Then Herod secretly sent for the magi and learned from them the [exact] time the star [had first] appeared.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste (purpose), how can it be made salty? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and walked on by people [when the walkways are wet and slippery].

But if your eye is bad [spiritually blind], your whole body will be full of darkness [devoid of God’s precepts]. So if the [very] light inside you [your inner self, your heart, your conscience] is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness!

And why are you worried about clothes? See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin [wool to make clothing],

Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own eye?

If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him.

But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you within that [very] hour;

It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the bond-servant like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul (Satan), how much more [will they speak evil of] the members of his household.

how he went into the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests only?

How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful and permissible to do good on the Sabbath.”

But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, discussing how they could destroy Him.

If Satan casts out Satan [that is, his demons], he has become divided against himself and disunited; how then will his kingdom stand?

Or how can anyone go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man? Then he will ransack and rob his house.

You brood of vipers, how can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

The servants of the owner came to him and said, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then how does it have weeds in it?’

And Jesus asked them, “How many loaves [of bread] do you have?” They replied, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and has a threatening look.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but cannot interpret the signs of the times?

But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves that you have no bread?

Do you still not understand or remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up?

Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up?

How is it that you fail to understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

And Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”

Then Peter came to Him and asked, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?”

When the disciples saw it, they were astonished and asked, “How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once?”

and he said, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wearing the wedding clothes [that were provided for you]?’ And the man was speechless and without excuse.

Then the Pharisees went and conspired together plotting how to trap Him by [distorting] what He said.

Jesus asked them, “How is it then that David by the inspiration of the Spirit, calls Him ‘Lord,’ saying,

So then, if David calls Him (the Son, the Messiah) ‘Lord,’ how is He David’s son?”

You serpents, you spawn of vipers, how can you escape the penalty of hell?

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who murders the prophets and stones [to death] those [messengers] who are sent to her [by God]! How often I wanted to gather your children together [around Me], as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way?”

Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they are testifying against You?”

and said, “Sir, we have remembered that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise [from the dead].’