" 'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are by no means least important among the leading places of Judah, For from you will come a leader Who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' "

And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said to them, "Go and inquire particularly about the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, so that I may go and do homage to him too."

to fulfil what the Lord said by the prophet, "I called my son from Egypt."

I am baptizing you in water in token of your repentance, but he who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not fit to carry his shoes. He will baptize you in the holy Spirit and in fire.

But John dissuaded him, and said, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

and a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, my Beloved! This is my Chosen."

and said to him, "If you are God's son, throw yourself down, for the Scripture says, " 'He will give his angels orders about you, And they will lift you up with their hands So that you may never strike your foot against a stone!' "

and said to him, "I will give all this to you, if you will fall on your knees and do homage to me."

He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fish for men!"

"Blessed are you when people abuse you, and persecute you, and falsely say everything bad of you, on my account.

Be quick and come to terms with your opponent while you are on the way to court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison.

so that you may show yourselves true sons of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on bad and good alike, and makes the rain fall on the upright and the wrongdoers.

so that your charity may be secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

so that no one may see that you are fasting, except your Father who is unseen, and your Father who sees what is secret, will reward you.

"Pass no more judgments upon other people, so that you may not have judgment passed upon you.

How can you say to your brother, 'Just let me get that speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a beam in your own?

It is not everyone who says to me 'Lord! Lord!' who will get into the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father in heaven.

Many will say to me on that Day, 'Lord! Lord! Was it not in your name that we prophesied, and by your name that we drove out demons, and by your name that we did many mighty acts?'

Then I will say to them plainly, 'I never knew you! Go away from me, you who do wrong!'

And a leper came up to him and fell on his knees before him, saying, "If you only choose, sir, you can cure me!"

saying, "My servant, sir, is lying sick with paralysis at my house, in great distress."

But the captain answered, "I am not a suitable person, sir, to have you come under my roof, but simply say the word, and my servant will be cured.

For I am myself under the orders of others and I have soldiers under me, and I tell one to go, and he goes, and another to come, and he comes, and my slave to do something, and he does it."

And another of his disciples said to him, "Let me first go, sir, and bury my father."

But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead!"

Some people came bringing to him on a bed a man who was paralyzed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, "Courage, my son! Your sins are forgiven."

Afterward, as Jesus was passing along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tollhouse, and he said to him, "Follow me!" And he got up and followed him.

Just as he said this to them, an official came up and bowing low before him said to him, "My daughter has just died. But come! Lay your hand on her and she will come to life!"

And Jesus turned and saw her, and he said, "Courage, my daughter! Your faith has cured you!" And from that time the woman was well.

and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to bear your testimony before them and the heathen.

You will be hated by everybody on my account, but the man who holds out to the very end will be saved.

Therefore everyone who will acknowledge me before men I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven,

but anyone who disowns me before men, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

No one who loves father or mother more than he loves me is worthy of me, and no one who loves son or daughter more than he loves me is worthy of me,

and no one who will not take up his cross and follow me is worthy of me.

Whoever gains his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will gain it.

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes him who has sent me.

And no one who will give the humblest of my disciples even a cup of cold water because he is my disciple, I tell you, can ever fail of his reward."

And blessed is the man who finds nothing that repels him in me."

This is the man of whom the Scripture says, " 'Here I send my messenger on before you; He will prepare the road ahead of you.'

Everything has been handed over to me by my Father, and no one understands the Son but the Father, nor does anyone understand the Father but the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Come to me, all of you who toil and are burdened, and I will let you rest.

Let my yoke be put upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble-minded, and your hearts will find rest,

"Here is my servant whom I have selected, My beloved, who delights my heart! I will endow him with my Spirit, And he will announce a judgment to the heathen.

Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not join me in gathering, scatters.

For just as Jonah was in the maw of the whale for three days and nights, the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth.

Then it says, 'I will go back to my house that I left,' and it goes and finds it unoccupied, cleaned, and all in order.

But he said to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"

And he pointed to his disciples and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!"

For this nation's mind has grown dull, And they hear faintly with their ears, And they have shut their eyes, So as never to see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their minds, and turn back, And let me cure them!'

But he said, 'No, for in gathering up the weeds you may uproot the wheat.

Let them both grow together until harvest time, and when we harvest I will direct the reapers to gather up the weeds first and tie them up in bundles to burn, but get the wheat into my barn.' "

to fulfil what was said by the prophet, "I will open my mouth in figures, I will utter things that have been hidden since the creation."

But she, at her mother's instigation, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter!"

He said, "Bring them here to me."

Peter answered, "If it is you, Master, order me to come to you on the water."

But when he felt the wind he was frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Master, save me!"

" 'This people honor me with their lips, Yet their hearts are far away from me.

But their worship of me is all in vain, For the lessons they teach are but human precepts.' "

But he answered, "Any plant that my heavenly Father did not plant must be uprooted!

And a Canaanite woman of that district came out and screamed, "Son of David, take pity on me, sir! My daughter is dreadfully possessed by a demon!"

And she came and fell down before him, and said, "Help me, sir!"

Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, "I pity these people for they have been staying with me three days now and they have nothing left to eat, and I do not mean to send them away hungry, for they may give out on the way."

Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for human nature has not disclosed this to you, but my Father in heaven!

But I tell you, your name is Peter, a rock, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not subdue it.

But he turned and said to Peter, "Get out of my sight, you Satan! You hinder me, for you do not side with God, but with men!"

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wants to go with me, he must disregard himself and take his cross and follow me.

For whoever wants to preserve his own life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for me will find it.

As he spoke a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved. He is my Chosen. Listen to him!"

"Master, take pity on my son, for he has epilepsy, and is very wretched; he often falls into the fire or into the water.

Jesus answered, "O you unbelieving, obstinate people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me!"

and anyone who welcomes one child like this on my account welcomes me.

But whoever hinders one of these children who believe in me might better have a great millstone hung around his neck and be sunk in the open sea.

"Beware of feeling scornful of one single little child, for I tell you that in heaven their angels have continual access to my Father in heaven.

In just that way, it is the will of my Father in heaven that not a single one of these children be lost.

But if he will not listen, take one or two others with you, so that everything may be supported by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Again, I tell you, if even two of you here on earth agree about what they shall pray for, it will be given them by my Father in heaven.

For wherever two or three are gathered as my followers, I am there among them."

Then Peter came to him and said, "Master, how many times am I to forgive my brother when he wrongs me? Seven times over?"

For this reason the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king, who resolved to settle accounts with his slaves.

So the slave threw himself down before him and implored him, 'Give me time, and I will pay you all of it.'

But when the slave went out he met a fellow-slave of his who owed him twenty dollars, and he caught him by the throat and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'

So his fellow-slave threw himself down before him, and begged him, 'Give me time, and I will pay you.'

Then his master called him in and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I canceled all that debt of yours when you entreated me.

That is what my heavenly Father will do to you, if you do not each forgive your brothers from your hearts!"

But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not try to keep them from coming to me, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as they are."

But he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter that life, keep the commandments."

Jesus said to them, "In the new world, I tell you, when the Son of Man takes his seat on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit upon twelve thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel!

And anyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or land for my sake will receive many times as much, and share eternal life.

And he said to them, 'You go to my vineyard, too, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.

They said to him, 'Because nobody has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go to my vineyard, too.'

But he answered one of them, 'My friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me on a dollar?

Have I no right to do what I please with what is mine? Or do you begrudge my generosity?'

He said to them, "Then what I drink you shall drink, but as for sitting at my right or my left, that is not mine to give, but belongs to those for whom it is destined by my Father."

And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, "What do you want me to do for you?"

saying to them, "Go to the village that lies in front of you, and you will at once find an ass tied there, and a colt with her. Untie her and bring them to me.

and he said to them, "The Scripture says, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a robbers' cave."

Jesus answered, "Let me ask you one question, and if you answer it, I will tell you what authority I have for doing as I do.

But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'My son, go and work in the vineyard today.'