But the Pharisees and the scribes kept complaining, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Then Jesus said, "A man had two sons.

"Then he came to his senses and said, "How many of my father's hired men have more food than they can eat, and here I am starving to death!

I don't deserve to be called your son anymore. Treat me like one of your hired men."'

But this son of yours spent your money on prostitutes, and when he came back, you killed the fattened calf for him!'

Now Jesus was saying to the disciples, "A rich man had a servant manager who was accused of wasting his assets.

The man replied, "A hundred jars of olive oil.' The manager told him, "Get your bill. Sit down quickly and write "50."'

Then he asked another debtor, "How much do you owe?' The man replied, "A hundred containers of wheat.' The manager told him, "Get your bill and write "80."'

Now the Pharisees, who love money, had been listening to all this and began to ridicule Jesus.

Any man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."

"Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in great luxury every day.

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.

"One day, the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.

"The rich man said, "Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house

"But the rich man replied, "No, father Abraham! But if someone from the dead went to them, they would repent.'

"Suppose a man among you has a servant plowing or watching sheep. Would he say to him when he comes in from the field, "Come at once and have something to eat'?

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

Jesus asked, "Ten men were made clean, weren't they? Where are the other nine?

Then he told the man, "Get up, and go home! Your faith has made you well."

Then Jesus told the disciples, "The time will come during which you will long to see one of these days when the Son of Man is with you, but you will not see it.

Because just as lightning flashes and shines from one end of the sky to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his time.

"Just as it was in Noah's time, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man.

The day when the Son of Man is revealed will be like that.

I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

"Two men went up to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.

I tell you, this man, rather than the other one, went down to his home justified, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted."

The official replied, "I have kept all of these since I was a young man."

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."

Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "Pay attention! We're going up to Jerusalem. Everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled,

As Jesus was approaching Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the road begging.

Then Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him,

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

a man named Zacchaeus appeared. He was a leading tax collector, and a rich one at that!

He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he couldn't do so due to the crowd, since he was a short man.

Then Jesus told him, "Today salvation has come to this home, because this man is also a descendant of Abraham,

and the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost."

He called ten of his servants and gave them ten coins. He told them, "Invest this money until I come back.'

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!'

"After he was appointed king, the prince came back. He ordered the servants to whom he had given the money to be called so he could find out what they had earned by investing.

because I was afraid of you. You are a hard man. You withdraw what you didn't deposit and harvest what you didn't plant.'

The king told him, "I will judge you by your own words, you evil servant! You knew, did you, that I was a hard man, and that I withdraw what I didn't deposit and harvest what I didn't plant?

Then why didn't you put my money in the bank? When I returned, I could have collected it with interest.'

"So the king told those standing nearby, "Take the coin away from him and give it to the man who has the ten coins.'

But as for these enemies of mine who didn't want me to be their king bring them here and slaughter them in my presence!'"

Then he began to tell the people this parable: "A man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and went abroad for a long time.

But Jesus looked at them and asked, "What does this text mean: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone'?

So they watched him closely and sent spies who pretended to be honest men in order to trap him in what he would say. They wanted to hand him over to the jurisdiction of the governor,

and asked him, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no child, the man should marry the widow and have children for his brother.

"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and there will be distress on earth among the nations that are confused by the roaring of the sea and its waves.

Then they will see "the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory.

So be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to take your stand in the presence of the Son of Man."

They were delighted, and agreed to give him money.

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

Yet look! The hand of the man who is betraying me is with me on the table!

The Son of Man is going away, just as it has been determined, but how terrible it will be for that man by whom he is betrayed!"

While Jesus was still speaking, a crowd arrived. The man called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them, and he came close to Jesus to kiss him.

But Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"

But Jesus said, "No more of this!" So he touched the wounded man's ear and healed him.

A servant girl saw him sitting by the fire, stared at him, and said, "This man was with him, too."

A little later, a man looked at him and said, "You are one of them, too." But Peter said, "Mister, I am not!"

About an hour later, another man emphatically asserted, "This man was certainly with him, because he is a Galilean!"

Then the men who were holding Jesus in custody began to make fun of him while they beat him.

But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."

They began to accuse him, "We found this man corrupting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that he is the Messiah, a king."

Then Pilate told the high priests and crowds, "I do not find anything chargeable in this man."

When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.

and told them, "You brought this man to me as one who turns the people against the government. And here in your presence I have examined him and have found him "Not Guilty' of the charges you make against him.

Neither does Herod, because he sent him back to us! Indeed, this man has done nothing to deserve death.

But they all shouted out together, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas for us!"

(This man had been put in prison for murder and for a revolt that had taken place in the city.)

So he released the man who had been put in prison for revolt and murder the man whose release they continued to demand but he let them have their way with Jesus.

As they led Jesus away, they grabbed Simon, a man from Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and they put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

We have been condemned justly, because we are getting what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong."

When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, "This man certainly was righteous!"

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and righteous man

While they were puzzling over this, two men in dazzling robes suddenly stood beside them.

While the women remained terrified, bowing their faces to the ground, the men asked them, "Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is living?

"The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day.'"

As they came near the village where the two men were headed, Jesus acted as though he were going farther.

Then the two men began to tell what had happened on the road and how they had recognized him when he broke the bread in pieces.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

who were born, not merely in a genetic sense, nor from lust, nor from man's desire, but from the will of God.

Now those men had been sent from the Pharisees.

John answered them, "I am baptizing with water, but among you stands a man whom you do not know,

This is the one about whom I said, "After me comes a man who ranks above me, because he existed before me.'

Philip found Nathaniel and told him, "We have found the man about whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth."

Then he told him, "Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, you will see heaven standing open and the angels of God going up and coming down to the Son of Man."

Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the man in charge of the banquet." So they did.

When the man in charge of the banquet tasted the water that had become wine (without knowing where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he called for the bridegroom

Now there was a man from the Pharisees, a leader of the Jews, whose name was Nicodemus.

"No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

so they went to John and told him, "Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, the one about whom you testified look, he's baptizing, and everyone is going to him!"

It is the bridegroom who gets the bride, yet the bridegroom's friend, who merely stands by and listens for him, is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom's voice. That's why this joy of mine is now complete.

Jesus told her, "You are quite right in saying, "I don't have a husband,' because you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true."

"Come, see a man who told me everything I've ever done! Could he possibly be the Messiah?"

When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him repeatedly to come down and heal his son, because he was about to die.

Jesus told him, "Go home. Your son will live." The man believed what Jesus told him and started back home.

One particular man was there who had been ill for 38 years.

The sick man answered him, "Sir, I don't have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I'm trying to get there, someone else steps down ahead of me."