And people from all over Judea and everybody in Jerusalem kept on going out to him and being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

Now in those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

But he went out and began to publish it so much and to spread the story so far, that Jesus could not any more go into any town openly, but had to stay out in thinly settled places. But the people kept coming to Him from every quarter.

But a time is coming when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

No one sews a patch of brand-new goods on an old coat; or, if he does, the patch tears away, the new from the old, and the hole becomes bigger than ever.

So Jesus retired with His disciples to the sea, and a vast throng of people followed Him from Galilee, and from Judea,

and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from the other side of the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon -- yes, a vast throng of people, as they kept hearing of the great things that He was doing, came to Him.

So He told His disciples to keep a little boat ready for Him all the time, to prevent the crowds from crushing Him.

And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem kept saying, "He is under the spell of Beelzebub and by the help of the prince of the demons He drives out the demons."

As soon as He got out of the boat, a man under the power of a foul spirit and from the tombs met Him.

On catching a glimpse of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and fell down on his knees before Him,

And He said to her, "My daughter, your faith has cured you. Go in peace and be free from your disease."

Even while He was saying this, people came from the house of the leader of the synagogue and said, "Your daughter is dead; why trouble the Teacher any longer?"

And if any place refuses to welcome you or to listen to you, when you leave there shake off the very dust from the soles of your feet as a warning to them."

King Herod heard of Him, for His name was now on everybody's lips, and people were saying that John the Baptist had risen from the dead, and that this was why such mighty powers were working in Him.

But when Herod heard of Him, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has risen from the dead."

But many people saw them start and knew of it and ran around the lake from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

And the pieces they took up from the loaves made twelve basketfuls besides the pieces from the fish.

The Pharisees met about Him, and also some scribes who had come from Jerusalem.

For the Pharisees and all the Jews practice the customs handed down to them from their forefathers,

and will never eat until they have carefully washed their hands, and they never eat anything brought from the market until they wash it; and they have many other religious practices which they got from their forefathers, as the washing of cups, pitchers, and pans.

And so the Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, "Why is it that your disciples do not practice the customs handed down from our forefathers, but eat their meals without purifying their hands?"

But He answered them, "Isaiah beautifully prophesied about you hypocrites; as the Scripture says: "'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me;

you let him off from doing anything more for his father or mother;

Nothing that goes into a man from the outside can make him foul, but the things that come from the inside of a man are the things that make him foul."

And He answered them, "Are you too without understanding yet? Do you not know that nothing from the outside that goes into a man can make him foul,

He kept on saying, "The thing that comes from the inside of a man is the thing that makes him foul,

for from the inside, that is, from the hearts of men, designs for doing evil come, sexual immorality, stealing, murder,

All these evils come from the inside of a man and make him foul."

So He took him off from the crowd by himself and put His fingers in his ears and touched his tongue with saliva.

And if I send them home hungry, they will give out on the road, for some of them are a long way from home."

Now the Pharisees came out and began a discussion with Him, and to test Him asked Him to show them a spectacular sign from heaven.

But He turned and glanced at His disciples and reproved Peter by saying, "Get out of my way, Satan, for this view of yours is not from God but from men!"

And while they were going down the mountain, He cautioned them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man should rise from the dead.

And they held that caution fast in their minds, as they continued to discuss among themselves what rising from the dead meant.

A man from the crowd answered Him, "Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit.

Then He asked his father, "How long has he been like this?" He answered, "From his childhood;

But from the beginning of the creation, 'God made them male and female.

When Jesus saw it, He was indignant, and said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and stop keeping them from it, for to such as these the kingdom of God belongs.

Jesus said, "I solemnly say to you, there is no one who has given up home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farm for me and for the good news,

And many of the people spread their coats in the road, while others scattered layers of leaves cut from the fields.

Blessed be the coming reign of our father David! Welcome Him from on high!"

Next day, while they were walking over from Bethany, He felt hungry.

So He spoke to it and said, "Never again may anyone eat a fig from you!" And His disciples were listening to it.

Was John's baptism from heaven or from men? Answer me."

Then they argued with one another in this way, "If we say, 'It was from heaven,' He will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?'

On the other hand, can we say, 'It was from men'?" For they were afraid of the people, because everybody thought that John was really a prophet.

For when people rise from the dead, men do not marry and women are not married, but continue to live together as the angels in heaven do.

So Jesus said to him, as He saw that he had answered thoughtfully, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And no one ventured to ask Him any more questions.

the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers of the sky will be shaken.

Then He will send out His angels, and gather His chosen people from the four points of the compass, from one end of the sky to the other.

But after I am raised from the dead, I will go back to Galilee to meet you."

and He was saying, "Abba [which means 'Father'], anything is possible for you! Take this cup away from me! Yet, I pray, not what I want but what you want!"

At that very moment, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, came up, and with him a crowd of men with swords and clubs, from the high priests, scribes, and elders.

They forced a certain passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry His cross -- Simon, a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus.

Now save yourself by coming down from the cross."

Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see it and believe!" Even the men who were crucified with Him made sport of Him.

And the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Now several women were there looking on from a distance, among them Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome,

but when he found out from the captain that He was, he gave him permission to take His body.

So he bought a linen sheet, then took Him down from the cross, wrapped Him in the linen sheet, and laid Him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a boulder up to the doorway of the tomb.

And they kept saying to one another, "Who will roll the boulder back from the doorway of the tomb for us?"

After this He showed Himself in a different form to two of them as they were walking along, on their way into the country.

Later on He appeared to the Eleven themselves while they were at table, and reproved them for their lack of faith and their stubbornness, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had been raised from the dead.