Now Jesus at once felt in His spirit that they were arguing about this, and said, "Why are you arguing to yourselves about this?

Then he got up and at once picked up his pallet, and went out before them all. The result was that they were all dumbfounded and began to praise God and say, "We have never seen anything like this before."

Then He said to them: "If you do not understand this story, how, indeed, can you understand any of my stories?

This man lived among the tombs, and no one could any longer subdue him even with a chain,

Even while He was saying this, people came from the house of the leader of the synagogue and said, "Your daughter is dead; why trouble the Teacher any longer?"

And He went into the house and said to them, "Why do you continue all this confusion and crying? The little girl is not dead but is sleeping."

King Herod heard of Him, for His name was now on everybody's lips, and people were saying that John the Baptist had risen from the dead, and that this was why such mighty powers were working in Him.

For this very Herod had sent and seized John and bound him and put him in prison, just to please Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her.

Then she rushed at once before the king, and made this request, "I want you this very minute to give me John the Baptist's head on a platter."

When it grew late, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a destitute place and it is already late.

But He answered them, "Isaiah beautifully prophesied about you hypocrites; as the Scripture says: "'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me;

Now when He had left the crowd and gone home, His disciples were asking Him the meaning of this story.

Then He said to her, "Because you have said this, go home; the demon has gone out of your daughter."

But His disciples answered Him, "Where can anyone get bread enough here in this destitute place, to give these people plenty?"

But He strictly warned them not to tell this about Him to anybody.

And without any reserve He was telling them this fact. So Peter took Him aside and began to reprove Him for it.

But He turned and glanced at His disciples and reproved Peter by saying, "Get out of my way, Satan, for this view of yours is not from God but from men!"

For whoever is ashamed of me and my teaching in this unfaithful, sinful age, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when He comes back in His Father's splendor with the holy angels."

Six days after this, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him, and led them up on a high mountain, alone by themselves. And in their presence His appearance was changed,

Then a cloud came and was circling over them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my Son, my Beloved; keep on listening to Him!"

Then He asked his father, "How long has he been like this?" He answered, "From his childhood;

He answered them, "This sort of thing can be driven out only by prayer."

But they did not understand what this statement meant, and they were afraid to ask Him.

"Whoever, as a disciple of mine, welcomes one little child like this, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not merely me but Him who sent me."

On reaching the house the disciples again asked Him about this.

His disciples were startled at this statement. But Jesus again said to them as He continued the topic, "My children, how hard it is to get into the kingdom of God!

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

who will not receive now in this life a hundred times as much in houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, but along with them persecution, and in the world to come eternal life.

but this is not to be the case among you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,

Then the high priests and the scribes heard of this, and they kept looking for some way to destroy Him, for they were afraid of Him, for everybody was swept off his feet at what He said.

I solemnly say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Get up and throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt at all in his heart, but has faith that what he says will take place, shall have it.

Then they argued with one another in this way, "If we say, 'It was from heaven,' He will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?'

But those tenants said among themselves, 'This is his heir; come on, let us kill him, and all that is coming to him will be ours.'

Have you never read this passage of Scripture: "'That stone which the builders threw away has now become the cornerstone;

This is the work of the Lord, and seems wonderful to us'?"

Then they were trying to have Him arrested, but they were afraid of the people, for they knew that He aimed this story at them. And so they left Him and went away.

And they brought Him one. Then He asked them, "Whose picture and title is this?" They answered Him, "Caesar's."

Then some Sadducees, who claim that there is no resurrection, came up to Him and asked Him this question,

Jesus said to them, "Does not this prove that you are wrong in your views, because you do not understand either the Scriptures or the power of God?

And this is the second, 'You must love your neighbor as you do yourself.' No other command is greater than these."

And He called His disciples to Him and said, "I solemnly say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all these others who have been putting money into the collection-box.

"When will all this take place? Tell us. And what will be the sign that it is about to be put into effect?"

For one nation will go to war with another, and one kingdom with another. There will be earthquakes in many places; there will be famines. But this is only the beginning of the agonies.

I solemnly say to you, the present generation will not pass away before all this takes place.

I solemnly say to you, all over the world wherever this good news is proclaimed, the deed that she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

While they were eating, He took a loaf and blessed it and broke it in pieces and gave it to them, saying, "Take this; it is my body."

Then He said to them, "This is my blood which ratifies the covenant, the blood which is to be poured out for many.

Then Jesus said to him, "I solemnly say to you, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you, yes, you, will disown me three times."

and He was saying, "Abba [which means 'Father'], anything is possible for you! Take this cup away from me! Yet, I pray, not what I want but what you want!"

Day after day I used to be with you teaching in the temple, and you never laid hands on me. But this is so to fulfill the Scriptures."

Some took the witness stand and gave this false testimony against Him:

"We ourselves have heard Him say, 'I will tear down this temple built by men's hands, and in three days I will build another, made without hands.'"

But even in this matter their testimony did not agree.

Then the high priest arose in the midst and asked Jesus, "Have you no answer to make? What about this testimony they are giving against you?"

And the waiting girl saw him there and began again to tell the bystanders, "This fellow is one of them!"

Then he commenced cursing and swearing, "I do not know this man that you are talking about."

And when the captain who stood facing him saw that He expired in this way, he said, "This man was surely God's Son!"

After this He showed Himself in a different form to two of them as they were walking along, on their way into the country.

This will bring you gladness and delight, and many will rejoice over his birth.

Then Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is far advanced in years."

The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel; I stand in the very presence of God. I have been sent to talk with you and to tell you this good news.

Now you will keep silent and be unable to talk until the day when this takes place, because you did not believe what I told you, for it will be fulfilled at the proper time."

So after this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying,

"This is what the Lord has done for me when He smiled upon me to take away my disgrace among men."

But she was agitated at what he said, and began to ponder what this greeting meant.

But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?"

And listen! your relative, Elizabeth, has herself too become pregnant, although she is old, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

Why is this privilege mine, to have the mother of my Lord come to me?

for He has smiled upon His slave in her lowly station, for from this day all ages will count me happy!

and all who heard them kept them in their hearts, and said, "What then is this child to be?" for the hand of the Lord was with him.

This, the first census, was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

And this is proof for you: You will find a baby wrapped up and lying in a manger."

Then when the angel left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has told us."

When they saw this, they informed them of the story that had been told about this child.

Then Symeon gave them his blessing, and said to Mary, the child's mother, "This child is destined to bring the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign continuously disputed --

So the crowds were asking him this question, "What then ought we to do?"

added this on top of it all, that he put John in prison.

Then the devil said to Him, "If you are God's Son, order this stone to turn to a loaf of bread."

And the devil said to Him, "I will give you all this power and all their splendor, for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.

Then He began to speak to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled here in your hearing."

He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote this proverb to me, 'Doctor, cure yourself! Do the things here in your hometown that we hear you did in Capernaum.'"

Amazement then seized them all and they continued to talk it over among themselves, and to say, "What does this message mean? For with authority and power He gives orders to foul spirits, and they come out."

But the scribes and the Pharisees began to argue, saying, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

After this He went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi in his seat at the tax-collector's desk, and He said to him, "Follow me."

Burst into joy on that day and leap for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way your forefathers used to treat the prophets.

A curse on you when everyone speaks well of you, for this is the way their forefathers used to treat the false prophets.

So they went to Jesus and continued to urge Him earnestly, saying, "He deserves that you do this for him,

For I too am under authority of others, and have soldiers under me, and I order one to go, and he goes, another to come, and he comes, my slave to do this, and he does it."

When Jesus heard this, He was astounded at him, and turning to the crowd that was following Him He said, "I tell you, I have not found, in a single case among the Jews, so great faith as this!"

This story about Him spread all over Judea and all the surrounding country.

This is the man of whom the Scripture says: "'Attention! I send my messenger on before you. He will prepare the road ahead of you.'

So to what can I compare the men of this age, and what are they like?

And turning face to face with the woman He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came to your house; you did not give me any water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair.

The men at the table began to say to themselves, "Who is this man, who even forgives sins?"

And another portion fell in rich soil and grew and yielded a crop of a hundredfold." As He said this, He exclaimed, "Let him who has ears to hear with, listen!"

His disciples were asking Him what this story meant.

This is what the story means: The seed is God's message.

So Herod said, "John I beheaded, but who can this be about whom I hear such reports?" So he was trying to see Him.

But He particularly warned, yea, even commanded, them not to tell this to anybody,

Now about eight days after Jesus said this, He took Peter, John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.