Bible in 90 Days

16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus. They wanted to test him, so they asked him to show them a sign from the sky.

² He answered them, `In the evening you say, "It will be a nice day tomorrow because the sky is red."

³ In the morning you say, "It will be a stormy day, because the sky is red and there are clouds." You know the meaning of these signs in the sky. But you do not know the meaning of the signs about the time in which we are living.

⁴ People today are wrong. They have gone away from God. They want a sign. No sign will be given them but the sign of Jonah.' Then Jesus went away and left them.

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

⁶ Jesus said, `Watch! Do not let the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees spoil you.'

⁷ The disciples said to each other, `He said that because we did not bring any bread.'

⁸ Jesus knew what they were saying. He said to them, `You don't believe very much in me. Why are you saying to each other, "We have no bread".

⁹ Do you not yet understand? When there were five thousand people, there were only five loaves of bread. Do you not remember how many baskets full of pieces you gathered up?

¹⁰ When there were four thousand people, there were only seven loaves. Do you not remember how many baskets full of pieces you gathered up?

¹¹ Why do you not understand that I was not talking about bread? Take care. Do not let the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees spoil you.'

¹² Then they understood that he was not talking about bread. He did not mean that the yeast of bread would spoil them. They understood that he was talking about the things the Pharisees and Sadducees taught.

¹³ Jesus went to the country of Caesarea Philippi. He asked his disciples, `I am the Son of Man. Whom do people say I am?'

¹⁴ They answered, `Some people say you are John the Baptizer. Others say you are Elijah. And others say you are Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'

¹⁵ Jesus said to them, `Whom do you say I am?'

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, `You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

¹⁷ Jesus answered, `Simon, Jonah's son, God has blessed you. No person on earth has showed you this. But my Father in heaven has showed you.

¹⁸ I tell you this. You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church. The power of death will not destroy it.

¹⁹ I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What you tie on earth will be tied in heaven. What you set free on earth will be set free in heaven.'

²⁰ Then Jesus said to the disciples, `Do not tell anyone that I am the Christ.'

²¹ From that time on, Jesus began to teach his disciples. He said, `I must go to Jerusalem. I will have much trouble from the leaders, the chief priests, and the scribes. I will be killed. On the third day, I will be raised from death.'

²² Peter took him to one side and began to talk to him. He said, `Lord! May God stop it! This must never happen to you.'

²³ But Jesus turned to Peter and said, `Get away from me Satan! You are trying to make me do wrong. You are not thinking the way God thinks, but the way people think.'

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, `If anyone wants to come with me, he must leave what he himself wants to do. He must be willing to carry his cross and come with me.

²⁵ Anyone who wants to keep his life will lose it. And anyone who gives up his life for my sake will find it.

²⁶ What good will it do a man if he gets the whole world for himself, but loses his life? What can a person give to get back his life?

²⁷ The Son of Man will come with his angels and will be great like his Father. Then he will pay every man for what he has done.

²⁸ I tell you the truth. Some people are standing here who will not die before they see the Son of Man come in his kingdom.'

17 Six days after this, Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John with him. He led them up a hill by themselves.

² Jesus was changed in front of them. His face was bright like the sun. His clothes were white, like light.

³ Then they saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.

⁴ Peter said to Jesus, `Lord, this is a good place for us. If you want, we will make three places here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.'

⁵ While he was saying this, a bright cloud came over them. A voice in the cloud said, `This is my dear Son. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him.'

⁶ When the disciples heard it, they bowed their faces to the ground. They were very much afraid.

⁷ But Jesus came and touched them. He said, `Get up. Do not fear.'

⁸ When they looked up, they saw no one but Jesus.

⁹ When they came down the hill, Jesus said to them, `Do not tell anyone what you saw. Do not tell it until after the Son of Man has been raised from death.'

¹⁰ The disciples asked him, `Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?'

¹¹ Jesus answered, `Elijah does come. He will get everything ready.

¹² I tell you that Elijah has come already. The people did not know him. And they did to him just what they wanted to do. So also the Son of Man will be troubled by them.'

¹³ Then the disciples knew that he was talking about John the Baptizer.

¹⁴ They came to the people. A man came and kneeled in front of Jesus.

¹⁵ He said, `Sir, help my son. A bad spirit is in him and he has much trouble. Often he falls into the fire, and often he falls into the water.

¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.'

¹⁷ Jesus said, `You people today do not believe. You have turned away from God. How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.'

¹⁸ Jesus talked to the bad spirit and he came out of the boy. The boy was healed.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus alone. They asked him, `Why could we not drive the bad spirit out?'

²⁰ Jesus said to them, `Because you do not believe enough. I tell you the truth. If your strength to believe were as much as a little mustard seed, you could say to this hill, "Go, move over to that place!" And it would move. Nothing is too hard for you to do.

²¹ But this kind of bad spirit does not come out of a person unless people ask God and fast [do not eat food for a time].'

²² They were travelling in Galilee. Jesus said to his disciples, `The Son of Man will be given over to men.

²⁴ They will kill him. But he will be raised on the third day.' This troubled the disciples very much.

²⁵ They came to Capernaum. There the men who were collecting the tax for the temple came to Peter. They asked him, `Does not your teacher pay the tax for the temple?'

²⁶ Peter said, `Yes, he does.' When he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him about it first. He said, `Simon, what do you think? From whom do kings on earth take taxes? Do they take them from their own people or from other people?'

²⁷ Peter said, `From other people.' Jesus said, `Then the sons do not pay a tax.

²⁸ But we must not make them think something wrong about us. So go to the sea. Throw a fish-hook into the water. Take the first fish you catch. Open its mouth and you will see a piece of money. Take it and pay them the tax for you and me.'

18 The disciples came to Jesus at that time. They said, `Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?'

² Jesus called a child to him. He had the child stand in front of them.

³ He said, `I tell you the truth. If your hearts do not change and become like hearts of children, you will never go into the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ So anyone who feels himself small like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

⁵ `If anyone takes in a child like this for my sake, he takes in me.'

⁶ `These little children believe in me. If anyone makes one of them do wrong, he will be punished. He will have worse trouble than if a big stone were tied to his neck and he were thrown into the deep sea.

⁷ `There will be trouble in the world because people make other people do wrong! People will do wrong. But the person who makes another person do wrong will have trouble.

⁸ If your hand or your foot makes you do wrong, cut it off and throw it away! It is better for you to enter into life without hands or feet than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the fire that burns for ever.

⁹ If your eye makes you do wrong, pull it out and throw it away! It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the hell fire.'

¹⁰ `Do not think badly of these little children. I tell you this. They have angels in heaven. And all the time their angels can see the face of my father who is in heaven.

¹¹ `The Son of Man came to save anyone who is lost.

¹² What do you think about this? A man has a hundred sheep. One of them is lost. Will he not leave the ninety-nine sheep on the hills and go to look for the one that is lost? Yes, he will.

¹³ I tell you the truth. When he finds it, he is more happy to see that one than the ninety-nine that were not lost.

¹⁴ In the same way, my Father in heaven does not want one of these little children to be lost.'

¹⁵ `If your brother does something wrong to you, go to him. Talk alone to him and tell him what he has done. If he listens to you, you have kept your brother as a friend.

¹⁶ But if he does not listen to you, take one or two others with you to talk to him. Then two or three people will hear every word and can prove what was said.

¹⁷ If he does not listen to them, tell the church. If he does not listen to the church, treat him as one who does not believe in God and as bad as a tax collector.'

¹⁸ `I tell you the truth. What you tie on earth will be tied in heaven. What you set free on earth will be set free in heaven.

¹⁹ I tell you another thing. If two of you on earth agree together to ask for something, my Father in heaven will do it for them.

²⁰ Where two or three people meet together in my name, I am there with them.'

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked him, `Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother when he does wrong things to me? Should I forgive him seven times?'

²² Jesus answered him, `I say not seven times only, but seventy times seven.

²³ `In that way the kingdom of heaven is like this. A king was ready to finish his business with his servants.

²⁴ The first servant was brought in. He owed the king a very large sum of money.

²⁵ He could not pay it. So his master said, "Go sell him, his wife, his children, and everything he has, and pay me!"

²⁶ So the servant bowed down in front of him. He begged, "Sir, give me time. I will pay everything."

²⁷ His master was sorry for him and let him go. He did not make him pay the money.

²⁸ `That same servant went out and met another servant. This man owed him a much smaller sum of money. He caught him by the throat and said, Pay me what you owe me!"

²⁹ Then this servant bowed down in front of him. He begged, "Give me time. I will pay you."

³⁰ But he said, "No." He went and put the man in prison until he could pay what he owed him.

³¹ `The other servants saw what he did. They were very sad. They went and told their master everything that had been done.

³² Then his master called the first servant to him. He said, "You bad man! I let you go. I did not make you pay all you owed me, because you begged me to be kind to you.

³³ You should have been kind to the other servant, as I was kind to you."

³⁴ His master was very angry. He turned the servant over to the prison guards until he could pay all he owed him.

³⁵ `That is like what my Father in heaven will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.'

19 When Jesus had finished this talk, he left Galilee. He went away to the part of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan River.

² Many people followed him. He healed them there.

³ The Pharisees came to Jesus to test him. They asked, `Is it right for a man to send his wife away from him for any reason?'

⁴ Jesus answered, `Have you not read this? From the time God first made people, he made them a man and a woman.

⁵ God said, "A man must leave his father and mother and must stay with his wife. The two of them will be like one person."

⁶ So they are not two people any more, but they are one person. Man must not separate what God has joined together.'

⁷ They said to Jesus, `Then why did Moses make this law? He said that a man may give his wife a paper to show that he does not want her any more. Then he may send her away.'

⁸ Jesus said to them, `Moses wrote that law because your hearts are so hard. That is why he let you send your wives away. But in the beginning it was not that way.

⁹ But I tell you this. No man may send his wife away unless she has committed adultery. If he does, and if he marries another woman, he commits adultery. And if a man marries a woman who has been sent away by her husband, he commits adultery.'

¹⁰ The disciples said to him, `If a man and woman are like that, then it is better not to marry.'

¹¹ Jesus said, `Not everyone can agree to that. But God has chosen some not to be married.

¹² Some men cannot marry because they were born that way. Some were made that way by men. Others said, "I will not marry, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." `Anyone who can do this, should do it.'

¹³ Then people brought children to Jesus. They wanted him to put his hands on them and ask God to bless them. The disciples tried to stop the people.

¹⁴ But Jesus said, `Let the children come to me. Do not try to stop them. The kingdom of heaven belongs to people like them.'

¹⁵ So he put his hands on the children. Then he went away.

¹⁶ A man came to Jesus and said, `Teacher, what good thing must I do so that I will live for ever?'

¹⁷ Jesus said, `Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. If you want to live for ever, you must keep God's laws.'

¹⁸ The man said, `Which laws?' Jesus said, `Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not tell lies.

¹⁹ Respect your father and your mother. Love your neighbour as you love yourself.'

²⁰ The young man said, `I have kept all those laws. What more must I do?'

²¹ Jesus said, `If you want to be all right, go and sell everything you have. Give the money to poor people. For this you will be rich in heaven. Then come and go with me.'

²² When the young man heard that, he was sad, because he was very rich. So he went away.

²³ Then Jesus said to his disciples, `I tell you the truth. It is very hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

²⁴ And I tell you this also. 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.'

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were very much surprised. They said, `Then who can be saved?'

²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, `Men cannot do it, but God can do anything.'

²⁷ Then Peter said, `See, we have left all things and have come with you. So what will we have?'

²⁸ Jesus said to them, `I tell you the truth. In the new world, the Son of Man will be great. He will sit on his throne of glory [big chair of a king] to rule. Then you who have come with me will also sit on twelve thrones. You will judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁹ If anyone has left his house, his brothers, his sisters, his father, his mother, his children, or his farms for my sake, he will receive a hundred times as much as he has left. And he will live for ever.

³⁰ But many people who are first will be last, and those who are last will be first.'

20 The kingdom of heaven is like this. A man owned a farm. Early in the morning he went out to look for men to work on his farm.

² He agreed to pay them a day's wages and sent them out to his farm.

³ `About nine o'clock he went out again. He saw some men standing around at the market. They were not working.

⁴ He said to them, "You go out to work on the farm too. I will pay you what is right." And they went to work.

⁵ `The man went out again at twelve o'clock and at three o'clock. He did the same as he had done before.

⁶ `About five o'clock he went out again and found other men standing around. He said to them, "Why have you been standing here all day? Why are you not working?"

⁷ They said, "No man has asked us to work." So he said to them, "You go out to work on the farm too."

⁸ `When evening came, the man who owned the farm said to his manager, "Call the workmen and pay them. Begin with those who came last and end with those who came first."

⁹ Each of the men who started work at five o'clock was paid a day's wages.

¹⁰ Those who started work first thought they would get more than that. But they also were paid a day's wages.

¹¹ They took it, but they were angry and talked against the man who owned the farm.

¹² `They said, "These men came last, and worked only one hour. Yet you paid them the same as you paid us. We worked all day, when the sun was hot."

¹³ `But he said to one of them, "My friend, I am not doing any wrong to you. You agreed that I should pay you a day's wages. Did you not?

¹⁴ Take your money and go. I want to give the last man the same pay as I gave you.

¹⁵ It is my own money. Can I not do with it as I like? Do you think it is a wrong thing for me to be kind?"

¹⁶ `In the same way, people who are last will be first, and those who are first will be last.'

¹⁷ On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples with him, away from the people.

¹⁸ He said to them, `We are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be given over to the chief priests and scribes. They will judge him and say he must die.

¹⁹ They will give him over to rulers who are not Jews. They will make fun of him. They will beat him and nail him to a cross. On the third day, he will be raised.'

²⁰ Then Zebedee's wife came with her sons to Jesus. She bowed down in front of him and asked him to do something for her.

²¹ Jesus asked, `What do you want me to do for you?' The woman said, `These are my two sons. Promise that in your kingdom one may sit at your right and the other at your left.'

²² But Jesus said, `You do not know what you are asking for. Can you drink from the cup that I will drink?' `Yes,' they said. `We can.'

²³ Then Jesus said to them, `You will drink what I drink. But I cannot choose who will sit at my right or at my left. My Father has planned who will sit there.'

²⁴ When the other ten disciples heard about it, they were angry with the two brothers.

²⁵ But Jesus called them to him and said, `You know that those who rule over countries make their people obey them. The great men will tell the others what to do.

²⁶ But that is not the way it is among you. Anyone among you who wants to be great will help the others.

²⁷ Anyone among you who wants to be first will be a servant to the others.

²⁸ The Son of Man did not come to have others help him. But he came to help others. He came to give his life to make many people free.'

²⁹ As Jesus and the disciples left the city of Jericho, many people followed him.

³⁰ Two blind men were sitting by the road. They heard that Jesus was passing that way. So they shouted, `Sir, you are the Son of David. Help us!'

³¹ The people said to them, `Be quiet!' But they shouted louder, `Sir, Son of David! Help us!'

³² Jesus stopped and called the men to him. He asked, `What do you want me to do for you?'

³³ They said, `Sir, we want to see.'

³⁴ Jesus was very sorry for them as he shared in their suffering. He touched their eyes, and right then they were able to see. They went with him.

21 Jesus and his disciples came near to Jerusalem. They came to the village of Bethphage by the hill called the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus sent two of his disciples ahead.

² He said to them, `Go into the village in front of you. As soon as you go in, you will find a donkey for riding, and her young one. They are tied there. Untie them and bring them to me.

³ If anyone says anything to you, tell him, "The Lord needs them. He will send them back soon." '

⁴ This happened, and what the prophet of God said long ago, came true.

⁵ He said, `Tell the people of Zion: See, your king is coming to you. He is not proud. He rides a donkey. It is a young animal.'

⁶ The disciples went and did what Jesus told them to do.

⁷ They brought the donkey and her young one. They put their coats on them. Then Jesus got on to ride.

⁸ Many people spread their coats on the road. Others cut leaves from the palm trees and put them on the road.

⁹ People in front of him and people behind him shouted, `Praise the Son of David! God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise him in heaven!'

¹⁰ When Jesus came into Jerusalem, all the people there were very excited. They said, `Who is this?'

¹¹ The people who were with Jesus said, `This is Jesus from the town of Nazareth in Galilee. He is a prophet.'

¹² Jesus went into the temple of God. He drove out all the people who were buying and selling in the temple. He threw down the tables of the money changers. He pushed down the seats of those who sold doves.

¹³ He said to them, `The holy writings say, "My house shall be called a house where people talk with God." But you have made it a place for people who steal!'

¹⁴ Blind people came to Jesus in the temple. People who could not walk came to him. And he healed them.

¹⁵ The chief priests and the scribes saw the big works that Jesus did. They saw the children calling out in the temple, `God save the Son of David!' They were angry.

¹⁶ They asked Jesus, `Do you hear what they are saying?' Jesus answered, `Yes. Have you never read this? "You like the praise of children and babies." '

¹⁷ Then he left them and went out of the city to Bethany. He stayed there for the night.

¹⁸ In the morning he went back to the city. On the way he was hungry.

¹⁹ Along the road he saw a fig tree. He went to the tree. There was no fruit on it, only leaves. He said to the tree, `No fruit will ever grow on you again!' Right away the tree died.

²⁰ The disciples saw it and were surprised. They said, `So soon the fig tree has died!'

²¹ Jesus said to them, `I tell you the truth. Believe God. Do not doubt him. Then you can do what I did to this fig tree. But that is not all. You can even say to this hill, "Go and jump into the sea" and it will be done.

²² When you ask God for anything, believe that you will have it. Then you will have it.'

²³ He came to the temple and went in and taught the people. The chief priests and the leaders of the people came to him. They asked, `What right have you to do these things? Who gave you the right to do them?'

²⁴ Jesus answered them, `I will ask you a question also. If you answer me, I will answer you. I will tell you what right I have to do these things.

²⁵ Who gave John the right to baptise people? Did God or did men?' So they talked it over together. They said, `If we say, "God gave John the right to do it," he will say to us, "Then why did you not believe him?"

²⁶ But if we say, "Men gave him the right to do it," we have the people to fear, because all the people say that John was a prophet.'

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, `We do not know.' Then Jesus said, `Neither will I tell you what right I have to do these things.'

²⁸ `What do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first one and said, "Son, go and work today on my farm."

²⁹ The son said, "No, I will not go." But he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ The man went to the second son and said the same thing. The son answered, "Yes, sir, I will go." But he did not go.

³¹ Which of the two sons did what his father wanted him to do?' They said, `The first one.' Then Jesus said, `I tell you the truth. The tax collectors and women who commit adultery by selling their bodies, are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.

³² John came to you to tell you the right way. But you did not believe him. The tax collectors and women who commit adultery believed him. And even when you saw that, you did not change your minds and believe him.'

³³ `Listen to another story. A man planted a farm of vines for growing fruit called grapes. He put a fence of small trees around it. He dug a place to press the juice from the fruit. He built a high house from which men could watch over the farm. He let some men pay to use it. Then he went to a country far away.

³⁴ `When it was near the time to cut the fruit, he sent his servants to those men. He wanted to have some of the fruit.

³⁵ The men caught the servants. They beat one of them and killed another one of them. They threw stones at another one.

³⁶ Then the man sent other servants. There were more than the first time. The men did the same to them.

³⁷ `Last of all he sent his son to them. He said, "They will respect my son."

³⁸ When the men saw the son, they said to each other, "This is the one who will have everything when his father dies. Let us kill him and we will have it all."

³⁹ They caught him, dragged him off the farm, and killed him.

⁴⁰ When the owner of the farm comes, what will he do to those men?'

⁴¹ They answered, `He will kill those bad men, and will give the farm to other men who will give him the fruit when it is time.'

⁴² Jesus said, `Have you never read in the holy writings "The stone which the builders would not use is now the chief corner stone. The Lord did this. It looks wonderful to us"?

⁴³ `So I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you. It will be given to the people who do what they should do in it.

⁴⁴ If anyone falls on this stone, he will be broken to pieces. But if this stone falls on anyone, it will crush him.'

⁴⁵ The chief priests and the Pharisees heard the stories Jesus told, and they knew he was talking about them.

⁴⁶ They wanted to catch him, but they feared the people. The people thought Jesus was a prophet.

22 Jesus told them other stories.

² He said, `The kingdom of heaven is like this. A king made a wedding for his son.

³ The king sent his servants to call the people who had been asked to the wedding. But they would not come.

⁴ `He sent other servants to call them. He said, "Tell those who were asked to the wedding that my dinner is cooked. The cows and bullocks have been killed. Everything is ready. Come now to the wedding."

⁵ `The people did not listen, but went away. One went to his farm. One went to his business.

⁶ The others caught his servants, treated them very badly, and killed them.

⁷ `The king was very angry. He sent his soldiers to kill the men who had killed his servants. And he burned their city.

⁸ Then he said to his servants, "The wedding is ready. But those who were asked to come were not good enough.

⁹ Go out on the roads. Call all the people you find to come to the wedding."

¹⁰ `So those servants went out on the roads. They brought all the people they could find, both bad and good people. Then the room was full of people for the wedding.

¹¹ `The king came in to look at the people. He saw one man there who was not wearing the right clothes for a wedding.

¹² The king said to him, "My friend, why did you come here without putting on the right clothes for a wedding?" The man did not answer.

¹³ Then the king said to his servants, "Tie his hands and his feet. Put him in a dark place outside. People there will cry and grind [make a noise with] their teeth."

¹⁴ `Many people are asked to come, but only a few are chosen.'

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went away. They planned how to make Jesus say something wrong.

¹⁶ They sent their disciples to him with some of Herod's people. They said, `Teacher, we know that you are true. We know that you teach the true way of God. You do not fear any person, or care how great he is.

¹⁷ So tell us. What do you think? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or is it not?'

¹⁸ Jesus knew they were trying to get him into trouble. So he said to them, `Why are you trying to get me to do wrong? You are not true to yourselves!

¹⁹ Show me a piece of money used for tax.' They brought him a piece of money.

²⁰ `Whose picture and name is this?' he asked.

²¹ They said, `Caesar's'. Then he said to them, `Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And give to God what belongs to God.'

²² When they heard that, they were surprised. They left him and went away.

²³ The same day some of the Sadducees came to Jesus. They say that people do not rise from death.

²⁴ They came to ask him a question. They said, `Teacher, Moses gave us this law: "If a man dies and has no children, then his brother must marry the wife and raise a family for his brother."

²⁵ There were seven brothers among us. The first one married. He died and left no children. So his brother married the wife.

²⁶ The same thing happened to the second brother, and the third one, and all seven of them.

²⁷ Last of all, the woman died.

²⁸ Now then, when people rise from death, which of the seven brothers will have her for his wife? They all married her.'

²⁹ Jesus answered, `You are wrong! You do not know what the holy writings say. And you do not know what power God has.

³⁰ When people rise from death, men and women do not marry. But they are like angels in heaven.

³¹ People do rise from death! Have you never read what God said to you?

³² He said, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." He is not the God of dead people, but of living people.'

³³ When the people heard this, they were surprised at his teaching.

³⁴ The Pharisees heard that the Sadducees could not answer Jesus. So they got together.

³⁵ One of them was a man who taught God's law. He asked Jesus a question to try him out.

³⁶ `Teacher,' he said, `which law is the greatest law of all?'

³⁷ Jesus said, ` "Love the Lord your God with all your heart. Love him with all your soul, and love him with all your mind."

³⁸ This is the first and greatest law.

³⁹ The second law of God is like it. "Love your neighbour as you love yourself."

⁴⁰ All that is written in the books of the law and the books of the prophets is about these two laws.'

⁴¹ While the Pharisees were still there, Jesus asked them a question.

⁴² He said, `What do you think about Christ? Whose son is he?' They said, `He is David's son.'

⁴³ Jesus asked, `Then how can David call him "Lord"? He said, by the Spirit,

⁴⁴ "The Lord said to my Lord, `Sit beside me until I make you master over your enemies.' "

⁴⁵ David calls Christ his Lord. How can Christ be David's son?'

⁴⁶ No one could answer him a word. And after that day, everyone feared to ask him any more questions.

23 Then Jesus talked to the people and to his disciples.

² He said, `The scribes and Pharisees have taken Moses' place.

³ So obey and do everything they tell you to do. But do not do what they do. They say what should be done, but they do it not.

⁴ They make heavy loads and put them on people's backs. But they themselves will not put up even one finger to help carry the loads.

⁵ They do all their work to be seen by people. They wear bigger and bigger boxes with God's word in. And they make wider and wider borders on their gowns.

⁶ They want to sit in the best places at the feasts. They want to have the front seats in the meeting houses.

⁷ They want people to greet them in the market, and to call them "Teacher".

⁸ But people should not call you "Teacher". You have one Teacher. And you are all brothers.

⁹ `Do not call anyone on earth your "Father". You have one Father. He is in heaven.

¹⁰ People should not call you "Master". You have one Master. He is the Christ.

¹¹ The person who is greatest among you will help the others.

¹² Anyone who puts himself up will be brought down. And anyone who puts himself down will be brought up.

¹³ `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You are not true to yourselves! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven so people cannot go in. You yourselves do not go in, and you stop those who were going in.

¹⁴ `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You take away the homes of women whose husbands are dead. You cover up your wrong ways by talking big to God for a long time. Because of that, you will be punished harder.

¹⁵ `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You travel over sea and land to win one person to believe what you believe. And when he believes, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.

¹⁶ `You blind leaders will have trouble. You say that if anyone makes a promise in the name of the temple, he does not have to keep that promise. But if anyone makes a promise in the name of the gold on the temple, he must keep that promise.

¹⁷ `You fools and blind men! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy?

¹⁸ And you say that if anyone makes a promise in the name of God's altar, he does not have to keep that promise. But if anyone makes a promise in the name of the sacrifice, he must keep that promise.

¹⁹ `You fools and blind people! Which is greater, the sacrifice or the place that makes the sacrifice holy?

²⁰ So if anyone makes a promise by God's altar, he makes his promise by it and by all that is on it.

²¹ If anyone makes a promise by the temple, he makes his promise by the temple and by God who lives in the temple.

²² If anyone makes a promise by heaven, he makes his promise by God's big chair called a throne and by God who sits on the throne.

²³ `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You give God a tenth part of small garden plants. But you have not done those bigger matters of the law. You have not judged in the right way. You have not been kind. You have not believed God. You should be doing these things and the other things too.

²⁴ You blind leaders! You take a fly out of your cup, but you drink down a big animal like a camel!

²⁵ `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You wash the outside of a cup and a dish clean. But inside they are full of greed and wrong ways!

²⁶ You blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish so that the outside will be clean too.

²⁷ `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You are like graves that have been painted white. Outside they look very nice. But inside they are full of dead men's bones and all kinds of dirt.

²⁸ So it is with you. You look right on the outside. But inside you are full of lies and wrong ways.

²⁹ `You scribes and Pharisees will have trouble. You who are not true to yourselves! You build places to bury the prophets and fix up graves of good men.

³⁰ You say, "If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have helped to kill the prophets of God."

³¹ So you prove that you are the sons of the men who killed the prophets.

³² Finish doing what your fathers started to do.

³³ You snakes - a whole family of snakes! You cannot get away! You will be judged and sent to hell.

³⁴ That is why I send you prophets, wise men, and teachers. You will kill some of them and nail them to a cross. And you will beat some of them in your meeting houses and trouble them from one town to another.

³⁵ So you will be punished for all the blood of every good man that is on the ground. I mean all the blood from the time of Abel, who was a good man, to Zechariah, the son of Barachiah. You killed him between the temple and God's altar.

³⁶ I tell you the truth. The people who are still living now will be punished for all these things.

³⁷ `Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. You throw stones to kill the 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!

³⁸ Now you are left alone in your house.

³⁹ 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." '

24 Jesus left the temple and was going away. His disciples came to him. They wanted to show him the different buildings that were a part of the temple.

² But Jesus answered them, `Do you see these buildings? I tell you the truth. Not one stone here will be left on top of another stone. They will all be thrown down!'

³ Jesus was sitting on the hill called the Mount of Olives. The disciples came to him alone. They said, `Tell us, when will this happen? What will be the sign to show you are coming and that it is the end of this world?'

⁴ Jesus answered them, `Take care. Do not let anyone fool you.

⁵ Many men will come in my name. They will say, "I am the Christ". They will fool many people.

⁶ You will hear about wars. You will hear that war is coming. But do not fear. These things must happen, but that is not yet the end.

⁷ One tribe will fight against another tribe. And one country will fight against another country. The people will have no food to eat. Many people will be sick. The earth will shake in many different places.

⁸ All these troubles are only the beginning of troubles that will come.

⁹ `Then people will trouble you and kill you. All nations will hate you because you are true to me.

¹⁰ Then many people will stop believing. They will give one another over to trouble. They will hate one another.

¹¹ Many people will come and say they are prophets of God. But they will not be true. They will fool many people.

¹² People will do more and more wrong things and many people will stop loving me.

¹³ But the person who keeps on being true to me until the end, that one will be saved.

¹⁴ This good news about the kingdom will be told in all the world. The people in all countries must know about it. And then the end will come.'

¹⁵ `Daniel the prophet said that people would put something very bad in the temple.' (Let the one who reads this understand it.)

¹⁶ `When that happens, the people in Judea must go quickly to the hills.

¹⁷ A person who is on the top of a house must not go down into the house to get things from the house.

¹⁸ A person who is working in the fields must not go back home to get his coat.

¹⁹ In those days it will be very hard for women who are to have a child. It will be very hard for mothers who have a baby.

²⁰ Ask God that you may not have to go in the cold time of the year or on the Sabbath day.

²¹ The trouble then will be bigger than any other trouble since God made the world. And there never will be any trouble as big as that.

²² No person would be saved if the Lord did not cut the time of trouble shorter. He will cut it shorter for the sake of his chosen people.

²³ `If anyone says to you then, "Look, here is the Christ!" or "There he is!" do not believe it.

²⁴ People will come and say they are the Christ. People will come and say they are prophets. But they are not true. They will show big signs and do wonderful things to fool people. They will fool God's chosen people if they can.

²⁵ Watch! I have told you these things before they happen.

²⁶ So if people say to you, "He is in the wilderness," do not go there. If they say, "He is hiding somewhere," do not believe it.

²⁷ When lightning shines in the east, it can be seen in the west. It will be like that when the Son of Man comes.

²⁸ The big birds that eat meat will all go to the place where the dead body is.'

²⁹ `Right after that time of trouble, the sun will be dark. The moon will not shine. The stars will fall from the sky. And the powers in the sky will be shaken.

³⁰ Then people will see the sign of the Son of Man in the sky. Then all the people of the earth will cry. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds in the sky. He will have much power and will be very great.

³¹ He will send his angels to call with a loud trumpet or horn. They will gather his chosen people from everywhere all over the earth.'

³² `Learn a lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its branches begin to grow and the leaves come, then you know it will soon be the warm time of the year.

³³ It is the same when you see all these things. You will know that the time is very near, right at the door.

³⁴ I tell you the truth. The people who are living then, will not die before all these things happen.

³⁵ The sky and the earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.'

³⁶ `But no one knows the day and the hour when the Son of Man will come. Even the angels in heaven and the Son do not know. Only the Father knows.

³⁷ When the Son of Man comes, it will be as it was in the time of Noah.

³⁸ In the days before the water covered the earth, people ate and drank. They married and gave their daughters to be married. Then one day Noah went into his house built on a boat.

³⁹ The people did not know until much water came and killed them all. When the Son of Man comes, it will be like that.

⁴⁰ Two men will be working together in the field. One will be taken and the other will be left.

⁴¹ Two women will be making flour together. One woman will be taken away and one woman will be left.

⁴² So watch! You do not know what day your Lord will come.

⁴³ And remember this. The owner of the house does not know at what time of the night a man will come to steal something. If he knew, he would watch and not let the man break into his house.

⁴⁴ So, be ready! The Son of Man will come at a time when you are not looking for him.

⁴⁵ `Who is like a wise servant who can be trusted? His master will put him in charge of his other servants. He gives them their food at the right time.

⁴⁶ The servant who is doing this when his master comes, will be blessed.

⁴⁷ I tell you the truth. His master will put him in charge of all that he has.

⁴⁸ But if the servant is bad, he will say to himself, "My master will not come just now."

⁴⁹ Then he will begin to beat the other servants. He will eat and drink with men who are drunk.

⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day the servant is not looking for him. He will not know the time he is coming home.

⁵¹ The master will punish him and lock him in with people who are not true. People there will cry and grind [make a noise with] their teeth.'

25 Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten young women took their lamps and went to meet a man who was being married.

² Five of them were foolish and five of them were wise.

³ The five foolish women took their lamps but took no oil with them.

⁴ The wise ones took bottles of oil with their lamps.

⁵ `It was a long time before the man came, so they all went to sleep.

⁶ At midnight there was a call, "Here comes the man who is to be married! Come out to meet him."

⁷ Then all the young women woke up. They cleaned their lamps.

⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise ones, "Give us some of your oil. The light in our lamps is dying."

⁹ But the wise ones answered, "There may not be enough oil for us all. Go to the market and buy some for yourselves."

¹⁰ `While they went away to buy oil, the man came. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast. Then the door was shut.

¹¹ After that, the other women also came. They called, "Sir, sir, open the door for us."

¹² But he said, "I tell you the truth. I do not know you."

¹³ So watch! You do not know the day or the hour.'

¹⁴ `The kingdom of heaven will be like the time a man went to a country far away. He called his servants and put them in charge of his money.

¹⁵ He gave five bags of money to one servant. He gave two bags of money to another servant. He gave one bag of money to another servant. He gave to each one what he was able to be in charge of. Then he went away.

¹⁶ `Right away the servant who had five bags of money began to buy and sell things with it. He made five bags of money more than he had at first.

¹⁷ `The servant who had two bags of money did the same thing as the one who had five bags. He also made two bags of money more than he had at first.

¹⁸ But the man who had only one bag of money dug a hole in the ground. And he hid his master's money in the ground.

¹⁹ `After a long time, the master of those servants came home. He asked what they had done with his money.

²⁰ The servant who had been given five bags of money brought five bags more to his master. He said, "Sir, you gave me five bags of money. See, I have made five bags more money."

²¹ `His master said, "You have done well. You are a good servant. I can trust you. You have taken good care of a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come, have a good time with your master."

²² `The servant who had been given two bags of money came and said to his master, "Sir, you gave me two bags of money. I have made two bags more money."

²³ His master said, "You have done well. You are a good servant. I can trust you. You have taken good care of a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come, have a good time with your master."

²⁴ `The servant who had been given one bag of money came and said, "Sir, I knew that you were a hard man. You cut grain where you did not plant. You pick fruit where you put nothing in.

²⁵ I was afraid. So I went and hid your money in the ground. Here is your money."

²⁶ `His master answered him, "You are a bad and lazy servant. You knew that I cut grain where I did not plant. You knew that I pick fruit where I put nothing in.

²⁷ You should have put my money in the bank. Then when I came home, I would have had my money with interest on it.

²⁸ So take the money away from him. Give it to the one who has ten bags.

²⁹ Anyone who has some will get more, and he will have plenty. But he who does not get anything, even the little that he has will be taken away from him.

³⁰ Take this good-for-nothing servant! Put him out in the dark place outside. People there will cry and make a noise with their teeth." '

³¹ `The Son of Man will be great and will come with all his holy angels. Then he will sit on his throne like a king.

³² All the nations will be gathered in front of him. He will put them in two groups like a man who takes care of sheep. He puts the sheep on one side of him and he puts the goats on the other side of him.

³³ The Son of Man will put people who are like the sheep at his right side. He will put people who are like the goats at his left side.

³⁴ Then the King will say to those who are at his right side, "Come! My Father has blessed you. The kingdom was made ready for you when the world was first made. Come into it now.

³⁵ I was hungry. You gave me food. I was thirsty. You gave me a drink. I was a stranger. You took me in.

³⁶ I needed clothes. You gave me clothes. I was sick. You came to visit me. I was in prison. You came to see me."

³⁷ `Then the good people will ask him, "Lord when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you a drink?

³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and take you in? When did we see you needing clothes and give you clothes?

³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and come to see you?"

⁴⁰ `The King will answer them, "I tell you the truth. What you did for even the smallest of these people you did for me. They are my brothers."

⁴¹ `Then he will say to those at the left side "Go away from me. You are cursed. Go into the fire that burns for ever. That fire has been made ready for the devil and his angels.

⁴² I was hungry. You did not give me food. I was thirsty. You did not give me a drink.

⁴³ I was a stranger. You did not take me in. I needed clothes. You did not give me any clothes. I was sick and in prison. You did not come to see me."

⁴⁴ `Then they will also ask, "Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or needing clothes, or sick, or in prison, and did not help you?"

⁴⁵ `Then the King will answer them, "I tell you the truth. What you did not do for even the smallest of these, you did not do for me."

⁴⁶ And they will go away to be punished for ever. But the good people will go away to live for ever.'

26 When Jesus had finished telling all these things, he talked to his disciples.

² He said, `You know that after two days it will be time for the Passover Feast. The Son of Man will be given over to his enemies to be nailed to a cross.'

³ Then at that time the chief priests and the leaders of the people met together in the house of the high priest. His name was Caiaphas.

⁴ They planned how to catch Jesus by some trick and have him killed.

⁵ But they said, `Let us not do it on the day of the feast. We do not want the people to start fighting about it.'

⁶ When Jesus was in the town of Bethany, he was in the house of Simon, a man who had leprosy, a bad skin disease.

⁷ While Jesus sat at the table, a woman came to him. She had a bottle of oil. It smelled very nice and cost much money. She put the oil on Jesus' head.

⁸ When the disciples saw this, they were angry. They said, `Why was the oil wasted like that?

⁹ The oil might have been sold for much money. Then the money could have been given to poor people.'

¹⁰ When Jesus heard it, he said to them, `Why do you trouble the woman? She has done a good thing to me.

¹¹ You will always have poor people with you. But I will not always be with you.

¹² She has put oil on my body to make me ready to be buried.

¹³ I tell you the truth. Any place in the whole world where people tell the good news, people will also tell what she has done. People will remember her because of it.'

¹⁴ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the chief priests.

¹⁵ He said, `What will you give me if I help you catch Jesus?' They gave him thirty pieces of silver money.

¹⁶ And from then on, Judas watched for a good way to help them catch Jesus. Supper

¹⁷ It was the first day of the feast with bread that has no yeast in it. The disciples came to Jesus and asked, `Where do you want us to make ready for you to eat the Passover Feast?'

¹⁸ He said, `Go into the city to a certain man. Say to him, "The Teacher says, `My time is near. I will come to your house with my disciples to eat the Passover Feast.' " '

¹⁹ The disciples did what Jesus told them. They made the Passover food ready.

²⁰ When evening came, Jesus sat down to eat with the twelve disciples.

²¹ As they were eating, Jesus said, `I tell you the truth. One of you will give me over to people who hate me.'

²² They were very sad and troubled. One after the other they began to say to him, `Lord, is it I?'

²³ Jesus answered them, `The man who is putting his hand in the dish with me is the one who will give me over.

²⁴ The Son of Man will go away just as the holy writings tell about him. But the man who gives him over will have trouble. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born!'

²⁵ Judas was the one who would give Jesus over to the people who hated him. He said, `Master, is it I?' Jesus said, `Yes, it is.'

²⁶ As they were eating, Jesus took some bread. He thanked God for it and broke it. He gave it to the disciples and said, `Take this bread and eat it. It is my body.'

²⁷ He also took a cup. He thanked God for it. Then he gave it to the disciples and said, `All of you drink from this.

²⁸ This is my blood. My blood is the blood of the new agreement. It is given so that many people will be forgiven for the wrong things they did.

²⁹ I tell you this. I will not drink any of the juice of the fruit of the vine again, until I drink some of it new with you in my Father's kingdom.'

³⁰ They sang a song and then went out to the hill called the Mount of Olives.

³¹ Then Jesus said to them, `All of you will leave me this night. The holy writings say, "I will kill the one who takes care of the sheep. And the sheep will run away."

³² But after I am raised from death, I will go to Galilee to meet you.'

³³ Peter said, `Even if all the others leave you, I will never leave you.'

³⁴ Jesus said, `I tell you the truth. This night, before the cock calls, you will say three times that you do not know me.'

³⁵ Peter said, `Even if I must die with you, I will never say I do not know you!' All the disciples said the same thing.

³⁶ Then Jesus came to a place called Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, `Sit down here. I will go over there and talk with God.'

³⁷ He took Peter and Zebedee's two sons with him. Jesus began to be sad and troubled.

³⁸ He said to them, `My heart is very sad. I am almost dying! Stay here and watch with me.'

³⁹ Jesus went on a little further. He bowed down with his face to the ground. He talked to God and said, `My Father, if it can be, let this cup of trouble pass by me. But do not do what I want. May what you want be done.'

⁴⁰ Jesus went back to the disciples and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, `What? Could you not watch with me for one hour?

⁴¹ Watch and talk with God, so that you will not do wrong. A person's heart can want to do it, but his body is weak.'

⁴² Jesus went away again. He talked to God and said, `My Father, if you do not want this cup to pass by me, but you want me to drink it, I will do what you want.'

⁴³ Jesus went back again and found the disciples sleeping. They could not keep their eyes open.

⁴⁴ He left them and went away again. He talked with God the third time and said the same words.

⁴⁵ Then he went back to his disciples and said to them, `Are you still sleeping and resting? The time has come now. The Son of Man is given over to bad people.

⁴⁶ Get up. Let us go. Look, here comes the one who will give me over to people who hate me!'

⁴⁷ As Jesus was saying this, Judas came. He was one of the twelve disciples. Many people came with him. They had long knives or swords and big sticks. The chief priests and the leaders of the people had sent them.

⁴⁸ The man who was going to help them catch Jesus had told them that he would give them a sign. He said, `The man that I kiss is the one. Catch him and hold him.'

⁴⁹ Right then he went to Jesus and said, `Greetings, Master!' And he kissed him.

⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, `Friend, why have you come?' Then the men came and caught Jesus and held him.

⁵¹ One of the men who was with Jesus took his sword in his hand. He hit the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

⁵² Then Jesus said to him, `Put your sword back in its place. All people who fight with a sword will be killed by a sword.

⁵³ Do you think that I cannot talk to my Father, and he would send me right now more than twelve armies of angels?

⁵⁴ But then, how would God's word come true? The holy writings say that this is the way it must be.'

⁵⁵ At that same time Jesus said to the people, `Have you come to take me with swords and sticks as you would a man who steals? Every day I sat with you in the temple and taught. But you did not try to catch me then.

⁵⁶ All this happened so that what the prophets said in the holy writings would come true.' Then all the disciples left Jesus and ran away.