As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See! I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way.

People from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were flocking to him, being baptized by him while they confessed their sins.

I baptized you with water, but it is he who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

While Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net into the sea because they were fishermen.

All of a sudden, there was a man in their synagogue who had an unclean spirit! He screamed,

All the people were so stunned that they kept saying to each other, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He tells even the unclean spirits what to do, and they obey him!"

In fact, the whole city gathered at the door.

He healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. However, he wouldn't allow the demons to speak because they knew who he was.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went to a deserted place and prayed there.

So the man got up, immediately picked up his mat, and went out in front of all of them. As a result, all of the people were amazed and began to glorify God as they kept on saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd kept coming to him, and he kept teaching them.

Jesus replied, "The wedding guests can't fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they can't fast.

But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day."

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will make the skins burst, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins."

I tell all of you with certainty, people will be forgiven their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter.

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

Then Jesus began to teach again beside the sea. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while the entire crowd remained beside the sea on the shore.

He began teaching them many things in parables. While he was teaching them he said,

He went on to say to them, "Pay attention to what you're hearing! You will be evaluated by the same standard with which you do your evaluating, and still more will be given to you,

because whoever has something, will have more given to him. But whoever has nothing, even what he has will be taken away."

He sleeps and gets up night and day while the seeds sprout and grow, although he doesn't know how

It's like a mustard seed planted in the ground. Although it's the smallest of all the seeds on earth,

when it's planted it comes up and becomes larger than all the garden plants. It grows such large branches that the birds in the sky can nest in its shade."

and begged him urgently, saying, "My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may get well and live."

Although she had endured a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all of her money, she had not been helped at all, but rather grew worse.

because she had been saying, "If I can just touch his robe, I will get well."

So the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came forward fearfully, fell down trembling in front of him, and told him the whole truth.

He told her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed from your illness."

While he was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue leader's home and said, "Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher anymore?"

He entered the house and asked them, "Why all this confusion and crying? The child isn't dead. She's sleeping."

They laughed and laughed at him. But when he had driven all of them outside, he took the child's father and mother, along with the men who were with him, and went into the room where the child was.

When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were utterly amazed. "Where did this man get all these things?" they asked. "What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What great miracles are being done by his hands!

If any place will not welcome you and the people refuse to listen to you, when you leave, shake its dust off your feet as a testimony against them."

They also kept driving out many demons and anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.

King Herod heard about this, because Jesus' name had become well-known. He was saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead! That's why he is able to do these miracles."

He told them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while," because so many people were coming and going that they didn't even have time to eat.

But when many people saw them leave and recognized them, they hurried on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.

Then he ordered them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

All of them ate and were filled.

Jesus immediately had his disciples get into a boat and cross to Bethsaida ahead of him, while he sent the crowd away.

When evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, while he was alone on the land.

All of them saw him and were terrified. Immediately he told them, "Have courage! It's me. Stop being afraid!"

They ran all over the countryside and began carrying the sick on their mats to any place where they heard he was.

(The Pharisees and indeed all the Jewish people don't eat unless they wash their hands properly, following the tradition of their elders.

Then he called to the crowd again and told them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand!

Because it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then into the sewer, thereby expelling all foods."

because it's from within, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come, as well as sexual immorality, stealing, murder,

All these things come from inside and make a person unclean."

Amazed beyond measure, they kept on saying, "He does everything well! He even makes deaf people hear and mute people talk!"

Then he told them, "I tell all of you with certainty, some people standing here will not experience death until they see the kingdom of God arrive with power."

He sighed deeply in his spirit and remarked, "Why do those living today demand a sign? I tell all of you with certainty, no sign will be given to this generation."

because whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.

What profit will a person have if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes with the holy angels in his Father's glory."

He told them, "Elijah is indeed coming first and will restore all things. Why, then, is it written that the Son of Man must suffer a great deal and be treated shamefully?

The whole crowd was very surprised to see Jesus and ran to welcome him.

because he was teaching his disciples, "The Son of Man will be betrayed into human hands. They will kill him, but after being dead for three days he will be raised."

Then they came to Capernaum. While Jesus was at home, he asked the disciples, "What were you arguing about on the road?"

So he sat down, called the Twelve, and told them, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all."

I tell all of you with certainty, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to the Messiah will never lose his reward."

Because everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt.

That's why "a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife,

and the two will become one flesh.' So they're no longer two, but one flesh.

I tell all of you with certainty, whoever doesn't receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it."

The man replied to him, "Teacher, I have obeyed all of these since I was a young man."

Jesus looked at him and loved him. Then he told him, "You're missing one thing. Go and sell everything you own, give the money to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me."

Then Jesus looked around and told his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!"

Jesus looked at them intently and said, "For humans it's impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God."

Jesus said, "I tell all of you with certainty, there is no one who has left his home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or fields because of me and the gospel

who will not receive a hundred times as much here in this world homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields, along with persecution as well as eternal life in the age to come.

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

Once again, Jesus took the Twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. "Pay attention! We're going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and the scribes, and they'll condemn him to death. Then they'll hand him over to the unbelievers,

Jesus told them, "You will drink from the cup that I'm going to drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I'm going to be baptized. But it's not up to me to grant you a seat at my right or my left. Those positions have already been prepared for others."

Jesus told him, "Go. Your faith has made you well." At once the man could see again, and he began to follow Jesus down the road.

and told them, "Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you go into it, you will find a colt tied up that no one has ever ridden. Untie it, and bring it along.

If anyone asks you, "Why are you doing this?,' say, "The Lord needs it,' and he will send it back here at once."

So they went and found the colt outside in the street tied up next to a doorway. While they were untying it,

Many people spread their coats on the road, while others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields.

Then he began to teach them: "It is written, is it not, "My house is to be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you've turned it into a hideout for bandits!"

When the high priests and elders heard this, they began to look for a way to kill him, because they were afraid of him, since the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

While they were walking along early the next morning, they saw the fig tree dried up to its roots.

I tell all of you with certainty, if anyone says to this mountain, "Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' if he doesn't doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

That is why I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.

"Whenever you stand up to pray, forgive whatever you have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins.

But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins."

Then they went into Jerusalem again. While Jesus was walking in the Temple, the high priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him

Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went abroad.

He still had one more person to send, a son whom he loved. Finally, he sent him to them, saying, "They will respect my son.'

But those farmers told one another, "This is the heir. Come on, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!'

"Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, execute the farmers, and give the vineyard to others.

None of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died, too.

In the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since all seven had married her?"

Then one of the scribes came near and heard the Sadducees arguing with one another. He saw how well Jesus answered them, so he asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of them all?"

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

Then the scribe told him, "Well said, Teacher! You have told the truth that "God is one, and there is no other besides him.'

To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices."

While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked, "How can the scribes say that the Messiah is David's son?

They devour widows' houses and say long prayers to cover it up. They will receive greater condemnation!"

He called his disciples and told them, "I tell all of you with certainty, this destitute widow has dropped in more than everyone who is contributing to the offering box,