Then Simeon blessed them and told Mary, his mother, "This infant is destined to cause many in Israel to fall and rise. Also, he will be a sign that will be opposed.

Meanwhile, Jesus kept on growing wiser and more mature, and in favor with God and his fellow man.

Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled. The crooked ways will be made straight, and the rough roads will be made smooth.

John would say to the crowds that were coming out to be baptized by him, "You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus' knees and said, "Leave me, Lord! I am a sinful man!" -

One day, while Jesus was in one of the cities, a man covered with leprosy saw Jesus and fell on his face, begging him, "Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean."

After that, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax collector's desk. He told him, "Follow me!"

How terrible it will be for you who are full now, because you will be hungry! How terrible it will be for you who are laughing now, because you will mourn and cry!

He also told them a parable: "One blind person can't lead another blind person, can he? Both will fall into a ditch, won't they?

"Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, were trampled on, and birds from the sky ate them up.

Others fell on stony ground, and as soon as they came up, they dried up because they had no moisture.

Others fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes grew with them and choked them.

But others fell on good soil, and when they came up, they produced 100 times as much as was planted." As he said this, he called out, "Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!"

The ones on the stony ground are the people who joyfully welcome the word when they hear it. But since they don't have any roots, they believe for a while, but in a time of testing they fall away.

The ones that fell among the thorn bushes are the people who listen, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries, wealth, and pleasures of life, and their fruit doesn't mature.

Now as they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep. A violent storm swept over the lake, and they were taking on water and were in great danger.

When he saw Jesus, he screamed, fell down in front of him, and cried out in a loud voice, "What do you want from me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torture me!"

Just then a synagogue leader by the name of Jairus arrived. He fell at Jesus' feet and kept begging him to come to his home,

Then he told all of them, "If anyone wants to come with me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross every day, and follow me continuously,

While they were walking along the road, a man told him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

He told another man, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

Still another man said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to those at home."

After careful consideration, Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of bandits. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.

"Of these three men, who do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the bandits?"

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light. But when it's evil, your body is full of darkness.

Now if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays."

But the Lord told him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but on the inside you are full of greed and evil.

But God told him, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you. Now who will get the things you've accumulated?'

What about those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem?

Then the master told the servant, "Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full.

Whoever doesn't carry his cross and follow me can't be my disciple.

He was always trying to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs used to come and lick his sores.

He fell on his face at Jesus' feet and thanked him. Now that man was a Samaritan.

When Jesus heard this, he told him, "You still need to do one thing. Sell everything you have and give the money to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me."

Immediately the man could see again and began to follow Jesus, glorifying God. All the people saw this and gave praise to God.

But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation to follow him and to announce, "We don't want this man to rule over us!'

He said, "Be careful that you are not deceived, because many will come in my name and say, "I AM' and, "The time has come.' Don't follow them.

Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, those inside the city must leave it, and those in the countryside must not go into it,

They will fall by the edge of the sword and be carried off as captives among all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the unbelievers until the times of the unbelievers are fulfilled."

He told them, "Just after you go into the city, a man carrying a jug of water will meet you. Follow him into the house he enters

but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail. When you have come back, you must strengthen your brothers."

Then people will begin to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!', and to the hills, "Cover us up!'