Good News Translation (GNT)

Women Who Accompanied Jesus

1 Some time later Jesus traveled through towns and villages, preaching the Good News about the Kingdom of God. The twelve disciples went with him,

2 and so did some women who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (who was called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had been driven out;

3 Joanna, whose husband Chuza was an officer in Herod’s court; and Susanna, and many other women who used their own resources to help Jesus and his disciples.

The Parable of the Sower

4 People kept coming to Jesus from one town after another; and when a great crowd gathered, Jesus told this parable:

5 “Once there was a man who went out to sow grain. As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it up.

6 Some of it fell on rocky ground, and when the plants sprouted, they dried up because the soil had no moisture.

7 Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up with the plants and choked them.

8 And some seeds fell in good soil; the plants grew and bore grain, one hundred grains each.”

And Jesus concluded, “Listen, then, if you have ears!”

The Purpose of the Parables

9 His disciples asked Jesus what this parable meant,

10 and he answered, “The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of God has been given to you, but to the rest it comes by means of parables, so that they may look but not see, and listen but not understand.

Jesus Explains the Parable of the Sower

11 “This is what the parable means: the seed is the word of God.

12 The seeds that fell along the path stand for those who hear; but the Devil comes and takes the message away from their hearts in order to keep them from believing and being saved.

13 The seeds that fell on rocky ground stand for those who hear the message and receive it gladly. But it does not sink deep into them; they believe only for a while but when the time of testing comes, they fall away.

14 The seeds that fell among thorn bushes stand for those who hear; but the worries and riches and pleasures of this life crowd in and choke them, and their fruit never ripens.

15 The seeds that fell in good soil stand for those who hear the message and retain it in a good and obedient heart, and they persist until they bear fruit.

A Lamp under a Bowl

16 “No one lights a lamp and covers it with a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, it is put on the lampstand, so that people will see the light as they come in.

17 “Whatever is hidden away will be brought out into the open, and whatever is covered up will be found and brought to light.

18 “Be careful, then, how you listen; because those who have something will be given more, but whoever has nothing will have taken away from them even the little they think they have.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

19 Jesus’ mother and brothers came to him, but were unable to join him because of the crowd.

20 Someone said to Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you.”

21 Jesus said to them all, “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

22 One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they started out.

23 As they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. Suddenly a strong wind blew down on the lake, and the boat began to fill with water, so that they were all in great danger.

24 The disciples went to Jesus and woke him up, saying, “Master, Master! We are about to die!”

Jesus got up and gave an order to the wind and to the stormy water; they quieted down, and there was a great calm.

25 Then he said to the disciples, “Where is your faith?”

But they were amazed and afraid, and said to one another, “Who is this man? He gives orders to the winds and waves, and they obey him!”

Jesus Heals a Man with Demons

26 Jesus and his disciples sailed on over to the territory of Gerasa,which is across the lake from Galilee.

27 As Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a man from the town who had demons in him. For a long time this man had gone without clothes and would not stay at home, but spent his time in the burial caves.

28 When he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry, threw himself down at his feet, and shouted, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? I beg you, don’t punish me!”

29 He said this because Jesus had ordered the evil spirit to go out of him. Many times it had seized him, and even though he was kept a prisoner, his hands and feet tied with chains, he would break the chains and be driven by the demon out into the desert.

30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is ‘Mob,’” he answered—because many demons had gone into him.

31 The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss.

32 There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside. So the demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he let them.

33 They went out of the man and into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.

34 The men who had been taking care of the pigs saw what happened, so they ran off and spread the news in the town and among the farms.

35 People went out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid.

36 Those who had seen it told the people how the man had been cured.

37 Then all the people from that territory asked Jesus to go away, because they were terribly afraid. So Jesus got into the boat and left.

38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged Jesus, “Let me go with you.”

But Jesus sent him away, saying,

39 “Go back home and tell what God has done for you.”

The man went through the town, telling what Jesus had done for him.

Jairus’ Daughter and the Woman Who Touched Jesus’ Cloak

40 When Jesus returned to the other side of the lake, the people welcomed him, because they had all been waiting for him.

41 Then a man named Jairus arrived; he was an official in the local synagogue. He threw himself down at Jesus’ feet and begged him to go to his home,

42 because his only daughter, who was twelve years old, was dying.

As Jesus went along, the people were crowding him from every side.

43 Among them was a woman who had suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years; she had spent all she had on doctors,but no one had been able to cure her.

44 She came up in the crowd behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak, and her bleeding stopped at once.

45 Jesus asked, “Who touched me?”

Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, the people are all around you and crowding in on you.”

46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I knew it when power went out of me.”

47 The woman saw that she had been found out, so she came trembling and threw herself at Jesus’ feet. There in front of everybody, she told him why she had touched him and how she had been healed at once.

48 Jesus said to her, “My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

49 While Jesus was saying this, a messenger came from the official’s house. “Your daughter has died,” he told Jairus; “don’t bother the Teacher any longer.”

50 But Jesus heard it and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; only believe, and she will be well.”

51 When he arrived at the house, he would not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother.

52 Everyone there was crying and mourning for the child. Jesus said, “Don’t cry; the child is not dead—she is only sleeping!”

53 They all made fun of him, because they knew that she was dead.

54 But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, “Get up, child!”

55 Her life returned, and she got up at once, and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat.

56 Her parents were astounded, but Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what had happened.

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Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples

1 Jesus called the twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases.

2 Then he sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick,

3 after saying to them, “Take nothing with you for the trip: no walking stick, no beggar’s bag, no food, no money, not even an extra shirt.

4 Wherever you are welcomed, stay in the same house until you leave that town;

5 wherever people don’t welcome you, leave that town and shake the dust off your feet as a warning to them.”

6 The disciples left and traveled through all the villages, preaching the Good News and healing people everywhere.

Herod’s Confusion

7 When Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard about all the things that were happening, he was very confused, because some people were saying that John the Baptist had come back to life.

8 Others were saying that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life.

9 Herod said, “I had John’s head cut off; but who is this man I hear these things about?” And he kept trying to see Jesus.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

10 The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. He took them with him, and they went off by themselves to a town named Bethsaida.

11 When the crowds heard about it, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed it.

12 When the sun was beginning to set, the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the people away so that they can go to the villages and farms around here and find food and lodging, because this is a lonely place.”

13 But Jesus said to them, “You yourselves give them something to eat.”

They answered, “All we have are five loaves and two fish. Do you want us to go and buy food for this whole crowd?”

14 (There were about five thousand men there.)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Make the people sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

15 After the disciples had done so,

16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, thanked God for them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.

17 They all ate and had enough, and the disciples took up twelve baskets of what was left over.

Peter’s Declaration about Jesus

18 One day when Jesus was praying alone, the disciples came to him. “Who do the crowds say I am?” he asked them.

19 “Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered. “Others say that you are Elijah, while others say that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

20 “What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are God’s Messiah.”

Jesus Speaks about His Suffering and Death

21 Then Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone.

22 He also told them, “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life.”

23 And he said to them all, “If you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, take up your cross every day, and follow me.

24 For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it, but if you lose your life for my sake, you will save it.

25 Will you gain anything if you win the whole world but are yourself lost or defeated? Of course not!

26 If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

27 I assure you that there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

28 About a week after he had said these things, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to pray.

29 While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white.

30 Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah,

31 who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfill God’s purpose by dying in Jerusalem.

32 Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus’ glory and the two men who were standing with him.

33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (He did not really know what he was saying.)

34 While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them.

35 A voice said from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen—listen to him!”

36 When the voice stopped, there was Jesus all alone. The disciples kept quiet about all this and told no one at that time anything they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Evil Spirit

37 The next day Jesus and the three disciples went down from the hill, and a large crowd met Jesus.

38 A man shouted from the crowd, “Teacher! I beg you, look at my son—my only son!

39 A spirit attacks him with a sudden shout and throws him into a fit, so that he foams at the mouth; it keeps on hurting him and will hardly let him go!

40 I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

41 Jesus answered, “How unbelieving and wrong you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son here.”

42 As the boy was coming, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a fit. Jesus gave a command to the evil spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

43 All the people were amazed at the mighty power of God.

Jesus Speaks Again about His Death

The people were still marveling at everything Jesus was doing, when he said to his disciples,

44 “Don’t forget what I am about to tell you! The Son of Man is going to be handed over to the power of human beings.”

45 But the disciples did not know what this meant. It had been hidden from them so that they could not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about the matter.

Who Is the Greatest?

46 An argument broke out among the disciples as to which one of them was the greatest.

47 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he took a child, stood him by his side,

48 and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, also welcomes the one who sent me. For the one who is least among you all is the greatest.”

Whoever Is Not against You Is for You

49 John spoke up, “Master, we saw a man driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn’t belong to our group.”

50 “Do not try to stop him,” Jesus said to him and to the other disciples, “because whoever is not against you is for you.”

A Samaritan Village Refuses to Receive Jesus

51 As the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind and set out on his way to Jerusalem.

52 He sent messengers ahead of him, who went into a village in Samaria to get everything ready for him.

53 But the people there would not receive him, because it was clear that he was on his way to Jerusalem.

54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”

55 Jesus turned and rebuked them.

56 Then Jesus and his disciples went on to another village.

The Would-Be Followers of Jesus

57 As they went on their way, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

58 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.”

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But that man said, “Sir, first let me go back and bury my father.”

60 Jesus answered, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”

61 Someone else said, “I will follow you, sir; but first let me go and say good-bye to my family.”

62 Jesus said to him, “Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the Kingdom of God.”

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Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

1 After this the Lord chose another seventy-twomen and sent them out two by two, to go ahead of him to every town and place where he himself was about to go.

2 He said to them, “There is a large harvest, but few workers to gather it in. Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest.

3 Go! I am sending you like lambs among wolves.

4 Don’t take a purse or a beggar’s bag or shoes; don’t stop to greet anyone on the road.

5 Whenever you go into a house, first say, ‘Peace be with this house.’

6 If someone who is peace-loving lives there, let your greeting of peace remain on that person; if not, take back your greeting of peace.

7 Stay in that same house, eating and drinking whatever they offer you, for workers should be given their pay. Don’t move around from one house to another.

8 Whenever you go into a town and are made welcome, eat what is set before you,

9 heal the sick in that town, and say to the people there, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near you.’

10 But whenever you go into a town and are not welcomed, go out in the streets and say,

11 ‘Even the dust from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. But remember that the Kingdom of God has come near you!’

12 I assure you that on the Judgment Day God will show more mercy to Sodom than to that town!

The Unbelieving Towns

13 “How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have long ago sat down, put on sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins!

14 God will show more mercy on the Judgment Day to Tyre and Sidon than to you.

15 And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell!”

16 Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

The Return of the Seventy-Two

17 The seventy-twomen came back in great joy. “Lord,” they said, “even the demons obeyed us when we gave them a command in your name!”

18 Jesus answered them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

19 Listen! I have given you authority, so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you.

20 But don’t be glad because the evil spirits obey you; rather be glad because your names are written in heaven.”

Jesus Rejoices

21 At that time Jesus was filled with joy by the Holy Spiritand said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned. Yes, Father, this was how you were pleased to have it happen.

22 “My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

23 Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them privately, “How fortunate you are to see the things you see!

24 I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.”

The Parable of the Good Samaritan

25 A teacher of the Law came up and tried to trap Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to receive eternal life?”

26 Jesus answered him, “What do the Scriptures say? How do you interpret them?”

27 The man answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’”

28 “You are right,” Jesus replied; “do this and you will live.”

29 But the teacher of the Law wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

30 Jesus answered, “There was once a man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when robbers attacked him, stripped him, and beat him up, leaving him half dead.

31 It so happened that a priest was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he walked on by on the other side.

32 In the same way a Levite also came there, went over and looked at the man, and then walked on by on the other side.

33 But a Samaritan who was traveling that way came upon the man, and when he saw him, his heart was filled with pity.

34 He went over to him, poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them; then he put the man on his own animal and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.

35 The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Take care of him,’ he told the innkeeper, ‘and when I come back this way, I will pay you whatever else you spend on him.’”

36 And Jesus concluded, “In your opinion, which one of these three acted like a neighbor toward the man attacked by the robbers?”

37 The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who was kind to him.”

Jesus replied, “You go, then, and do the same.”

Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

38 As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him in her home.

39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the feet of the Lord and listened to his teaching.

40 Martha was upset over all the work she had to do, so she came and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!”

41 The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things,

42 but just one is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it will not be taken away from her.”

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Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer

1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2 Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this:

‘Father:

May your holy name be honored;

may your Kingdom come.

3 Give us day by day the food we need.

4 Forgive us our sins,

for we forgive everyone who does us wrong.

And do not bring us to hard testing.’”

5 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Suppose one of you should go to a friend’s house at midnight and say, ‘Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread.

6 A friend of mine who is on a trip has just come to my house, and I don’t have any food for him!’

7 And suppose your friend should answer from inside, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’

8 Well, what then? I tell you that even if he will not get up and give you the bread because you are his friend, yet he will get up and give you everything you need because you are not ashamed to keep on asking.

9 And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

10 For those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks.

11 Would any of you who are fathers give your son a snake when he asks for fish?

12 Or would you give him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?

13 As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus and Beelzebul

14 Jesus was driving out a demon that could not talk; and when the demon went out, the man began to talk. The crowds were amazed,

15 but some of the people said, “It is Beelzebul, the chief of the demons, who gives him the power to drive them out.”

16 Others wanted to trap Jesus, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him.

17 But Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long; a family divided against itself falls apart.

18 So if Satan’s kingdom has groups fighting each other, how can it last? You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so.

19 If this is how I drive them out, how do your followers drive them out? Your own followers prove that you are wrong!

20 No, it is rather by means of God’s power that I drive out demons, and this proves that the Kingdom of God has already come to you.

21 “When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe.

22 But when a stronger man attacks him and defeats him, he carries away all the weapons the owner was depending on and divides up what he stole.

23 “Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.

The Return of the Evil Spirit

24 “When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can’t find one, it says to itself, ‘I will go back to my house.’

25 So it goes back and finds the house clean and all fixed up.

26 Then it goes out and brings seven other spirits even worse than itself, and they come and live there. So when it is all over, that person is in worse shape than at the beginning.”

True Happiness

27 When Jesus had said this, a woman spoke up from the crowd and said to him, “How happy is the woman who bore you and nursed you!”

28 But Jesus answered, “Rather, how happy are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”

The Demand for a Miracle

29 As the people crowded around Jesus, he went on to say, “How evil are the people of this day! They ask for a miracle, but none will be given them except the miracle of Jonah.

30 In the same way that the prophet Jonah was a sign for the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign for the people of this day.

31 On the Judgment Day the Queen of Sheba will stand up and accuse the people of today, because she traveled all the way from her country to listen to King Solomon’s wise teaching; and there is something here, I tell you, greater than Solomon.

32 On the Judgment Day the people of Nineveh will stand up and accuse you, because they turned from their sins when they heard Jonah preach; and I assure you that there is something here greater than Jonah!

The Light of the Body

33 “No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a bowl;instead, it is put on the lampstand, so that people may see the light as they come in.

34 Your eyes are like a lamp for the body. When your eyes are sound, your whole body is full of light; but when your eyes are no good, your whole body will be in darkness.

35 Make certain, then, that the light in you is not darkness.

36 If your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be bright all over, as when a lamp shines on you with its brightness.”

Jesus Accuses the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law

37 When Jesus finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and sat down to eat.

38 The Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus had not washed before eating.

39 So the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of your cup and plate, but inside you are full of violence and evil.

40 Fools! Did not God, who made the outside, also make the inside?

41 But give what is in your cups and plates to the poor, and everything will be ritually clean for you.

42 “How terrible for you Pharisees! You give to God one tenth of the seasoning herbs, such as mint and rue and all the other herbs, but you neglect justice and love for God. These you should practice, without neglecting the others.

43 “How terrible for you Pharisees! You love the reserved seats in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.

44 How terrible for you! You are like unmarked graves which people walk on without knowing it.”

45 One of the teachers of the Law said to him, “Teacher, when you say this, you insult us too!”

46 Jesus answered, “How terrible also for you teachers of the Law! You put onto people’s backs loads which are hard to carry, but you yourselves will not stretch out a finger to help them carry those loads.

47 How terrible for you! You make fine tombs for the prophets—the very prophets your ancestors murdered.

48 You yourselves admit, then, that you approve of what your ancestors did; they murdered the prophets, and you build their tombs.

49 For this reason the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and messengers; they will kill some of them and persecute others.’

50 So the people of this time will be punished for the murder of all the prophets killed since the creation of the world,

51 from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the Holy Place. Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will be punished for them all!

52 “How terrible for you teachers of the Law! You have kept the key that opens the door to the house of knowledge; you yourselves will not go in, and you stop those who are trying to go in!”

53 When Jesus left that place, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to criticize him bitterly and ask him questions about many things,

54 trying to lay traps for him and catch him saying something wrong.

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A Warning against Hypocrisy

1 As thousands of people crowded together, so that they were stepping on each other, Jesus said first to his disciples, “Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees—I mean their hypocrisy.

2 Whatever is covered up will be uncovered, and every secret will be made known.

3 So then, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in broad daylight, and whatever you have whispered in private in a closed room will be shouted from the housetops.

Whom to Fear

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot afterward do anything worse.

5 I will show you whom to fear: fear God, who, after killing, has the authority to throw into hell. Believe me, he is the one you must fear!

6 “Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one sparrow is forgotten by God.

7 Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows!

Confessing and Rejecting Christ

8 “I assure you that those who declare publicly that they belong to me, the Son of Man will do the same for them before the angels of God.

9 But those who reject me publicly, the Son of Man will also reject them before the angels of God.

10 “Whoever says a word against the Son of Man can be forgiven; but whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

11 “When they bring you to be tried in the synagogues or before governors or rulers, do not be worried about how you will defend yourself or what you will say.

12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool

13 A man in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide with me the property our father left us.”

14 Jesus answered him, “Friend, who gave me the right to judge or to divide the property between you two?”

15 And he went on to say to them all, “Watch out and guard yourselves from every kind of greed; because your true life is not made up of the things you own, no matter how rich you may be.”

16 Then Jesus told them this parable: “There was once a rich man who had land which bore good crops.

17 He began to think to himself, ‘I don’t have a place to keep all my crops. What can I do?

18 This is what I will do,’ he told himself; ‘I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I will store the grain and all my other goods.

19 Then I will say to myself, Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!’

20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?’”

21 And Jesus concluded, “This is how it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are not rich in God’s sight.”

Trust in God

22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “And so I tell you not to worry about the food you need to stay alive or about the clothes you need for your body.

23 Life is much more important than food, and the body much more important than clothes.

24 Look at the crows: they don’t plant seeds or gather a harvest; they don’t have storage rooms or barns; God feeds them! You are worth so much more than birds!

25 Can any of you live a bit longerby worrying about it?

26 If you can’t manage even such a small thing, why worry about the other things?

27 Look how the wild flowers grow: they don’t work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers.

28 It is God who clothes the wild grass—grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won’t he be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have!

29 “So don’t be all upset, always concerned about what you will eat and drink.

30 (For the pagans of this world are always concerned about all these things.) Your Father knows that you need these things.

31 Instead, be concerned with his Kingdom, and he will provide you with these things.

Riches in Heaven

32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom.

33 Sell all your belongings and give the money to the poor. Provide for yourselves purses that don’t wear out, and save your riches in heaven, where they will never decrease, because no thief can get to them, and no moth can destroy them.

34 For your heart will always be where your riches are.

Watchful Servants

35 “Be ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit,

36 like servants who are waiting for their master to come back from a wedding feast. When he comes and knocks, they will open the door for him at once.

37 How happy are those servants whose master finds them awake and ready when he returns! I tell you, he will take off his coat, have them sit down, and will wait on them.

38 How happy they are if he finds them ready, even if he should come at midnight or even later!

39 And you can be sure that if the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, he would not let the thief break into his house.

40 And you, too, must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.”

The Faithful or the Unfaithful Servant

41 Peter said, “Lord, does this parable apply to us, or do you mean it for everyone?”

42 The Lord answered, “Who, then, is the faithful and wise servant? He is the one that his master will put in charge, to run the household and give the other servants their share of the food at the proper time.

43 How happy that servant is if his master finds him doing this when he comes home!

44 Indeed, I tell you, the master will put that servant in charge of all his property.

45 But if that servant says to himself that his master is taking a long time to come back and if he begins to beat the other servants, both the men and the women, and eats and drinks and gets drunk,

46 then the master will come back one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know. The master will cut him in piecesand make him share the fate of the disobedient.

47 “The servant who knows what his master wants him to do, but does not get himself ready and do it, will be punished with a heavy whipping.

48 But the servant who does not know what his master wants, and yet does something for which he deserves a whipping, will be punished with a light whipping. Much is required from the person to whom much is given; much more is required from the person to whom much more is given.

Jesus the Cause of Division

49 “I came to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already kindled!

50 I have a baptism to receive, and how distressed I am until it is over!

51 Do you suppose that I came to bring peace to the world? No, not peace, but division.

52 From now on a family of five will be divided, three against two and two against three.

53 Fathers will be against their sons, and sons against their fathers; mothers will be against their daughters, and daughters against their mothers; mothers-in-law will be against their daughters-in-law, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law.”

Understanding the Time

54 Jesus said also to the people, “When you see a cloud coming up in the west, at once you say that it is going to rain—and it does.

55 And when you feel the south wind blowing, you say that it is going to get hot—and it does.

56 Hypocrites! You can look at the earth and the sky and predict the weather; why, then, don’t you know the meaning of this present time?

Settle with Your Opponent

57 “Why do you not judge for yourselves the right thing to do?

58 If someone brings a lawsuit against you and takes you to court, do your best to settle the dispute before you get to court. If you don’t, you will be dragged before the judge, who will hand you over to the police, and you will be put in jail.

59 There you will stay, I tell you, until you pay the last penny of your fine.”

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Turn from Your Sins or Die

1 At that time some people were there who told Jesus about the Galileans whom Pilate had killed while they were offering sacrifices to God.

2 Jesus answered them, “Because those Galileans were killed in that way, do you think it proves that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?

3 No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did.

4 What about those eighteen people in Siloam who were killed when the tower fell on them? Do you suppose this proves that they were worse than all the other people living in Jerusalem?

5 No indeed! And I tell you that if you do not turn from your sins, you will all die as they did.”

The Parable of the Unfruitful Fig Tree

6 Then Jesus told them this parable: “There was once a man who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard. He went looking for figs on it but found none.

7 So he said to his gardener, ‘Look, for three years I have been coming here looking for figs on this fig tree, and I haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it go on using up the soil?’

8 But the gardener answered, ‘Leave it alone, sir, just one more year; I will dig around it and put in some fertilizer.

9 Then if the tree bears figs next year, so much the better; if not, then you can have it cut down.’”

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath

10 One Sabbath Jesus was teaching in a synagogue.

11 A woman there had an evil spirit that had kept her sick for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not straighten up at all.

12 When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free from your sickness!”

13 He placed his hands on her, and at once she straightened herself up and praised God.

14 The official of the synagogue was angry that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, so he spoke up and said to the people, “There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath!”

15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Any one of you would untie your ox or your donkey from the stall and take it out to give it water on the Sabbath.

16 Now here is this descendant of Abraham whom Satan has kept in bonds for eighteen years; should she not be released on the Sabbath?”

17 His answer made his enemies ashamed of themselves, while the people rejoiced over all the wonderful things that he did.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

18 Jesus asked, “What is the Kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it with?

19 It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and plants it in his field. The plant grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make their nests in its branches.”

The Parable of the Yeast

20 Again Jesus asked, “What shall I compare the Kingdom of God with?

21 It is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with a bushel of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.”

The Narrow Door

22 Jesus went through towns and villages, teaching the people and making his way toward Jerusalem.

23 Someone asked him, “Sir, will just a few people be saved?”

Jesus answered them,

24 “Do your best to go in through the narrow door; because many people will surely try to go in but will not be able.

25 The master of the house will get up and close the door; then when you stand outside and begin to knock on the door and say, ‘Open the door for us, sir!’ he will answer you, ‘I don’t know where you come from!’

26 Then you will answer, ‘We ate and drank with you; you taught in our town!’

27 But he will say again, ‘I don’t know where you come from. Get away from me, all you wicked people!’

28 How you will cry and gnash your teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, while you are thrown out!

29 People will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God.

30 Then those who are now last will be first, and those who are now first will be last.”

Jesus’ Love for Jerusalem

31 At that same time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “You must get out of here and go somewhere else, because Herod wants to kill you.”

32 Jesus answered them, “Go and tell that fox: ‘I am driving out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall finish my work.’

33 Yet I must be on my way today, tomorrow, and the next day; it is not right for a prophet to be killed anywhere except in Jerusalem.

34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets, you stone the messengers God has sent you! How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me!

35 And so your Temple will be abandoned. I assure you that you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

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Jesus Heals a Sick Man

1 One Sabbath Jesus went to eat a meal at the home of one of the leading Pharisees; and people were watching Jesus closely.

2 A man whose legs and arms were swollen came to Jesus,

3 and Jesus spoke up and asked the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, “Does our Law allow healing on the Sabbath or not?”

4 But they would not say a thing. Jesus took the man, healed him, and sent him away.

5 Then he said to them, “If any one of you had a child or an ox that happened to fall in a well on a Sabbath, would you not pull it out at once on the Sabbath itself?”

6 But they were not able to answer him about this.

Humility and Hospitality

7 Jesus noticed how some of the guests were choosing the best places, so he told this parable to all of them:

8 “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place. It could happen that someone more important than you has been invited,

9 and your host, who invited both of you, would have to come and say to you, ‘Let him have this place.’ Then you would be embarrassed and have to sit in the lowest place.

10 Instead, when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that your host will come to you and say, ‘Come on up, my friend, to a better place.’ This will bring you honor in the presence of all the other guests.

11 For those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great.”

12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors—for they will invite you back, and in this way you will be paid for what you did.

13 When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind;

14 and you will be blessed, because they are not able to pay you back. God will repay you on the day the good people rise from death.”

The Parable of the Great Feast

15 When one of the guests sitting at the table heard this, he said to Jesus, “How happy are those who will sit down at the feast in the Kingdom of God!”

16 Jesus said to him, “There was once a man who was giving a great feast to which he invited many people.

17 When it was time for the feast, he sent his servant to tell his guests, ‘Come, everything is ready!’

18 But they all began, one after another, to make excuses. The first one told the servant, ‘I have bought a field and must go and look at it; please accept my apologies.’

19 Another one said, ‘I have bought five pairs of oxen and am on my way to try them out; please accept my apologies.’

20 Another one said, ‘I have just gotten married, and for that reason I cannot come.’

21 The servant went back and told all this to his master. The master was furious and said to his servant, ‘Hurry out to the streets and alleys of the town, and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

22 Soon the servant said, ‘Your order has been carried out, sir, but there is room for more.’

23 So the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the country roads and lanes and make people come in, so that my house will be full.

24 I tell you all that none of those who were invited will taste my dinner!’”

The Cost of Being a Disciple

25 Once when large crowds of people were going along with Jesus, he turned and said to them,

26 “Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well.

27 Those who do not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples.

28 If one of you is planning to build a tower, you sit down first and figure out what it will cost, to see if you have enough money to finish the job.

29 If you don’t, you will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation; and all who see what happened will make fun of you.

30 ‘You began to build but can’t finish the job!’ they will say.

31 If a king goes out with ten thousand men to fight another king who comes against him with twenty thousand men, he will sit down first and decide if he is strong enough to face that other king.

32 If he isn’t, he will send messengers to meet the other king to ask for terms of peace while he is still a long way off.

33 In the same way,” concluded Jesus, “none of you can be my disciple unless you give up everything you have.

Worthless Salt

34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again.

35 It is no good for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown away. Listen, then, if you have ears!”

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The Lost Sheep

1 One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus,

2 the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!”

3 So Jesus told them this parable:

4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them—what do you do? You leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it.

5 When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders

6 and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbors together and say to them, ‘I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!’

7 In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine respectable people who do not need to repent.

The Lost Coin

8 “Or suppose a woman who has ten silver coins loses one of them—what does she do? She lights a lamp, sweeps her house, and looks carefully everywhere until she finds it.

9 When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, and says to them, ‘I am so happy I found the coin I lost. Let us celebrate!’

10 In the same way, I tell you, the angels of God rejoice over one sinner who repents.”

The Lost Son

11 Jesus went on to say, “There was once a man who had two sons.

12 The younger one said to him, ‘Father, give me my share of the property now.’ So the man divided his property between his two sons.

13 After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money. He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living.

14 He spent everything he had. Then a severe famine spread over that country, and he was left without a thing.

15 So he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him out to his farm to take care of the pigs.

16 He wished he could fill himself with the bean pods the pigs ate, but no one gave him anything to eat.

17 At last he came to his senses and said, ‘All my father’s hired workers have more than they can eat, and here I am about to starve!

18 I will get up and go to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against God and against you.

19 I am no longer fit to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired workers.”’

20 So he got up and started back to his father.

“He was still a long way from home when his father saw him; his heart was filled with pity, and he ran, threw his arms around his son, and kissed him.

21 ‘Father,’ the son said, ‘I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer fit to be called your son.’

22 But the father called to his servants. ‘Hurry!’ he said. ‘Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet.

23 Then go and get the prize calf and kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast!

24 For this son of mine was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.’ And so the feasting began.

25 “In the meantime the older son was out in the field. On his way back, when he came close to the house, he heard the music and dancing.

26 So he called one of the servants and asked him, ‘What’s going on?’

27 ‘Your brother has come back home,’ the servant answered, ‘and your father has killed the prize calf, because he got him back safe and sound.’

28 The older brother was so angry that he would not go into the house; so his father came out and begged him to come in.

29 But he spoke back to his father, ‘Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave, and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends!

30 But this son of yours wasted all your property on prostitutes, and when he comes back home, you kill the prize calf for him!’

31 ‘My son,’ the father answered, ‘you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours.

32 But we had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.’”

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The Shrewd Manager

1 Jesus said to his disciples, “There was once a rich man who had a servant who managed his property. The rich man was told that the manager was wasting his master’s money,

2 so he called him in and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in a complete account of your handling of my property, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’

3 The servant said to himself, ‘My master is going to dismiss me from my job. What shall I do? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg.

4 Now I know what I will do! Then when my job is gone, I shall have friends who will welcome me in their homes.’

5 So he called in all the people who were in debt to his master. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

6 ‘One hundred barrels of olive oil,’ he answered. ‘Here is your account,’ the manager told him; ‘sit down and write fifty.’

7 Then he asked another one, ‘And you—how much do you owe?’ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he answered. ‘Here is your account,’ the manager told him; ‘write eight hundred.’

8 As a result the master of this dishonest manager praised him for doing such a shrewd thing; because the people of this world are much more shrewd in handling their affairs than the people who belong to the light.”

9 And Jesus went on to say, “And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home.

10 Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones.

11 If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth?

12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you?

13 “No servant can be the slave of two masters; such a slave will hate one and love the other or will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Some Sayings of Jesus

14 When the Pharisees heard all this, they made fun of Jesus, because they loved money.

15 Jesus said to them, “You are the ones who make yourselves look right in other people’s sight, but God knows your hearts. For the things that are considered of great value by people are worth nothing in God’s sight.

16 “The Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were in effect up to the time of John the Baptist; since then the Good News about the Kingdom of God is being told, and everyone forces their way in.

17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest detail of the Law to be done away with.

18 “Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery; and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

19 “There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day.

20 There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man’s door,

21 hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores.

22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man died and was buried,

23 and in Hades,where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side.

24 So he called out, ‘Father Abraham! Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!’

25 But Abraham said, ‘Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain.

26 Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.’

27 The rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father’s house,

28 where I have five brothers. Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.’

29 Abraham said, ‘Your brothers have Moses and the prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.’

30 The rich man answered, ‘That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.’

31 But Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.’”

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