[For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]

When he began the accounting, one who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him.

And his master’s heart was moved with compassion and he released him and forgave him [canceling] the debt.

But he was unwilling and he went and had him thrown in prison until he paid back the debt.

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve [disciples] aside, and along the way He said to them,

And two blind men were sitting by the road, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David (Messiah)!”

This happened so that what was spoken by the prophet would be fulfilled, saying:

Now early in the morning, as Jesus was coming back to the city, He was hungry.

When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching and said, “By what [kind of] authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority [to exercise this power]?”

The baptism of John—from where did it come? From heaven [that is, ordained by God] or from men?” And they began debating among themselves [considering the implications of their answer], saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe John?’

“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’

“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to tenant farmers and went on a journey [to another country].

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was talking about them.

The king was enraged [when he heard this], and sent his soldiers and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

Those servants went out into the streets and gathered together all the people they could find, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests [sitting at the banquet table].

and he said, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wearing the wedding clothes [that were provided for you]?’ And the man was speechless and without excuse.

But as to the resurrection of the dead—have you not read [in the Scripture] what God said to you:

No one was able to say a word to Him in answer, nor from that day on did anyone dare to question Him again.

Jesus left the temple area and was going on His way when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to the [magnificent and massive] buildings of the temple.

While Jesus was seated on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, and said, “Tell us, when will this [destruction of the temple] take place, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end (completion, consummation) of the age?”

But understand this: If the head of the house had known what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

Now while the bridegroom was delayed, they all began to nod off, and they fell asleep.

But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! The bridegroom [is coming]! Go out to meet him.’

But while they were going away to buy oil, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut and locked.

“For it is just like a man who was about to take a journey, and he called his servants together and entrusted them with his possessions.

So I was afraid [to lose the talent], and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is your own.’

Then you ought to have put my money with the bankers, and at my return I would have received my money back with interest.

For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;

I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me [with help and ministering care]; I was in prison, and you came to Me [ignoring personal danger].’

for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;

I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me [with help and ministering care].’

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the [elegant home of the Jewish] high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

Now when Jesus was [back] in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper,

Then one of the twelve [disciples], who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests

When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.

And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee [James and John], He began to be grieved and greatly distressed.

As Jesus was still speaking, Judas [Iscariot], one of the twelve [disciples], came up accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, [who came as representatives] from the chief priests and elders of the people.

At that moment Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a robber? Day after day I used to sit in the porches and courts of the temple teaching, and you did not arrest Me.

saying, “Prophesy to us, You Christ (Messiah, Anointed); who was it that struck You?”

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came up to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.”

And when he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene.”

When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) conferred together against Jesus, [plotting how] to put Him to death [since under Roman rule they had no power to execute anyone];

When Judas, His betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was gripped with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,

Now at the feast [of the Passover] the governor was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner whom the people chose.

And at that time they were holding a notorious prisoner [guilty of insurrection and murder], called Barabbas.

For Pilate knew that it was because of jealousy that the chief priests and elders had handed Jesus over to him.

While he was seated on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous and innocent Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.”

So when Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but rather that a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands [to ceremonially cleanse himself of guilt] in the presence of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this [righteous] Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.”

And when they had crucified Him, they divided His clothes among them by casting lots.

Now from the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).

Immediately one of them ran, and took a sponge, soaked it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink.

And [at once] the veil [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split apart.

Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, they were terribly frightened and filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus.

and said, “Sir, we have remembered that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise [from the dead].’

And a great earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone [from the opening of the tomb], and sat on it.

The angel’s appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow.

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.

Now after John [the Baptist] was arrested and taken into custody, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of [the kingdom of] God,

They were completely amazed at His teaching; because He was teaching them as one having [God-given] authority, and not as the scribes.

Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out [terribly from the depths of his throat],

Now when evening came, after the sun had set [and the Sabbath Day had ended, in a steady stream] they were bringing to Him all who were sick and those who were under the power of demons,

until the whole city had gathered together at the door.

The leprosy left him immediately and he was cleansed [completely healed and restored to health].

But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news [of his healing], to such an extent that Jesus could no longer openly enter a city [where He was known], but stayed out in the unpopulated places; yet people were still coming to Him from everywhere.

Jesus returned to Capernaum, and a few days later the news went out that He was at home.

So many people gathered together that there was no longer room [for them], not even near the door; and Jesus was discussing with them the word [of God].

Then they came, bringing to Him a paralyzed man, who was being carried by four men.

As He was passing by, He saw Levi (Matthew) the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax collector’s booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk].” And he got up and followed Him [becoming His disciple, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].

When the scribes [belonging to the sect] of the Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with the sinners [including non-observant Jews] and tax collectors, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse.

One Sabbath He was walking along [with His disciples] through the grainfields, and as they went along, His disciples began picking the heads of grain.

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read [in the Scriptures] what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and his companions;

how he went into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for anyone but the priests to eat, and how he also gave it to the men who were with him?”

Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Again Jesus went into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered.

After looking around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness and arrogance of their hearts, He told the man, “Hold out your hand.” And he held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored.

and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and [from the region] beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon; a vast number of people came to Him because they were hearing about all [the things] that He was doing.

A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Look! Your mother and Your brothers are outside asking for You.”

Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea [of Galilee]. And a very large crowd gathered around Him, so He got into a boat [anchoring it a short distance out] on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.

and as he was sowing, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up.

And when the sun came up, the plant was scorched; and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away.

As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, together with the twelve [disciples], began asking Him about [the interpretation of] the parables.

And those [in the last group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation] and accept it and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much [as was sown].”

So leaving the crowd, they took Him with them, just as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him.

And a fierce windstorm began to blow, and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already being swamped.

But Jesus was in the stern, asleep [with His head] on the [sailor’s leather] cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are about to die?”

And He got up and [sternly] rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still (muzzled)!” And the wind died down [as if it had grown weary] and there was [at once] a great calm [a perfect peacefulness].

Night and day he was constantly screaming and shrieking among the tombs and on the mountains, and cutting himself with [sharp] stones.

For Jesus had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

Now there was a large herd of pigs grazing there on the mountain.

The herdsmen [tending the pigs] ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what had happened.

When Jesus had again crossed over in the boat to the other side [of the sea], a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore.

A woman [in the crowd] had [suffered from] a hemorrhage for twelve years,

and had endured much [suffering] at the hands of many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but instead had become worse.

Immediately her flow of blood was dried up; and she felt in her body [and knew without any doubt] that she was healed of her suffering.

While He was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue official’s house, saying [to Jairus], “Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher any longer?”

They began laughing [scornfully] at Him [because they knew the child was dead]. But He made them all go outside, and took along the child’s father and mother and His own [three] companions, and entered the room where the child was.