"The time has fully come," He said, "and the Kingdom of God is close at hand: repent, and believe this Good News.

"Come and follow me," said Jesus, "and I will make you fishers for men."

When they found Him they said, "Every one is looking for you."

One day there came a leper to Jesus entreating Him, and pleading on his knees. "If you are willing," he said, "you are able to cleanse me."

Moved with pity Jesus reached out His hand and touched him. "I am willing," He said; "be cleansed."

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are pardoned."

"Why does this man use such words?" they said; "he is blaspheming. Who can pardon sins but One--that is, God?"

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to pardon sins" --He turned to the paralytic, and said,

The man rose, and immediately under the eyes of all took up his mat and went out, so that they were all filled with astonishment, gave the glory to God, and said, "We never saw anything like this."

And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the Toll Office, and said to him, "Follow me." So he rose and followed Him.

But when the Scribes of the Pharisee sect saw Him eating with the sinners and the tax-gatherers, they said to His disciples, "He is eating and drinking with the tax-gatherers and sinners!"

Jesus heard the words, and He said, "It is not the healthy who require a doctor, but the sick: I did not come to appeal to the righteous, but to sinners."

So the Pharisees said to Him, "Look! why are they doing what on the Sabbath is unlawful?"

And Jesus said to them: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath;

"Come forward," said He to the man with the shrivelled arm.

Grieved and indignant at the hardening of their hearts, He looked round on them with anger, and said to the man, "Stretch out your arm." He stretched it out, and the arm was completely restored.

Hearing of this, His relatives came to seize Him by force, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

The Scribes, too, who had come down from Jerusalem said, "He has Baal-zebul in him; and it is by the power of the Prince of the demons that he expels the demons."

This was because they said, "He is possessed by a foul spirit."

And, fixing His eyes on the people who were sitting round Him in a circle, He said,

Then He proceeded to teach them many lessons in figurative language; and in His teaching He said,

He also said to them, "Take care what you hear. With what measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and that with interest.

The same day, in the evening, He said to them, "Let us cross to the other side."

So He roused Himself and rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, "Silence! Be still!" The wind sank, and a perfect calm set in.

For He had said to him, "Foul spirit, come out of the man."

Jesus also questioned him. "What is your name?" He said. "Legion," he replied, "for there are a host of us."

So they besought Jesus. "Send us to the swine," they said, "so that we may enter into them."

But He would not allow it. "Go home to your family," He said, "and report to them all that the Lord has done for you, and the mercy He has shown you."

and besought Him with many entreaties. "My little daughter," he said, "is at the point of death: I pray you come and lay your hands upon her, that she may recover and live."

for she said, "If I but touch His clothes, I shall be cured."

"Daughter," He said, "your faith has cured you: go in peace, and be free from your complaint."

But Jesus, overhearing the words, said to the Warden, "Do not be afraid; only have faith."

But Jesus said to them, "There is no Prophet without honour except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own home."

but to go wearing sandals. "And do not," He said, "put on an extra under garment.

Others asserted that He was Elijah. Others again said, "He is a Prophet, like one of the great Prophets."

But when Herod heard of Him, he said, "The John, whom I beheaded, has come back to life."

at which Herodias's own daughter came in and danced, and so charmed Herod and his guests that he said to her, "Ask me for anything you please, and I will give it to you."

She at once went out and said to her mother: "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptizer," she replied.

The girl immediately came in, in haste, to the King and made her request. "My desire is," she said, "that you will give me, here and now, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist."

Then He said to them, "Come away, all of you, to a quiet place, and rest awhile." For there were many coming and going, so that they had no time even for meals.

By this time it was late; so His disciples came to Him, and said, "This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late:

"How many loaves have you?" He inquired; "go and see." So they found out, and said, "Five; and a couple of fish."

for they all saw Him and were terrified. He, however, immediately spoke to them. "There is no danger," He said; "it is I; be not alarmed."

For Moses said, 'Honour thy father and thy mother' and again, 'He who curses father or mother, let him die the death.'

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

"Let the children first eat all they want," He said; "it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

and looking up to Heaven He sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" (that is, "Open!")

"My heart yearns over the people," He said; "for this is now the third day they have remained with me, and they have nothing to eat.

"How many loaves have you?" He asked. "Seven," they said.

Heaving a deep and troubled sigh, He said, "Why do the men of to-day ask for a sign? In solemn truth I tell you that no sign will be given to the men of to-day."

He perceived what they were saying, and He said to them, "What is this discussion of yours about having no bread? Do you not yet see and understand? Are your minds so dull of comprehension?

When I broke up the five loaves for the 5,000 men, how many baskets did you carry away full of broken portions?" "Twelve," they said.

"Do you not yet understand?" He said.

He looked up and said, "I can see the people: I see them like trees--only walking."

But turning round and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Adversary," He said, "for your thoughts are not God's thoughts, but men's."

Then calling to Him the crowd and also His disciples, He said to them, "If any one is desirous of following me, let him ignore self and take up his cross, and so be my follower.

when Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we are thankful to you that we are here. Let us put up three tents--one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

Then Jesus asked the father, "How long has he been like this?" "From early childhood," he said;

Then Jesus, seeing that an increasing crowd was running towards Him, rebuked the foul spirit, and said to it, "Dumb and deaf spirit, *I* command you, come out of him and never enter into him again."

So with a loud cry he threw the boy into fit after fit, and came out. The boy looked as if he were dead, so that most of them said he was dead;

Then sitting down He called the Twelve, and said to them, "If any one wishes to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all."

And taking a young child He made him stand in their midst, then threw His arms round him and said,

"Rabbi," said John to Him, "we saw a man making use of your name to expel demons, and we tried to hinder him, on the ground that he did not follow us."

"Moses," they said, "permitted a man to draw up a written notice of divorce, and to send his wife away."

"It was in consideration of your stubborn hearts," said Jesus, "that Moses enacted this law for you;

Jesus, however, on seeing this, was moved to indignation, and said to them, "Let the little children come to me: do not hinder them; for to those who are childlike the Kingdom of God belongs.

Then Jesus looked at him and loved him, and said, "One thing is lacking in you: go, sell all you possess and give the proceeds to the poor, and you shall have riches in Heaven; and come and be a follower of mine."

Then looking round on His disciples Jesus said, "With how hard a struggle will the possessors of riches enter the Kingdom of God!"

The disciples were amazed at His words. Jesus, however, said again, "Children, how hard a struggle is it for those who trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of God!

They were astonished beyond measure, and said to one another, "Who then *can* be saved?"

Jesus looking on them said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for everything is possible with God."

"Remember," said Peter to Him, "that we forsook everything and have become your followers."

"See," He said, "we are going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the High Priests and the Scribes. They will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles;

Then James and John, the sons of Zabdi, came up to Him and said, "Rabbi, we wish you would grant us whatever request we make of you."

"You know not," said He, "what you are asking. Are you able to drink out of the cup from which I am to drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am to be baptized?"

"We are able," they replied. "Out of the cup," said Jesus, "from which I am to drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I am to be baptized you shall be baptized;

Jesus, however, called them to Him and said to them, "You are aware how those who are deemed rulers among the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men make them feel their authority;

Then Jesus stood still. "Call him," He said. So they called the blind man. "Cheer up," they said; "rise, he is calling you."

"What shall I do for you?" said Jesus. "Rabboni," replied the blind man, "let me recover my sight."

"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has cured you." Instantly he regained his sight, and followed Him along the road.

"Go," He said, "to the village facing you, and immediately on entering it you will find an ass's foal tied up which no one has ever yet ridden: untie him and bring him here.

and He said to the tree, "Let no one ever again eat fruit from thee!" And His disciples heard this.

And He remonstrated with them. "Is it not written," He said, "'My House shall be called The House of Prayer for all the nations?' But you have made it what it now is--a robbers' cave."

and Peter, recollecting, said to Him, "Look, Rabbi, the fig-tree which you cursed is withered up."

Jesus said to them, "Have faith in God.

So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." "Nor do I tell you," said Jesus, "by what authority I do these things."

Then He began to speak to them in figurative language. "There was once a man," He said, "who planted a vineyard, fenced it round, dug a pit for the wine-tank, and built a strong lodge. Then he let the place to vine-dressers and went abroad.

"But those men--the vine-dressers--said to one another, "'Here is the heir: come, let us kill him, and then the property will one day be ours.'

What, therefore, will the owner of the vineyard do?" "He will come and put the vine-dressers to death," they said; "and will give the vineyard to others."

So they came to Him. "Rabbi," they said, "we know that you are a truthful man and you do not fear any one; for you do not recognize human distinctions, but teach God's way truly. Is it allowable to pay poll-tax to Caesar, or not?

"Rabbi," they said, "Moses made it a law for us: 'If a man's brother should die and leave a wife, but no child, the man shall marry the widow and raise up a family for his brother.'

But as to the dead, that they rise to life, have you never read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the Bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?'

So the Scribe said to Him, "Rightly, in very truth, Rabbi, have you said that He stands alone, and there is none but He;

Perceiving that the Scribe had answered wisely Jesus said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." No one from that time forward ventured to put any question to Him.

David himself said, taught by the Holy Spirit, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I have made thy foes a footstool under thy feet.'

Moreover in the course of His teaching He said, "Be on your guard against the Scribes who like to walk about in long robes and to be bowed to in places of public resort,

So He called His disciples to Him and said, "In solemn truth I tell you that this widow, poor as she is, has thrown in more than all the other contributors to the Treasury;

But they said, "Not on the Festival-day, for fear there should be a riot among the people."

But there were some who said indignantly among themselves, "Why has the ointment been thus wasted?

But Jesus said, "Leave her alone: why are you troubling her? She has done a most gracious act towards me.