Bible in 90 Days

10 After this the Lord chose seventy other men. He sent them ahead of him, two by two. He sent them to every town and village that he was going to visit.

² He said to them, `The harvest is much, but there are not many people to gather it. So talk to the Lord of this harvest and ask him to send out people to his harvest.

³ Go on your way now. I am sending you out among people. You will be like sheep among bad animals.

⁴ Do not take money, or a bag, or shoes. And do not stop to talk with anyone on the road.

⁵ When you go into a house, first say, "May God give peace to this family."

⁶ If a man of peace is there, your blessing will stay with him. If not, your blessing will come back to you.

⁷ Stay in that house. Eat and drink what the people give you. The one who works should have his pay for it. Do not move from one house to another house.

⁸ `When you go into a town and they take you in, eat what is put before you.

⁹ Heal the sick people in the town. Tell the people, "The kingdom of God has come to you."

¹⁰ But when you go into a town and they do not take you in, then go out into the streets of the town.

¹¹ Say to the people, "We wipe off even the dust of the town that is on our feet. This will be a sign to you. But remember this, the kingdom of God has come."

¹² I tell you this. On the day when people are judged, they will be punished more than the people in the city of Sodom.

¹³ `Chorazin, you will have trouble! Bethsaida, you will have trouble! If the big works I did in you had been done in the cities of Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have stopped doing bad things long ago. They would wear the clothes people wear to show they are sad, and would sit in ashes.

¹⁴ But on the day when people are judged you will be punished more than the people in the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

¹⁵ Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the sky? No, you will go down to the place of the dead.

¹⁶ `Anyone who listens to you listens to me. Anyone who does not believe you does not believe me. Anyone who does not believe me does not believe the one who sent me.'

¹⁷ The seventy men Jesus had sent out came back very happy. They said, `Lord, even the bad spirits obey us when we talk to them in your name!'

¹⁸ Jesus said to them, `I saw Satan fall from the sky like lightning.

¹⁹ I have given you power over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will hurt you.

²⁰ Do not be glad that the bad spirits obey you. But be glad that your names are written in the book in heaven.'

²¹ At that same time the Holy Spirit made Jesus very happy. Jesus said, `Father, you are Lord of heaven and earth. I thank you because you have hidden these things from people who are wise and know many things. But you have shown them to people who are like children. Yes, Father. That was the way you wanted it.

²² My Father has given everything to me. No one knows who the Son is but the Father. No one knows who the Father is but the Son and those to whom the Son wants to show him.'

²³ Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said to them alone, `God is blessing the eyes of people who see what you see!

²⁴ I tell you this. Many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you see. But they did not see them. They wanted to hear the things you hear. But they did not hear them.'

²⁵ A man who taught God's law stood up and asked Jesus a question to try him out. `Teacher,' he said. `What must I do so that I will live for ever?'

²⁶ Jesus said to him, `What does the law say? What do you read there?'

²⁷ The man answered, `You must love the Lord your God with all your heart. Love him with all your soul. Love him with all your power, and love him with all your mind. And you must love your neighbour as you love yourself.'

²⁸ Jesus said, `That is the right answer. Do that and you will live for ever.'

²⁹ But the man wanted to prove that he was all right. So he said to Jesus, `Who is my neighbour?'

³⁰ Jesus answered, `A man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho. Bad men caught him on the road. They took his clothes and beat him. Then they went away and left him half dead.

³¹ A priest happened to be going down that road. He saw the man but he passed by on the other side of the road.

³² `A man who worked in the temple came along to that place also. He saw the man but he passed by on the other side.

³³ `A man from the country of Samaria was going on that road also, and came to the place. He saw the man and wanted to share in his troubles.

³⁴ He went to him and tied up the sores he had from the beating. He washed them with oil and wine. Then he lifted the man up and set him on his own animal to ride. He took him to the house for strangers. And he cared for him.

³⁵ `The next day he gave two pieces of money to the man who was in charge of the house for strangers. He said, "Take care of this man. If it costs you more than this, I will pay you when I come back.'' '

³⁶ Jesus said to the teacher of the law, `What do you think? Which of these three was a neighbour to the man who was caught by the bad men?'

³⁷ He said, `The man who was kind to him.' Jesus said, `Go and do as he did.'

³⁸ Jesus and his disciples went on their way. They came to a town. A woman named Martha took him into her home.

³⁹ She had a sister named Mary. Mary sat near the feet of Jesus and she listened to what he said.

⁴⁰ But Martha was very busy doing many things for Jesus. She came to Jesus and said, `Lord, my sister has left me to do all the work. Do you not care? Tell her to come and help me.'

⁴¹ The Lord answered her, `Martha, Martha, you are worrying. You are troubled about many things.

⁴² Only one thing is needed. What Mary has chosen is good. And it will not be taken away from her.'

11 One day Jesus was in a place talking with God. When he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, `Lord, teach us to talk with God as John taught his disciples.'

² Jesus said, `When you talk with God, say, "Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come.

³ Give us our food day by day.

⁴ Forgive us for the wrong things we have done. We forgive everyone who has done wrong to us. Do not lead us to be tested." '

⁵ Jesus said to them, `Maybe one of you has a friend. You go to him in the middle of the night and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves of bread.

⁶ A friend has come to my house. He has been on the road. I have no food to give him to eat."

⁷ `Maybe the friend in the house answers you and says, "Do not trouble me. The door is locked. And my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything."

⁸ I tell you this. Maybe he will not give him anything because he is his friend. But he will get up and give him what he needs because he keeps on asking for it.

⁹ `And I tell you, ask and you will get what you ask for. Look and you will find what you look for. Knock and the door will be opened for you.

¹⁰ Everyone who asks will get. The one who looks will find. And the one who knocks will have the door opened for him.

¹¹ Which of you fathers will give your son a snake if he asks for a fish?

¹² Will you give him a scorpion [an insect with a sting] if he asks for an egg?

¹³ You are wrong and yet you know how to give good things to your children. Much more, the Father in heaven will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.'

¹⁴ Jesus was driving a bad spirit out of a man who could not talk. When the spirit left him, the man could talk. The people were surprised.

¹⁵ But some of them said, `This man drives out bad spirits by the help of Beelzebub, the chief of bad spirits.'

¹⁶ Other people wanted to test Jesus. They asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

¹⁷ But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said, `If one part of any country fights against the other part of the country, that country is spoiled. And if one part of any family fights against the other part of the family, it cannot stand.

¹⁸ If Satan fights against himself, how will his kingdom stand? You say I drive out bad spirits by the help of Beelzebub.

¹⁹ If I drive out bad spirits by the help of Beelzebub, by whose help do your own people drive them out? Your own people will judge you for this!

²⁰ But if I drive out bad spirits by the help of God, then know this, God's kingdom is here with you now.

²¹ `A strong man has something in his hand to fight. He guards his place. He will not lose his things.

²² But when a stronger man comes, he catches the man who guards his house. He will take away what is in the man's hand. And he will take his things and give them to his friends.

²³ `Anyone who is not with me is against me. Anyone who does not work with me, works against me.'

²⁴ `When a bad spirit has gone out of a man, he goes through dry places. He looks for a place to rest, but he does not find any. Then he says, "I will go back to my house from where I came."

²⁵ `When he comes back, he finds it clean and all fixed up.

²⁶ Then he goes and brings seven other spirits who are worse than he is. They go in and live there. Now the man is worse than he was at first.'

²⁷ As he said this, a woman among the people called out, `Happy is your mother who gave birth to you, and fed you as a baby.'

²⁸ But Jesus said, `Happy are those who hear God's word and obey it!'

²⁹ More and more people were coming. He started to talk. He said, `People today are bad. They want a sign. No sign will be given them but the sign of Jonah the prophet of God.

³⁰ Jonah was a sign to the men in the city of Nineveh. In the same way the Son of Man will be a sign to the people today.

³¹ When the people are judged, the Queen from the South will stand up and speak against men who live today. She came a long way to hear the wise words of Solomon. The one who is here is greater than Solomon.

³² When people are judged, the men of Nineveh will stand up and speak against the people of today. They stopped their wrong ways when Jonah told them God's word. And the one who is here is greater than Jonah.'

³³ `No person lights a lamp and hides it in a hole or puts it under a basket. But he puts it on a place for a lamp. Then people who come in can see the light.

³⁴ Your body gets its light through your eyes. When you have good eyes, all your body has light. But when your eyes are bad, your body is in darkness.

³⁵ So be sure that it is not dark in you where it should be light.

³⁶ If no part of your body is dark, it will all be light. It will be like a lamp that shines to give you light.'

³⁷ While Jesus was saying these things, a Pharisee asked him to come to eat at his house. So Jesus went in and sat at the table.

³⁸ The Pharisee saw that Jesus did not wash his hands before he ate. He was surprised.

³⁹ The Lord said to him, `You Pharisees wash the outside of a cup and a dish clean. But inside you are full of greed and wrong ways.

⁴⁰ You are fools! Did not God make the outside and inside also?

⁴¹ Do good, and do it from your heart. Then everything is clean for you.

⁴² `You Pharisees will have trouble! You give to God a tenth part of small garden plants. But you do not judge in the right way. And you do not love God. You should do these things and the other things too.

⁴³ `You Pharisees will have trouble! In the meeting houses you want to sit in the front seats. And in the market you want people to greet you.

⁴⁴ You will have trouble! You are not true to yourselves! You are like graves that are not marked. Men walk over them and do not know it.'

⁴⁵ Then one of the men who taught God's law said to Jesus, `Teacher, when you say these things, you talk against us too.'

⁴⁶ Jesus said, `You men will have trouble also! You put heavy loads on people's backs. But you yourselves will not put up one finger to help carry the loads.

⁴⁷ You will have trouble! You build places to bury the prophets of God that your fathers killed.

⁴⁸ In this way you show you agree to the things your fathers did. They killed the prophets, and you build places to bury them.

⁴⁹ That is why God, who is wise, said, "I will send prophets and messengers to them. They will kill some of them. And they will trouble some of them."

⁵⁰ So the people who are living now will be punished for all the blood of the prophets of God that is on the ground since the world was made.

⁵¹ I mean all the blood from the time of Abel to the time of Zechariah. (He was killed between the holy table and the temple.) Yes, I tell you. The people who are living now will be punished for all of it.

⁵² `You teachers of God's law will have trouble! You have taken away the key of the door where people can go in and know what is true. You yourselves did not go in, and you stopped those who were going in.'

⁵³ When Jesus left the house, the scribes and Pharisees began to be very angry with him. They asked him questions about many things.

⁵⁴ They wanted him to say something that was wrong so they could make trouble for him.

12 Many thousands of people had gathered. They stepped on each other. Jesus began to talk to the disciples. He said, `Take care. Do not let the yeast of the Pharisees spoil you. They are not true to themselves.

² Everything that is covered up will be seen. Everything that is hidden will be known.

³ What you have said in the dark will be heard in the light. What you have said in secret with the door shut will be told from the tops of the houses.'

⁴ `You are my friends. I tell you, do not fear people who can kill your bodies. After that they cannot do anything more to you.

⁵ I will tell you whom you must fear. Fear the one who, after he has killed, has the power to throw into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

⁶ Are not five sparrows sold for a tiny sum of money? Yet God does not forget about one of them.

⁷ Even the number of hairs on your head is known. So do not fear. You are worth more than many sparrows.'

⁸ `And I tell you. If anyone tells people that he knows me, the Son of Man will also tell the angels of God that he knows him.

⁹ But if anyone tells people he does not know me, the Son of Man will also tell the angels of God that he does not know that person.

¹⁰ `Everyone who says anything against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But anyone who says wrong things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

¹¹ `When men take you to the meeting houses and to the rulers and to the courts, do not be troubled about what you will answer or say.

¹² The Holy Spirit will teach you at the right time what you must say.'

¹³ One of the people in the crowd said, `Teacher, tell my brother to divide with me the things my father left when he died.'

¹⁴ Jesus said, `Man, who made me a judge over you or gave me power to divide your things?'

¹⁵ Then he said to the people, `Take care. Do not be greedy in any way to get more and more things. Even if a man has much more than he needs, it cannot give him life.'

¹⁶ Then he told them a story. He said, `A rich man had a farm. The things that grew on it were many.

¹⁷ He said to himself, "What will I do? I have no place to keep all the food I have grown."

¹⁸ So he said, "This is what I will do. I will break down my storehouses and build bigger ones. I will keep in them all the food and everything I have.

¹⁹ Then I will say to myself, `Man, you have much in your storehouses for many years. Rest now. Eat, drink, and have a good time.' "

²⁰ But God said to him, "You are a fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will have all the things you have kept for yourself?"

²¹ So anyone who keeps things for himself is not rich in the way God wants him to be rich.'

²² Jesus said to his disciples, `So I tell you this. Do not be troubled about what you will eat to keep alive. Do not be troubled about clothes to wear on your body.

²³ Life itself is worth more than food, and the body is worth more than clothes.

²⁴ `Think of the birds. They do not plant, cut, or keep any food. Yet God feeds them. You are worth much more than the birds!

²⁵ `Can any of you live any longer by troubling yourself about these things?

²⁶ If you cannot do a small thing like that, why do you trouble yourself about the other things?

²⁷ `Think about the flowers. See how they grow. They do not work or make cloth. I tell you, King Solomon was a great man. But he was not dressed as fine as one of these flowers.

²⁸ God dresses the grass in the fields so it looks nice. It is in the field one day and the next day it is burned. If God dresses the grass like that, he cares much more that you have clothes to wear. You do not believe in God very much!

²⁹ `Do not keep asking, "What shall we eat?" and, "What shall we drink?" Do not be troubled about that.

³⁰ All the people who are not Jews work for these things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need them.

³¹ But work for God's kingdom. Then you will have all these things also.'

³² `Do not fear, little family. Your Father wants to give the kingdom to you.

³³ Sell what you have and give it to poor people. Make for yourselves money bags that will not wear out. Keep the things you like in heaven. They will not be lost there. People cannot go in and steal them, and insects cannot spoil them.

³⁴ The place where you keep the things you like is where your heart will be also.'

³⁵ `Be dressed and have your lamps lit.

³⁶ Be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from a wedding. They are ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks.

³⁷ Happy the servants who are ready when the master comes! The servants who are ready when the master comes will be made happy. I tell you the truth. The master will get ready to serve them. He will set them at the table and will come and serve them.

³⁸ He may come in the middle of the night or when it is nearly morning. But if they are watching for the master, they will be happy.

³⁹ `And remember this. If the owner of a house knew at what time a man would come to steal, he would not let the man break into his house.

⁴⁰ So then, be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time when you are not looking for him.'

⁴¹ Peter said, `Lord, are you telling this story for us or for all the people?'

⁴² The Lord said, `Who is like a wise servant who can be trusted? His master will put him in charge of his other servants. He gives them food to eat at the right time.

⁴³ His master will bless that servant if he is doing this when he comes!

⁴⁴ I tell you the truth. His master will put him in charge of all that he has

⁴⁵ But perhaps that servant says to himself, "My master will not come just now." Then he begins to beat the other servants. He begins to eat and drink until he is drunk.

⁴⁶ If he does that, his master will come on a day when he is not looking for him. He will not know the time when his master is coming. His master will punish him very much and put him away with those he cannot trust.

⁴⁷ `A servant knew what his master wanted. But he was not ready. He did not do what his master wanted him to do. So he will be beaten much.

⁴⁸ But if a servant did not know and did something bad, he will be beaten only a little. To whom much has been given, from him much will be asked. When people give much to anyone, they will ask more from him.

⁴⁹ `I came to start a fire on the earth. I wish the fire were already burning!

⁵⁰ I will be going through a big trouble, and I feel like a prisoner until it is all over.

⁵¹ Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? I tell you, "No". I came to take away peace.

⁵² From now, if there are five in a family, they will be against each other. Three of them will be against the other two. And two of them will be against the other three.

⁵³ A father will be against his son, and the son will be against his father. The mother will be against her daughter, and the daughter will be against her mother. A man's mother will be against his wife, and his wife will be against his mother.'

⁵⁴ Jesus also said to the people, `When you see a cloud coming up in the west, you say right away, "Rain is coming." And it comes.

⁵⁵ When the wind is blowing from the south, you say, "It will be very hot." And it is.

⁵⁶ You are not true to yourselves! You know the meaning of these signs in the earth and sky. But you do not know the meaning of the signs about the time in which we are living.'

⁵⁷ `Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?

⁵⁸ If someone wants to take you to court, make an agreement with him quickly on the way. If you do not, he will take you to the judge. The judge will give you to the guard, and the guard will put you in prison.

⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not get out of prison until you have paid up every piece of money.'

13 Some people were there at that time who told Jesus what Pilate had done. He had killed some of the people of Galilee and put their blood with the blood of their sacrifices to God.

² Jesus answered, `Do you think it was because they were worse than all the other people in Galilee?

³ I tell you, "No!" But if you do not stop doing wrong things, then you will all die as they did.

⁴ Eighteen men died when the high house in Siloam fell on them. Do you think they were worse than all the other men who lived in Jerusalem?

⁵ I tell you, "No!" But if you do not stop doing wrong things, you will all die as they did.'

⁶ Then Jesus told this story: `A man had a fruit tree on his farm. He came to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.

⁷ He said to the man who cared for the trees, "For three years I have come to look for fruit on this tree, but I have not found any. Cut it down. Why should it spoil my farmland?"

⁸ The man who cared for the trees answered, "Sir, let it stay one more year. I will dig around it and put good soil around it.

⁹ If it has fruit on it next year, that will be good. But if it has no fruit, you can have it cut down." '

¹⁰ Jesus was teaching in one of the meeting houses on the Sabbath day.

¹¹ A woman was there who had a spirit that had made her sick for eighteen years. She had to bend down all the time and could not stand up straight.

¹² Jesus saw her and called her to come to him. Then he said, `Woman, you are healed. You are not sick any longer.'

¹³ Jesus put his hands on her, and right away she stood up straight. And she praised God.

¹⁴ The ruler of the meeting house was angry because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day. He said to the people, `There are six days to work. You should come to be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.'

¹⁵ The Lord said to him, `You are not true to yourselves! Every one of you unties his cow or horse and takes it to the water to drink on the Sabbath day. Do you not?

¹⁶ This woman belongs to Abraham's family. Satan has tied her for eighteen years. Is it not right that she should be set free on the Sabbath day?'

¹⁷ When he said that, all those who had talked against him were ashamed. All the other people were very glad for all the wonderful things Jesus did.

¹⁸ He went on to say, `What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I say it is like?

¹⁹ It is like this. A man took a mustard seed and planted it in his field. It grew up big like a tree. The birds came and lived in its branches.'

²⁰ Then Jesus said again, `What else is the kingdom of God like?

²¹ It is like this. A woman took yeast and mixed it with many cups of flour. The yeast went all through the flour.'

²² Jesus went through the towns and villages on the way to Jerusalem. He was teaching the people as he went.

²³ A man asked him, `Sir, will only a few people be saved?'

²⁴ Jesus answered, `Try hard to go in by the small gate. I tell you, many will want to go in but they will not be able.

²⁵ The master of the house will get up and lock the door. Then you will be standing outside. You will begin to knock on the door and call, "Sir, open the door for us!" But he will answer, "I do not know where you belong."

²⁶ Then you will say, "We ate and drank with you. You taught in our streets."

²⁷ But he will say, "I tell you, I do not know where you belong. Go away from me all you who do wrong! "

²⁸ `You will see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God. And you will see yourselves thrown out. Then you will cry and make a noise with your teeth.

²⁹ People will come from the east, from the west, from the north, and from the south. They will sit down to eat in the kingdom of God.

³⁰ Yes, some people who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.'

³¹ At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus. They said to him, `Go away from here. Herod wants to kill you.'

³² He said, `Go and tell that fox, "I drive bad spirits out of people and heal people. I do it today and tomorrow. On the third day I will finish what I am doing."

³³ But I must go on my way today, tomorrow, and the next day. A prophet of God cannot be killed outside of Jerusalem.

³⁴ `O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets of God. You throw stones to kill men who are sent to you. How often I have wanted to gather your people together as a mother hen gathers her little ones under her wings. But you would not come!

³⁵ Now you are left alone in your house. I tell you this. You will not see me again until the time when you say, "God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord." '

14 One Sabbath day Jesus went to eat at the house of a ruler. He was a ruler of the Pharisees. They were watching Jesus.

² man stood in front of him. He was sick. His body was filled with water.

³ Jesus asked the teachers of God's law and the Pharisees, `Is it right to heal a person on the Sabbath day or not?'

⁴ They did not answer. So he took the man and healed him. Then he sent him away.

⁵ Jesus said to them, `If your horse or cow falls into a hole, which one of you will not pull him out right away on the Sabbath day?'

⁶ They could not answer that.

⁷ Jesus told a story to the people who were asked to eat at the house. He saw that they chose to sit at the best places.

⁸ He said to them, `When you are called to a wedding, do not sit in the best place. It may be that a better man than you has been called.

⁹ Then the man who called you both will come and say to you, "Get up and let this man sit here." Then you will be ashamed. And you will go and sit down in the last place.

¹⁰ But when you are asked to go to a wedding, go and sit down in the last place. Then when the man who called you comes, he will say to you, "Friend, come to a better place." Then all the people who sit at the table will see how he respects you.

¹¹ `Everyone who puts himself up in a high place will be brought down to a low place. And everyone who puts himself down in a low place will be brought up to a high place.'

¹² Then Jesus said to the man who had asked him to come, `When you make a dinner or a feast, do not ask your friends, or your brothers, or the people in your family, or your rich neighbours. They will repay you by making a dinner for you.

¹³ But when you make a dinner, ask the people who are poor, hurt, lame, or blind.

¹⁴ You will be made happy because they cannot pay you. You will be repaid when all good people are raised from death.'

¹⁵ One of those who was sitting at the table heard this. He said, `Happy is the person who will eat in the kingdom of God!'

¹⁶ But Jesus said to him, `A man made a big feast and asked many people to come.

¹⁷ When the feast was ready, he sent his servant to tell the people who had been asked. He said, "Come. Everything is ready."

¹⁸ But the people all began to make excuses. The first one said, `I have bought a farm. I must go and see it. I beg you, excuse me from the feast."

¹⁹ Another man said, "I have bought ten oxen. I am going to see them. I beg you, excuse me from the feast."

²⁰ Another one said, "I have married a woman, and so I cannot come."

²¹ `The servant came and told his master. Then the master was very angry. He said to his servant, "Go out quickly. Go on all the streets in the city. Bring here people who are poor, hurt, blind, or lame."

²² `The servant came back and said, "Sir, I have done what you told me to do. There is still room for more people."

²³ Then the master said to the servant, "Go out onto the roads and behind bushes. Find people and make them come in so that my house will be full.

²⁴ I tell you, not one of the men who were called first will eat any of my feast.'

²⁶ Many people were going with Jesus. He turned to them and said, `If any man comes to me, he must hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sister. Yes, he must hate himself too. If he does not, he cannot be my disciple.

²⁷ If anyone does not carry his cross [is not ready to die] and come with me, he cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ `When any of you wants to build a high house, you sit down first and see how much it will cost. You want to see if you have enough money to finish it.

²⁹ If you do not have enough money, you will not be able to finish it after you have made the foundation. Then all the people who see it will laugh at you.

³⁰ They will say, "This man started to build a house and could not finish it."

³¹ `When a king goes to fight against another king, he sits down first and thinks about the matter. He will ask himself, "Can I fight him with ten thousand soldiers? He has twenty thousand soldiers."

³² If he cannot fight him, he will send some men to meet the other king while he is still far away. He will try to make peace with him.

³³ `In the same way, any one of you who does not give up all he has cannot be my disciple.'

³⁴ `Salt is good. But if the salt has lost its taste, how can it be made salty again?

³⁵ It is not good for the land or the dirt pile. People throw it away. `Everyone who has ears to hear, listen!"

15 The tax collectors and bad people all came close to Jesus to hear him.

² The Pharisees and scribes did not like it. And they said to each other, `This man is glad to have bad people come. He eats with them.'

³ So Jesus told them this story.

⁴ He said, `Which one of you will not do this? A man has a hundred sheep. He loses one of them. He leaves the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and he goes to look for the one that is lost. He looks until he finds it.

⁵ And when he has found it, he is very glad. He carries it on his back.

⁶ When he comes home, he calls his friends and neighbours to come. He says, "Be glad with me! I have found my lost sheep."

⁷ `I tell you, the angels in heaven will be glad like that when one bad person stops doing wrong things. The angels will be more glad about that one person than about ninety-nine good people who do not need to change their ways.'

⁸ `What woman will not do this? She has ten pieces of silver money. If she loses one of them, she lights a lamp and sweeps the house. She looks for the money until she finds it.

⁹ When she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbours to come. She says, "Be glad with me! I have found the piece of money I lost."

¹⁰ I tell you, the angels of God will be glad like that when one bad person stops doing wrong things.'

¹¹ Jesus also said, `A man had two sons.

¹² The younger son said to his father, "Father, give me my part of what will belong to me." So his father divided all he had between the two sons.

¹³ After a few days, the younger son packed up his things. He left home and went to a country far away. There he spent his money in foolish and wrong ways.

¹⁴ He spent everything he had. `There was no food in that country for a long time. He began to be in trouble.

¹⁵ So he went to stay with a man in the country who had a farm. The man sent him out to his farm to feed the pigs.

¹⁶ He would have been glad to eat the food the pigs ate. But no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ `Then he started to get sense. He said, "My father has many men who work for him. They have plenty of food. But here I am dying because I have nothing to eat!

¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father. I will say to him, "Father I have been a bad son. I have done wrong to God in heaven and to you.

¹⁹ I am not good enough now to be called your son. Let me be like one of these men who work for you."

²⁰ `So he got up and went to his father. While he was still far away, his father saw him. He loved him and wanted to share in his troubles. He ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.

²¹ The son said to him, "Father, I have been a bad son. I have done wrong to God in heaven and to you. I am not good enough now to be called your son. Let me be like one of these men who work for you."

²² `But his father said to his servants, "Go quickly and bring the best clothes. Dress him. Put a ring on his hand. Put shoes on his feet.

²³ Bring the fat calf and kill it. Let us have a feast and a good time.

²⁴ This is my son. He was dead and now he is alive again. He was lost and is found." And they began to have a good time.

²⁵ `The older son was out on the farm. When he came home and was near the house, he heard music and dancing.

²⁶ He called one of the servants and said, "What is going on?"

²⁷ The servant said, "Your brother has come home. Your father has killed the fat young cow because your brother is home and he is well."

²⁸ `But the older son was angry. He would not go into the house. His father came out and begged him to come in.

²⁹ But the son said to his father, "Look. I have worked hard for you for many years. I have always done everything you told me to do. And yet you never even gave me a young goat to make a feast with my friends.

³⁰ But now this son of yours has come back. He has spent all your money and was with bad women. And yet you kill the fat calf for him!"

³¹ `The father said, "Son you have always been with me. And all that I have is yours.

³² But now we should have a good time and be happy. Your brother was dead and now he is alive again. He was lost and is found." '

16 Jesus also talked to his disciples. He said, `A rich man had a manager in charge of his things. People told the rich man that the manager was wasting his things.

² he called the manager and asked him, "What is this I hear about you? Tell me what you have done. You cannot be my manager any more."

³ `Then the manager thought to himself, "What will I do? My master is taking my work away from me. I am not strong enough to go out and dig. I am ashamed to beg.

⁴ I know what I will do. Then, when I lose my job, these people will take me into their own homes."

⁵ `So he called to him everyone who owed his master something. He asked the first man, "How much do you owe my master?"

⁶ He answered, "A hundred tins of oil." The manager said, "Take your paper. Sit down right now and write on it fifty."

⁷ Then he asked the next man, "How much do you owe?" He said, "A hundred bags of grain." The manager said, "Take your paper and write on it eighty."

⁸ `Then the master praised the manager who did wrong. He praised him because he did what was wise. The people of this world are wiser than the people who have the Light. They know how to get along with people like themselves.

⁹ `I tell you this. Money may be a wrong thing, but use it to make friends for yourselves. Then when your money is spent, they will be glad to see you come into that place where people live for ever.

¹⁰ `Anyone who can be trusted in a little matter can also be trusted in a big matter. Anyone who does wrong in a very little matter will do wrong also in a big matter.

¹¹ So if you could not be trusted to use money, which is bad, who will trust you to use true riches?

¹² If you could not be trusted with what belonged to another person, who will give you something for yourself?

¹³ No servant can work for two masters. He will hate one and love the other. Or he will obey one and despise the other. You cannot work for both God and money.'

¹⁴ The Pharisees loved money. They heard all these things. They made fun of him.

¹⁵ He said to them, `You try to make men think you are all right. But God knows your hearts. What men think is fine, God hates.

¹⁶ `The Law and the Prophets gave God's word until John came. Since then, the good news of God's kingdom has been told. And now everyone tries hard to get into the kingdom.

¹⁷ It would be easier to take away the sky and the earth than for the smallest part of the law to fall.'

¹⁸ `If a man sends away his wife and marries another woman, he commits adultery. And if the man marries a woman who has been sent away by her husband, he commits adultery.'

¹⁹ `There was a rich man who dressed and lived like a king every day.

²⁰ A poor man named Lazarus was put at his door. He had many sores on his body.

²¹ He wanted to eat the pieces of food that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs came and licked his sores.

²² The poor man died. Angels carried him to be with Abraham. `The rich man also died and was buried.

²³ He was in great pain in the world of dead people. He looked up and saw Abraham far away. With him was Lazarus.

²⁴ He called out, "Father Abraham, help me! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool my tongue. This fire is very hot for me."

²⁵ `But Abraham said to him, "Son, remember this. You had a good time when you were living. Lazarus had a bad time when he was living. But now he is happy here and you are in pain.

²⁶ But that is not all. A wide hole is between you and us. No one can go from here to you if he wanted to. And no one can come from where you are to us."

²⁷ `The rich man said, "Then, father, I beg you, send Lazarus to my father's house.

²⁸ I have five brothers there. Tell him to talk to them so that they will not come to this place where there is pain."

²⁹ `But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the Prophets. They can listen to them."

³⁰ `He answered, "No, father Abraham! But if a man who had died went to them, they would stop their wrong ways."

³¹ `Abraham said, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, then they will not believe, even if a man were raised from death." '

17 Jesus said to his disciples, `People will make other people do wrong. But the person who makes another person do wrong will have trouble.

² A big stone should be tied around his neck and then he should be thrown into the sea. That would be better for him than to make one of these little children do wrong.

³ `Take care! If your brother does something bad, tell him what he has done. If he is sorry, then forgive him.

⁴ Maybe he will do wrong to you seven times in one day. But if he comes to you seven times in one day and says, "I am sorry for what I did," then you must forgive him.'

⁵ The apostles said to the Lord, `Help us to believe more.'

⁶ The Lord said, `If you believe as much as a little mustard seed, then you can say to this tree, "Come up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea." And it would obey you.'

⁷ `If your servant is working in the field or taking care of sheep, what will you say to him when he comes in from the field? Will you say, "Come now and sit down to eat"?

⁸ No, you will say, "Get my food ready. Get ready to wait on me. I will eat and drink. After that, then you may eat and drink."

⁹ Will you thank the servant for doing what you told him to do?

¹⁰ `It is the same with you. When you have done all you were told to do, you should say, "We are servants. We have not done a big thing. We have only done what we should do." '

¹¹ Jesus was going on the road to Jerusalem. He went between the countries of Samaria and Galilee.

¹² When he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy came to him. They stood far away.

¹³ And they called out, `Jesus, Master, help us!'

¹⁴ When Jesus saw them, he said to them, `Go and let the priests look at you.' While they were going, they were healed of the leprosy.

¹⁵ One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back. He praised God with a loud voice.

¹⁶ He bowed down in front of Jesus and thanked him. He was a man from the country of Samaria.

¹⁷ Then Jesus asked, `Were not ten people healed? Where are the other nine?

¹⁸ Is this stranger the only one who has come back to praise God?'

¹⁹ Then he said to the man, `Get up and go on your way. You were healed because you believed.'

²⁰ The Pharisees asked Jesus, `When will the kingdom of God come?' He answered them, `You cannot see the kingdom of God when it comes.

²¹ People will not be able to say, "Look, here it is!" or "There it is! That is because the kingdom of God is inside you.'

²² Jesus said to his disciples, `The time will come when you will want to see one of the days of the Son of Man. But you will not see it.

²³ People will say to you, "Look! Here he is!" or "Look! There he is!" But do not go out or follow them.

²⁴ When lightning comes, it lights up the whole sky. It will be like that on the day when the Son of Man comes.

²⁵ But first he will have much trouble. The people who are living now will not believe in him.

²⁶ `The way it was in the time of Noah is the way it will be in the time of the Son of Man.

²⁷ People ate and drank. They married and gave their daughters to be married. All this went on until the day when Noah went into his house built on a boat. Then there was much water and all the people outside the boat died.

²⁸ `It was the same way in the time of Lot. People ate and drank. They bought and sold. They planted and built.

²⁹ Then one day Lot went out of the city of Sodom. Then on that day fire and burning rock came down from the sky and killed all the people.

³⁰ `That is the way it will be on the day when the Son of Man is seen.

³¹ On that day a man will be at the top of his house, and his things will be below. But he must not go down to get his things. In the same way a man will be in the field, but he must not go back home.

³² Remember what happened to Lot's wife.

³³ Anyone who wants to keep his life will lose it. And anyone who gives up his life will keep it.

³⁴ `I tell you, on that night two people may be in one bed. One will be taken away and the other will be left.

³⁵ Two women will be making flour together. One woman will be taken away and the other woman will be left.

³⁶ Two men will be in a field. One man will be taken away and the other man will be left.'

³⁷ They asked him, `Where will this be, Lord?' He said, `The big birds that eat meat will go to the place where the dead body is.'

18 Jesus told them a story to teach them that they should keep on talking with God and not give up.

² He said, `There was a judge in a city. He did not respect God or care about people.

³ There was a woman in that city whose husband was dead. The woman came to the judge again and again. She said, "Save me from my enemy!"

⁴ For a long time he would not do it. But after a time he said, "I do not respect God or care about people.

⁵ But this woman is troubling me. So I will save her from her enemy. If I do not, she will keep coming until I am tired." '

⁶ The Lord said, `The judge was a bad man. And yet you should listen to what he says.

⁷ When the people whom God has chosen call to him day and night, he will save them from their enemies. He may let them wait a time.

⁸ But I tell you, he will save them from their enemies soon. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any people who believe in him?'

⁹ There were some people who thought they were very good. And they thought that other people were not good. Jesus told this story to them.

¹⁰ He said, `Two men went to the temple to talk with God. One was a Pharisee and the other one was a tax collector.

¹¹ `The Pharisee stood and said to himself, "God, I thank you that I am not like other men. They steal, cheat, and commit adultery. I thank you that I am not like this tax collector.

¹² Two times in the week I do not eat - I fast. I give away one tenth part of all I get."

¹³ `The tax collector stood far away. He did not even look up towards heaven. But he beat his chest, and said, "God, I am a bad man. Help me!"

¹⁴ I tell you, when this man went home, he was right with God. The other one was not. Everyone who puts himself up in a high place will be brought down to a low place. And everyone who puts himself in a low place will be brought up to a high place.'

¹⁵ People brought even small children to Jesus. They wanted him to put his hands on them. When the disciples saw it, they tried to stop the people.

¹⁶ But Jesus called them to him and said, `Let the children come to me. Do not try to stop them. The kingdom of God belongs to people like them.

¹⁷ I tell you the truth. If anyone does not believe in the kingdom of God like a child, he will never go in.'

¹⁸ A ruler asked Jesus, `Good Teacher, what must I do so that I will live for ever?'

¹⁹ Jesus answered him, `Why do you call me good? Only one is good, and that is God.

²⁰ `You know the laws, "Do not commit adultery. [Do not take a man or woman who is not your husband or wife.] Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not tell lies. Respect your father and your mother." '

²¹ The man said, `I have kept all these laws since I was a boy.'

²² When Jesus heard that, he said to him, `You need one thing more. Sell everything you have. Give the money to poor people. You will be rich in heaven. Then come and go with me.'

²³ When the man heard that, he was sad because he was very rich.

²⁴ Jesus looked at him and said, `It is very hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵ It is easier for a big animal like a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'

²⁶ Those who heard it asked, `Then who can be saved?'

²⁷ But Jesus said, `God can do what men cannot do.'

²⁸ Peter said, `See, we have left all things and have come with you.'

³⁰ Jesus said to them, `I tell you the truth. If any man has left his house, or his wife, or his brothers, or his father, or his mother, or his children for the sake of the kingdom of God, he will receive many times as much as he has left. He will receive that in this world. And in the next world he will live for ever.'

³¹ Jesus took the twelve disciples with him. He said to them, `We are going to Jerusalem. The prophets of God long ago wrote about the Son of Man. Everything they wrote will be done to him.

³² He will be given over to rulers who are not Jews. They will make fun of him. They will treat him very badly. They will spit on him.

³³ They will beat him and kill him. On the third day he will rise.'

³⁴ But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them and they did not understand what he said.

³⁵ When he came near the city of Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road. He was begging for money.

³⁶ He heard many people passing by. He asked, `Why are so many people passing here?'

³⁷ They told him, `Jesus of Nazareth is passing this way.'

³⁸ Then he shouted, `Jesus, son of David! Help me!'

³⁹ The people in front said, `Be quiet!' But he shouted louder and said, `Son of David! Help me!'

⁴⁰ Jesus stopped and said, `Bring him here.' When the man came close, Jesus asked him, `What do you want me to do for you?'

⁴¹ The man said, `Sir, I want to see.'

⁴² Jesus said, `You can see now. You are healed because you believed.'

⁴³ Right then he was able to see. He went with Jesus and he praised God. All the people saw it and they all praised God too.

19 Jesus came to the city of Jericho and was passing through it.

² A man named Zacchaeus was there. He was the head tax collector, and he was a rich man.

³ He wanted to see who Jesus was but he could not see him because he was a short man and there were many people around him.

⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed into a tree to see Jesus, for he was coming that way.

⁵ When Jesus came to the tree, he looked up. He said, `Zacchaeus, come down right now. I must stay at your house today.'

⁶ So Zacchaeus came down right then. He was glad to have Jesus come in his house.

⁷ When all the people saw this, they did not like it. They said, `He has gone to visit a bad man.'

⁸ Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, `Look, Lord, I will give to the poor people half of all I have. And if I have cheated anyone, I will give him back four times as much as I took.'

⁹ Jesus said to him, `The head of this house has been saved today! He also is a son of Abraham.

¹⁰ The Son of Man came to look for and to save those who are lost.'

¹¹ While they were listening to this, he started to tell them a story. He did so because they were near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God would begin right away.

¹² So he said, `A man who belonged to a respected family went to a country far away. He went to get power to rule. Then he was going to come back.

¹³ Before he left, he called ten of his servants. He gave each of them some money. He said, "Go and trade with this money until I come back."

¹⁴ `His people hated him. They chose some men and sent them after him to tell the king, "We do not want this man to rule over us."

¹⁵ But he was given the power to rule and came back. Then he called the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to know how much money each one had made by trading.

¹⁶ The first one came to him and said, "Sir, your money has made ten times more money."

¹⁷ `The ruler said, "You have done well. You are a good servant. You will rule over ten cities because you have done well with a very small thing."

¹⁸ The second one came to him and said, "Sir, your money has made five times more money."

¹⁹ The ruler said, "You will rule over five cities."

²⁰ `Then another servant came and said, "Sir, here is your money. I hid it in a cloth and kept it.

²¹ I was afraid of you. You are a hard man. You take in where you put nothing out. You gather where you did not plant."

²² `The ruler said "You bad servant! I will judge you by your own words. You knew that I was a hard man! You knew that I take in where I put nothing out. You knew that I gather where I did not plant.

²³ Why did you not put my money in the bank? Then when you came home I would have had my money with interest."

²⁴ `Some men were standing there. He said to them, "Take the money from him. Give it to the man who has ten times as much."

²⁵ They said, "Sir, he has ten times as much already!"

²⁶ The ruler said, "I tell you. Anyone who has some will get more. But he who does not have anything, even the little that he has will be taken away from him.

²⁷ But where are those people who hate me and did not want me to rule over them? Bring them here and kill them right here in front of me." '

²⁸ When Jesus had said this, he went on ahead of them towards Jerusalem.

²⁹ He came near Bethphage and Bethany by the hill called the Mount of Olives. Then he sent two of his disciples ahead.

³⁰ He said, `Go into the village in front of you. As soon as you go in, you will find an animal tied up. No one has ever sat on it. Untie it and bring it to me.

³¹ If anyone asks you, "Why are you untying it?" tell him, "The Lord needs it." '

³² They went and found it just as Jesus had said.

³³ When they were untying the animal, the men who owned it asked them, `Why are you untying the animal?'

³⁴ They said, `The Lord needs it.'

³⁵ They brought it to Jesus and laid their coats on it. Then they put Jesus on it.

³⁶ As he was riding along, people spread their coats on the road.

³⁷ He came near the top of the hill called the Mount of Olives. Then all the people who believed in him began to be happy. They sang out loudly, and praised God in a loud voice for all the big works they had seen.

³⁸ They said, `God bless the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven where God is praised!'

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees who were among the people said to Jesus, `Teacher, tell your disciples to stop saying that.'

⁴⁰ Jesus answered, `I tell you, if they do not speak like this the stones will call out.'

⁴¹ When Jesus came near, he saw the city. His heart was very sad and he cried.

⁴² He said, `I wish you knew today what things would give you peace! But now you do not see what they are.

⁴³ The time will come when the people who hate you will put a wall all around you. They will shut you up and keep you in on every side.

⁴⁴ They will break you down to the ground. They will kill the people within you. They will not leave one stone of your houses on top of another. That will happen because you did not know the time when God was ready to help you.'

⁴⁵ Jesus went into the temple. He began to drive out the people who were buying and selling in the temple.

⁴⁶ He said to them, `It is written, "My house shall be a place where people talk with God." But you have made it a place for people who steal!'

⁴⁷ He taught in the temple every day. The chief priests, scribes and the leaders of the people wanted to kill him.

⁴⁸ But they did not find any way they could do it. All the people stayed around to hear what Jesus said.

20 One day Jesus was teaching the people in the temple. He was telling them God's good news. The chief priests and the scribes came to him with the leaders.

² They said to him, `Tell us what right you have to do these things. Who gave you the right to do them?'

³ He answered, `I will ask you a question also. Tell me this.

⁴ Who gave John the right to baptise people? Did God or did men give it to him?'

⁵ They talked it over together. They said, `If we say, "God gave John the right to do it," he will say, "Then why did you not believe him?"

⁶ But if we say, "Men gave him the right to do it," then the people will kill us with stones. They believe that John was a prophet of God.'

⁷ So they answered Jesus, `We do not know who gave him the right to do it.'

⁸ Then Jesus said to them, `Neither will I tell you what right I have to do these things.'

⁹ Then Jesus began to tell the people this story. `A man planted a farm. He let some men use the farm. They paid him money for the rent. Then he went to a country far away and stayed a long time.

¹⁰ `At harvest time the owner sent one of his servants to the men who used the farm. He wanted to have some fruit from the farm. But the men beat the servant and sent him away without any fruit.

¹¹ So he sent another servant. They beat this one also, and did wrong things to him. And they sent him away without any fruit.

¹² He sent a servant the third time. They hurt this one also and threw him out of the farm.

¹³ `Then the man who owned the farm said, "What shall I do? I will send my dear son. Maybe they will respect him."

¹⁴ `But when the men saw him they said to each other, "This is the one who will have everything when his father dies. Let us kill him. Then everything will belong to us."

¹⁵ They dragged him off the farm and killed him. `What will the man who owned the farm do to them?

¹⁶ He will come back and kill those men. And he will give the farm to other men to use.' When the chief priests and scribes heard this, they said, `May it not be so!'

¹⁷ `But Jesus looked right at them. He said, `What about this writing then? "The stone which the builders would not use is now the chief corner stone."

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. But if that stone falls on anyone, it will crush him.'

¹⁹ The scribes and the chief priests wanted to catch Jesus right then but they feared the people. They understood that he had told this story against them.