As it is written in the prophet Isaiah: "Here I send my messenger ahead of you; He will prepare your way.

He kept preaching the following message, "After me there is coming One who is stronger than I am, whose shoes I am not fit to stoop down and untie.

And out of the heavens came a voice, "You are my Son, my Beloved! In you I am delighted!"

So Jesus said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishermen for catching men."

There came to Him a leper, begging Him on his knees, saying to Him, "If you want to, you can cure me."

When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man, "My son, your sins are forgiven."

And as He was passing by, He saw Levi, the son of Alpheus, sitting in the tax-collector's office, and He said to him, "Follow me." Then he got up and followed Him.

He answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"

Then looking around at the people sitting about Him, He said, "Here are my mother and my brothers.

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

'They may look and look and yet not see, And listen and listen and yet not understand, Lest, perchance, they should turn and be forgiven.'"

Then He said to them: "If you do not understand this story, how, indeed, can you understand any of my stories?

and screamed aloud, "What do you want of me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name, I beg you, do not torture me."

He asked him, "What is your name?" He answered, "My name is Legion, for we are many."

and kept earnestly begging Him, saying, "My dear little daughter is at the point of death. Come, lay your hands on her, so that she may get well and live."

Jesus at once perceived that power had gone out of Him, and so He turned around in the crowd, and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

But the disciples kept saying to Him, "You see the crowd jostling you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'"

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

Herodias' daughter came in and danced for them, and fascinated Herod and his guests. So the king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you."

And he promised her on oath, "I will give you anything you ask for, up to half of my kingdom."

Then she rushed at once before the king, and made this request, "I want you this very minute to give me John the Baptist's head on a platter."

And He said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and rest a little while." For there was an endless stream of people coming and going, and they had no time even to eat.

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;

Their worship of me is but an empty show; the things they teach are but men's precepts.'

but you say if a man tells his father or mother, 'Everything I have that may be of use to you is Corban,' that is, consecrated to God,

Again He called the people to Him and said, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand.

"My heart goes out in pity for these people, for they have been staying with me three days now, and they have nothing left to eat.

He looked up and answered, "I see the people, but they look to me like trees moving around."

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!"

Then He called the people to Him along with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wants to be my disciple, he must say, 'No' to self, put the cross on his shoulders, and keep on following me.

For whoever wants to save his higher life, will have to give up the lower life, and whoever gives up his lower life for me and for the good news, will save the higher life.

For whoever is ashamed of me and my teaching in this unfaithful, sinful age, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when He comes back in His Father's splendor with the holy angels."

Then a cloud came and was circling over them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my Son, my Beloved; keep on listening to Him!"

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

He answered them, "Oh, you unbelieving people of the times! How long must I be with you! How long must I put up with you! Bring him to me."

The boy's father at once cried out and said, "I do have faith; help my lack of faith!"

"Whoever, as a disciple of mine, welcomes one little child like this, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not merely me but Him who sent me."

Jesus said, "Do not try to stop him, for there is no one who will use my name to do a mighty deed, and then be able soon to abuse me.

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.

And Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me perfectly good? No one is perfectly good but God Himself.

Then Jesus looked at him and loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing. Go, sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me."

His disciples were startled at this statement. But Jesus again said to them as He continued the topic, "My children, how hard it is to get into the kingdom of God!

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,

He asked them, "What do you want me to do for you?"

but seats at my right and at my left are not mine to give, but they will be given to those for whom they have been prepared."

When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, you son of David, do pity me!"

Many of the people began to rebuke him and to tell him to keep quiet, but all the louder he kept shouting, "You son of David, do pity me!"

Then Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man answered, "Good Teacher, I want to see again."

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

And He continued teaching them and saying, "Does not the Scripture say, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a cave for robbers."

And whenever you stand and pray, if you have anything against anybody, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven too may forgive you your shortcomings."

Jesus said to them, "Let me ask you just one question, and if you answer me, I will tell you what sort of authority I have for doing as I do.

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

He had one more to send, his dearly loved son; at last he sent him to them, for he said to himself, 'They will surely respect my son.'

Should we pay it, or should we not?" Now because He saw their pretense, He said to them, "Why are you testing me so? Bring me a twenty-cent coin to look at."

David himself, Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, said: 'The Lord has said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand Until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet."'

So you must be on the lookout for yourselves; they will turn you over to courts, and to synagogues where you will be beaten, and you must appear before governors and kings for my sake, to testify to them.

You will be hated by everybody, because you bear my name. But whoever bears up to the end will be saved.

And pray that it may not be in winter,

Earth and sky will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

so that he may not come unexpectedly and find you asleep.

But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you embarrass her? She has done a good deed to me.

For you always have the poor among you, and whenever you please you can do them good, but you will not always have me.

She has done all she could; she has beforehand perfumed my body for my burial.

and whatever house he goes into, tell the owner that the Teacher asks, 'Where is my room where I may eat the Passover supper with my disciples?'

And while they were sitting at table and eating, Jesus said, "I solemnly say to you, one of you, one who is now eating with me, is going to betray me."

He answered them, "It is one of the Twelve, the one who is dipping his bread in the dish with me.

While they were eating, He took a loaf and blessed it and broke it in pieces and gave it to them, saying, "Take this; it is my body."

Then He said to them, "This is my blood which ratifies the covenant, the blood which is to be poured out for many.

Then Jesus said to them, "You will all stumble over me, for the Scripture says, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'

Then Jesus said to him, "I solemnly say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you, yes, you, will disown me three times."

and so He said to them, "My heart is breaking, it almost kills me! You must stay here and keep watching."

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!"

You must all keep watching and praying that you may not be exposed to temptation. Man's spirit is willing but human nature is weak."

Get up, let us be going. Look! here comes my betrayer!"

And Jesus spoke and said to them, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me, as though I were a robber?

Day after day I used to be with you teaching in the temple, and you never laid hands on me. But this is so to fulfill the Scriptures."

At that moment for the second time a Cock crowed. Then Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice, you will disown me three times!" And when he remembered that, he burst into tears.

Then Pilate answered them by asking, "Do you want me to set the king of the Jews free for you?"

Then Pilate again said to them, "What then do you want me to do to the man whom you call king of the Jews?"

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 at three o'clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi! Eloi! lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God! my God! why have you forsaken me?"

And the following signs will attend those who believe: By using my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in foreign languages;