And happy is the man who finds no cause for stumbling over me."

But as they were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the desert to gaze at? A reed that is tossed to and fro by the wind?

For up to the days of John all the prophets, and even the law, prophesied about it,

"'We played the wedding march for you, but you did not dance. We sang the funeral dirge, but you did not beat your breasts.'

For John came neither eating nor drinking with others, and yet they said, 'He has a demon.'

"A curse on you, Chorazin! A curse on you, Bethsaida! For if the wonder-works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, long ago they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes.

Moreover, I tell you, on the day of judgment the punishment will be lighter for Tyre and Sidon than for you!

And you, Capernaum, are you to be exalted to heaven? No, you belong to the regions of the dead! For if the wonder-works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued until today.

But I tell you, on the day of judgment the punishment will be lighter for the land of Sodom than for you!"

At that time Jesus said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for concealing these matters from wise and learned men, and for revealing them to little children.

Put on my yoke, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls,

for the yoke I offer is easy to wear, and the load I ask is light to bear

How he went into the house of God, and they ate the sacred loaves, which it was against the law for him or his soldiers to eat, or for anyone except the priests?

For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."

And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven for it, but whoever speaks abusively against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven for it, either in this world or in the world to come.

"You must either make the tree healthy and its fruits healthy or make the tree sickly and its fruits sickly, for a tree is judged by its fruit.

You brood of vipers! How can you, wicked as you are, say anything that is good? For the mouth talks about the things that fill the heart.

So I tell you, for every worthless word that men utter they will have to give account on the day of judgment;

for it is by your words that you will be acquitted and by your words that you will be condemned."

But He answered, "Only a wicked and treacherous age is hankering for a spectacular sign, and no sign will be given it but the sign of the prophet Jonah.

For as Jonah was in the whale's stomach for three days and nights, the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth.

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

The queen of the south will rise with the leaders of this age at the judgment and condemn them, for she came from the farthest limits of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and there is more than Solomon here!

Then it says, 'I will go back to my house which I left,' and it finds it unoccupied, swept, and ready for use.

For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my mother and sister and brother."

For to anyone who has, more will be given, and his supply will overflow, but from anyone who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

For this people's soul has grown dull, and with their ears they can scarcely hear, and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they will never see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn to me, so that I may cure them!'

"But blessed are your eyes, for they are beginning to see, and your ears, for they are beginning to hear.

For I solemnly say to you, many prophets and upright men yearned to see what you are seeing, and did not see it, and to hear what you are hearing, and did not hear it.

but it takes no real root in him, and he lasts only a little while, and just as soon as suffering and persecution come for the truth's sake, he at once yields and falls.

And he said, 'No, never, for while you are gathering the wild wheat plants you might root up the good ones with them.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a pot of gold which was buried in a field, which a man found and buried again; and for joy over it he went and sold all he had and bought that field.

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a gem-dealer who was looking for beautiful pearls.

which, when it was full, the fishermen drew up on the shore, and sat down and picked out the good fish for their baskets and threw the bad away.

And so they found a cause for stumbling over Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet never fails to be honored except in his native neighborhood and in his own home." And so

For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him out of the way by putting him in prison, just to please Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,

for John had said to him, "It is not right for you to have her as wife."

Although he wanted to have him killed, he was afraid of the people, for they regarded him as a prophet.

and so passionately promised to give her anything she might ask for.

When Jesus heard it, He left there in a boat for a quiet place, to be alone. And when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him on foot from the towns.

So when He got out of the boat and saw a great crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them, and He cured their sick people.

but the boat was already a long way from shore, and was being tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them.

"Why do your disciples break the rules handed down by our forefathers? For they do not practice washing their hands when they take their meals."

But He answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you?

For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.'

But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Everything I have that might be used for helping you, is devoted to God,"

is under no obligation at all to help his parent.' So you have set aside what God has said for the sake of what has been handed down to you.

"'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me;

Then Peter said to Him, "Explain the maxim for us."

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, immorality, stealing, false witnessing, irreverent speech.

But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came up and kept begging Him, "Send her away, for she keeps on screaming after us."

Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for it is now three days they have been staying with me, and they have nothing at all left to eat, and I fear they might give out on the way home."

Those fed numbered four thousand men, besides women and children.

"It is a wicked and immoral age that is hankering for a spectacular sign, so no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah." Then He left them and went away.

Do you not understand yet? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many basketfuls you took up?

Nor the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many hamper-basketfuls you took up?

Then they understood that He meant, guard yourselves not against yeast for bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Then Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for it is not man that made this known to you, but my Father in heaven.

It was just after that that Jesus Christ for the first time clearly taught His disciples that He had to go to Jerusalem and submit to many forms of suffering at the hands of the elders, high priests, and scribes, and be killed, but be raised to life on the third day.

But He turned and said to Peter, "Get out of my way, you Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for this view of yours is not from God but from men."

For whoever wants to save his higher life will have to give up the lower life, and whoever gives up his lower life for my sake will find the higher life.

For what benefit will it be to a man, if he gains the whole world and loses his higher life? What price would a man pay to buy back his life?

For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's splendor, with His angels, and then He will pay back to everyone in accordance with what he has done.

And Peter interrupted, and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here! If you consent, I will put up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

When the disciples heard it, they fell upon their faces, for they were terribly frightened.

"Lord, do pity my son, for he has epilepsy and suffers excruciating pain, and often falls into the fire or into the water.

He answered them, "Because you have so little faith! For I solemnly say to you, if you have the faith that is living like a grain of mustard, you can say to this mountain, 'Move over from here to yonder,' and it will move over, and nothing will be impossible for you to do."

but still, that we may not influence them to do anything wrong, go down to the sea and throw over a hook. Pull in the first fish that bites, open its mouth and you will find in it a dollar. Take it and pay the tax for both of us."

and whoever welcomes one little child like this for my sake welcomes me.

A curse on the world for such influences to do wrong! For they must come, but a curse on the man from whom these influences come!

"And if your own hand or your own foot makes you do wrong, cut it off and put it out of your way. It is better for you to get into life maimed or crippled than to have both hands or both feet to be thrown into everlasting torture.

And if your own eye makes you do wrong, pluck it out and put it out of your way. It is better for you to go into life with a single eye than to have both eyes to be thrown into the pit of torture.

"Be careful not to look with scorn on a single one of these little children, for I tell you that in heaven their angels have uninterrupted access to my Father in heaven.

"What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillsides, and go and search for the one that is lost?

"Again, I tell you, if only two of you on earth agree on what they pray for, they will get it from my Father in heaven.

For wherever two or three have met as my disciples, I am right there with them."

And his master's heart was moved with pity, and he let the slave go free with his debt cancelled.

Ought you not to have shown mercy to your fellow-slave, as I too had done for you?'

And some Pharisees came up to Him, to try Him out with the question, "Is it right for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?"

and said, 'For this reason a man must leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two of them must be one!'

I tell you, whoever divorces his wife for any other cause than her unfaithfulness, and marries another woman, commits adultery."

He said to them, "It is not every man who has the capacity to carry out this saying, but it is for those to whom the capacity has been given.

For some are born incapable of marriage, and some have been made so by men, and some have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him accept it who can."

After that some little children were brought to Him, for Him to lay His hands on them and pray for them, but His disciples reproved those who brought them.

But Jesus said, "Let the little children alone, and stop preventing them from coming to me, for to such as these the kingdom of heaven belongs."

And when the young man heard that, he went away in deep distress, for he owned a great deal of property.

Jesus said to His disciples, "I solemnly say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven.

Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven."

But Jesus looked at them and said, "This is impossible for men, but anything is possible for God."

And everyone who has given up home or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms, for my sake, will receive many times as much, and in addition will be in possession of eternal life.

"For the kingdom of heaven is like an owner of an estate who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

But Jesus answered, "You do not realize what you are asking for. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They answered, "Yes, we can."

He said to them, "You will drink the cup that I am to drink, but seats at my right and at my left are not mine to give, but they will be given to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."

just as the Son of Man has come, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life a ransom price to set many free."

And Jesus stopped and called them, and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?"

and said to them, "The Scripture says, 'My house must be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a cave for robbers."

And whatever you ask for in prayer, if you believe it, you will get it."

And when He had come into the temple, the high priests and elders of the people came up to Him while He was teaching, and asked, "What sort of authority have you for doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

Jesus answered them, "Let me too ask you just one question, and if you answer it, I will tell you what sort of authority I have for doing as I do.

But if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the people, for they all consider John a prophet."