Abraham had a son named Isaac; Isaac had a son named Jacob and Jacob's sons were Judah and his [eleven] brothers.

Judah had sons named Perez and Zarah, [whose mother was] Tamar. Perez had a son named Hezron; Hezron had a son named Aram;

Aram had a son named Amminadab; Amminadab had a son named Nahshon; Nahshon had a son named Salmon;

Salmon had a son named Boaz [whose mother was] Rahab; Boaz had a son named Obed [whose mother was] Ruth; Obed had a son named Jesse,

and Jesse had a son named David [who became] king [of Israel].David had a son named Solomon [whose mother was Bathsheba, the wife] of Uriah;

Solomon had a son named Rehoboam; Rehoboam had a son named Abijah; Abijah had a son named Asa;

Asa had a son named Jehoshaphat; Jehoshaphat had a son named Joram; Joram had a son named Uzziah;

Uzziah had a descendant named Jotham; Jotham had a son named Ahaz; Ahaz had a son named Hezekiah;

Hezekiah had a son named Manasseh; Manasseh had a son named Amon; Amon had a son named Josiah;

Josiah had descendants named Jechoniah and his brothers, [near] the time when [the people of Judah] were taken away to Babylon.

After the people [of Judah] were taken away to Babylon, Jeconiah had a son named Shealtiel; Shealtiel had a son named Zerubbabel;

Zerubbabel had a son named Abiud; Abiud had a son named Eliakim; Eliakim had a son named Azor;

Azor had a son named Sadoc; Sadoc had a son named Achim; Achim had a son named Eliud;

Eliud had a son named Eleazar; Eleazar had a son named Matthan; Matthan had a son named Jacob;

Jacob had a son named Joseph, who was the husband of Mary. Mary [alone] was the mother of Jesus, who is called the Christ.

Now the birth of Christ happened this way: When His mother Mary was engaged to marry Joseph, [but] before they had a sexual relationship, she was discovered to be pregnant by [the power of] the Holy Spirit.

[But] he did not have sexual relations with her until [after] she had a son, whom he named Jesus.

Then Herod summoned the astrologer/sages and learned from them exactly when the star had appeared.

After hearing the king they left and the star, which they had seen [while still] in the east, moved on ahead of them until it stopped over [the house] where the young child was staying. [See verse 11].

Now when they had gone an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a [supernatural] dream, saying, "Get up and take the young child and His mother and hurry to Egypt. Stay there for as long as I tell you to, for Herod will be looking for the young child in order to kill Him."

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the astrologer/sages, he was furious and sent out [his soldiers] to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity. This was done to those from two years old and under, basing [their decision] on the exact time determined from the astrologer/sages.

"Get up, take the young child and His mother, and go [back] to the country of Israel, for those who had tried to take the young child's life are [now] dead."

After He had fasted forty days and nights, He was [very] hungry.

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, He left [the province of Judea] and went to Galilee.

[This was] so that what Isaiah the prophet had spoken would be fulfilled, saying,

But I say to you, every person who divorces his wife makes her become sexually unfaithful to him [i.e., since she will probably marry someone else], unless the reason for the divorce is that she had [already] become sexually unfaithful to him. And whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits sexual sin with her [i.e., because she is still rightfully married to her first husband].

And so it happened when Jesus had finished [speaking] these words, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,

for he taught like a person who had authority, instead of like their experts in the law of Moses.

And when He had come down from the mountain [See 5:1], large crowds followed Him.

And when He had arrived at Capernaum, a military officer approached Him, begging,

When Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw Peter's mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.

[Upon seeing this happen] the men who were tending the herd ran away and went into the town [i.e., of Gadara, one of ten towns making up the province of Decapolis], and told the people everything, [including] what had happened to the men dominated by evil spirits.

But when the large crowds saw [what had happened], they were filled with deep reverence and gave honor to God for giving such authority to men.

But just then a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the edge of His robe.

For she had said to herself, "If I can just touch His robe, I will be healed."

And when He had entered the house [i.e., probably a friend's house there in Capernaum. See 8:20], the blind men came in [after Him]. Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do what you are asking?" They replied, "Yes, Lord."

And so it happened, when Jesus had finished instructing His twelve apostles, He left there [and went] to teach and preach in the [other] Israelite towns. [See 10:23]

[He said] "It will be too bad for you, Chorazin! It will be too bad for you, Bethsaida! For if the powerful miracles had been performed in [the cities of] Tyre and Sidon which were performed in your presence, they would have repented long ago, [demonstrating it] by wearing sackcloth [i.e., a coarse cloth made of goat hair] and throwing ashes [into the air].

And Capernaum, do you think you will be lifted up toward heaven [as a proud city]? [No indeed], you will [surely] go down to the place of the unseen [i.e., become obscure or obliterated as a city]. For if the powerful miracles had been performed in Sodom which were performed in your presence, it would have remained [even] until today.

If you had [fully] understood what this means: 'I desire mercy and not [only] sacrifice,' you would not have condemned someone who was not guilty [of wrongdoing].

And I say to you, a person will [have to] give an account [to God] on the day of judgment for every careless word he had spoken [while on earth].

But when the sun came up these tender sprouts were scorched and, since they had such tiny roots, they [quickly] withered away.

When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one [i.e., the devil] comes to him and grabs away what had been sown in his heart. This is the person who was scattered to the side of the road.

And it happened, when Jesus had finished [giving] these parables, He went away from that place.

and governor of that district] heard the report about what Jesus had been saying and doing.

For Herod had arrested John and had him chained and put in prison in order to please Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.

For John had said to him, "It is not lawful for you to be married to her."

Now King Herod became very distressed [over such a gruesome request]; but because he had [promised with] oaths and [to look good in front of] his party guests, he ordered John's head to be given [to her].

So, he sent [word to his officers] and had John decapitated in the prison.

After He had dispersed them, He went up into the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening had come He was there alone.

And when they had [finally] crossed over [i.e., to the west side of the lake], they landed at the region of Gennesaret.

When the people there recognized Jesus, they sent to all the surrounding regions and had all who were sick brought to Him.

Now the disciples came to the other side [i.e., to the east side of the lake], but had forgotten to bring food [with them].

And after six days [had passed], Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John aside and went up into a high mountain [i.e., an unidentified mountain nearby].

He answered them, "[It was] because you had such little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith as [small as] a mustard tree seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to that place over there' and it would move. And nothing will be impossible for you [to do]." {[{[Some manuscripts contain the following verse:

He replied, "Yes, [He does]." And when Peter entered the house, Jesus spoke to him first, [i.e., without waiting for Peter to tell Him what he had said to the tax collectors], saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect custom duty and taxes? From their children or from 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].

What do you think? If anyone had a hundred sheep, and one of them wandered away, would he not leave the ninety-nine [safe ones] and go to the mountains looking for the one that wandered away?

Truly I tell you, if he happens to find it, he is happier over it than over the ninety-nine that had not wandered away.

But he would not do it. Instead, he took him and had him thrown into prison until he paid [him] all he owed.

When his fellow-servants saw what he had done, they were very upset and went and told their master everything that had happened.

Should you not also have had pity on your fellow-servant just as I pitied you?'

And so when Jesus had finished speaking He left Galilee and came to the region of Judea, on the east side of the Jordan River.

Jesus said to them, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives [only] because of the rebellious spirits you [Jews] had. But this was not how it was [intended to be] from the beginning [i.e., when God created one woman for one man].

But when the young man heard these words, he went away saddened, for he had many possessions.

When he had agreed with the workers [on wages] for the usual farm laborer's pay for a day's work, he [then] sent them to work in his vineyard. [Note: The coin mentioned here would amount to $60-$84 in 1994, based on $5-$7 an hour for a twelve hour day. This coin also forms the basis for calculating all other monetary references in the New Testament].

And the disciples went and did exactly what Jesus had ordered them to do.

And when He had come to Jerusalem, the entire city was stirred up; they were asking, "Who is this man?"

When He had come into the Temple, the leading priests and elders of the [Jewish] people came to Him while He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things [i.e., miracles and teaching]? And who gave you this authority?"

But what do you think [about this]? A man had two sons; He went to the first one and said, 'Son, go to work in my vineyard today.'

He sent his servants out to call those who had been invited to the wedding reception, but they refused to come.

"Teacher, Moses said [in Deut. 25:5] that when a man dies without having had any children, his brother must marry his widow and father children by her, who would [then] be considered his [dead] brother's.

But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced [the objections of] the Sadducees, they gathered together [i.e., to continue plotting against Jesus. See verse 15].

And you say, 'If [only] we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we [certainly] would not have participated with them in [shedding] the blood of the prophets.'

There will be great trouble [during these times], such as had never been from the beginning of time up to the present, or ever will be [in the days to come].

And if those days had not been as short as they were no one would have been saved [i.e., from the devastating destruction]. But for the sake of the elect [i.e., God's people], those days will be short.

But you should know this: if the owner of a house had known when a thief was coming, he would have been watching so as not to allow his house to be broken into.

The one who had been given five talents came bringing another five and reported, 'Master, you entrusted me with five talents. Look, I have earned five more with them.'

Then the one who was given [only] one talent came and reported, 'Master, I knew you were a difficult man who reaped where you had not sown, and gathered a harvest where you had not scattered seed,

But his master said to him, 'You wicked, lazy servant. [Since] you knew that I reaped where I had not sown and gathered where I had not scattered seed,

Take the one talent away from him, therefore, and give it to the servant who had the ten talents.

Then those who had done what was right [i.e., the ones at His right side] replied, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you? Or thirsty, and give you [something] to drink?

And it happened when Jesus had finished all this teaching, He said to His disciples,

Now when Jesus was at Bethany [Note: This was a small village less than two miles east of Jerusalem], in the house of Simon, the man [who probably had been healed] of an infectious skin disease,

And the disciples did [just] as Jesus had asked them, and they made preparations for the Passover meal.

The Son of man is going [to die], but it is too bad for that person through whom the Son of man is turned over [to the Jewish leaders]! It would be better for that man if he had not been born."

And after they had sung a hymn, they went up to the Mount of Olives. [Note: This was a small hill just east of Jerusalem]

And He came [back] again and found them asleep, because they had not been able to keep their eyes open.

And while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles, came with a large crowd who were carrying swords and clubs. They had come from the leading priests and elders of the [Jewish] people.

Now the one who betrayed Him had given them a signal, saying, "Whoever I give a kiss [of greeting to], he is the one, take hold of him."

And those who had arrested Jesus led Him away to the house of Caiaphas, the head priest, where the experts in the law of Moses and the [Jewish] elders were gathered.

saying, "Prophesy to us, you 'Christ.' Tell us who hit you?" [Note: By this time Jesus had been blindfolded. See Mark 14:65].

And when he had gone out by the gate, another servant-girl saw him and said to those nearby, "This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth."

Then Peter remembered the words Jesus had said, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny [knowing] me three times." And he went out and cried bitterly.

Then Judas, who had betrayed Him [to the Jewish leaders], when he saw that Jesus had been condemned to die, changed his mind [i.e., about betraying Him] and brought back the thirty silver coins [Note: See Matt. 26:15 for the amount of money involved] to the leading priests and [Jewish] elders,

So, they conferred together [and decided] to buy "The Potter's Field" with the money [Note: This was probably an abandoned field where clay had been obtained for making pottery], for use in burying people who were not from the local area.

[Thus the prophecy] spoken by Jeremiah, the prophet [Note: The passage actually appears to be Zech. 11:12-13], was fulfilled which said, "And they took the thirty silver coins, the amount charged for Him on whom certain Israelites had set a price,

Therefore, when the people had gathered together, Pilate asked them, "Whom do you want me to release, Barabbas or Jesus, who is called 'Christ'?"

For he knew that the reason they had turned Jesus over to him was out of envy.

Then while he was seated in Pilate's courtroom of justice, Pilate's wife sent [word] to him, saying, "You should have nothing to do with that innocent man. For I was very troubled in a dream over him today." [Note: That is, she was troubled over a dream she had before waking up that morning].