But the leader of the synagogue, in his vexation because Jesus had cured her on the Sabbath, spoke out and said to the crowd, "There are six days on which it is right to work. Come on them and be cured, but not on the Sabbath day."

And did not this woman, who is a descendant of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen years, have to be released from those bonds on the Sabbath day?"

He said, therefore, "What is the Kingdom of God like, and to what can I compare it?

It is like a mustard seed that a man took and dropped in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the wild birds roosted on its branches."

It is like yeast that a woman took and hid in a bushel of flour, till it all rose."

when the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock on the door, and say, 'Open it for us, sir!' Then he will answer you and say, 'I do not know where you come from,'

But I must go on today and tomorrow and the next day, for it is not right for a prophet to die outside Jerusalem.'

O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! murdering the prophets, and stoning those who are sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children around me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you refused!

And Jesus said to the Pharisees and the experts in the Law, "Is it right to cure people on the Sabbath or not?"

One of the other guests heard this, and said to him, "Blessed is the man who shall be at the banquet in the Kingdom of God!"

and when the dinner hour came, he sent around his slave, to say to those who were invited, 'Come! for it is now ready!'

And the slave said, 'What you ordered, sir, has been done, and there is still room.'

Or what king, if he is going to meet another king in battle, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to meet the other who is coming against him with twenty thousand?

And if he cannot, while the other is still far away, he sends envoys to him and asks on what terms he will make peace.

Salt is good; but if salt loses its strength, what can it be seasoned with?

It is fit neither for the ground nor the manure heap; people throw it away. Let him who has ears to hear with, listen!"

"What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep, and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go in search of the one that is lost, until he finds it?

In just that way, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinful person who repents!"

and get the calf we are fattening, and kill it, and let us feast and celebrate,

for my son here was dead, and he has come to life; he was lost, and he is found!' So they began to celebrate.

But he said to him, 'My child, you have been with me all the time, and everything I have is yours.

But we had to celebrate and be glad, because your brother was dead, and has come to life, and was lost and is found!' "

So he called him in and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Make an accounting for your conduct of my affairs, for you cannot be manager any longer!'

Then the manager said to himself, 'What am I going to do, because my master is going to take my position away from me? I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.

He said, 'Eight hundred gallons of oil.' And he said to him, 'Here is your agreement; sit right down and write four hundred!'

Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He answered, 'Fifteen hundred bushels of wheat.' He said to him, 'Here is your agreement; write twelve hundred.'

And he said to them, "You are the men who parade your uprightness before people, but God knows your hearts. For what men consider great is detestable in the sight of God.

But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dotting of an i in the Law to go unfulfilled.

And in Hades he looked up, tormented as he was, and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus beside him.

And Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus had his misfortunes in his; and now he is being comforted here, while you are in anguish.

Besides there is a great chasm set between you and us, so that those who want to go over from this side to you cannot, and they cannot cross from your side to us.'

And he said to his disciples, "It is inevitable that hindrances should arise, but alas for the man who causes them!

The apostles said to the Master, "Give us more faith."

And the Master said, "If your faith is as big as a mustard seed, you might have said to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and planted in the sea,' and it would have obeyed you!

Is he grateful to the slave for doing what he has been ordered to do?

And as he was going into one village he met ten lepers, and they stood at some distance from him,

and raising their voices, said, "Jesus, Master, take pity on us!"

And when he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cured.

He was once asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, and he answered, "The Kingdom of God is not coming visibly,

and people will not say, 'Look! here it is!' or 'There it is!' for the Kingdom of God is within you."

Men will say to you, 'Look! There he is!' or, 'Look! Here he is!' Do not go off in pursuit of him,

for just as when the lightning flashes, it shines from one end of the sky to the other, that will be the way with the Son of Man.

In the time of the Son of Man it will be just as it was in the time of Noah.

Or as it was in Lot's time; they went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building,

A man who is on the roof of his house that day, with his goods in the house, must not go down to get them, and a man in the field, too, must not turn back.

They said to him, "Where will this be, Master?" And he said to them, "Wherever there is a dead body the vultures will flock!"

But Jesus called them up to him and said, "Let the children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as they.

Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God himself.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "There is one thing that you still lack. Sell all that you have, and divide the money among the poor, and then you will have riches in heaven; and come back and be a follower of mine."

It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into the Kingdom of God!"

And he said to them, "I tell you, there is no one who has given up home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the Kingdom of God

As he approached Jericho, a blind man happened to be sitting by the roadside begging.

But Zaccheus stopped and said to the Master, "See, Master! I will give half my property to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay him four times as much."

Jesus said to him, "Salvation has come to this house today, for he too is a descendant of Abraham.

As they were listening to this, Jesus went on to give them an illustration, because he was near Jerusalem and they supposed that the Kingdom of God was immediately going to appear.

But his countrymen hated him, and they sent a delegation after him to say, 'We do not want this man made king over us.'

And the other one came in and said, 'Here is your twenty dollars, sir. I have kept it put away in a handkerchief,

and said to them, "Go to the village that lies in front of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

And the messengers went and found it just as he had told them.

And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, "Why are you untying the colt?"

And as he went on, people spread their coats in the road.

Just as he was coming down the Mount of Olives and approaching the city, the whole throng of his disciples began to praise God loudly and joyfully, for all the wonders they had seen,

and to say, "Blessed is the king who comes in the Lord's name, Peace be in heaven and glory on high!"

As he approached the city and saw it, he wept over it,

and said, "If you yourself only knew today the conditions of peace! But as it is, they are hidden from you.

For a time is coming upon you when your enemies will throw up earthworks about you and surround you and shut you in on all sides,

One day as he was teaching the people in the Temple, and preaching the good news, the high priests and scribes came up with the elders

and said to him, "Tell us what authority you have for doing as you do, or who gave you any such authority?"

But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet."

And Jesus said to them, "Nor will I tell you what authority I have for doing as I do."

But when the tenants saw him, they argued with one another, 'This is his heir! Let us kill him, so that the property will belong to us!'

Is it right for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?"

"Show me a denarius. Whose head and title does it bear?" They said, "The emperor's."

Then some of the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came up and asked him,

"Master, Moses made us a law that if a man's brother die leaving a wife but no children, the man should marry the widow and raise up a family for his brother.

He is not the God of dead men but of living, for all men are alive to him."

But he said to them, "How can the scribes say that the Christ is a son of David?

"As for all this that you are looking at, the time is coming when not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down!"

Then they asked him, "Master, when will this happen, and what will be the sign that it is going to take place?"

And he said, "Take care not to be misled. For many will come under my name, and say, 'I am he,' and 'The time is at hand.' Do not follow them.

for I will give you such wisdom of utterance as none of your opponents will be able to resist or dispute.

It is by your endurance that you will win your souls.

But when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then you must understand that her devastation is at hand.

for those are the days of vengeance, when all that is written in the Scriptures will be fulfilled.

They will fall by the edge of the sword, and be carried off as prisoners among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the heathen, until the time of the heathen comes.

Men will swoon with fear and foreboding of what is to happen to the world, for the forces in the sky will shake.

As soon as they put out their leaves, you see them and you know without being told that summer is coming.

So when you see these things happen, you must know that the Kingdom of God is at hand.

But you must be vigilant and always pray that you may succeed in escaping all this that is going to happen, and in standing in the presence of the Son of Man."

The festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.

Jesus sent Peter and John, saying to them, "Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover."

They said to him, "Where do you want us to prepare it?"

and say to the man of the house, 'Our Master says to you, "Where is the room where I can eat the Passover supper with my disciples?" '

So they went and found everything just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover supper.

And he took a loaf of bread and thanked God, and broke it in pieces, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body.

Yet look! The hand of the man who is betraying me is beside me on the table!

For the Son of Man is going his way, as it has been decreed, but alas for the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!"

A dispute also arose among them, as to which one of them ought to be considered the greatest.

But you are not to do so, but whoever is greatest among you must be like the youngest, and the leader like a servant.

For which is greater, the man at the table, or the servant who waits on him? Is not the man at the table? Yet I am like a servant among you.