After Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming on him.

so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

"Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.

When you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard.

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, they have their reward.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these!

"Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.

Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

because he taught them like one who had authority, not like their experts in the law.

After the demon was cast out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, "Never has anything like this been seen in Israel!"

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

"I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house 'Beelzebul,' how much more will they defame the members of his household!

"To what should I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another,

He presented them with another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field.

He gave them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all the dough had risen."

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one who has ears had better listen!

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field, that a person found and hid. Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea that caught all kinds of fish.

Then he said to them, "Therefore every expert in the law who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old."

And he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

and said, "I tell you the truth, unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!

Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me.

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector.

"For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

The second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

"Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean.

For just like the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.

For just like the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.

"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

"For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them.

All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

At that moment Jesus said to the crowd, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me like you would an outlaw? Day after day I sat teaching in the temple courts, yet you did not arrest me.

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

The guards were shaken and became like dead men because they were so afraid of him.