As it is written in Isaiah the Prophet, "See, I am sending My messenger before Thee, Who will prepare Thy way";

"What have you to do with us, Jesus the Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--God's Holy One."

When it was evening, after sunset people came bringing Him all who were sick and the demoniacs;

Then He cured numbers of people who were ill with various diseases, and He drove out many demons; not allowing the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

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

When He was sitting at table in Levi's house, a large number of tax-gatherers and notorious sinners were at table with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many such who habitually followed Him.

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."

For He had cured many of the people, so that all who had any ailments pressed upon Him, to touch Him.

But He many a time checked them, forbidding them to say who He was.

Then He went up the hill; and those whom He Himself chose He called, and they came to Him.

These twelve were Simon (to whom He gave the surname of Peter)

and Judas Iscariot, the man who also betrayed Him.

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."

"Who are my mother and my brothers?" He replied.

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

"Here are my mother and my brothers. For wherever there is one who has been obedient to God, there is my brother--my sister--and my mother."

"Listen," He added, "every one who has ears to listen with!"

When He was alone, the Twelve and the others who were about Him requested Him to explain His figurative language.

Those who receive the seed by the way-side are those in whom the Message is sown, but, when they have heard it, Satan comes at once and carries away the Message sown in them.

In the same way those who receive the seed on the rocky places are those who, when they have heard the Message, at once accept it joyfully,

Others there are who receive the seed among the thorns: these are they who have heard the Message,

Those, on the other hand, who have received the seed on the good ground, are all who hear the Message and welcome it, and yield a return of thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold."

Listen, every one who has ears to listen with!"

For those who have will have more given them; and from those who have not, even what they have will be taken away."

Then they were filled with terror, and began to say to one another, "Who is this, then? For even wind and sea obey Him."

and when they came to Jesus, they beheld the demoniac quietly seated, clothed and of sane mind--the man who had had the legion; and they were awe-stricken.

And those who had seen it told them the particulars of what had happened to the demoniac, and all about the swine.

As He was embarking, the man who had been possessed asked permission to accompany Him.

when there came one of the Wardens of the Synagogue--he was called Jair--who, on beholding Him, threw himself at His feet,

Now a woman who for twelve years had suffered from haemorrhage,

Immediately Jesus, well knowing that healing power had gone from within Him, turned round in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

"You see the multitude pressing you on all sides," His disciples exclaimed, "and yet you ask, 'Who touched me?'"

But He continued looking about to see the person who had done this,

And He could not do any miracle there, except that He laid His hands on a few who were out of health and cured them; and

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

and brought his head on a dish and gave it to the young girl, who gave it to her mother.

Those who ate the bread were 5,000 adult men.

Then the Pharisees, with certain Scribes who had come from Jerusalem, came to Him in a body.

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

Here they brought to Him a deaf man that stammered, on whom they begged Him to lay His hands.

From that place Jesus and His disciples went to the villages belonging to Caesarea Philippi. On the way He began to ask His disciples, "Who do people say that I am?"

Then He asked them pointedly, "But you yourselves, who do you say that I am?" "You are the Christ," answered Peter.

For whoever is bent on securing his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News, will secure it.

Every one, however, who has been ashamed of me and of my teachings in this faithless and sinful age, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in His Father's glory with the holy angels."

He went on to say, "In solemn truth I tell you that some of those who are standing here will certainly not taste death till they have seen the Kingdom of God already come in power."

"'If I possibly can!'" replied Jesus; "why, everything is possible to him who believes."

But they remained silent; for on the way they had debated with one another who was the chief of them.

"Whoever for my sake receives one such young child as this, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not so much me as Him who sent me."

"You should not have tried to hinder him," replied Jesus, "for there is no one who will use my name to perform a miracle and be able the next minute to speak evil of me.

He who is not against us is for us;

"And whoever shall occasion the fall of one of these little ones who believe, he would be better off if, with a millstone round his neck, he were lying at the bottom of the sea.

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.

In solemn truth I tell you that no one who does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will by any possibility enter it."

As He went out to resume His journey, there came a man running up to Him, who knelt at His feet and asked, "Good Rabbi, what am I to do in order to inherit the Life of the Ages?"

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?"

"In solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that there is no one who has forsaken house or brothers or sisters, or mother or father, or children or lands, for my sake and for the sake of the Good News,

But many who are now first will be last, and the last, first."

but as to sitting at my right hand or at my left, that is not mine to give: it will be for those for whom it is reserved."

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;

while those who led the way and those who followed kept shouting "God save Him!" Blessed be He who comes in the Lord's name.

and asked, "By what authority are you doing these things? and who gave you authority to do them?"

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.

He had still one left whom he could send, a dearly-loved son: him last of all he sent, saying, "'They will treat my son with respect.'

There were once seven brothers, the eldest of whom married a wife, but at his death left no family.

Then one of the Scribes, who had heard them disputing and well knew that Jesus had given them an answer to the point, and a forcible one, came forward and asked Him, "Which is the chief of all the Commandments?"

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,

and who swallow up the property of widows and then mask their wickedness by making long prayers: these men will receive far heavier punishment."

When however they are marching you along under arrest, do not be anxious beforehand about what you are to say, but speak what is given you when the time comes; for it will not be you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

You will be objects of universal hatred because you are called by my name, but those who stand firm to the End will be saved.

let him who is on the roof not come down and enter the house to fetch anything out of it;

and let not him who is in the field turn back to pick up his outer garment.

And alas for the women who at that time are with child or have infants!

and but for the fact that the Lord has cut short those days, no one would escape; but for the sake of His own People whom He has chosen for Himself He has cut short the days.

It is like a man living abroad who has left his house, and given the management to his servants--to each one his special duty--and has ordered the porter to keep awake.

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

And while they were at table Jesus said, "I solemnly tell you that one of you will betray me--one who is eating with me."

"It is one of the Twelve," He replied; "he who is dipping his fingers in the dish with me.

For the Son of Man is going His way as it is written about Him; but alas for the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It had been a happy thing for that man, had he never been born."

But one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck a blow at the High Priest's servant, cutting off his ear.

Now at the Festival it was customary for Pilate to release to the Jews any one prisoner whom they might beg off from punishment;

and at this time a man named Barabbas was in prison among the insurgents--persons who in the insurrection had committed murder.

And all the passers-by reviled Him. They shook their heads at Him and said, "Ah! you who were for destroying the Sanctuary and building a new one in three days,

This Christ, the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Even the men who were being crucified with Him heaped insults on Him.

And when the Centurion who stood in front of the cross saw that He was dead, he exclaimed, "This man was indeed God's Son."

all of whom in the Galilaean days had habitually been with Him and cared for Him, as well as many other women who had come up to Jerusalem with Him.

Joseph of Arimathaea came, a highly respected member of the Council, who himself also was living in expectation of the Kingdom of God. He summoned up courage to go in to see Pilate and beg for the body of Jesus.

and they were saying to one another, 'Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?"

But he said to them, "Do not be terrified. It is Jesus you are looking for--the Nazarene who has been crucified. He has come back to life: He is not here: this is the place where they laid Him.

But He rose to life early on the first day of the week, and appeared first to Mary of Magdala from whom He had expelled seven demons.

She went and brought the tidings to those who had been with Him, as they were mourning and weeping.

Later still He showed Himself to the Eleven themselves whilst they were at table, and He upbraided them with their unbelief and obstinacy in not having believed those who had seen Him alive.

He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who disbelieves will be condemned.

And signs shall attend those who believe, even such as these. By making use of my name they shall expel demons. They shall speak new languages.