was bsuffering from a high fever, and they asked Him 1to help her.

39 And standing over her, He arebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and 1waited on them.

40 aWhile bthe sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and claying His hands on each one of them, He was dhealing them.

41 Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are athe Son of God!” But brebuking them, He would cnot allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be 1the Christ.

42 aWhen day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them.

43 But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, afor I was sent for this purpose.”

44 So He kept on preaching in the synagogues aof 1Judea.

Chapter 5

The First Disciples

1 aNow it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by bthe lake of Gennesaret;

2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

3 And aHe got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the 1people from the boat.

4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and alet down your nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered and said, “aMaster, bwe worked hard all night and caught nothing, but 1I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

6 When they had done this, athey enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;

7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.

8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ 1feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;

10 and so also were 1James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “aDo not fear, from now on you will be bcatching men.”

11 When they had brought their boats to land, athey left everything and followed Him.

The Leper and the Paralytic

12 aWhile He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man 1covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

13 And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

14 And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and ashow yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

15 But athe news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

16 But Jesus Himself would often slip away 1to the 2wilderness and apray.

17 1One day He was teaching; and athere were some Pharisees and bteachers of the law sitting there, who had ccome from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and dthe power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.

18 aAnd some men were carrying on a 1bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him.

19 But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on athe roof and let him down bthrough the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

20 Seeing their faith, He said, “1Friend, ayour sins are forgiven you.”

21 The scribes and the Pharisees abegan to reason, saying, “bWho is this man who speaks blasphemies? cWho can forgive sins, but God alone?”

22 But Jesus, 1aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts?

23 “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

24 “But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the aparalytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.”

25 Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home aglorifying God.

26 1They were all struck with astonishment and began aglorifying God; and they were filled bwith fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Call of Levi (Matthew)

27 aAfter that He went out and noticed a tax collector named 1bLevi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”

28 And he aleft everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him.

29 And aLevi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of btax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.

30 aThe Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and 1sinners?”

31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “aIt is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.

32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

33 And they said to Him, “aThe disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do 1the same, but Yours eat and drink.”

34 And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the 1attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?

35 “aBut the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”

36 And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.

37 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.

38 “But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.

39 “And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’ ”

Chapter 6

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

1 aNow it happened that He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples bwere picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain.

2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what ais not lawful on the Sabbath?”

3 And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read awhat David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him,

4 how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the 1consecrated bread which ais not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”

5 And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

6 abOn another Sabbath He entered cthe synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there 1whose right hand was withered.

7 The scribes and the Pharisees awere watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.

8 But He aknew 1what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and 2come forward!” And he got up and 3came forward.

9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”

10 After alooking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored.

11 But they themselves were filled with 1rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

Choosing the Twelve

12 It was 1at this time that He went off to athe mountain to bpray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

13 And when day came, aHe called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as bapostles:

14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and 1James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew;

15 and aMatthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot;

16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

17 Jesus acame down with them and stood on a level place; and there was ba large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of cTyre and Sidon,

18 who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured.

19 And all the 1people were trying to atouch Him, for bpower was coming from Him and healing them all.

The Beatitudes

20 And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “aBlessed are 1you who are poor, for byours is the kingdom of God.

21 “Blessed are 1you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

22 “aBlessed are you when men hate you, and bostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

23 “Be glad in that day and aleap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For bin the same way their fathers used to 1treat the prophets.

24 “But woe to ayou who are rich, for byou are receiving your comfort in full.

25 “Woe to you who 1are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

26 “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to 1treat the afalse prophets in the same way.

27 “But I say to you who hear, alove your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

28 bless those who curse you, apray for those who 1mistreat you.

29 “aWhoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your 1coat, do not withhold your 2shirt from him either.

30 “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

31 “1aTreat others the same way you want 2them to treat you.

32 “aIf you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

34 “aIf you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

35 “But alove your enemies, and do good, and lend, 1expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be bsons of cthe Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

36 “1Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

37 “aDo not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; 1bpardon, and you will be pardoned.

38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will 1pour ainto your lap a bgood measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

39 And He also spoke a parable to them: “aA blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit?

40 “aA 1pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will 2be like his teacher.

41 “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

42 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

43 “aFor there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, 1on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.

44 “aFor each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.

45 “aThe good man out of the good 1treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; bfor his mouth speaks from 2that which fills his heart.

Builders and Foundations

46 “aWhy do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

47 “aEveryone who comes to Me and hears My words and 1acts on them, I will show you whom he is like:

48 he is like a man building a house, who 1dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the 2torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

49 “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the 1torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Chapter 7

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

1 aWhen He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, bHe went to Capernaum.

2 And a centurion’s slave, 1who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die.

3 When he heard about Jesus, ahe sent some 1Jewish elders asking Him to come and 2save the life of his slave.

4 When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him;

5 for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

6 Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “1Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof;

7 for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just 1say the word, and my 2servant will be healed.

8 “For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

9 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, anot even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

11 Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, 1accompanied by a large crowd.

12 Now as He approached the gate of the city, 1a dead man was being carried out, the 2only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.

13 When athe Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “1Do not weep.”

14 And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”

15 The 1dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 aFear gripped them all, and they began bglorifying God, saying, “A great cprophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has 1visited His people!”

17 aThis report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.

A Deputation from John

18 aThe disciples of John reported to him about all these things.

19 Summoning 1two of his disciples, John sent them to athe Lord, saying, “Are You the 2Expected One, or do we look for someone else?”

20 When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the 1Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’ ”

21 At that 1very time He acured many people of diseases and bafflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind.

22 And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the ablind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the bpoor have the gospel preached to them.

23 “Blessed is he 1who does not take offense at Me.”

24 When the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

25 “1But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft 2clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces!

26 “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet.

27 “This is the one about whom it is written,

‘aBehold, I send My messenger 1ahead of You,

Who will prepare Your way before You.’

28 “I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is 1least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

29 When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they 1acknowledged aGod’s justice, bhaving been baptized with cthe baptism of John.

30 But the Pharisees and the 1alawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by 2John.

31 “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like?

32 “They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

33 “For John the Baptist has come aeating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

34 “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a 1drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and 2sinners!’

35 “Yet wisdom ais vindicated by all her children.”

36 Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to 1dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

37 aAnd there was a woman in the city who was a 1sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume,

38 and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.

39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were aa prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a 1sinner.”

Parable of Two Debtors

40 And Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he 1replied, “Say it, Teacher.”

41 “A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred 1adenarii, and the other fifty.

42 “When they awere unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?”

43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”

44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you agave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

45 “You agave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.

46 “aYou did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.

47 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

48 Then He said to her, “aYour sins have been forgiven.”

49 Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say 1to themselves, “aWho is this man who even forgives sins?”

50 And He said to the woman, “aYour faith has saved you; bgo in peace.”