Bible in 90 Days
14 At the bottom of the mountain they found a great crowd surrounding the other nine disciples, as some Jewish leaders argued with them. 15 The crowd watched Jesus in awe as he came toward them, and then ran to greet him. 16 “What’s all the argument about?” he asked.
17 One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son for you to heal—he can’t talk because he is possessed by a demon. 18 And whenever the demon is in control of him it dashes him to the ground and makes him foam at the mouth and grind his teeth and become rigid.[a] So I begged your disciples to cast out the demon, but they couldn’t do it.”
19 Jesus said to his disciples,[b] “Oh, what tiny faith you have; how much longer must I be with you until you believe? How much longer must I be patient with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20 So they brought the boy, but when he saw Jesus, the demon convulsed the child horribly, and he fell to the ground writhing and foaming at the mouth.
21 “How long has he been this way?” Jesus asked the father.
And he replied, “Since he was very small, 22 and the demon often makes him fall into the fire or into water to kill him. Oh, have mercy on us and do something if you can.”
23 “If I can?” Jesus asked.
24 The father instantly replied, “I do have faith; oh, help me to have more!”
25 When Jesus saw the crowd was growing, he rebuked the demon.
“O demon of deafness and dumbness,” he said, “I command you to come out of this child and enter him no more!”
26 Then the demon screamed terribly and convulsed the boy again and left him; and the boy lay there limp and motionless, to all appearance dead. A murmur ran through the crowd—“He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet and he stood up and was all right! 28 Afterwards, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast that demon out?”
29 Jesus replied, “Cases like this require prayer.”[c]
30-31 Leaving that region they traveled through Galilee where he tried to avoid all publicity in order to spend more time with his disciples, teaching them. He would say to them, “I, the Messiah, am going to be betrayed and killed and three days later I will return to life again.”
32 But they didn’t understand and were afraid to ask him what he meant.
33 And so they arrived at Capernaum. When they were settled in the house where they were to stay, he asked them, “What were you discussing out on the road?”
34 But they were ashamed to answer, for they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest!
35 He sat down and called them around him and said, “Anyone wanting to be the greatest must be the least—the servant of all!”
36 Then he placed a little child among them; and taking the child in his arms he said to them, 37 “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name is welcoming me, and anyone who welcomes me is welcoming my Father who sent me!”
38 One of his disciples, John, told him one day, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to cast out demons; but we told him not to, for he isn’t one of our group.”
39 “Don’t forbid him!” Jesus said. “For no one doing miracles in my name will quickly turn against me.[d] 40 Anyone who isn’t against us is for us. 41 If anyone so much as gives you a cup of water because you are Christ’s—I say this solemnly—he won’t lose his reward. 42 But if someone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to lose faith—it would be better for that man if a huge millstone were tied around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
43-44 [e]“If your hand does wrong, cut it off. Better live forever with one hand than be thrown into the unquenchable fires of hell with two! 45-46 If your foot carries you toward evil, cut it off! Better be lame and live forever than have two feet that carry you to hell.
47 “And if your eye is sinful, gouge it out. Better enter the Kingdom of God half blind than have two eyes and see the fires of hell, 48 where the worm never dies, and the fire never goes out— 49 where all are salted with fire.[f]
50 “Good salt is worthless if it loses its saltiness; it can’t season anything. So don’t lose your flavor! Live in peace with each other.”
10 Then he left Capernaum[g] and went southward to the Judean borders and into the area east of the Jordan River. And as always there were the crowds; and as usual he taught them.
2 Some Pharisees came and asked him, “Do you permit divorce?” Of course they were trying to trap him.
3 “What did Moses say about divorce?” Jesus asked them.
4 “He said it was all right,” they replied. “He said that all a man has to do is write his wife a letter of dismissal.”
5 “And why did he say that?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you why—it was a concession to your hardhearted wickedness. 6-7 But it certainly isn’t God’s way. For from the very first he made man and woman to be joined together permanently in marriage; therefore a man is to leave his father and mother, 8 and he and his wife are united so that they are no longer two, but one. 9 And no man may separate what God has joined together.”
10 Later, when he was alone with his disciples in the house, they brought up the subject again.
11 He told them, “When a man divorces his wife to marry someone else, he commits adultery against her. 12 And if a wife divorces her husband and remarries, she, too, commits adultery.”
13 Once when some mothers[h] were bringing their children to Jesus to bless them, the disciples shooed them away, telling them not to bother him.
14 But when Jesus saw what was happening he was very much displeased with his disciples and said to them, “Let the children come to me, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as they. Don’t send them away! 15 I tell you as seriously as I know how that anyone who refuses to come to God as a little child will never be allowed into his Kingdom.”
16 Then he took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and he blessed them.
17 As he was starting out on a trip, a man came running to him and knelt down and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get to heaven?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good! 19 But as for your question—you know the commandments: don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, respect your father and mother.”
20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve never once[i] broken a single one of those laws.”
21 Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him. “You lack only one thing,” he told him; “go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor—and you shall have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.”
22 Then the man’s face fell, and he went sadly away, for he was very rich.
23 Jesus watched him go, then turned around and said to his disciples, “It’s almost impossible for the rich to get into the Kingdom of God!”
24 This amazed them. So Jesus said it again: “Dear children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches[j] to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were incredulous! “Then who in the world can be saved, if not a rich man?” they asked.
27 Jesus looked at them intently, then said, “Without God, it is utterly impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
28 Then Peter began to mention all that he and the other disciples had left behind. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.
29 And Jesus replied, “Let me assure you that no one has ever given up anything—home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or property—for love of me and to tell others the Good News, 30 who won’t be given back, a hundred times over, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—with persecutions!
“All these will be his here on earth, and in the world to come he shall have eternal life. 31 But many people who seem to be important now will be the least important then; and many who are considered least here shall be greatest there.”
32 Now they were on the way to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking along ahead; and as the disciples were following they were filled with terror and dread.
Taking them aside, Jesus once more began describing all that was going to happen to him when they arrived at Jerusalem.
33 “When we get there,” he told them, “I, the Messiah,[k] will be arrested and taken before the chief priests and the Jewish leaders, who will sentence me to die and hand me over to the Romans to be killed. 34 They will mock me and spit on me and flog me with their whips and kill me; but after three days I will come back to life again.”
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him in a low voice.[l] “Master,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”
36 “What is it?” he asked.
37 “We want to sit on the thrones next to yours in your Kingdom,” they said, “one at your right and the other at your left!”
38 But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of sorrow I must drink from? Or to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”
39 “Oh, yes,” they said, “we are!”
And Jesus said, “You shall indeed drink from my cup and be baptized with my baptism, 40 but I do not have the right to place you on thrones next to mine. Those appointments have already been made.”
41 When the other disciples discovered what James and John had asked, they were very indignant. 42 So Jesus called them to him and said, “As you know, the kings and great men of the earth lord it over the people; 43 but among you it is different. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant. 44 And whoever wants to be greatest of all must be the slave of all. 45 For even I, the Messiah,[m] am not here to be served, but to help others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.”
46 And so they reached Jericho. Later, as they left town, a great crowd was following. Now it happened that a blind beggar named Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road as Jesus was going by.
47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus from Nazareth was near, he began to shout out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 “Shut up!” some of the people yelled at him.
But he only shouted the louder, again and again, “O Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 When Jesus heard him, he stopped there in the road and said, “Tell him to come here.”
So they called the blind man. “You lucky fellow,”[n] they said, “come on, he’s calling you!” 50 Bartimaeus yanked off his old coat and flung it aside, jumped up and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.
“O Teacher,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
52 And Jesus said to him, “All right, it’s done.[o] Your faith has healed you.”
And instantly the blind man could see and followed Jesus down the road!
11 As they neared Bethphage and Bethany on the outskirts of Jerusalem and came to the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead.
2 “Go into that village over there,” he told them, “and just as you enter you will see a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie him and bring him here. 3 And if anyone asks you what you are doing, just say, ‘Our Master needs him and will return him soon.’”
4-5 Off went the two men and found the colt standing in the street, tied outside a house. As they were untying it, some who were standing there demanded, “What are you doing, untying that colt?”
6 So they said what Jesus had told them to, and then the men agreed.
7 So the colt was brought to Jesus, and the disciples threw their cloaks across its back for him to ride on. 8 Then many in the crowd spread out their coats along the road before him, while others threw down leafy branches from the fields.
9 He was in the center of the procession with crowds ahead and behind, and all of them shouting, “Hail to the King!” “Praise God for him who comes in the name of the Lord!” . . . 10 “Praise God for the return of our father David’s kingdom. . . . ” “Hail to the King of the universe!”
11 And so he entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. He looked around carefully at everything and then left—for now it was late in the afternoon—and went out to Bethany with the twelve disciples.
12 The next morning as they left Bethany, he felt hungry. 13 A little way off he noticed a fig tree in full leaf, so he went over to see if he could find any figs on it. But no, there were only leaves, for it was too early in the season for fruit.
14 Then Jesus said to the tree, “You shall never bear fruit again!” And the disciples heard him say it.
15 When they arrived back in Jerusalem, he went to the Temple and began to drive out the merchants and their customers, and knocked over the tables of the money changers and the stalls of those selling doves, 16 and stopped everyone from bringing in loads of merchandise.
17 He told them, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple is to be a place of prayer for all nations,’ but you have turned it into a den of robbers.”
18 When the chief priests and other Jewish leaders heard what he had done, they began planning how best to get rid of him. Their problem was their fear of riots because the people were so enthusiastic about Jesus’ teaching.
19 That evening as usual they left the city.
20 Next morning, as the disciples passed the fig tree he had cursed, they saw that it was withered from the roots! 21 Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Teacher! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
22-23 In reply Jesus said to the disciples, “If you only have faith in God—this is the absolute truth—you can say to this Mount of Olives, ‘Rise up and fall into the Mediterranean,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and have no doubt! 24
26-28 [p]By this time they had arrived in Jerusalem again, and as he was walking through the Temple area, the chief priests and other Jewish leaders came up to him demanding, “What’s going on here? Who gave you the authority to drive out the merchants?”
29 Jesus replied, “I’ll tell you if you answer one question! 30 What about John the Baptist? Was he sent by God, or not? Answer me!”
31 They talked it over among themselves. “If we reply that God sent him, then he will say, ‘All right, why didn’t you accept him?’ 32 But if we say God didn’t send him, then the people will start a riot.” (For the people all believed strongly that John was a prophet.)
33 So they said, “We can’t answer. We don’t know.”
To which Jesus replied, “Then I won’t answer your question either!”
12 Here are some of the story-illustrations Jesus gave to the people at that time:
“A man planted a vineyard and built a wall around it and dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a watchman’s tower. Then he leased the farm to tenant farmers and moved to another country. 2 At grape-picking time he sent one of his men to collect his share of the crop. 3 But the farmers beat up the man and sent him back empty-handed.
4 “The owner then sent another of his men, who received the same treatment, only worse, for his head was seriously injured. 5 The next man he sent was killed; and later, others were either beaten or killed, until 6 there was only one left—his only son. He finally sent him, thinking they would surely give him their full respect.
7 “But when the farmers saw him coming they said, ‘He will own the farm when his father dies. Come on, let’s kill him—and then the farm will be ours!’ 8 So they caught him and murdered him and threw his body out of the vineyard.
9 “What do you suppose the owner will do when he hears what happened? He will come and kill them all, and lease the vineyard to others. 10 Don’t you remember reading this verse in the Scriptures? ‘The Rock the builders threw away became the cornerstone, the most honored stone in the building! 11 This is the Lord’s doing and it is an amazing thing to see.’”
12 The Jewish leaders wanted to arrest him then and there for using this illustration, for they knew he was pointing at them—they were the wicked farmers in his story. But they were afraid to touch him for fear of a mob. So they left him and went away.
13 But they sent other religious and political leaders to talk with him and try to trap him into saying something he could be arrested for.
14 “Teacher,” these spies said, “we know you tell the truth no matter what! You aren’t influenced by the opinions and desires of men, but sincerely teach the ways of God. Now tell us, is it right to pay taxes to Rome, or not?”
15 Jesus saw their trick and said, “Show me a coin and I’ll tell you.”
16 When they handed it to him he asked, “Whose picture and title is this on the coin?” They replied, “The emperor’s.”
17 “All right,” he said, “if it is his, give it to him. But everything that belongs to God must be given to God!” And they scratched their heads in bafflement at his reply.
18 Then the Sadducees stepped forward—a group of men who say there is no resurrection. Here was their question:
19 “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that when a man dies without children, the man’s brother should marry his widow and have children in his brother’s name. 20-22 Well, there were seven brothers and the oldest married and died, and left no children. So the second brother married the widow, but soon he died too and left no children. Then the next brother married her and died without children, and so on until all were dead, and still there were no children; and last of all, the woman died too.
23 “What we want to know is this:[q] In the resurrection, whose wife will she be, for she had been the wife of each of them?”
24 Jesus replied, “Your trouble is that you don’t know the Scriptures and don’t know the power of God. 25 For when these seven brothers and the woman rise from the dead, they won’t be married—they will be like the angels.
26
27 “God was telling Moses that these men, though dead for hundreds of years,[r]
28 One of the teachers of religion who was standing there listening to the discussion realized that Jesus had answered well. So he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 Jesus replied, “The one that says, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only God. 30 And you must love him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.’
31 “The second is: ‘You must love others as much as yourself.’ No other commandments are greater than these.”
32 The teacher of religion replied, “Sir, you have spoken a true word in saying that there is only one God and no other. 33 And I know it is far more important to love him with all my heart and understanding and strength, and to love others as myself, than to offer all kinds of sacrifices on the altar of the Temple.”
34 Realizing this man’s understanding, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared ask him any more questions.
35 Later, as Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple area, he asked them this question:
“Why do your religious teachers claim that the Messiah must be a descendant of King David? 36 For David himself said—and the Holy Spirit was speaking through him when he said it—‘God said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ 37
(This sort of reasoning delighted the crowd and they listened to him with great interest.)
38 Here are some of the other things he taught them at this time:
“Beware of the teachers of religion! For they love to wear the robes of the rich and scholarly, and to have everyone bow to them as they walk through the markets. 39 They love to sit in the best seats in the synagogues and at the places of honor at banquets— 40 but they shamelessly cheat widows out of their homes and then, to cover up the kind of men they really are, they pretend to be pious by praying long prayers in public. Because of this, their punishment will be the greater.”
41 Then he went over to the collection boxes in the Temple and sat and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Some who were rich put in large amounts. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two pennies.
43-44 He called his disciples to him and remarked, “That poor widow has given more than all those rich men put together! For they gave a little of their extra fat,[s] while she gave up her last penny.”
13 As he was leaving the Temple that day, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, what beautiful buildings these are! Look at the decorated stonework on the walls.”
2 Jesus replied, “Yes, look! For not one stone will be left upon another, except as ruins.”
3-4 And as he sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives across the valley from Jerusalem, Peter, James, John, and Andrew got alone with him and asked him, “Just when is all this going to happen to the Temple? Will there be some warning ahead of time?”
5 So Jesus launched into an extended reply. “Don’t let anyone mislead you,” he said, 6 “for many will come declaring themselves to be your Messiah and will lead many astray. 7 And wars will break out near and far, but this is not the signal of the end-time.
8 “For nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be earthquakes in many lands, and famines. These herald only the early stages of the anguish ahead. 9 But when these things begin to happen, watch out! For you will be in great danger. You will be dragged before the courts, and beaten in the synagogues, and accused before governors and kings of being my followers. This is your opportunity to tell them the Good News. 10 And the Good News must first be made known in every nation before the end-time finally comes.[t] 11 But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry about what to say in your defense. Just say what God tells you to. Then you will not be speaking, but the Holy Spirit will.
12 “Brothers will betray each other to death, fathers will betray their own children, and children will betray their parents to be killed. 13 And everyone will hate you because you are mine. But all who endure to the end without renouncing me shall be saved.
14 “When you see the horrible thing standing in the Temple[u] —reader, pay attention!—flee, if you can, to the Judean hills. 15-16 Hurry! If you are on your rooftop porch, don’t even go back into the house. If you are out in the fields, don’t even return for your money or clothes.
17 “Woe to pregnant women in those days, and to mothers nursing their children. 18 And pray that your flight will not be in winter. 19 For those will be days of such horror as have never been since the beginning of God’s creation, nor will ever be again. 20 And unless the Lord shortens that time of calamity, not a soul in all the earth will survive. But for the sake of his chosen ones he will limit those days.
21 “And then if anyone tells you, ‘This is the Messiah,’ or, ‘That one is,’ don’t pay any attention. 22 For there will be many false Messiahs and false prophets who will do wonderful miracles that would deceive, if possible, even God’s own children.[v] 23 Take care! I have warned you!
24 “After the tribulation ends, then the sun will grow dim and the moon will not shine, 25 and the stars will fall—the heavens will convulse.
26 “Then all mankind will see me, the Messiah,[w] coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And I will send out the angels to gather together my chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest bounds of earth and heaven.
28 “Now, here is a lesson from a fig tree. When its buds become tender and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that spring has come. 29 And when you see these things happening that I’ve described, you can be sure that my return is very near, that I am right at the door.
30 “Yes, these are the events that will signal the end of the age.[x] 31 Heaven and earth shall disappear, but my words stand sure forever.
32 “However, no one, not even the angels in heaven, nor I myself,[y] knows the day or hour when these things will happen; only the Father knows. 33 And since you don’t know when it will happen, stay alert. Be on the watch for my return.[z]
34 “My coming[aa] can be compared with that of a man who went on a trip to another country. He laid out his employees’ work for them to do while he was gone and told the gatekeeper to watch for his return.
35-37 “Keep a sharp lookout! For you do not know when I[ab]
14 The Passover observance began two days later—an annual Jewish holiday when no bread made with yeast was eaten. The chief priests and other Jewish leaders were still looking for an opportunity to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death.
2 “But we can’t do it during the Passover,” they said, “or there will be a riot.”
3 Meanwhile Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper; during supper a woman came in with a beautiful flask of expensive perfume. Then, breaking the seal, she poured it over his head.
4-5 Some of those at the table were indignant among themselves about this “waste,” as they called it.
“Why, she could have sold that perfume for a fortune and given the money to the poor!” they snarled.
6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone; why berate her for doing a good thing? 7 You always have the poor among you, and they badly need your help, and you can aid them whenever you want to; but I won’t be here much longer.
8 “She has done what she could and has anointed my body ahead of time for burial. 9 And I tell you this in solemn truth, that wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and praised.”
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, went to the chief priests to arrange to betray Jesus to them.
11 When the chief priests heard why he had come, they were excited and happy and promised him a reward. So he began looking for the right time and place to betray Jesus.
12 On the first day of the Passover, the day the lambs were sacrificed, his disciples asked him where he wanted to go to eat the traditional Passover supper. 13 He sent two of them into Jerusalem to make the arrangements.
“As you are walking along,” he told them, “you will see a man coming toward you carrying a pot of water. Follow him. 14 At the house he enters, tell the man in charge, ‘Our Master sent us to see the room you have ready for us, where we will eat the Passover supper this evening!’ 15 He will take you upstairs to a large room all set up. Prepare our supper there.”
16 So the two disciples went on ahead into the city and found everything as Jesus had said, and prepared the Passover.
17 In the evening Jesus arrived with the other disciples, 18 and as they were sitting around the table eating, Jesus said, “I solemnly declare that one of you will betray me, one of you who is here eating with me.”
19 A great sadness swept over them, and one by one they asked him, “Am I the one?”
20 He replied, “It is one of you twelve eating with me now. 21 I[ac] must die, as the prophets declared long ago; but, oh, the misery ahead for the man by whom I am betrayed. Oh, that he had never been born!”
22 As they were eating, Jesus took bread and asked God’s blessing on it and broke it in pieces and gave it to them and said, “Eat it—this is my body.”
23 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it and gave it to them; and they all drank from it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood, poured out for many, sealing the new agreement[ad] between God and man. 25 I solemnly declare that I shall never again taste wine until the day I drink a different kind[ae] in the Kingdom of God.”
26 Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
27 “All of you will desert me,” Jesus told them, “for God has declared through the prophets, ‘I will kill the Shepherd, and the sheep will scatter.’ 28 But after I am raised to life again, I will go to Galilee and meet you there.”
29 Peter said to him, “I will never desert you no matter what the others do!”
30 “Peter,” Jesus said, “before the cock crows a second time tomorrow morning you will deny me three times.”
31 “No!” Peter exploded. “Not even if I have to die with you! I’ll never deny you!” And all the others vowed the same.
32 And now they came to an olive grove called the Garden of Gethsemane, and he instructed his disciples, “Sit here, while I go and pray.”
33 He took Peter, James, and John with him and began to be filled with horror and deepest distress. 34 And he said to them, “My soul is crushed by sorrow to the point of death; stay here and watch with me.”
35 He went on a little farther and fell to the ground and prayed that if it were possible the awful hour awaiting him might never come.[af]
36 “Father, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take away this cup from me. Yet I want your will, not mine.”
37 Then he returned to the three disciples and found them asleep.
“Simon!” he said. “Asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? 38 Watch with me and pray lest the Tempter overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak.”
39 And he went away again and prayed, repeating his pleadings. 40 Again he returned to them and found them sleeping, for they were very tired. And they didn’t know what to say.
41 The third time when he returned to them he said, “Sleep on; get your rest! But no! The time for sleep has ended! Look! I am[ag] betrayed into the hands of wicked men. 42 Come! Get up! We must go! Look! My betrayer is here!”
43 And immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas (one of his disciples) arrived with a mob equipped with swords and clubs, sent out by the chief priests and other Jewish leaders.
44 Judas had told them, “You will know which one to arrest when I go over and greet[ah] him. Then you can take him easily.” 45 So as soon as they arrived he walked up to Jesus. “Master!” he exclaimed, and embraced him with a great show of friendliness. 46 Then the mob arrested Jesus and held him fast. 47 But someone[ai] pulled a sword and slashed at the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear.
48 Jesus asked them, “Am I some dangerous robber, that you come like this, armed to the teeth to capture me? 49 Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there teaching every day. But these things are happening to fulfill the prophecies about me.”
50 Meanwhile, all his disciples had fled. 51-52 There was, however, a young man following along behind, clothed only in a linen nightshirt.[aj] When the mob tried to grab him, he escaped, though his clothes were torn off in the process, so that he ran away completely naked.
53 Jesus was led to the high priest’s home where all of the chief priests and other Jewish leaders soon gathered. 54 Peter followed far behind and then slipped inside the gates of the high priest’s residence and crouched beside a fire among the servants.
55 Inside, the chief priests and the whole Jewish Supreme Court were trying to find something against Jesus that would be sufficient to condemn him to death. But their efforts were in vain. 56 Many false witnesses volunteered, but they contradicted each other.
57 Finally some men stood up to lie about him and said, 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this Temple made with human hands and in three days I will build another, made without human hands!’” 59 But even then they didn’t get their stories straight!
60 Then the high priest stood up before the Court and asked Jesus, “Do you refuse to answer this charge? What do you have to say for yourself?”
61 To this Jesus made no reply.
Then the high priest asked him. “Are you the Messiah, the Son of God?”
62 Jesus said, “I am, and you will see me[ak] sitting at the right hand of God, and returning to earth in the clouds of heaven.”
63-64 Then the high priest tore at his clothes and said, “What more do we need? Why wait for witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” And the vote for the death sentence was unanimous.
65 Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and began to hammer his face with their fists.
“Who hit you that time, you prophet?” they jeered. And even the bailiffs were using their fists on him as they led him away.
66-67 Meanwhile Peter was below in the courtyard. One of the maids who worked for the high priest noticed Peter warming himself at the fire.
She looked at him closely and then announced, “You were with Jesus, the Nazarene.”
68 Peter denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he said, and walked over to the edge of the courtyard.
Just then, a rooster crowed.[al]
69 The maid saw him standing there and began telling the others, “There he is! There’s that disciple of Jesus!”
70 Peter denied it again.
A little later others standing around the fire began saying to Peter, “You are, too, one of them, for you are from Galilee!”
71 He began to curse and swear. “I don’t even know this fellow you are talking about,” he said.
72 And immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Suddenly Jesus’ words flashed through Peter’s mind: “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he began to cry.
15 Early in the morning the chief priests, elders and teachers of religion—the entire Supreme Court—met to discuss their next steps. Their decision was to send Jesus under armed guard to Pilate, the Roman governor.[am]
2 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
“Yes,” Jesus replied, “it is as you say.”
3-4 Then the chief priests accused him of many crimes, and Pilate asked him, “Why don’t you say something? What about all these charges against you?”
5 But Jesus said no more, much to Pilate’s amazement.
6 Now, it was Pilate’s custom to release one Jewish prisoner each year at Passover time—any prisoner the people requested. 7 One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, convicted along with others for murder during an insurrection.
8 Now a mob began to crowd in toward Pilate, asking him to release a prisoner as usual.
9 “How about giving you the ‘King of Jews’?” Pilate asked. “Is he the one you want released?” 10 (For he realized by now that this was a frameup, backed by the chief priests because they envied Jesus’ popularity.)
11 But at this point the chief priests whipped up the mob to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus.
12 “But if I release Barabbas,” Pilate asked them, “what shall I do with this man you call your king?”
13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!”
14 “But why?” Pilate demanded. “What has he done wrong?” They only roared the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 Then Pilate, afraid of a riot and anxious to please the people, released Barabbas to them. And he ordered Jesus flogged with a leaded whip, and handed him over to be crucified.
16-17 Then the Roman soldiers took him into the barracks of the palace, called out the entire palace guard, dressed him in a purple robe, and made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head. 18 Then they saluted, yelling, “Yea! King of the Jews!” 19 And they beat him on the head with a cane, and spat on him, and went down on their knees to “worship” him.
20 When they finally tired of their sport, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again, and led him away to be crucified.
21 Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country just then, was pressed into service to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon is the father of Alexander and Rufus.)
22 And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha. (Golgotha means skull.) 23 Wine drugged with bitter herbs was offered to him there, but he refused it. 24 And then they crucified him—and threw dice for his clothes.
25 It was about nine o’clock in the morning when the crucifixion took place.
26 A signboard was fastened to the cross above his head, announcing his crime. It read, “The King of the Jews.”
27 Two robbers were also crucified that morning, their crosses on either side of his. 28 [an]And so the Scripture was fulfilled that said, “He was counted among evil men.”
29-30 The people jeered at him as they walked by, and wagged their heads in mockery.
“Ha! Look at you now!” they yelled at him. “Sure, you can destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days! If you’re so wonderful, save yourself and come down from the cross.”
31 The chief priests and religious leaders were also standing around joking about Jesus.
“He’s quite clever at ‘saving’ others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself!”
32 “Hey there, Messiah!” they yelled at him. “You ‘King of Israel’! Come on down from the cross and we’ll believe you!”
And even the two robbers dying with him cursed him.
33 About noon, darkness fell across the entire land,[ao] lasting until three o’clock that afternoon.
34 Then Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”[ap] (“My God, my God, why have you deserted me?”)
35 Some of the people standing there thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah. 36 So one man ran and got a sponge and filled it with sour wine and held it up to him on a stick.
“Let’s see if Elijah will come and take him down!” he said.
37 Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and dismissed his spirit.
38 And the curtain[aq] in the Temple was split apart from top to bottom.
39 When the Roman officer standing beside his cross saw how he dismissed his spirit, he exclaimed, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were there watching from a distance—Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the Younger and of Joses), Salome, and others. 41 They and many other Galilean women who were his followers had ministered to him when he was up in Galilee, and had come with him to Jerusalem.
42-43 This all happened the day before the Sabbath. Late that afternoon Joseph from Arimathea, an honored member of the Jewish Supreme Court (who personally was eagerly expecting the arrival of God’s Kingdom), gathered his courage and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.
44 Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead so he called for the Roman officer in charge and asked him. 45 The officer confirmed the fact, and Pilate told Joseph he could have the body.
46 Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth and, taking Jesus’ body down from the cross, wound it in the cloth and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb, and rolled a stone in front of the entrance.
47 (Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching as Jesus was laid away.)
16 1-2 The next evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene and Salome and Mary the mother of James went out and purchased embalming spices.
Early the following morning, just at sunrise, they carried them out to the tomb. 3 On the way they were discussing how they could ever roll aside the huge stone from the entrance.
4 But when they arrived they looked up and saw that the stone—a very heavy one—was already moved away and the entrance was open! 5 So they entered the tomb—and there on the right sat a young man clothed in white. The women were startled, 6 but the angel said, “Don’t be so surprised. Aren’t you looking for Jesus, the Nazarene who was crucified? He isn’t here! He has come back to life! Look, that’s where his body was lying. 7 Now go and give this message to his disciples including Peter:
“‘Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died!’”
8 The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, too frightened to talk.
9 [ar] It was early on Sunday morning when Jesus came back to life, and the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene—the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10-11 She found the disciples wet-eyed with grief and exclaimed that she had seen Jesus, and he was alive! But they didn’t believe her!
12 Later that day[as] he appeared to two who were walking from Jerusalem into the country, but they didn’t recognize him at first because he had changed his appearance. 13 When they finally realized who he was, they rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the others, but no one believed them.
14 Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their unbelief—their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him alive from the dead.
15 And then he told them, “You are to go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere. 16 Those who believe and are baptized will be saved. But those who refuse to believe will be condemned.
17 “And those who believe shall use my authority to cast out demons, and they shall speak new languages.[at] 18 They will be able even to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them; and they will be able to place their hands on the sick and heal them.”
19 When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at God’s right hand.
20 And the disciples went everywhere preaching, and the Lord was with them and confirmed what they said by the miracles that followed their messages.
1 1-2 Dear friend who loves God:[au]
Several biographies of Christ have already been written using as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses. 3 However, it occurred to me that it would be well to recheck all these accounts from first to last and after thorough investigation to pass this summary on to you,[av] 4 to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.
5 My story begins with a Jewish priest, Zacharias, who lived when Herod was king of Judea. Zacharias was a member of the Abijah division of the Temple service corps. (His wife, Elizabeth, was, like himself, a member of the priest tribe of the Jews, a descendant of Aaron.) 6 Zacharias and Elizabeth were godly folk, careful to obey all of God’s laws in spirit as well as in letter. 7 But they had no children, for Elizabeth was barren; and now they were both very old.
8-9 One day as Zacharias was going about his work in the Temple—for his division was on duty that week—the honor fell to him by lot[aw] to enter the inner sanctuary and burn incense before the Lord. 10 Meanwhile, a great crowd stood outside in the Temple court, praying as they always did during that part of the service when the incense was being burned.
11-12 Zacharias was in the sanctuary when suddenly an angel appeared, standing to the right of the altar of incense! Zacharias was startled and terrified.
13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias! For I have come to tell you that God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son! And you are to name him John. 14 You will both have great joy and gladness at his birth, and many will rejoice with you. 15 For he will be one of the Lord’s great men. He must never touch wine or hard liquor—and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from before his birth! 16 And he will persuade many a Jew to turn to the Lord his God. 17 He will be a man of rugged[ax] spirit and power like Elijah, the prophet of old; and he will precede the coming of the Messiah, preparing the people for his arrival. He will soften adult hearts to become like little children’s, and will change disobedient minds to the wisdom of faith.”
18 Zacharias said to the angel, “But this is impossible! I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”
19 Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to you with this good news! 20 And now, because you haven’t believed me, you are to be stricken silent, unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly come true at the proper time.”
21 Meanwhile the crowds outside were waiting for Zacharias to appear and wondered why he was taking so long. 22 When he finally came out, he couldn’t speak to them, and they realized from his gestures that he must have seen a vision in the Temple. 23 He stayed on at the Temple for the remaining days of his Temple duties and then returned home. 24 Soon afterwards Elizabeth his wife became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months.
25 “How kind the Lord is,” she exclaimed, “to take away my disgrace of having no children!”
26 The following month God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin, Mary, engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David.
28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Congratulations, favored lady! The Lord is with you!”[ay]
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
30 “Don’t be frightened, Mary,” the angel told her, “for God has decided to wonderfully bless you! 31 Very soon now, you will become pregnant and have a baby boy, and you are to name him ‘Jesus.’ 32 He shall be very great and shall be called the Son of God. And the Lord God shall give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he shall reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom shall never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of God shall overshadow you; so the baby born to you will be utterly holy—the Son of God. 36 Furthermore, six months ago your Aunt[az] Elizabeth—‘the barren one,’ they called her—became pregnant in her old age! 37 For every promise from God shall surely come true.”
38 Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to do whatever he wants. May everything you said come true.” And then the angel disappeared.
39-40 A few days later Mary hurried to the highlands of Judea to the town where Zacharias lived, to visit Elizabeth.
41 At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 She gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “You are favored by God above all other women, and your child is destined for God’s mightiest praise. 43 What an honor this is, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! 44 When you came in and greeted me, the instant I heard your voice, my baby moved in me for joy! 45 You believed that God would do what he said; that is why he has given you this wonderful blessing.”
46 Mary responded, “Oh, how I praise the Lord. 47 How I rejoice in God my Savior! 48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and now generation after generation forever shall call me blest of God. 49 For he, the mighty Holy One, has done great things to me. 50 His mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all who reverence him.
51 “How powerful is his mighty arm! How he scatters the proud and haughty ones! 52 He has torn princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53 He has satisfied the hungry hearts and sent the rich away with empty hands. 54 And how he has helped his servant Israel! He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful. 55 For he promised our fathers—Abraham and his children—to be merciful to them forever.”
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back to her own home.
57 By now Elizabeth’s waiting was over, for the time had come for the baby to be born—and it was a boy. 58 The word spread quickly to her neighbors and relatives of how kind the Lord had been to her, and everyone rejoiced.
59 When the baby was eight days old, all the relatives and friends came for the circumcision ceremony. They all assumed the baby’s name would be Zacharias, after his father.
60 But Elizabeth said, “No! He must be named John!”
61 “What?” they exclaimed. “There is no one in all your family by that name.” 62 So they asked the baby’s father, talking to him by gestures.[ba]
63 He motioned for a piece of paper and to everyone’s surprise wrote, “His name is John!” 64 Instantly Zacharias could speak again, and he began praising God.
65 Wonder fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread through the Judean hills. 66 And everyone who heard about it thought long thoughts and asked, “I wonder what this child will turn out to be? For the hand of the Lord is surely upon him in some special way.”
67 Then his father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:
68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to visit his people and has redeemed them. 69 He is sending us a Mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, 70 just as he promised through his holy prophets long ago— 71 someone to save us from our enemies, from all who hate us.
72-73 “He has been merciful to our ancestors, yes, to Abraham himself, by remembering his sacred promise to him, 74 and by granting us the privilege of serving God fearlessly, freed from our enemies, 75 and by making us holy and acceptable, ready to stand in his presence forever.
76 “And you, my little son, shall be called the prophet of the glorious God, for you will prepare the way for the Messiah. 77 You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. 78 All this will be because the mercy of our God is very tender, and heaven’s dawn is about to break upon us, 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow, and to guide us to the path of peace.”
80 The little boy greatly loved God[bb] and when he grew up he lived out in the lonely wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.