Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him: and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some, that John was risen from the dead;

and by some, that Elijah had appeared; and by others, that one of the old prophets was risen again.

Herod said, “I personally had John beheaded. Who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see Jesus.

And the apostles having turned back, declared to him how great things they did, and having taken them, he withdrew by himself to a desert place of a city called Bethsaida,

But the immense crowd, aware of this, followed Him; and receiving them kindly He proceeded to speak to them of the Kingdom of God, and those who needed to be restored to health, He cured.

Now the day began to be far spent, and the twelve came up [and] said to him, "Send away the crowd so that they can go into the surrounding villages and farms to obtain lodging and find provisions, because we are here in a desolate place.

But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.

For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.

And they did so, and made them all be seated.

then he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he ask'd blessing: then divided them, and gave them to his disciples to be distributed among the people:

And [they] all ate and were satisfied, and what was left over was picked up by them--twelve baskets of broken pieces.

And it came to pass, as he is praying alone, the disciples were with him, and he questioned them, saying, 'Who do the multitudes say me to be?'

and he said to them, 'And ye -- who do ye say me to be?' and Peter answering said, 'The Christ of God.'

But He strictly warned and admonished them not to tell this to anyone,

Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross daily [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].

For whoever would [try to] save his life [i.e., by neglecting spiritual things] will lose it [i.e., miss out on the blessings of God]. But whoever [willingly] loses his life [i.e., in commitment to God's service] for my sake, that person will save it [i.e., obtain both temporal and spiritual blessings].

For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.

But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

Now Peter and the men with him had been overcome by sleep. When they woke up, they saw Jesus' glory and the two men standing with him.

And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.

But while he was saying this, a cloud appeared and surrounded them, and they became terrified as they were being overshadowed by the cloud.

And, a voice, came out of the cloud, saying - This, is my Son, the Chosen One: Unto him, be hearkening.

And after the voice was gone they saw that Jesus was by himself. And they kept quiet, and said nothing at that time to anyone of the things which they had seen.

And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my only boy,

he is frequently seized by a spirit, which makes him immediately roar, then throws him into convulsions with foaming, and never leaves him, but with difficulty and bruises.

And Jesus answering said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you? Bring thy son hither.

And as he was yet a coming, the demon dashed him down, and tare him grievously. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

All the people continued to be amazed at the greatness of God. Indeed, everyone was astonished at all the things Jesus was doing. So he told his disciples,

Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.

Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest.

And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him,

And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.

Then [the apostle] John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone driving out evil spirits by [using] your name, so we told him not to, because he was not following [you] with us."

And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,

but Jesus turn'd, and rebuked them, saying, you don't know by what spirit you are moved.

At another time, as they were walking in the road, a man said to him, I will be your follower, wherever you go.

And he said unto another, 'Be following me;' and he said, 'Sir, permit me, having gone away, first to bury my father;'

And he said unto him - Leave, the dead, to bury their own dead; but, thou, departing, be declaring the kingdom of God.

Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord [as Your disciple]; but first let me say goodbye to those at my home.”

Jesus answered him, whoever puts his hand to the plough, and looks back, is not fit to be employ'd in the kingdom of God.

And after these things, the Lord did appoint also other seventy, and sent them by twos before his face, to every city and place whither he himself was about to come,

And he said to them, There is much grain ready to be cut, but not enough workers: so make prayer to the Lord of the grain-fields that he will send workers to get in the grain.

Go! I am sending you out like lambs surrounded by wolves.

Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.

And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.

And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.

And remain in the same house, eating and drinking {whatever they provide}, for the worker [is] worthy of his pay. Do not move from house to house.

And, into whatsoever city ye shall enter, and they bid you welcome, be eating such things as are set before you;

And be curing the sick that are, therein, and be saying unto them - The kingdom of God hath drawn nigh upon you.

Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.

A curse is on you, Chorazin! A curse is on you, Beth-saida! For if such works of power had been done in Tyre and Sidon as have been done in you, they would have been turned from their sins, in days gone by, seated in the dust.

But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you.

And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell.

So, the seventy-two disciples returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the evil spirits submitted to us in your name [i.e., by your authority]."

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Do not be glad, however, because you have power over spirits, but because your names are recorded in heaven.

On that same occasion Jesus was filled by the Holy Spirit with rapturous joy. "I give Thee fervent thanks," He exclaimed, "O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from sages and men of understanding, and hast revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for such has been Thy gracious will.

All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son is pleased to reveal him.

And having turned unto the disciples, he said, by themselves, 'Happy the eyes that are perceiving what ye perceive;

And lo! a certain lawyer, arose, putting him to the test, saying - Teacher! by doing what, shall I inherit, life age-abiding?

But he, desiring to justify himself, said, "But what is meant by my 'fellow man'?"

Jesus answered him, "A certain man was traveling down from Jerusalem to Jericho [Note: This was a town about eighteen miles northeast of Jerusalem], when he was attacked by robbers, who stripped him [of his clothing and belongings] and beat him up, then went away leaving him half dead.

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

But [then] a certain Samaritan [Note: This was a person despised by the Jews and regarded by them as a 'half-breed'], as he traveled along, came to where the [injured] man was [lying], and upon seeing him [lying there], felt deep pity [for him].

So he went to him and dressed his wounds by pouring oil and wine upon them, and then he put him on his donkey and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

and on the morrow, going forth, taking out two denaries, he gave to the innkeeper, and said to him, Be careful of him, and whatever thou mayest spend more, I, in my coming again, will give back to thee.

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

and he said, 'He who did the kindness with him,' then Jesus said to him, 'Be going on, and thou be doing in like manner.'

And it came to pass as they went that he entered into a certain village; and a certain woman, Martha by name, received him into her house.

And she had a sister, by name Mary, who took her seat at the Lord's feet and gave attention to his words.

and Martha was distracted about much serving, and having stood by him, she said, 'Sir, dost thou not care that my sister left me alone to serve? say then to her, that she may partake along with me.'

But the Lord replied to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered and anxious about so many things;

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

May we have forgiveness for our sins, as we make free all those who are in debt to us. And let us not be put to the test.

And he, from inside the house, would say in answer, Do not be a trouble to me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; it is not possible for me to get up and give to you?

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?

If, then, ye, being evil, have known good gifts to be giving to your children, how much more shall the Father who is from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those asking Him!'

But some of them said, By Beelzebub the prince of the demons casteth he out demons.

Others by way of tempting him demanded he should give them a Sign from heaven.

But he knew their thoughts, and said unto them, "Every kingdom divided within itself shall be desolate: and one house shall fall upon another.

If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.

And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.

But if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you.

Whensoever, the mighty one, armed, may be guarding his own dwelling, in peace, are his goods;

But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away all the armament the strong man relied on, and [then] divides up his storehouse of possessions. [Note: The word here translated "possessions" may be translated "arms" so the meaning could be "divides up his armament"].

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in, and make their home there; and the last state of that man proves to be worse than the first."

Now while Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed (happy, favored by God) is the womb that gave birth to You and the breasts at which You nursed!”

But He said, “On the contrary, blessed (happy, favored by God) are those who hear the word of God and continually observe it.”

And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.

The queen of the south shall be raised up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and shall condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, more than Solomon here.

The men of Nineveh will rise at the judgment with the men of this age and will condemn them, for they turned to the message preached by Jonah, and yet One who is more than Jonah is here.