and He healed many of those who were sick with various diseases and drove out many evil spirits. But He did not permit the evil spirits to tell people [who He was], because they knew who He was [i.e., the Christ].

Then a person with an infectious skin disease came to Jesus and, kneeling down before Him, begged Him, saying, "If you want to, you can heal me." [Note: Throughout this narrative the term "heal/healing" is originally "clean/cleansing" because the Jews viewed a person with such a disease as ceremonially "unclean." See Lev. 13:1-3].

And when they were unable to get near Jesus, because of the [large] crowd, they removed [a section of] the roof [directly above Him]. [Note: The roof was a flat area, where people retired for rest, prayer, etc., and easily accessible from an outside stairway]. And when they had broken open [a sizable hole], they lowered the cot on which the paralyzed man was lying.

"No one sows a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, because what was supposed to cover the hole [actually] makes it larger. The new [piece of cloth] tears away from the old one and the hole is made worse.

Jesus said all this because these experts in the law of Moses had been saying, "He has an evil spirit in him."

And some seed fell on rocky ground where there was not much soil, and immediately it sprouted up because the soil was so shallow.

But when the sun came up the newly sprouted plants were scorched, and because they had no roots, [soon] withered away.

But when the grain ripens the farmer wields his sickle because harvest time has come."

And He could not perform any supernatural deed there [i.e., because of their lack of faith in Him], except He placed hands on a few sick people [i.e., accompanied by prayer ?] and healed them.

Now King Herod heard about this [i.e., what Jesus was doing] because His name had become well known. He said, "John the Immerser has risen from the dead and it is his powers that are at work in Jesus."

Now [because of this] Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but had not been able to.

It was because Herod was afraid of John, knowing he was a righteous and holy man, so he protected him. And Herod became very disturbed whenever he listened to John, yet he heard him gladly.

And the king became very distressed [over such a gruesome request], but because he had promised her with oaths, and [to keep from looking bad] in front of his party guests, he did not refuse her [request].

Then Jesus left [His place of seclusion] and, seeing the large crowd, He felt deep compassion for them because they were [as disoriented] as sheep without a shepherd, so He began teaching them.

but they did not understand [the miracle] of the loaves because their minds were insensitive [i.e., to the nature and power of Jesus].

They are worshiping me for nothing because they are teaching principles which are [merely] the requirements of men.'

It is because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and [eventually] passes out into the toilet." By saying this He made all foods [ceremonially] acceptable.

And He said to her, "Because you have said this, go on your way; the evil spirit has left your daughter."

"I feel deep pity for this crowd because they have continued listening to me for three days now and have nothing [left] to eat.

And if I send them home hungry they will become weak on the way, because some of them have come a long distance."

For he did not know what to say, because they [all] became very afraid.

[Then] John [the apostle] said to Him, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out evil spirits by using your name, so we told him to stop doing it, because he was not following [You] with us."

Truly I tell you, whoever will give you [even] a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his [temporal or eternal] reward.

And if your hand becomes the occasion for falling away [from God], cut it off; it would be better for you to enter [never ending] life disabled, rather than keeping both hands and going to hell, into the fire that cannot be put out [i.e., all because it caused you to fall away from God]. {{Verse

And if your eye becomes the occasion for falling away [from God] gouge it out; it would be better for you to enter the kingdom of God with [only] one eye, rather than keeping both eyes and being thrown into hell [i.e., all because one of them caused you to fall away from God].

But Jesus said to them, "He wrote you this commandment [only] because of the rebellious spirit of you [Jews].

The leading priests and experts in the law of Moses heard this and began looking for some way to kill Jesus, because they were afraid of Him, since the whole crowd was amazed at His teaching.

And they [i.e., the leading priests and experts in the Law of Moses] attempted to arrest Jesus, but [hesitated because] they feared what the crowd might do, for they understood that He was speaking the parable against them. So, they left Him and went away.

You will be hated by all people because you belong to me, but the person who holds out [i.e., remains faithful to God] until the end [i.e., the end of this time of severe persecution] will be saved [from destruction].

So, be alert, because you do not know when the owner of the house will return, whether [some] evening, at midnight, at dawn, or at [mid-] morning.

But they reasoned, "We will not [take him] during the Festival, because it might start a riot among the people."

Then He came back again and found His disciples still asleep, because they had not been able to keep their eyes open at all.

But again he denied it. Then after a little while those standing nearby said to Peter again, "We know for sure that you are one of them because you are from Galilee." [Note: Peter's accent gave him away. See Matt. 26:73].

Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha which, being interpreted, means "the place of the skull" [i.e., probably because it was a skull-shaped knoll in appearance].

Later on Jesus showed Himself to the eleven apostles as they sat [i.e., reclined. See Matt. 23:6], eating a meal. He scolded them for their lack of faith and stubbornness because they refused to believe those who had seen Him [alive] after His resurrection.