Matthew 12:1-24:32

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

12 At that ^[a]particular time Jesus went through the fields of standing grain on the Sabbath; and His disciples were hungry, and they began to pick off the spikes of grain and to eat.^(A)

² And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, See there! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful and not permitted on the Sabbath.

³ He said to them, Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, and those who accompanied him—^(B)

⁴ How he went into the house of God and ate the loaves of the showbread—which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for the men who accompanied him, but for the priests only?

⁵ Or have you never read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple violate the sanctity of the Sabbath [breaking it] and yet are guiltless?^(C)

⁶ But I tell you, Something greater and ^[b]more exalted and more majestic than the temple is here!

⁷ And if you had only known what this saying means, I desire mercy [readiness to help, to spare, to forgive] rather than sacrifice and sacrificial victims, you would not have condemned the guiltless.^(D)

⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord [even] of the Sabbath.

⁹ And going on from there, He went into their synagogue.

¹⁰ And behold, a man was there with one withered hand. And they said to Him, Is it lawful or allowable to cure people on the Sabbath days?—that they might accuse Him.

¹¹ But He said to them, What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a pit or ditch on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

¹² How much better and of more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and allowable to do good on the Sabbath days.

¹³ Then He said to the man, Reach out your hand. And the man reached it out and it was restored, as sound as the other one.

¹⁴ But the Pharisees went out and held a consultation against Him, how they might do away with Him.

¹⁵ But being aware of this, Jesus went away from there. And many people ^[c]joined and accompanied Him, and He cured all of them,

¹⁶ And strictly charged them and sharply warned them not to make Him ^[d]publicly known.

¹⁷ This was in fulfillment of what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah,

¹⁸ Behold, My Servant Whom I have chosen, My Beloved in and with Whom My soul is well pleased and ^[e]has found its delight. I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim and ^[f]show forth justice to the nations.

¹⁹ He will not strive or wrangle or cry out loudly; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets;

²⁰ A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering (dimly burning) wick He will not quench, till He brings ^[g]justice and a just cause to victory.

²¹ And in and on His name will the Gentiles (the ^[h]peoples outside of Israel) set their hopes.^(E)

²² Then a blind and dumb man under the power of a demon was brought to Jesus, and He cured him, so that the blind and dumb man both spoke and saw.

²³ And all the [crowds of] people were stunned with bewildered wonder and said, This cannot be the Son of David, can it?

²⁴ But the Pharisees, hearing it, said, This ^[i]Man drives out demons only by and with the help of Beelzebub, the prince of demons.

²⁵ And knowing their thoughts, He said to them, Any kingdom that is divided against itself is being brought to desolation and laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will last or continue to stand.

²⁶ And if Satan drives out Satan, he has become divided against himself and disunified; how then will his kingdom last or continue to stand?

²⁷ And if I drive out the demons by [help of] Beelzebub, by whose [help] do your sons drive them out? ^[j]For this reason they shall be your judges.

²⁸ But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you [^[k]before you expected it].

²⁹ Or how can a person go into a strong man’s house and carry off his goods (the entire equipment of his house) without first binding the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

³⁰ He who is not with Me [definitely ^[l]on My side] is against Me, and he who does not [definitely] gather with Me and for ^[m]My side scatters.

³¹ Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy (every evil, abusive, ^[n]injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things) can be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit shall not and ^[o]cannot be forgiven.

³² And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Spirit, the Holy One, will not be forgiven, either in this world and age or in the world and age to come.

³³ Either make the tree sound (healthy and good), and its fruit sound (healthy and good), or make the tree rotten (diseased and bad), and its fruit rotten (diseased and bad); for the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit.

³⁴ You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the ^[p]superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks.

³⁵ The good man from his inner good treasure ^[q]flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse ^[r]flings forth evil things.

³⁶ But I tell you, on the day of judgment men will have to give account for every ^[s]idle (inoperative, nonworking) word they speak.

³⁷ For by your words you will be justified and acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned and sentenced.

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, Teacher, we desire to see a sign or miracle from You [proving that You are what You claim to be].

³⁹ But He replied to them, An evil and adulterous generation (a generation ^[t]morally unfaithful to God) seeks and demands a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

⁴⁰ For even 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.^(F)

⁴¹ The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, Someone more and greater than Jonah is here!^(G)

⁴² The queen of the South will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, Someone more and greater than Solomon is here.^(H)

⁴³ But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through dry [arid] places in search of rest, but it does not find any.

⁴⁴ Then it says, I will go back to my house from which I came out. And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, put in order, and decorated.

⁴⁵ Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So also shall it be with this wicked generation.

⁴⁶ Jesus was still speaking to the people when behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to Him.

^47 [u]Someone said to Him, Listen! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You.

⁴⁸ But He replied to the man who told Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?

⁴⁹ And stretching out His hand toward [not only the twelve disciples but all] ^[v]His adherents, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers.

⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting beside the sea.

² But such great crowds gathered about Him that He got into a boat and remained sitting there, while all the throng stood on the shore.

³ And He told them many things in parables (stories by way of illustration and comparison), saying, A sower went out to sow.

⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and ate them up.

⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they had not much soil; and at once they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.

⁶ But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they dried up and withered away.

⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them out.

⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil, and yielded grain—some a hundred times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some thirty.

⁹ He who has ears [to hear], let him be listening and let him ^[w]consider and ^[x]perceive and comprehend by hearing.

¹⁰ Then the disciples came to Him and said, Why do You speak to them in parables?

¹¹ And He replied to them, To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

¹² For whoever has [spiritual knowledge], to him will more be given and he will ^[y]be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

¹³ This is the reason that I speak to them in parables: because ^[z]having the power of seeing, they do not see; and ^[aa]having the power of hearing, they do not hear, nor do they grasp and understand.

¹⁴ In them indeed is ^[ab]the process of fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: You shall indeed hear and hear but never grasp and understand; and you shall indeed look and look but never see and perceive.

¹⁵ For this nation’s heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them.^(I)

¹⁶ But blessed (happy, fortunate, and ^[ac]to be envied) are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear.

¹⁷ Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men [men who were upright and in right standing with God] yearned to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

¹⁸ Listen then to the [meaning of the] parable of the sower:

^19 [ad]While anyone is hearing the Word of the kingdom and does not grasp and comprehend it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the roadside.

²⁰ As for what was sown on thin (rocky) soil, this is he who hears the Word and at once welcomes and accepts it with joy;

²¹ Yet it has no real root in him, but is temporary (inconstant, ^[ae]lasts but a little while); and when affliction or trouble or persecution comes on account of the Word, at once he is caused to stumble [he is repelled and ^[af]begins to distrust and desert Him Whom he ought to trust and obey] and he falls away.

²² As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the Word, and it yields no fruit.

²³ As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the Word and grasps and comprehends it; he indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundred times as much as was sown, in another sixty times as much, and in another thirty.

²⁴ Another parable He set forth before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

²⁵ But while he was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed also darnel (weeds resembling wheat) among the wheat, and went on his way.

²⁶ So when the plants sprouted and formed grain, the darnel (weeds) appeared also.

²⁷ And the servants of the owner came to him and said, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then how does it have darnel shoots in it?

²⁸ He replied to them, An enemy has done this. The servants said to him, Then do you want us to go and weed them out?

²⁹ But he said, No, lest in gathering the wild wheat (weeds resembling wheat), you root up the [true] wheat along with it.

³⁰ Let them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the reapers, Gather the darnel first and bind it in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my granary.

³¹ Another story by way of comparison He set forth before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.

³² Of all the seeds it is the smallest, but when it has grown it is the largest of the garden herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and find shelter in its branches.

³³ He told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like leaven (^[ag]sour dough) which a woman took and covered over in three measures of meal or flour till all of it was leavened.^(J)

³⁴ These things ^[ah]all taken together Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, without a parable He said nothing to them.

³⁵ This was in fulfillment of what was spoken by the prophet: I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things that have been hidden since the foundation of the world.^(K)

³⁶ Then He left the throngs and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him saying, Explain to us the parable of the darnel in the field.

³⁷ He answered, He Who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed means the children of the kingdom; the darnel is the children of the evil one,

³⁹ And the enemy who sowed it is the devil. The harvest is the close and consummation of the age, and the reapers are angels.

⁴⁰ Just as the darnel (weeds resembling wheat) is gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the close of the age.

⁴¹ The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of offense [^[ai]persons by whom others are drawn into error or sin] and all who do iniquity and act wickedly,

⁴² And will cast them into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and wailing and grinding of teeth.

⁴³ Then will the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God) shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears [to hear] be listening, and let him ^[aj]consider and perceive and understand by hearing.^(L)

⁴⁴ The kingdom of heaven is like ^[ak]something precious buried in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field.

⁴⁵ Again the kingdom of heaven is like a man who is a dealer in search of fine and ^[al]precious pearls,

⁴⁶ Who, on finding a single pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it.

⁴⁷ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a ^[am]dragnet which was cast into the sea and gathered in fish of every sort.

⁴⁸ When it was full, men dragged it up on the beach, and sat down and sorted out the good fish into baskets, but the worthless ones they threw away.

⁴⁹ So it will be at the close and consummation of the age. The angels will go forth and separate the wicked from the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God)

⁵⁰ And cast them [the wicked] into the furnace of fire; there will be weeping and wailing and grinding of teeth.

⁵¹ Have you understood ^[an]all these things [parables] taken together? They said to Him, Yes, Lord.

⁵² He said to them, Therefore every ^[ao]teacher and interpreter of the Sacred Writings who has been instructed about and trained for the kingdom of heaven and has ^[ap]become a disciple is like a householder who brings forth out of his storehouse treasure that is new and [treasure that is] old [the fresh as well as the familiar].

⁵³ When Jesus had finished these parables (these comparisons), He left there.

⁵⁴ And coming to His own country [Nazareth], He taught in their synagogue so that they were amazed with bewildered wonder, and said, Where did this ^[aq]Man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?

⁵⁵ Is not this the carpenter’s Son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

⁵⁶ And do not all His sisters live here among us? Where then did this Man get all this?

⁵⁷ And they took offense at Him [they were repelled and hindered from acknowledging His authority, and caused to stumble]. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.

⁵⁸ And He did not do many works of power there, because of their unbelief (their lack of faith ^[ar]in the divine mission of Jesus).

14 At that time Herod the governor heard the reports about Jesus,

² And he said to his attendants, This is John the Baptist; He has been raised from the dead, and that is why the powers ^[as]of performing miracles are at work in Him.

³ For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison [to ^[at]stow him out of the way] on account and for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,

⁴ For John had said to him, It is not lawful or right for you to have her.^(M)

⁵ Although he wished to have him put to death, he was afraid of the people, for they regarded John as a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst [before the company] and pleased and fascinated Herod,

⁷ And so he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

⁸ And she, being put forward and prompted by her mother, said, Give me the head of John the Baptist right here on a ^[au]platter.

⁹ And the king was distressed and sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests, he ordered it to be given her;

¹⁰ He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

¹¹ And his head was brought in on a ^[av]platter and given ^[aw]to the little maid, and she brought it to her mother.

¹² And John’s disciples came and took up the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

¹³ When Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there privately in a boat to a solitary place. But when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him [by land] on foot from the towns.

¹⁴ When He went ashore and saw a great throng of people, He had compassion (pity and deep sympathy) for them and cured their sick.

¹⁵ When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, This is a remote and barren place, and the day is now over; send the throngs away into the villages to buy food for themselves.

¹⁶ Jesus said, They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.

¹⁷ They said to Him, We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.

¹⁸ He said, Bring them here to Me.

¹⁹ Then He ordered the crowds to recline on the grass; and He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and blessed and broke the loaves and handed the pieces to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve [^[ax]small hand] baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

²¹ And those who ate were about 5,000 men, not including women and children.

²² Then He directed the disciples to get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent away the crowds.

²³ And after He had dismissed the multitudes, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. When it was evening, He was still there alone.

²⁴ But the boat was by this time out on the sea, many furlongs [a furlong is one-eighth of a mile] distant from the land, beaten and tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them.

²⁵ And in the fourth watch [between 3:00—6:00 a.m.] of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.

²⁶ And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright.

²⁷ But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I Am! Stop being afraid!^(N)

²⁸ And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.

²⁹ He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus.

³⁰ But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]!

³¹ Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?

³² And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

³³ And those in the boat knelt and worshiped Him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God!

³⁴ And when they had crossed over to the other side, they went ashore at Gennesaret.

³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent around into all the surrounding country and brought to Him all who were sick

³⁶ And begged Him to let them merely touch the fringe of His garment; and as many as touched it were perfectly restored.^(O)

15 Then from Jerusalem came scribes and Pharisees and said,

² Why do Your disciples transgress and violate the rules handed down by the elders of the past? For they do not practice [ceremonially] washing their hands before they eat.

³ He replied to them, And why also do you transgress and violate the commandment of God for the sake of the rules handed down to you by your forefathers (the elders)?

⁴ For God commanded, Honor your father and your mother, and, He who curses or reviles or speaks evil of or abuses or treats improperly his father or mother, let him surely come to his end by death.^(P)

⁵ But you say, If anyone tells his father or mother, What you would have gained from me [that is, the money and whatever I have that might be used for helping you] is already dedicated as a gift to God, then he is exempt and no longer under obligation to honor and help his father or his mother.

⁶ So for the sake of your tradition (the rules handed down by your forefathers), you have set aside the Word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect].

⁷ You pretenders (hypocrites)! Admirably and truly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said:

⁸ These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me.

⁹ Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men.^(Q)

¹⁰ And Jesus called the people to Him and said to them, Listen and grasp and comprehend this:

¹¹ It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean and defiles [him].

¹² Then the disciples came and said to Him, Do You know that the Pharisees were displeased and offended and indignant when they heard this saying?

¹³ He answered, Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be torn up by the roots.^(R)

¹⁴ Let them alone and disregard them; they are blind guides and teachers. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a ditch.

¹⁵ But Peter said to Him, Explain this ^[ay]proverb (this ^[az]maxim) to us.

¹⁶ And He said, Are you also even yet dull and ignorant [without understanding and ^[ba]unable to put things together]?

¹⁷ Do you not see and understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the ^[bb]abdomen and so passes on into the place where discharges are deposited?

¹⁸ But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what makes a man unclean and defiles [him].

¹⁹ For out of the heart come evil thoughts (reasonings and disputings and designs) such as murder, adultery, sexual vice, theft, false witnessing, slander, and irreverent speech.

²⁰ These are what make a man unclean and defile [him]; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean or defile [him].

²¹ And going away from there, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

²² And behold, a woman who was a Canaanite from that district came out and, with a [loud, troublesomely urgent] cry, begged, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is miserably and distressingly and cruelly possessed by a demon!

²³ But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us.

²⁴ He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

²⁵ But she came and, kneeling, worshiped Him and kept praying, Lord, help me!

²⁶ And He answered, It is not right (proper, becoming, or fair) to take the children’s bread and throw it to the ^[bc]little dogs.

²⁷ She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the little pups (^[bd]little whelps) eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters’ table.

²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you wish. And her daughter was cured from that ^[be]moment.

²⁹ And Jesus went on from there and passed along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up into the hills and kept sitting there.

³⁰ And a great multitude came to Him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the dumb, and many others, and they put them down at His feet; and He cured them,

³¹ So that the crowd was amazed when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they ^[bf]recognized and praised and thanked and glorified the God of Israel.

³² Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I have pity and sympathy and am deeply moved for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and they have nothing [at all left] to eat; and I am not willing to send them away hungry, lest they faint or become exhausted on the way.

³³ And the disciples said to Him, Where are we to get bread sufficient to feed so great a crowd in this isolated and desert place?

³⁴ And Jesus asked them, How many loaves of bread do you have? They replied, Seven, and a few small fish.

³⁵ And ordering the crowd to recline on the ground,

³⁶ He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when He had given thanks, He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

³⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they gathered up seven [^[bg]large provision] baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.

³⁸ Those who ate were 4,000 men, not including the women and the children.

³⁹ Then He dismissed the crowds, got into the boat, and went to the district of Magadan.

16 Now the Pharisees and Sadducees came up to Jesus, and they asked Him to show them a sign (spectacular miracle) from heaven [attesting His divine authority].

² He replied to them, ^[bh]When it is evening you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,

³ And in the morning, It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and has a gloomy and threatening look. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

⁴ A wicked and morally unfaithful generation craves a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Then He left them and went away.^(S)

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

⁶ Jesus said to them, Be careful and on your guard against the leaven (ferment) of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

⁷ And they reasoned among themselves about it, saying, It is because we did not bring any bread.

⁸ But Jesus, aware of this, asked, Why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? O you [men, how little trust you have in Me, how] little faith!

⁹ Do you not yet discern (perceive and understand)? Do you not remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many [^[bi]small hand] baskets you gathered?

¹⁰ Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many [^[bj]large provision] baskets you took up?

¹¹ How is it that you fail to understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But beware of the leaven (ferment) of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹² Then they discerned that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³ Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is?

¹⁴ And they answered, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

¹⁵ He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am?

¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

¹⁷ Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and ^[bk]to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.

¹⁸ And I tell you, you are ^[bl]Peter [Greek, Petros—a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra—a ^[bm]huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the ^[bn]infernal region) shall ^[bo]not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].

¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth ^[bp]must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth ^[bq]must be what is already loosed in heaven.^(T)

²⁰ Then He sternly and strictly charged and warned the disciples to tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

²¹ From that time forth Jesus began [clearly] to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and the high priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised ^[br]from death.

²² Then Peter took Him aside ^[bs]to speak to Him privately and began to reprove and ^[bt]charge Him sharply, saying, God forbid, Lord! This must never happen to You!

²³ But Jesus turned ^[bu]away from Peter and said to him, Get behind Me, Satan! You are in My way [an offense and a hindrance and a snare to Me]; for you are ^[bv]minding what partakes not of the nature and quality of God, but of men.

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [^[bw]cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

²⁵ For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].

²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed ^[bx]life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] ^[by]life [in the kingdom of God]?

²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory (majesty, splendor) of His Father with His angels, and then He will render account and reward every man in accordance with what he has done.

²⁸ Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in (into) His kingdom.

17 And six days after this, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves.

² And His appearance underwent a change in their presence; and His face shone ^[bz]clear and bright like the sun, and His clothing became as white as light.

³ And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, who kept talking with Him.

⁴ Then Peter began to speak and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good and delightful that we are here; if You approve, I will put up three booths here—one for You and one for Moses and one for Elijah.

⁵ While he was still speaking, behold, a shining cloud [^[ca]composed of light] overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, This is My Son, My Beloved, with Whom I am [and ^[cb]have always been] delighted. Listen to Him!^(U)

⁶ When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were ^[cc]seized with alarm and struck with fear.

⁷ But Jesus came and touched them and said, Get up, and do not be afraid.

⁸ And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

⁹ And as they were going down the mountain, Jesus cautioned and commanded them, Do not mention to anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.

¹⁰ The disciples asked Him, Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?

¹¹ He replied, Elijah does come and will get everything restored and ready.

¹² But I tell you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know or recognize him, but did to him as they liked. So also the Son of Man is going to be treated and suffer at their hands.

¹³ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them about John the Baptist.^(V)

¹⁴ And when they approached the multitude, a man came up to Him, kneeling before Him and saying,

¹⁵ Lord, do pity and have mercy on my son, for he has epilepsy (is ^[cd]moonstruck) and he suffers terribly; for frequently he falls into the fire and many times into the water.

¹⁶ And I brought him to Your disciples, and they were not able to cure him.

¹⁷ And Jesus answered, O you unbelieving (^[ce]warped, wayward, rebellious) and ^[cf]thoroughly perverse generation! How long am I to remain with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to Me.

¹⁸ And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly.

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

²⁰ He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of ^[cg]firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [^[ch]that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

^21 [ci]But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.

²² When they were going about here and there in Galilee, Jesus said to them, The Son of Man is going to be turned over into the hands of men.

²³ And they will kill Him, and He will be raised [to life] again on the third day. And they were deeply and exceedingly grieved and distressed.

²⁴ When they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the half shekel [the temple tax] went up to Peter and said, Does not your Teacher pay the half shekel?^(W)

²⁵ He answered, Yes. And when he came home, Jesus spoke to him [about it] first, saying, What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly rulers collect duties or tribute—from their own sons or from others ^[cj]not of their own family?

²⁶ And when Peter said, From other people ^[ck]not of their own family, Jesus said to him, Then the sons are exempt.

²⁷ However, in order not to give offense and cause them to stumble [that is, to cause them ^[cl]to judge unfavorably and unjustly] go down to the sea and throw in a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find there a shekel. Take it and give it to them to pay the temple tax for Me and for yourself.

18 At that time the disciples came up and asked Jesus, Who then is [really] the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

² And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them,

³ And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].

⁴ Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

⁵ And whoever receives and accepts and welcomes one little child like this for My sake and in My name receives and accepts and welcomes Me.

⁶ But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in and ^[cm]acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin [that is, who entices him or hinders him in right conduct or thought], it would be better (^[cn]more expedient and profitable or advantageous) for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be sunk in the depth of the sea.

⁷ Woe to the world for such temptations to sin and influences to do wrong! It is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the person on whose account or by whom the temptation comes!

⁸ And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; it is better (more profitable and wholesome) for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into everlasting fire.

⁹ And if your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you; it is better (more profitable and wholesome) for you to enter life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the hell (Gehenna) of fire.

¹⁰ Beware that you do not despise or feel scornful toward or think little of one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always are in the presence of and look upon the face of My Father Who is in heaven.

^11 [co]For the Son of man came to save [^[cp]from the penalty of eternal death] that which was lost.

¹² What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray and gets lost, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of the one that is lost?

¹³ And if it should be that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost.

¹⁴ Just so it is not the will of My Father Who is in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost and perish.

¹⁵ If your brother wrongs you, go and show him his fault, between you and him privately. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.

¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed and upheld by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

¹⁷ If he pays no attention to them [refusing to listen and obey], tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a pagan and a tax collector.^(X)

¹⁸ Truly I tell you, whatever you forbid and declare to be improper and unlawful on earth must be ^[cq]what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit and declare proper and lawful on earth must be ^[cr]what is already permitted in heaven.

¹⁹ Again I tell you, if two of you on earth agree (harmonize together, make a symphony together) about whatever [anything and ^[cs]everything] they may ask, it will come to pass and be done for them by My Father in heaven.

²⁰ For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My name, there I Am in the midst of them.^(Y)

²¹ Then Peter came up to Him and said, Lord, how many times may my brother sin against me and I forgive him and ^[ct]let it go? [As many as] up to seven times?

²² Jesus answered him, I tell you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven!^(Z)

²³ Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a human king who wished to settle accounts with his attendants.

²⁴ When he began the accounting, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents [probably about $10,000,000],

²⁵ And because he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made.

²⁶ So the attendant fell on his knees, begging him, Have patience with me and I will pay you everything.

²⁷ And his master’s heart was moved with compassion, and he released him and forgave him [cancelling] the debt.

²⁸ But that same attendant, as he went out, found one of his fellow attendants who owed him a hundred denarii [about twenty dollars]; and he caught him by the throat and said, Pay what you owe!

²⁹ So his fellow attendant fell down and begged him earnestly, Give me time, and I will pay you all!

³⁰ But he was unwilling, and he went out and had him put in prison till he should pay the debt.

³¹ When his fellow attendants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and told everything that had taken place to their master.

³² Then his master called him and said to him, You contemptible and wicked attendant! I forgave and cancelled all that [great] debt of yours because you begged me to.

³³ And should you not have had pity and mercy on your fellow attendant, as I had pity and mercy on you?

³⁴ And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (the jailers), till he should pay all that he owed.

³⁵ So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses.

19 Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the part of Judea that is beyond the Jordan;

² And great throngs accompanied Him, and He cured them there.

³ And Pharisees came to Him and put Him to the test by asking, Is it lawful and right to dismiss and repudiate and divorce one’s wife for any and ^[cu]every cause?

⁴ He replied, Have you never read that He Who made them from the beginning made them male and female,

⁵ And said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united firmly (joined inseparably) to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?^(AA)

⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder (separate).

⁷ They said to Him, Why then did Moses command [us] to give a certificate of divorce and thus to dismiss and repudiate a wife?^(AB)

⁸ He said to them, Because of the hardness (stubbornness and perversity) of your hearts Moses permitted you to dismiss and repudiate and divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been ^[cv]so [ordained].

⁹ I say to you: whoever dismisses (repudiates, divorces) his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery, ^[cw]and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

¹⁰ The disciples said to Him, If the case of a man with his wife is like this, it is neither profitable nor advisable to marry.

¹¹ But He said to them, Not all men can accept this saying, but it is for those to whom [the capacity to receive] it has been given.

¹² For there are eunuchs who have been born incapable of marriage; and there are eunuchs who have been made so by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves incapable of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him who is able to accept this accept it.

¹³ Then little children were brought to Jesus, that He might put His hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

¹⁴ But He said, Leave the children alone! Allow the little ones to come to Me, and do not forbid or restrain or hinder them, for of such [as these] is the kingdom of heaven composed.

¹⁵ And He put His hands upon them, and then went on His way.

¹⁶ And behold, there came a man up to Him, saying, Teacher, what excellent and perfectly and essentially good deed must I do to possess eternal life?^(AC)

¹⁷ And He said to him, Why do you ask Me about the perfectly and essentially good? There is only One Who is good [perfectly and essentially]—God. If you would enter into the Life, you must continually keep the commandments.

¹⁸ He said to Him, What ^[cx]sort of commandments? [Or, which ones?] And Jesus answered, You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,^(AD)

¹⁹ Honor your father and your mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.^(AE)

²⁰ The young man said, I have observed all these from my youth; what still do I lack?

²¹ Jesus answered him, If you would be perfect [that is, ^[cy]have that spiritual maturity which accompanies self-sacrificing character], go and sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; and come, ^[cz]be My disciple [side with My party and follow Me].

²² But when the young man heard this, he went away sad (grieved and in much distress), for he had great possessions.

²³ And Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you, it will be difficult for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven.

²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go into the kingdom of heaven.

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were utterly puzzled (astonished, bewildered), saying, Who then can be saved [^[da]from eternal death]?

²⁶ But Jesus looked at them and said, With men this is impossible, but all things are possible with God.^(AF)

²⁷ Then Peter answered Him, saying, Behold, we have left [our] all and have become ^[db]Your disciples [sided with Your party and followed You]. What then shall we receive?

²⁸ Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, in the new age [the ^[dc]Messianic rebirth of the world], when the Son of Man shall sit down on the throne of His glory, you who have [become My disciples, sided with My party and] followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁹ And anyone and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for My name’s sake will receive ^[dd]many [even a hundred] times more and will inherit eternal life.

³⁰ But many who [now] are first will be last [then], and many who [now] are last will be first [then].

20 For the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out in the morning ^[de]along with the dawn to hire workmen for his vineyard.

² After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³ And going out about the third hour (nine o’clock), he saw others standing idle in the marketplace;

⁴ And he said to them, You go also into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will pay you. And they went.

⁵ He went out again about the sixth hour (noon), and the ninth hour (three o’clock) he did the same.

⁶ And about the eleventh hour (five o’clock) he went out and found still others standing around, and said to them, Why do you stand here idle all day?

⁷ They answered him, Because nobody has hired us. He told them, You go out into the vineyard also ^[df]and you will get whatever is just and fair.

⁸ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, Call the workmen and pay them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with the first.^(AG)

⁹ And those who had been hired at the eleventh hour (five o’clock) came and received a denarius each.

¹⁰ Now when the first came, they supposed they would get more, but each of them also received a denarius.

¹¹ And when they received it, they grumbled at the owner of the estate,

¹² Saying, These [men] who came last worked no more than an hour, and yet you have made them rank with us who have borne the burden and the ^[dg]scorching heat of the day.

¹³ But he answered one of them, Friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴ Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this man hired last the same as I give to you.

¹⁵ Am I not permitted to do what I choose with what is mine? [Or do you begrudge my being generous?] Is your eye evil because I am good?

¹⁶ So those who [now] are last will be first [then], and those who [now] are first will be last [then]. ^[dh]For many are called, but few chosen.

¹⁷ And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside along the way and said to them,

¹⁸ Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes; and they will sentence Him to death

¹⁹ And deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and whipped and crucified, and He will be raised [to life] on the third day.

²⁰ Then the mother of Zebedee’s children came up to Him with her sons and, kneeling, worshiped Him and asked a favor of Him.

²¹ And He asked her, What do you wish? She answered Him, Give orders that these two sons of mine may sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left in Your kingdom.

²² But Jesus replied, You do not realize what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink ^[di]and to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They answered, We are able.

²³ He said to them, You will drink My cup, but seats at My right hand and at My left are not Mine to give, but they are for those for whom they have been ^[dj]ordained and prepared by My Father.

²⁴ But when the ten [other disciples] heard this, they were indignant at the two brothers.

²⁵ And Jesus called them to Him and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men hold them in subjection [tyrannizing over them].

²⁶ Not so shall it be among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant,

²⁷ And whoever desires to be first among you must be your slave—

²⁸ Just as the Son of Man came not to be waited on but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [the price paid to set them free].

²⁹ And as they were going out of Jericho, a great throng accompanied Him.

³⁰ And behold, two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, Lord, have pity and mercy on us, [You] Son of David!

³¹ The crowds reproved them and told them to keep still; but they cried out all the more, Lord, have pity and mercy on us, [You] Son of David!

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

³³ They answered Him, Lord, we want our eyes to be opened!

³⁴ And Jesus, in pity, touched their eyes; and instantly they received their sight and followed Him.

21 And when they came near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples on ahead,

² Saying to them, Go into the village that is opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie [them] and bring [them] to Me.

³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall reply, The Lord needs them, and he will let them go without delay.

⁴ This happened that what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,

⁵ Say to the Daughter of Zion [inhabitants of Jerusalem], Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey [a beast of burden].^(AH)

⁶ Then the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.

⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their coats upon them, and He seated Himself on them [the clothing].

⁸ And most of the crowd kept spreading their garments on the road, and others kept cutting branches from the trees and scattering them on the road.

⁹ And the crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed Him kept shouting, Hosanna (^[dk]O be propitious, graciously inclined) to the Son of David, [^[dl]the Messiah]! Blessed (praised, glorified) is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna (O be favorably disposed) in the highest [heaven]!^(AI)

¹⁰ And when He entered Jerusalem, all the city became agitated and ^[dm][trembling with excitement] said, Who is ^[dn]This?

¹¹ And the crowds replied, This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.

¹² And Jesus went into the temple (^[do]whole temple enclosure) and drove out all who bought and sold in the ^[dp]sacred place, and He turned over the ^[dq]four-footed tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who sold doves.

¹³ He said to them, The Scripture says, My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers.^(AJ)

¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to Him in the ^[dr]porches and courts of the temple, and He cured them.

¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He did and the boys and the girls and the ^[ds]youths and the maidens crying out in the ^[dt]porches and courts of the temple, Hosanna (O be propitious, graciously inclined) to the Son of David! they were indignant.

¹⁶ And they said to Him, Do You hear what these are saying? And Jesus replied to them, Yes; have you never read, Out of the mouths of babes and unweaned infants You have made (provided) perfect praise?^(AK)

¹⁷ And leaving them, He departed from the city and went out to Bethany and lodged there.

¹⁸ In the early dawn the next morning, as He was coming back to the city, He was hungry.

¹⁹ And as He saw ^[du]one single leafy fig tree ^[dv]above the roadside, He went to it but He found nothing but leaves on it [^[dw]seeing that in the fig tree the fruit appears at the same time as the leaves]. And He said to it, Never again shall fruit grow on you! And the fig tree withered up at once.

²⁰ When the disciples saw it, they marveled greatly and asked, How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once?

²¹ And Jesus answered them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith (a ^[dx]firm relying trust) and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will be done.

²² And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing, you will receive.

²³ And when He entered the sacred ^[dy]enclosure of the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching and said, By what ^[dz]power of authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this power of authority?

²⁴ Jesus answered them, I also will ask you a question, and if you give Me the answer, then I also will tell you by what ^[ea]power of authority I do these things.

²⁵ The baptism of John—from where was it? From heaven or from men? And they reasoned and argued with one another, If we say, From heaven, ^[eb]He will ask us, Why then did you not believe him?

²⁶ But if we say, From men—we are afraid of and must reckon with the multitude, for they all regard John as a prophet.

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, We do not know. And He said to them, Neither will I tell you by what ^[ec]power of authority I do these things.

²⁸ What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He came to the first and said, Son, go and work today in the vineyard.

²⁹ And he answered, I will not; but afterward he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ Then the man came to the second and said the same [thing]. And he replied, I will [go], sir; but he did not go.

³¹ Which of the two did the will of the father? They replied, The first one. Jesus said to them, Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the harlots will get into the kingdom of heaven before you.

³² For John came to you walking in the way of an upright man in right standing with God, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots did believe him; and you, even when you saw that, did not afterward change your minds and believe him [adhere to, trust in, and rely on what he told you].

³³ Listen to another parable: There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a hedge around it and dug a wine vat in it and built a watchtower. Then he let it out [for rent] to tenants and went into another country.

³⁴ When the fruit season drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his [share of the] fruit.

³⁵ But the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

³⁶ Again he sent other servants, more than the first time, and they treated them the same way.

³⁷ Finally he sent his own son to them, saying, They will respect and give heed to my son.

³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, This is the heir; come on, let us kill him and have his inheritance.

³⁹ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those tenants?

⁴¹ They said to Him, He will put those wretches to a miserable death and rent the vineyard to other tenants ^[ed]of such a character that they will give him the fruits promptly in their season.^(AL)

⁴² Jesus asked them, Have you never read in the Scriptures: The very Stone which the builders rejected and threw away has become the Cornerstone; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?^(AM)

⁴³ I tell you, for this reason the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the fruits of it.

^44 [ee]And whoever falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom It falls will be crushed to powder [and It will ^[ef]winnow him, ^[eg]scattering him like dust].^(AN)

⁴⁵ And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables (comparisons, stories used to illustrate and explain), they perceived that He was talking about them.

⁴⁶ And although they were trying to arrest Him, they feared the throngs because they regarded Him as a prophet.

22 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables (comparisons, stories used to illustrate and explain), saying,

² The kingdom of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son

³ And sent his servants to summon those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they refused to come.

⁴ Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my banquet; my bullocks and my fat calves are killed, and everything is prepared; come to the wedding feast.

⁵ But they were not concerned and paid no attention [they ignored and made light of the summons, treating it with contempt] and they went away—one to his farm, another to his business,

⁶ While the others seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and put them to death.

⁷ [Hearing this] the king was infuriated; and he sent his soldiers and put those murderers to death and burned their city.

⁸ Then he said to his servants, The wedding [feast] is prepared, but those invited were not worthy.

⁹ So go to the thoroughfares where they leave the city [where the main roads and those from the country end] and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.

¹⁰ And those servants went out on the crossroads and got together as many as they found, both bad and good, so [the room in which] the wedding feast [was held] was filled with guests.

¹¹ But when the king came in to view the guests, he looked intently at a man there who had on no wedding garment.

¹² And he said, Friend, how did you come in here without putting on the [appropriate] wedding garment? And he was speechless (^[eh]muzzled, gagged).

¹³ Then the king said to the attendants, Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the darkness outside; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

¹⁴ For many are called (invited and summoned), but few are chosen.

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and consulted and plotted together how they might entangle Jesus in His talk.

¹⁶ And they sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that You are ^[ei]sincere and what You profess to be and that You teach the way of God truthfully, regardless of consequences and being afraid of no man; for You are impartial and do not regard either the person or the position of anyone.

¹⁷ Tell us then what You think about this: Is it lawful to pay tribute [levied on individuals and to be paid yearly] to Caesar or not?

¹⁸ But Jesus, aware of their malicious plot, asked, Why do you put Me to the test and try to entrap Me, you pretenders (hypocrites)?

¹⁹ Show me the money used for the tribute. And they brought Him a denarius.

²⁰ And Jesus said to them, Whose likeness and title are these?

²¹ They said, Caesar’s. Then He said to them, Pay therefore to Caesar the things that are due to Caesar, and pay to God the things that are due to God.

²² When they heard it they were amazed and marveled; and they left Him and departed.

²³ The same day some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection [of the dead], came to Him and they asked Him a question,

²⁴ Saying, Teacher, Moses said, If a man dies, leaving no children, his brother shall marry the widow and raise up a family for his brother.^(AO)

²⁵ Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married and died, and, having no children, left his wife to his brother.

²⁶ The second also died childless, and the third, down to the seventh.

²⁷ Last of all, the woman died also.

²⁸ Now, in the resurrection, to which of the seven will she be wife? For they all had her.

²⁹ But Jesus replied to them, You are wrong because you know neither the Scriptures nor God’s power.

³⁰ For in the resurrected state neither do [men] marry nor are [women] given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven.

³¹ But as to the resurrection of the dead—have you never read what was said to you by God,

³² I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead but of the living!^(AP)

³³ And when the throng heard it, they were astonished and filled with [^[ej]glad] amazement at His teaching.

³⁴ Now when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced (^[ek]muzzled) the Sadducees, they gathered together.

³⁵ And one of their number, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him.

³⁶ Teacher, which ^[el]kind of commandment is great and important (the principal kind) in the Law? [Some commandments are light—which are heavy?]

³⁷ And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect).^(AQ)

³⁸ This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment.

³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.^(AR)

⁴⁰ These two commandments ^[em]sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were still assembled there, Jesus asked them a question,

⁴² Saying, What do you think of the Christ? Whose Son is He? They said to Him, The Son of David.

⁴³ He said to them, How is it then that David, under the influence of the [Holy] Spirit, calls Him Lord, saying,

⁴⁴ The Lord said to My Lord, Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet?^(AS)

⁴⁵ If then David thus calls Him Lord, how is He his Son?

⁴⁶ And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone venture or dare to question Him.

23 Then Jesus said to the multitudes and to His disciples,

² The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat [of authority].

³ So observe and practice all they tell you; but do not do what they do, for they preach, but do not practice.

⁴ They tie up heavy loads, hard to bear, and place them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not lift a finger to help bear them.

⁵ They do all their works to be seen of men; for they make wide their phylacteries (^[en]small cases enclosing certain Scripture passages, worn during prayer on the left arm and forehead) and make long their fringes [worn by all male Israelites, according to the command].^(AT)

⁶ And they ^[eo]take pleasure in and [thus] love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues,

⁷ And to be greeted with honor in the marketplaces and to have people call them rabbi.

⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi (teacher), for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers.

⁹ And do not call anyone [in the church] on earth father, for you have one Father, Who is in heaven.

¹⁰ And you must not be called masters (leaders), for you have one Master (Leader), the Christ.

¹¹ He who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

¹² Whoever exalts himself [^[ep]with haughtiness and empty pride] shall be humbled (brought low), and whoever humbles himself [whoever has a modest opinion of himself and behaves accordingly] shall be ^[eq]raised to honor.

¹³ But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces; for you neither enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are about to go in to do so.

^14 [er]Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you swallow up widows’ houses and for a pretense to cover it up make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation and the heavier sentence.

¹⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes one [a proselyte], you make him doubly as much a child of hell (Gehenna) as you are.

¹⁶ Woe to you, blind guides, who say, If anyone swears by the ^[es]sanctuary of the temple, it is nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the ^[et]sanctuary, he is a debtor [bound by his oath].

¹⁷ You blind fools! For which is greater: the gold, or the ^[eu]sanctuary of the temple that has made the gold sacred?^(AU)

¹⁸ You say too, Whoever swears by the altar is not duty bound; but whoever swears by the offering on the altar, his oath is binding.

¹⁹ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar which makes the gift sacred?

²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

²¹ And he who swears by the ^[ev]sanctuary of the temple swears by it and by Him Who dwells in it.^(AV)

²² And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by Him Who sits upon it.

²³ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you give a tenth of your mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected and omitted the weightier (more important) matters of the Law—right and justice and mercy and fidelity. These you ought [particularly] to have done, without neglecting the others.

²⁴ You blind guides, filtering out a gnat and gulping down a ^[ew]camel!^(AW)

²⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but within they are full of extortion (prey, spoil, plunder) and grasping self-indulgence.

²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and of the plate, so that the outside may be clean also.

²⁷ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you are like tombs that have been whitewashed, which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything impure.

²⁸ Just so, you also outwardly seem to people to be just and upright but inside you are full of pretense and lawlessness and iniquity.^(AX)

²⁹ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,

³⁰ Saying, If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have aided them in shedding the blood of the prophets.

³¹ Thus you are testifying against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

³² Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ sins to the brim [so ^[ex]that nothing may be wanting to a full measure].

³³ You serpents! You spawn of vipers! How can you escape the ^[ey]penalty to be suffered in hell (Gehenna)?

³⁴ Because of this, take notice: I am sending you prophets and wise men (interpreters and teachers) and scribes (men learned in the Mosaic Law and the Prophets); some of them you will kill, even crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue and persecute from town to town,

³⁵ So that upon your heads may come all the blood of the righteous (^[ez]those who correspond to the divine standard of right) shed on earth, from the blood of the righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar [of burnt offering].^(AY)

³⁶ Truly I declare to you, all these [^[fa]evil, calamitous times] will come upon this generation.^(AZ)

³⁷ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, murdering the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a mother fowl gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused!

³⁸ Behold, your house is forsaken and desolate (abandoned and left destitute of God’s help).^(BA)

³⁹ For I declare to you, you will not see Me again until you say, Blessed (magnified in worship, adored, and exalted) is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!^(BB)

24 Jesus departed from the temple ^[fb]area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to the buildings of the temple and point them out to Him.

² But He answered them, Do you see all these? Truly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

³ While He was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately and said, Tell us, when will this take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end (the completion, the consummation) of the age?

⁴ Jesus answered them, Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error].

⁵ For many will come in (on the strength of) My name [^[fc]appropriating the name which belongs to Me], saying, I am the Christ (the Messiah), and they will lead many astray.

⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened or troubled, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.

⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in place after place;

⁸ All this is but the beginning [the early pains] of the ^[fd]birth pangs [of the ^[fe]intolerable anguish].

⁹ Then they will hand you over to suffer affliction and tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.

¹⁰ And then many will be offended and repelled and will ^[ff]begin to distrust and desert [Him Whom they ought to trust and obey] and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred.

¹¹ And many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead many into error.

¹² And the love of ^[fg]the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity,

¹³ But he who endures to the end will be saved.

¹⁴ And this good news of the kingdom (the Gospel) will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end.

¹⁵ So when you see the appalling sacrilege [the abomination that astonishes and makes desolate], spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place—let the reader take notice and ^[fh]ponder and consider and heed [this]—^(BC)

¹⁶ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;

¹⁷ Let him who is on the housetop not come down and go into the house to take anything;

¹⁸ And let him who is in the field not turn back to get his overcoat.

¹⁹ And alas for the women who are pregnant and for those who have nursing babies in those days!

²⁰ Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.

²¹ For then there will be great tribulation (affliction, distress, and oppression) such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now—no, and never will be [again].^(BD)

²² And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would endure and survive, but for the sake of the elect (God’s chosen ones) those days will be shortened.

²³ If anyone says to you then, Behold, here is the Christ (the Messiah)! or, There He is!—do not believe it.

²⁴ For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and wonders so as to deceive and lead astray, if possible, even the elect (God’s chosen ones).

²⁵ See, I have warned you beforehand.

²⁶ So if they say to you, Behold, He is in the wilderness (desert)—do not go out there; if they tell you, Behold, He is in the secret places or inner rooms—do not believe it.

²⁷ For just as the lightning flashes from the east and shines and ^[fi]is seen as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

²⁸ Wherever there is a fallen body (a corpse), there the vultures (or eagles) will flock together.^(BE)

²⁹ Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.^(BF)

³⁰ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and ^[fj]beat their breasts and lament in anguish, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory [in brilliancy and splendor].^(BG)

³¹ And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect (His chosen ones) from the four winds, [even] from one end of the ^[fk]universe to the other.^(BH)

³² From the fig tree learn this lesson: as soon as its ^[fl]young shoots become soft and tender and it puts out its leaves, you know ^[fm]of a surety that summer is near.