And He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place.

Now King Herod heard about this [i.e., what Jesus was doing] because His name had become well known. He said, "John the Immerser has risen from the dead and it is his powers that are at work in Jesus."

But others said, "He is [the prophet] Elijah" [while] others said, "He is a prophet like one of the prophets [of old]."

But when King Herod heard [about Jesus], he said, "John, whom I [had] decapitated, has risen."

For John had said to Herod, "It is unlawful for you to marry your brother's wife."

And when Herodias' daughter [Note: According to Josephus her name was Salome] came in and danced [in front of them, sensually], she pleased Herod and his party guests so much that the king said to the young woman, "Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you."

So, she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" And her mother said, " [Ask for] the head of John the Immerser."

At once she hurried in to the king and said, "I would like you to give me the head of John the Immerser on a [large] platter right away."

He said to them, "You men, leave here and go to a deserted place and rest for awhile." For there were so many people coming and going [i.e., to listen to preaching, receive healing, etc.], that they had no opportunity even to eat.

And when the day was nearly over His disciples came to Him and said, "This place is deserted and the day is almost over;

And He said to them, "How many loaves [of bread] do you have? Go and see." And when had found out, they said, "Five [barley] loaves [See John 6:9] and two [probably smoked] fish."

becoming [very] frightened when they saw Him. But He immediately spoke to them and said, "Take courage, and do not be afraid, it is I."

And He said to them, "You are good at rejecting the commandment of God so you can keep your traditions.

For Moses said, [Ex. 20:12] 'Give honor to your father and mother,' and [Ex. 21:17 says], 'Whoever says bad things about his father or mother should surely be put to death.'

Then He called the crowd to Him again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand [what I am saying].

He said to them, "Are you also as lacking in understanding [as the others]? Do you not understand that whatever enters a person's body from the outside cannot [spiritually] corrupt him?

And He said, "Whatever proceeds out of a man's life is what [spiritually] corrupts him.

So, He said to her, "Children should be the first ones to eat until they are full, for it is not proper to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."

And He said to her, "Because you have said this, go on your way; the evil spirit has left your daughter."

and, looking up to heaven, He sighed and said, "Ephphatha," which means, "Be opened."

In those days, when a large crowd again assembled [i.e., to listen to Jesus' teaching] and did not have anything to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them,

Then He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, "Why does this generation of people look for a [supernatural] sign? Truly I tell you, there will not be any [supernatural] sign given to this generation."

Jesus, being aware of what they were thinking, said, "Why are you reasoning about not having any bread? Have you not yet perceived or understood? Have your hearts become insensitive?

When I divided the five loaves of bread among the five thousand persons, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you gather up?" They said to Him, "Twelve baskets full."

He again asked, "And when the seven loaves were divided among the four thousand persons, how many large basketfuls of broken pieces did you gather up?" And they said to Him, "Seven large basketfuls."

Then He said to them, "Do you not understand yet?"

The man looked up and said, " [Yes], I see people, but they look like trees walking around."

And He called the crowd to Him, along with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wants to be my follower, he should deny himself [i.e., of always having his own way] and accept his cross [i.e., his responsibilities, with all their difficulties] and then he can become my follower.

And Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, there are some people standing here who will surely not experience death until they see that God's kingdom has come in [a demonstration of] power."

And Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi [i.e., Teacher], it is good for us to be here. Let us build three small shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." [See note at Matt. 17:4]

Jesus said to them, "You generation of faithless people How long must I be with you [i.e., before you understand]? How long do I have to be patient with you? Bring the sick boy to me."

And Jesus said to him, "'If you can.' [Note: By repeating the man's words Jesus seems to be saying, "You mean, if YOU can believe"]. Everything is possible to the person who believes [it can happen]."

So, He sat down and called the twelve apostles and said to them, "If anyone [of you] should [try to] be first [in importance] he will [end up] being last, and become the servant of all [the others].

And He took a little child and placed it in front of them, and lifting the child up into His arms, He said to them,

[Then] John [the apostle] said to Him, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out evil spirits by using your name, so we told him to stop doing it, because he was not following [You] with us."

But Jesus said, "Do not try to stop him, for there is not anyone who performs a supernatural deed using my name who will be able to quickly say something bad about me.

But Jesus said to them, "He wrote you this commandment [only] because of the rebellious spirit of you [Jews].

And He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another [woman] commits sexual unfaithfulness [toward her].

But when Jesus saw it, He was moved with [righteous] indignation, and said to them, "Allow these little children to come to me and stop trying to prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such [humble ones. See Matt. 18:4].

And Jesus looked at him, and filled with love, said to him, "There is one thing you [still] lack. Go and sell your possessions and give [the money] to poor people; become my follower, then you will have treasure in heaven."

Then Jesus looked around Him and said to His disciples, "How difficult it is for rich people to enter the kingdom of God "

And His disciples were amazed at what He said. But Jesus spoke to them again and said, "How difficult it is [for anyone] to enter the kingdom of God

And they were utterly amazed and said to Him, "Then who can [possibly] be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said, "This would be impossible with men, but not with God, for everything is possible with God."

Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, no one who has left his house, or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children or property for my sake and the Gospel's sake [i.e., to become a servant of the Lord],

He said, "Look, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of man will be turned over to the leading priests and experts in the law of Moses. They will condemn Him to death and turn Him over to the [unconverted] Gentiles.

Now James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over to Jesus and said to Him, "We would like you to do for us whatever we ask you."

And He said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?"

But Jesus said to them, "You [really] do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup [i.e., of suffering] that I will drink? Or [are you able] to be immersed with the immersion that I am [to be] immersed with?" [i.e., to be overwhelmed with agony].

And they said to Him, " [Yes], we are able to." And Jesus said to them, "The cup [of suffering] that I [will] drink, you [also] will drink. And the immersion [with agony] with which I am [to be] immersed, you [also] will be immersed.

Jesus called them [i.e., probably all twelve apostles] to Him and said, "You are aware that those who are regarded as rulers among the [unconverted] Gentiles lord it over their own people, and their important men domineer over them [as well].

So, Jesus stopped and said, "Call that man [to me]." Then the crowd called the blind man, saying to him, "Cheer up, Jesus is calling you."

Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man answered, "Rabboni [i.e., Teacher], I want to have my sight restored."

And Jesus said to him, "Go on your way, your faith [in me] has made you well." And immediately his sight was restored, and he began following Jesus along the road.

Some bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying that colt?"

Therefore, He said to the tree, "From now on no one will ever eat fruit from you." Now His disciples heard Him say this.

Then Peter remembered [what Jesus had done to the fig tree on a recent occasion], and said to Him, "Rabbi [i.e., Teacher], look, the fig tree you cursed [the other day] has withered up."

Truly I tell you, whoever will say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the ocean' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he said will happen, he will have his request granted.

and said, "By what authority are you doing these things [i.e., miracles and teaching]? Or who gave you the authority to do these things?"

So, they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know [where John got his authority to immerse]." Jesus replied to them, " [Then] neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things [i.e., miracles and teaching]."

But the tenant farmers said to one another, 'This is the heir [to the vineyard]. Come on, let us kill him and then the inheritance will be ours.'

Then the Pharisees sent certain ones of their number [See Matt. 22:15-16] along with the Herodians [Note: This refers to members of a political party favoring King Herod] to attempt to trap Him by what He said.

And when they arrived, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and [that you] do not care for [i.e., do not fear or give in to] anyone. For you do not allow [the position of] any person to influence you, but teach the truth about God's way. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?

Should we pay it, or should we not pay it?" But Jesus was aware of their hypocrisy and said to them, "Bring me the coin so I can see it." [Note: The amount of this coin was equivalent to one day of a farm laborer's pay, or about $60-$84 in 1994].

So, they brought it to Him and He said to them, "Whose image and inscription [are on this coin]?" And they answered Him, "Caesar's."

or, to the people (See Luke 20:9)] by using parables. He said, "A man planted a vineyard and built a fence around it. He dug a place for constructing a grape squeezing device, built a [lookout] tower [near it], then leased it out to tenant farmers and went to another country.

Jesus said to them, "Is not this the reason that you are [so] mistaken, that you do not know [what] the Scriptures [teach] or [how much] power God has?

The expert in the law of Moses said to Jesus, "Truly, Teacher, you are right in saying that God is [the only] one and that there is no other God but Him.

When Jesus saw that this man answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not [very] far from the kingdom of God." And after that, no one dared to ask Him any more questions.

[It was] David himself [who] said by [inspiration of] the Holy Spirit [Psa. 110:1], 'The Lord [i.e., God] said to my [i.e., David's] Lord [i.e., Jesus], sit at my right side until I make your enemies the footrest [i.e., in subjection] under your feet.'

In His teaching Jesus said, "Look out for the experts in the law of Moses, who like to walk around in long [flowing] robes and to receive special greetings at the open shopping markets

Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has thrown in more than all the rest who are throwing [money] into the treasury.

As Jesus left the Temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, look at the kind of stones these buildings are made of "

But Jesus said, "Let her alone. Why are you bothering this woman? For she has done a kind deed to me.

Now on the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread [i.e., the beginning of the Passover Festival week], when they sacrificed the Passover [lamb], Jesus' disciples said to Him, "Where do you want us to go to make preparations for you to eat the Passover meal?"

As they reclined at the table to eat, [Note: See Matt. 23:6] Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will turn me over [i.e., to the Jewish leaders]; [it is the one] who is eating with me."

And they [all] began to be grieved and said to Him, one by one, "Am I the one?"

And as they were eating He took a [small] loaf of bread, and when He had asked God's blessing on it, He broke it and gave [pieces] to His disciples and said, "Take this, it is [i.e., represents] my [physical] body."

And He said to them, "This is [i.e., represents] my blood of the Agreement [i.e., between God and mankind] which is [to be] poured out for many people.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "All of you will have doubts about me, for it is written [Zech. 13:7], 'I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered everywhere.'

But Peter said to Him, "Although everyone else will have doubts [about you], I never will."

And Jesus said to him, "Truly I tell you, today, in fact this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny [knowing] me three times."

Jesus and His disciples came to a place called Gethsemene [Note: This was an olive orchard on a hillside just east of Jerusalem]. He said to His disciples, "You sit here while I [go away and] pray."

He said to them, "My soul is extremely grieved, even to the point where I could die. Stay here and be alert [i.e., in prayer]."

So, He said, "Abba, [which means] Father, everything is possible with you. Take this cup [i.e., of suffering] away from me; however, let it not be what I want but what you want for me."

And when He came back and found His disciples sleeping He said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not stay alert [in prayer] for one hour?

And He came back a third time and said to them, "Go ahead and sleep now and get your rest. That is enough; the time has come. See, the Son of man is about to be turned over into the hands of sinners.

And when Judas came, immediately he went to Jesus and said, "Rabbi," and then kissed Him [enthusiastically].

Then Jesus said to them, "Have you come out to arrest me with swords and clubs like you would a thief?

And the head priest tore at his clothing [i.e., as an expression of frustration] and said, "What additional need do we have for witnesses?

and seeing Peter warming himself by the fire, she looked at him and said, "You were with Jesus from Nazareth, too."

But again he denied it. Then after a little while those standing nearby said to Peter again, "We know for sure that you are one of them because you are from Galilee." [Note: Peter's accent gave him away. See Matt. 26:73].

Immediately the rooster crowed for the second time and Peter was reminded of the words of Jesus, who had said to him, "You will deny [knowing] me three times before the rooster crows twice." And as he thought about this, he cried.

Pilate asked Him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus answered him, "You have said so."

And Pilate said to them, "Why [should we]; what wrong has he done?" But they shouted out even louder, "Crucify him."

"And the Scripture was fulfilled, which said, 'He was counted with the lawbreakers.'"}}

And those who passed by the cross shouted abuse at Him and shook their heads [in derision], saying, "Ha, you who said you would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days,

And when some of those standing there heard this, they said, "Look, he is calling for Elijah."

And when the military officer in charge of one hundred men, who was standing in front of Jesus, saw Him die like that, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God."

He said to them, "Do not be amazed. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was crucified, [are you not]? He has risen from the dead. He is not here. Look at the place where they laid Him.