"The kingdom of heaven is similar to a person finding a treasure hidden in a field. After finding it, he was so happy he hid it [again], then went out and sold everything he owned so he could buy that field.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a gem-dealer who was looking for beautiful pearls.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:

Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.

At the end of the world it will be that same way. The angels will come and divide the sinful people from the ones who did what was right,

And it was when Jesus finished these parables, he removed thence.

And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

About that time Herod the tetrarch [Note: This man was the son of Herod the Great (See 2:

And he said to his servants, This is John the Baptist; be was aroused from the dead; and for this, powers are energetic in him.

for John was saying to him, 'It is not lawful to thee to have her,'

Although Herod wished to have him put to death, he feared the people, for they regarded John as a prophet.

But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.

[Herod was so pleased with her performance that] he promised, with an oath, to give her whatever she asked for [i.e., with limitations. See Mark 6:23].

And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.

and pursuant to order, John was beheaded in the prison,

And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.

Now when Jesus heard about it He left there in a boat and went [across to the east side of the lake] to a deserted place. When the crowds found out [He was leaving] they followed Him [i.e., by traveling around] on the shore from the [surrounding] towns.

And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

"Bring them here to me," was his reply.

And all ate and were filled, and they took up what was over and above of fragments twelve hand-baskets full.

And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

As the night was ending, Jesus came to them walking on the sea.

And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

When the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word throughout that region and brought him everyone who was sick.

They kept begging him to let them touch just the tassel of his garment, and everyone who touched it was completely healed.

Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

His reply was: "How is it that you on your side break God's commandments out of respect for your own traditions?

Hypocrites! It was well said by Isaiah when he prophesied about you--

And a Canaanite woman from that district came out and began to cry out [urgently], saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David (Messiah); my daughter is cruelly possessed by a demon.”

But he answered and said, I was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

And having come, she was bowing to him, saying, 'Sir, help me;'

Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

And Jesus having passed thence, came nigh unto the sea of Galilee, and having gone up to the mountain, he was sitting there,

So the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised and glorified the God of Israel.

He took the seven loaves and the fishes; giving thanks, He broke, and was giving to the disciples; and the disciples to the multitudes.

And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

How do ye not understand that it was not concerning bread I said to you, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?

Then they saw that it was not the leaven of bread which he had in mind, but the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

But when Jesus was come into the parts of Caesarea-Philippi, he demanded of his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of man am?

Jesus replied, "Simon, son of Jonah, you are fortunate [indeed], for this [truth] was not revealed to you by human beings but [rather] by my Father who is in heaven.

Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

It was then that Jesus Christ for the first time explained to his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and endure great suffering there at the hands of the elders, high priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised to life on the third day.

And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

When they looked up, all they saw was Jesus alone.

"Elijah was indeed to come," He replied, "and would reform everything.

But I tell you that Elijah has already come, but they [i.e., the Jewish leaders] did not understand who he was, but [instead] did to him what they wanted to. In the same way, the Son of man will also suffer from what the Jews will do."

Then it dawned upon the disciples that it was John the Baptist about whom He had spoken to them.

When Jesus and His disciples met the crowd [that was gathered], a man came kneeling down to Jesus and saying to Him,

"Lord, take pity on my son, for he has violent seizures and suffers intense pain. He often falls into a fire or into water. [Note: This man was also dominated by an evil spirit. See verse 18].

And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

Afterwards the disciples came up to Jesus, and asked him privately: "Why was it that we could not drive it out?"

He told them, "It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you."

When Jesus and His disciples came to Capernaum, the collectors of the tax [Note: This was the annual tax used for meeting the expenses of the Temple service and consisted of two days' worth of a farm laborer's pay, or about $140 in 1994] came to Peter and said, "Does not your teacher [also] pay the [Temple] tax?"

He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?

But that person who causes one of these little ones [i.e., humble followers of the Lord] who believes in me to be led astray [from God], he would have been better off to have had a huge millstone tied around his neck and dumped into a deep ocean [Note: This "millstone" was a heavy circular stone rolled over grain to crush it and was moved by an animal walking in a circle].

For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

If a man has an hundred sheep, and one of them should go astray, do you think he would not leave the ninety and nine in the mountains, and go in search for that which was gone astray?

But if he does not listen [to your reasoning], take one or two other people with you, so that two or three witnesses can verify every word [that was said].

'Because of this was the reign of the heavens likened to a man, a king, who did will to take reckoning with his servants,

And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

and was unable to pay. So his master ordered that he and his wife and children and everything that he had should be sold, and payment be made.

The servant then, having fallen down, was bowing to him, saying, Sir, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all;

Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

'And, that servant having come forth, found one of his fellow-servants who was owing him an hundred denaries, and having laid hold, he took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that which thou owest.

His fellow-servant then, having fallen down at his feet, was calling on him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all;

And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay that which was due.

So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.

Was it not right for you to have mercy on the other servant, even as I had mercy on you?

And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

And it was when Jesus finished these words he removed from Galilee, and came from the bounds of Judea beyond Jordan;

And Pharisees came up to him [in order to] test him, and asked if it was permitted for a man to divorce his wife for any cause.

He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

And I tell you, whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits sexual unfaithfulness [toward her], unless the reason for the divorce was sexual unfaithfulness [on his wife's part]. And the person who marries a woman who has been divorced commits sexual sin with her [i.e., because she is still rightfully married to her first husband]."

But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sorrowful; for he was one that had great possessions.

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.

When it was about nine o'clock in the morning, he went out again and saw others standing around in the marketplace without work.

So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

And, he, answering, unto one of them, said, - Friend! I wrong thee not: Was it not, for a denary, thou didst agree with me?

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples apart, and on the way he said unto them,

"You do not know what you are asking," was Jesus' answer. "Can you drink the cup that I am to drink?" "Yes," they exclaimed, "we can."

And he saith unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of my cup, and with the baptism with which I am baptised, shall ye be baptised; but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, it is not in my power to bestow, but on those, for whom it was prepared by my Father.

The other ten heard of this, and their indignation was aroused against the two brothers.

As they [i.e., the twelve apostles and Jesus] were leaving Jericho [Note: This was a town about eighteen miles northeast of Jerusalem], a huge crowd followed them.

And behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, Lord, have mercy on us, thou son of David.

Jesus felt deep pity for them, so He touched their eyes and immediately their sight was restored, and they became [His] followers.

And when they [i.e., Jesus and the twelve apostles] approached Jerusalem and came close to Bethphage, near the Mount of Olives [Note: This was about three-fourths of a mile east of Jerusalem], Jesus sent two disciples on ahead,

All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,

And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?

Then Jesus went into the Temple, threw out everyone who was selling and buying in the Temple, and overturned the moneychangers' tables and the chairs of those who sold doves.

And he says to them, It was written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; and ye have made it a den of robbers.

While he was still in the Temple Courts, some blind and some lame people came up to him, and he cured them.

But when the leading priests and the experts in the law of Moses saw the wonderful things [i.e., miracles] He was performing and [heard] the children shouting in the Temple, "Hosanna to the son of David," [See note at verse 9], they were filled with anger [i.e., over the acclaim being given to Jesus].

And he went away from them, and went out of the town to Bethany, and was there for the night.

Now early in the morning, as Jesus was coming back to the city, He was hungry.

And seeing one fig-tree in the way, he came to it and found on it nothing but leaves only. And he says to it, Let there be never more fruit of thee for ever. And the fig-tree was immediately dried up.

And the disciples, seeing, wondered, saying, How suddenly was the fig tree dried up!