But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.

And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.”

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

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

For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock.

But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

As He was telling them these things, suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before Him, saying, “My daughter is near death, but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.”

These are the names of the 12 apostles:

First, Simon, who is called Peter,
and Andrew his brother;
James the son of Zebedee,
and John his brother;

Jesus sent out these 12 after giving them instructions: “Don’t take the road leading to other nations, and don’t enter any Samaritan town.

And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple—I assure you: He will never lose his reward!”

As these men went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to infants.

Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them without a parable,

the field is the world; and the good seed—these are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,

“Have you understood all these things?”

“Yes,” they told Him.

When Jesus had finished these parables, He left there.

He went to His hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “How did this wisdom and these miracles come to Him?

And His sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does He get all these things?”

These people honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.

These are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

“But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea!

“See that you don’t look down on one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of My Father in heaven.

In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

“I have kept all these,” the young man told Him. “What do I still lack?”

‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the burning heat!’

“What do you want?” He asked her.

“Promise,” she said to Him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right and the other on Your left, in Your kingdom.”

and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus told them. “Have you never read:

You have prepared praise
from the mouths of children and nursing infants?”

When He entered the temple complex, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority?”

Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for Me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.

I assure you: All these things will come on this generation!

Then He replied to them, “Don’t you see all these things? I assure you: Not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down!”

While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet.

All these events are the beginning of birth pains.

In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near—at the door!

I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.

“And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

“Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’

The high priest then stood up and said to Him, “Don’t You have an answer to what these men are testifying against You?”