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].

You should not take an oath, [saying] 'by my head,' for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

But I tell you, do not offer resistance to an evil person, but whoever hits you on the right side of the face, allow him [to hit you] on the other side also.

"You have heard what was said [Lev. 19:18], 'You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'

No person can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or else he will cling to the one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and material things [at the same time].

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.

Jesus replied to him, "The foxes have dens [in which to live] and the birds of the sky have nests [in which to roost]; but the Son of man does not have anywhere to lay His head."

[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."

God even knows the number of hairs on your head [Note: The average full head of hair has approximately 25,000 hairs].

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.

"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.

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."

Her mother persuaded her to say, "Give me the head of John, the Immerser, here on this [large] platter."

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.

His head was brought on a [large] platter and given to the young woman [i.e., Salome], and she took it to her mother [i.e., Herodias].

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].

saying, 'These men [you hired] last have worked only one hour and you gave them wages equal to ours when we carried the heaviest load of the day's work and [put up with] the scorching heat [all day long].'

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].

They love to recline at the head place at dinner tables [Note: This referred to the practice of lying down on their left side on a couch next to the dinner table, and leaning on their left elbow, while eating with their right hand], and to occupy the principal seats in the synagogues.

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.'

At that time people will turn you over [to the authorities] for persecution and will [even] kill you. And people from all countries will hate you for being loyal to me.

And then many people will fall away [from God] and they will turn one another over [i.e., to the authorities for punishment], and they will hate one another.

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,

and I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you [can] have your own talent [back].'

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,

Then the leading priests and elders of the [Jewish] people were gathered in the courtroom of the head priest, named Caiaphas.

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,

a woman with an alabaster [i.e., stone] jar of very expensive perfume came to Him and poured it on His head as He reclined at the dinner table. [Note: See Matt. 23:6]