and in them is filled up the prophecy of Esaias, which says, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and beholding ye shall behold and not see;

For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they hear with difficulty, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them."

But your eyes [are] blessed because they see, and your ears because they hear.

For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous [people] longed to see what you see, and did not see [it], and to hear what you hear, and did not hear [it]!

Give ear, then, to the story of the man who put the seed in the earth.

When anyone hears the message of the kingdom and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and carries off the seed that was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.

"This is the seed sown by the wayside. And the word, and at once receives it with joy.

"And the seed sown among thorns is he who hears the word, but the anxieties of the age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

"But the seed sown in good soil is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit, and makes now an hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty."

He put before them another parable, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

But while the world was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed wild wheat seed in the midst of the good seed, and went away.

But when the green stem came up and gave fruit, the evil plants were seen at the same time.

So the slaves of the master of the house came [and] said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have darnel?'

He put before them another parable, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took [and] sowed in his field.

This seed is smaller than all other seeds, but, when it has grown up, it is larger than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that 'the wild birds come and roost in its branches.'"

So he answered [and] said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,

and the field is the world. And the good seed--these are the sons of the kingdom, but the darnel are the sons of the evil one.

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

[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 they replied, "But we have here [only] five loaves of [barley] bread [See John 6:9] and two [probably smoked] fish."

and the disciples having seen him walking upon the sea, were troubled saying -- 'It is an apparition,' and from the fear they cried out;

Then the disciples came and said to him, Did you see that the Pharisees were troubled when these words came to their ears?

Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?

As a result, the crowd was amazed to see those who were unable to talk speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel.

And in the morning, The weather will be bad today, for the sky is red and angry. You are able to see the face of heaven, but not the signs of the times.

A wicked and adulterous generation, a sign, doth seek after, and, a sign, will not be given it, - save the sign of Jonah. And, leaving them behind, he departed.

And Jesus said to them, See and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Do you still not see, or keep in mind the five cakes of bread of the five thousand, and the number of baskets you took up?

How is it that you do not see that I was not talking to you about bread, but about keeping away from the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees?

[And] I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven [i.e., for opening up the way into it]. And whatever [truth] you [and the other apostles. See 18:18] require [people to believe and practice] here on earth will have already been required of them [by God] in heaven. And whatever [truth] you do not require [of people] on earth, will not be required [by God] in heaven."

Truly I say to you, that there are some of those standing here who will never experience death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

And, behold, Moses and Elias were seen to them, conversing with him.

And as they were going down the mountain, Jesus warned them, saying, "Never mention to anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man is raised from the dead."

"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 he said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I say to you, if you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here [to] there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."

He saith - Yea. And, coming into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, How, to thee, doth it seem, Simon? The kings of the earth, of whom receive they dues or tax? from their sons, or from the aliens?

But, so that we may not be a cause of trouble to them, go to the sea, and let down a hook, and take the first fish which comes up; and in his mouth you will see a bit of money: take that, and give it to them for me and you.

"See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven constantly see the face of my Father [who is] in heaven.

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

What think ye? If a certain man should have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not, leaving the ninety and nine on the mountains, go and seek the one that has gone astray?

But his fellow-bondmen, having seen what had taken place, were greatly grieved, and went and recounted to their lord all that had taken place.

And he said in answer, Have you not seen in the Writings, that he who made them at the first made them male and female, and said,

But Jesus said, "Allow these little children to come to me and stop trying to prevent them. For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such [humble ones] as these." [See 18:4].

Then a rich, young man [See verse 22] came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good deed should I do in order to have never ending life?"

Then Peter said to him, See, we have given up everything and have come after you; what then will we have?

But many will be last [i.e., in importance and blessings] who [seem to] be first, and those [who seem to be] first will [end up] being last."

So, when those hired about five o'clock in the afternoon came in, each one received the usual pay for one full day's work. [See note on verse 2].

"See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death.

But Jesus replied to her, "You [really] do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup [i.e., of suffering] that I am about to drink?" They [i.e., James, John and their mother. See Mark 10:35ff] answered, "[Yes] we are able to."

But Jesus said to them, You see that the rulers of the Gentiles are lords over them, and their great ones have authority over them.

They told him, "Lord, we want to be able to see!"

Then Jesus, deeply moved with compassion, touched their eyes, and at once they could see again. So they followed him.

Saying to them, Go into the little town in front of you, and straight away you will see an ass with a cord round her neck, and a young one with her; let them loose and come with them to me.

Say to the daughter of Zion, See, your King comes to you, gentle and seated on an ass, and on a young ass.

and the chief priests and the scribes having seen the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David,' were much displeased;

Have you any idea what these are saying? And Jesus said to them, Yes: have you not seen in the Writings, From the lips of children and babies at the breast you have made your praise complete?

He then left them and went out of the city [of Jerusalem] to Bethany [Note: This was a small village near Bethphage] and stayed there [i.e., probably at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. See John 11:1].

and having seen a certain fig-tree on the way, he came to it, and found nothing in it except leaves only, and he saith to it, 'No more from thee may fruit be -- to the age;' and forthwith the fig-tree withered.

And the disciples having seen, did wonder, saying, 'How did the fig-tree forthwith wither?'

But how, to you, doth it seem? A man, had two sons: coming unto the first, he said, Son! go thy way, to-day, be working in the vineyard.

For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him. And you, when you had seen it, after ward felt no regret, that you might believe him.

and the husbandmen having seen the son, said among themselves, This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and may possess his inheritance;

Jesus says to them, Did you never see in the Writings, The stone which the builders put on one side, the same has been made the chief stone of the building: this was the Lord's doing, and it is a wonder in our eyes?

Again he sent out other servants, with orders to say to the guests, See, I have made ready my feast: my oxen and my fat beasts have been put to death, and all things are ready: come to the feast.

Go then to the cross-roads, and get all those whom you see to come to the bride-feast.

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man that had not put on a wedding-robe.

Then the Pharisees went and had a meeting to see how they might make use of his words to take him.

And they sent to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Master, we see that you are true, and that you are teaching the true way of God, and have no fear of anyone, because you have no respect for a man's position.

Tell us therefore, what does it seem to thee? Is it permitted to give tribute to Caesar or not?

Let me see the tribute money." And they took him a penny.

saying, Teacher, Moses said, "If a man die having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed to his brother."

Now there were with us seven brothers; and the first, marrying, died; and, not having seed, he left his wife to his brother.

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].

How, to you, doth it seem, concerning the Christ? Whose son, is he? They say unto him - David's.

And they do all their deeds in order to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries broad and make their tassels long.

But as for you, you must not seek for others to call you 'Teacher,' for you have but one who is 'Teacher,' and you are all brothers.

Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You pay tithes on mint, fennel, and caraway seed, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law--justice, mercy, and good faith. These last you ought to have put into practice, without neglecting the first.

A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you are like the resting-places of the dead, which are made white, and seem beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and of all unclean things.

So to men you seem just, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

See, your House is left to you, desolate.

For I tell you, you will never see me from now [on] until you say, 'Blessed [is] the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

But he answered [and] said to them, "Do you not see all these [things]? Truly I say to you, not [one] stone will be left here on [another] stone that will not be thrown down!"

And Jesus answering said to them, See that no one mislead you.

And you are going to hear about wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is not yet.

"So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken about by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place" (let the one who reads understand),

for the desolation will be so dreadful, the like was never seen since the beginning of the world, no, nor ever shall be again.

"If at that time any one should say to you, 'See, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' believe him not.

See, I have forewarned you! So if they say to you,

"'See, He is in the desert,' do not go out there. "'See, He is in the inner room,' do not believe it.

For just as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west; so will be the coming of the Son of man.

Wherever there is a dead body, [you can expect to see] vultures gathered there. [Note: This may mean that such a significant event as the coming of Christ would surely not go unnoticed].

And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And He will send out His angels [i.e., as messengers] with the sound of a great trumpet [See I Thess. 4:16] to gather His elect [i.e., God's people] from all directions, [even] from throughout the whole world. [Note: See Mark 13:27, which suggests this thought by its use of 'earth' and 'sky']

So also you, when you see all these [things], know that he is near, at the door.

[Although] the sky and the earth will pass away [See II Pet. 3:10], my words will not pass away [i.e., they will certainly come true].

At that time there will be two men [working] in a field; one will be taken [i.e., to be with the Lord. See I Thess. 4:17], while the other one will be left [i.e., to be punished by the Lord. See II Thess. 1:7-9].

and at midnight there was a sudden cry, see the bridegroom comes; go and meet him.

And the one who had received the five talents came up [and] brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you handed over to me five talents. See, I have gained five more talents!'

And the one [who had] the two talents also came up [and] said, 'Master, you handed over to me two talents. See, I have gained two talents more!'

And the one who had received the one talent came up also [and] said, 'Master, [because I] knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from where you did not scatter [seed].