But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit.

And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

Then the tempter approached Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.”

Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these!

For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock.

But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

As He was telling them these things, suddenly one of the leaders came and knelt down before Him, saying, “My daughter is near death, but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.”

These are the names of the 12 apostles:

First, Simon, who is called Peter,
and Andrew his brother;
James the son of Zebedee,
and John his brother;

Jesus sent out these 12 after giving them instructions: “Don’t take the road leading to other nations, and don’t enter any Samaritan town.

And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple—I assure you: He will never lose his reward!”

As these men went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to infants.

Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables, and He would not speak anything to them without a parable,

the field is the world; and the good seed—these are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,

“Have you understood all these things?”

“Yes,” they told Him.

When Jesus had finished these parables, He left there.

He went to His hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “How did this wisdom and these miracles come to Him?

And His sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does He get all these things?”

These people honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.

These are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

“But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea!

“See that you don’t look down on one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of My Father in heaven.

In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

“I have kept all these,” the young man told Him. “What do I still lack?”

‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the burning heat!’

“What do you want?” He asked her.

“Promise,” she said to Him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right and the other on Your left, in Your kingdom.”

and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus told them. “Have you never read:

You have prepared praise
from the mouths of children and nursing infants?”

When He entered the temple complex, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority?”

Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for Me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.

I assure you: All these things will come on this generation!

Then He replied to them, “Don’t you see all these things? I assure you: Not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down!”

While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet.

All these events are the beginning of birth pains.

In the same way, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near—at the door!

I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.

“And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

“Then He will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.’

The high priest then stood up and said to Him, “Don’t You have an answer to what these men are testifying against You?”

Right away Jesus understood in His spirit that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?

These are the ones along the path where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.

And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy.

Others are sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word,

He would speak the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand.

When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things?” they said. “What is this wisdom given to Him, and how are these miracles performed by His hands?

He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:

These people honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.

All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

His disciples answered Him, “Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to fill these people?”

They also had a few small fish, and when He had blessed them, He said these were to be served as well.

“But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

When Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me. Don’t stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

He said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.”

and asked Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority to do these things?”

Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

“The second is: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”

They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher punishment.”

Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down!”

“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to take place?”

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed; these things must take place, but the end is not yet.

For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that He is near—at the door!

I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place.

Then the high priest stood up before them all and questioned Jesus, “Don’t You have an answer to what these men are testifying against You?”

And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;

Now listen! You will become silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and kept herself in seclusion for five months. She said,

“The Lord has done this for me. He has looked with favor in these days to take away my disgrace among the people.”

Fear came on all those who lived around them, and all these things were being talked about throughout the hill country of Judea.

But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.

Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. His mother kept all these things in her heart.

Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

Then John’s disciples told him about all these things. So John summoned two of his disciples

And the seed on the rock are those who, when they hear, welcome the word with joy. Having no root, these believe for a while and depart in a time of testing.

As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.

But the seed in the good ground—these are the ones who, having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it and by enduring, bear fruit.

“You give them something to eat,” He told them.

“We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

About eight days after these words, He took along Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.

“Let these words sink in: The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”

In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure.

“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

As He was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “The womb that bore You and the one who nursed You are blessed!”

“But woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God. These things you should have done without neglecting the others.

One of the experts in the law answered Him, “Teacher, when You say these things You insult us too.”

Then He said: “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, yet you yourselves don’t touch these burdens with one of your fingers.

In these circumstances, a crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling on one another. He began to say to His disciples first: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

“Consider how the wildflowers grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these!

For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

“But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided for you.

And He responded to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all Galileans because they suffered these things?

When He had said these things, all His adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things He was doing.

When one of those who reclined at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed!”

“So the slave came back and reported these things to his master. Then in anger, the master of the house told his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame!’