THE beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God].

and the whole of Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him and got baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins.

Now it was in those days that Jesus arrived from Nazaret in Galilee and got baptized in the Jordan by John.

After John had been arrested, Jesus went to Galilee preaching the gospel of God;

he said, "The time has now come, God's reign is near: repent and believe in the gospel."

"Jesus of Nazaret, what business have you with us? Have you come to destroy us? We know who you are, you are God's holy One."

But Jesus checked it; "Be quiet," he said, "come out of him."

Then in the early morning, long before daylight, he got up and went away out to a lonely spot.

and as they could not get near Jesus on account of the crowd they tore up the roof under which he stood and through the opening they lowered the pallet on which the paralytic lay.

"What does the man mean by talking like this? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins, who but God alone?"

And he rose, lifted his pallet at once, and went off before them all; at this they were all amazed and glorified God saying, "We never saw the like of it!"

No one stitches a piece of undressed cloth on an old coat, otherwise the patch breaks away, the new from the old, and the tear is made worse:

He went into the house of God (Abiathar was high priest then) and ate the loaves of the Presence which no one except the priests is allowed to eat, and also shared them with his followers."

and they watched to see if he would heal him on the sabbath, so as to get a charge against him.

for he healed so many that all who had complaints were pressing on him to get a touch of him.

And whenever the unclean spirits saw him they fell down before him, screaming, "You are the Son of God!"

And when his family heard this, they set out to get hold of him, for what they said was, "He is out of his mind."

Whoever does the will of God, that is my brother and sister and mother."

but when the sun rose it got scorched and withered away, because it had no root;

some other seed fell on good soil and bore a crop that sprang up and grew, yielding at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

and he said to them: "The open secret of the Realm of God is granted to you, but these outsiders get everything by way of parables,

As for those who were sown 'on good soil,' these are the people who listen to the word and take it in and bear fruit at the rate of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."

And he said, "It is with the Realm of God as when a man has sown seed on earth;

He said also, "To what can we compare the Realm of God? how are we to put it in a parable?

And he woke up, checked the wind, and told the sea, "Peace, be quiet." The wind fell and there was a great calm.

shrieking aloud, "Jesus, son of God most High, what business have you with me? By God, I adjure you, do not torture me."

She heard about Jesus, got behind him in the crowd, and touched his robe;

The girl got up at once and began to walk (she was twelve years old); and at once they were lost in utter amazement.

When the sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and the large audience was astounded. "Where did he get all this?" they said. "What is the meaning of this wisdom he is endowed with? And these miracles, too, that his hands perform!

And he said to them, "Come away to some lonely spot and get a little rest" (for there were many people coming and going, and they could get no time even to eat).

However a number of people who saw them start and recognized them, got to the place before them by hurrying there on foot from all the towns.

He said, "How many loaves have you got? Go and see." When they found out they told him, "Five, and two fish."

And he got into the boat beside them, and the wind dropped. They were utterly astounded,

You drop what God commands and hold to human tradition.

Yes, forsooth," he added, "you set aside what God commands, so as to maintain your own tradition.

But you say that if a man tells his father or mother, 'This money might have been at your service, but it is Korban' (that is, dedicated to God),

That is repealing the word of God in the interests of the tradition which you keep up. And you do many things like that."

His disciples replied, "Where can one get loaves to satisfy them in a desert spot like this?"

He asked them, "How many loaves have you got?" They said, "Seven."

but he turned on him and noticing his disciples reproved Peter, telling him, "Get behind me, you Satan! Your outlook is not God's but man's."

I tell you truly," he said, to them, "there are some of those standing here who will not taste death till they see the coming of God's Reign with power."

So Peter addressed Jesus, saying, "Rabbi, it is a good thing we are here; let us put up three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"

but, taking his hand, Jesus raised him and he got up.

If your hand is a hindrance to you, cut it off: better be maimed and get into Life, than keep your two hands and go to Gehenna, to the fire that is never quenched.

If your foot is a hindrance to you, cut it off: better get into Life a cripple, than keep your two feet and be thrown into Gehenna.

If your eye is a hindrance to you, tear it out: better get into God's Realm with one eye, than keep your two eyes and be thrown into Gehenna,

But from the beginning, when God created the world, Male and female, He created them:

What God has joined, then, man must not separate."

but Jesus was angry when he saw this, and he said to them, "Let the children come to me, do not stop them: the Realm of God belongs to such as these.

I tell you truly, whoever will not submit to the Reign of God like a child will never get into it at all."

As he went out on the road a man ran up and knelt down before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit life eternal?"

Jesus said to him, "Why call me 'good'? No one is good, no one but God.

Jesus looked round and said to his disciples, "How difficult it is for those who have money to get into the Realm of God!"

The disciples were amazed at what he said; so he repeated, "My sons, how difficult it is [for those who rely on money] to get into the Realm of God!

It is easier for a camel to get through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the Realm of God."

Jesus looked at them and said, "For men it is impossible, but not for God: anything is possible for God."

who does not get a hundred times as much ??in this present world homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and lands, together with persecutions, and in the world to come life eternal.

A number of the people checked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me!"

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." Then they called the blind man and told him, "Courage! Get up, he is calling you."

Many also spread their clothes on the road, while others strewed leaves cut from the fields;

This came to the ears of the scribes and high priests, and they tried to get him put to death, for they were afraid of him. But the multitude were all astounded at his teaching.

Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God!

So I tell you, whatever you pray for and ask, believe you have got it and you shall have it.

Then they tried to get hold of him, but they were afraid of the multitude. They knew he had meant the parable for them. So they left him and went away.

They came up and said to him, "Teacher, we know you are sincere and fearless; you do not court human favour, you teach the Way of God honestly. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?

Jesus said to them, "Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give God what belongs to God." He astonished them.

Jesus said to them, "Is this not where you go wrong? ??you understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God.

As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, at the passage on the Bush, how God said to him, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?

He is not the God of dead people but of living. You are far wrong."

Jesus replied, "The chief one is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord,

and you must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, with your whole mind, and with your whole strength.

Jesus noted his intelligent answer and said to him, "You are not far off the Realm of God." After that no one ventured to put any more questions to him.

And in the course of his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes! They like to walk about in long robes, to get saluted in the marketplaces,

and a man in the field must not turn back to get his coat.

for those days will be days of misery, the like of which has never been from the beginning of God's creation until now ??no and never shall be.

Had not the Lord cut short those days, not a soul would be saved alive; but he has cut them short for the sake of the elect whom he has chosen.

The passover and the festival of unleavened bread fell two days later; so the high priests and scribes were trying how to get hold of him by craft and have him put to death.

This perfume might have been sold for over three hundred shillings, and the poor might have got that." So they upbraided her.

They were delighted to hear it, and promised to pay him for it. Meantime he sought a good opportunity for betraying him.

They got distressed at this, and said to him one after another, "Surely it is not me?" "Surely it is not me?"

He also took a cup and after thanking God he gave it to them, and they all drank of it;

truly I tell you, I will never drink the produce of the vine again till the day I drink it new within the Realm of God."

Come, get up, here is my betrayer close at hand."

Now his betrayer had given them a signal; he said, "Whoever I kiss, that is the man. Seize him and get him safely away."

Peter followed him at a distance till he got inside the courtyard of the high priest, where he sat down with the attendants to warm himself at the fire.

Some got up and bore false witness against him, saying,

But the high priests stirred up the crowd to get him to release Bar-Abbas for them instead.

The soldiers took him inside the courtyard (that is, the praetorium) and got all the regiment together;

and at three o'clock Jesus gave a loud cry, "El?i, El?i, lema sabachthanei" (which means, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?)

Now when the army-captain who stood facing him saw that he expired in this way, he said, "This man was certainly a son of God."

Joseph of Arimathaea, a councillor of good position who himself was on the outlook for the Reign of God, ventured to go to Pilate and ask for the body of Jesus.

He, after buying a linen sheet, took him down and swathed him in the linen, laying him in a tomb which had been cut out of the rock and rolling a boulder up against the opening of the tomb.

Afterwards he appeared at table to the eleven themselves and reproached them for their unbelief and dulness of mind, because they had not believed those who saw him risen from the dead. [But they excused themselves, saying, "This age of lawlessness and unbelief lies under the sway of Satan, who will not allow what lies under the unclean spirits to understand the truth and power of God; therefore," they said to Christ, "reveal your righteousness now." Christ answered them, "The term of years for Satan's power has now expired, but other terrors are at hand. I was delivered to death on behalf of sinners, that they might return to the truth and sin no more, that they might inherit that glory of righteousness which is spiritual and imperishable in heaven."]

Then after speaking to them the Lord Jesus was taken up to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God,