Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" And he said,

The boy's father immediately cried out, "I have faith! Help my want of faith!"

And it gave a cry and convulsed him terribly, and went out of him. And the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said that he was dead.

He said to them, "This kind of thing can be driven out only by prayer."

for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and three days after he is killed he will rise again."

And he sat down and called the Twelve in, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all."

But Jesus said, "Do not tell him not to do so, for there is no one who will use my name to do a mighty act, and be able soon after to abuse me.

For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink, on the ground that you belong to Christ, I tell you, will certainly not fail to be repaid.

And whoever causes one of these humble believers to fall might better have a great millstone hung around his neck and be thrown into the sea.

If your hand makes you fall, cut it off. You might better enter upon life maimed, than go with both your hands to the pit, into the fire that cannot be put out.

And if your foot makes you fall, cut it off. You might better enter upon life crippled, than be thrown with both your feet into the pit.

And if your eye makes you fall, tear it out. You might better get into the Kingdom of God with only one eye than be thrown with both your eyes into the pit,

Everyone must be seasoned with fire.

Some Pharisees came up, and in order to test him asked him whether a man should be allowed to divorce his wife.

They said, "Moses permits a man to divorce his wife by drawing up a written divorce-notice."

And Jesus looked at him and loved him, and he said to him, "There is one thing that you lack. Go, sell all you have, and give the money to the poor, and then you will have riches in heaven; and come back and be a follower of mine."

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have money to enter the Kingdom of God!"

They were perfectly astounded and said to him, "Then who can be saved?"

But many who are first now will be last then, and the last will be first."

"See!" he said, "we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the heathen

but it is not to be so among you. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,

and whoever wants to hold the first place among you must be everybody's slave.

For the Son of Man himself has not come to be waited on, but to wait on other people, and to give his life to free many others."

Many of the people rebuked him and told him to be still. But he cried out all the louder, "You son of David, take pity on me!"

And those in front and those behind shouted, "God bless him! Blessed be he who comes in the Lord's name!

Blessed be the reign of our father David which is coming! God bless him from on high!"

And he taught them, and said, "Does not the Scripture say, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a robbers' cave."

And they came up and said to him, "Master, we know that you tell the truth regardless of the consequences, for you are not guided by personal considerations, but teach the way of God with sincerity. Is it right to pay the poll tax to the emperor or not?

Should we pay it, or refuse to pay it?" But he saw through their pretense, and said to them, "Why do you put me to such a test? Bring me a denarius to look at."

And Jesus said, "Pay the emperor what belongs to the emperor, and pay God what belongs to God!" And they were astonished at him.

At the resurrection, which one's wife will she be? For all seven of them married her."

David himself calls him lord, and how can he be his son?" The mass of the people liked to hear him.

And in the course of his teaching he said to them, "Beware of the scribes who like to go about in long robes and to be saluted with respect in public places,

Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be torn down."

"Tell us when this is to happen, and what the sign will be when it is all just going to be carried out."

Many will come under my name and say 'I am he,' and many will be misled by them.

But when you hear of wars and rumors of war, you must not be alarmed. They have to come, but it is not yet the end.

For nation will rise in arms against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes here and there, there will be famines. This is only the beginning of the sufferings.

But you must be on your guard; they will hand you over to courts and you will be taken into synagogues and beaten, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to testify to them.

For before the end the good news must be preached to all the heathen.

Brother will give up brother to be put to death, and the father his child, and children will turn against their parents and have them put to death.

You will be hated by everyone, because you bear my name. But he who holds out to the end will be saved.

Pray that it may not be winter when it comes,

for there will be such misery in those days as there has never been since the beginning of God's creation until now, and never will be again.

But you must be on your guard; I have told you all about it beforehand.

But in those days, when that misery is over, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not shed its light

You must look out and be on the alert, for you do not know when it will be time;

So you must be on the watch, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming??n the evening or at midnight or toward daybreak or early in the morning??36 for fear he should come unexpectedly and find you asleep.

It was now two days before the festival of the Passover and of Unleavened Bread. And the high priests and scribes were casting about for a way to arrest him by stealth and put him to death,

for they said, "It must not be during the festival, or there may be a riot."

I tell you, wherever the good news is preached all over the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her."

They were delighted to hear it and promised to pay him for it. So he was watching for an opportunity to betray him to them.

And they were hurt, and said to him one after another, "Can it be I?"

For the Son of Man is indeed to go away as the Scriptures say of him, but alas for the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born."

And he said to them, "This is my blood which ratifies the agreement, and is to be poured out for many people.

And Jesus said to them, "You will all desert me, for the Scriptures say, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'

And he went on a little way and threw himself on the ground and prayed that if it were possible he might be spared the hour of trial,

You must all watch, and pray that you may not be subjected to trial. One's spirit is eager, but human nature is weak."

Get up, let us be going. Look, here comes my betrayer!"

I have been among you day after day in the Temple teaching, and you never seized me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled!"

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

Did you hear his blasphemy? What is your decision?" And they all condemned him as deserving to be put to death.

And as Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd, he set Barabbas free for them, and after having Jesus flogged handed him over to be crucified.

And they forced a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross??ne Simon, a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus.

And the passers-by jeered at him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! you who would tear down the sanctuary and build one in three days!

But he said to them, "You must not be amazed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here. See! This is where they laid him.

And they fled out of the tomb, for they were all trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing about it to anyone, for they were afraid to do so. AN ANCIENT APPENDIX But they reported briefly to Peter and his companions all they had been told. And afterward Jesus himself sent out by them from the east to the west the sacred and incorruptible message of eternal salvation. \b ANOTHER ANCIENT APPENDIX

He who believes it and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe it will be condemned.

And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed their message by the signs that attended it.

so that you may be reliably informed about the things you have been taught.

And the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will drink no wine or strong drink, but he will be filled with the holy Spirit from his very birth,

Now you will keep silent and be unable to speak until the day when this happens, because you have not believed what I have said, for it will all be fulfilled in due time."

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

to a maiden there who was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The maiden's name was Mary.

And the angel went into the town and said to her, "Good morning, favored woman! The Lord be with you!"

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have gained God's approval.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his forefather David,

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

The angel answered, "The holy Spirit will come over you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. For that reason your child will be called holy, and the Son of God.

And your relative, Elizabeth, although she is old, is going to give birth to a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was said to be barren.

And Mary said, "I am the Lord's slave. Let it be as you say." Then the angel left her.

Blessed is she who has believed, For what the Lord has promised her will be fulfilled!"

Now the time came for Elizabeth's child to be born, and she gave birth to a son.

But his mother said, "No! He is to be named John."

and everyone who heard them kept them in mind, and said, "What is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him.

"By the lips of his holy prophets he promised of old to do this??71 To save us from our enemies and from the hands of all who hate us,

That we should be delivered from the hands of our enemies,

"And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, For you will go before the Lord to make his way ready,

In those days an edict was issued by the Emperor Augustus that a census of the whole world should be taken.

While they were there, the time came for her child to be born,

And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terribly frightened.

The angel said to them, "Do not be frightened, for I bring you good news of a great joy that is to be felt by all the people,

in fulfilment of the requirement of the Law of the Lord, "Every first-born male shall be considered consecrated to the Lord,"

It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not die without seeing the Lord's Messiah.

And he gave them his blessing, and said to Mary, the child's mother, "This child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a portent that will be much debated??35 you yourself will be pierced to the heart??nd so the thoughts of many minds will be revealed."

When they started back the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents' knowledge.

He said to them, "How did you come to look for me? Did you not know that I must be at my Father's house?"

Every hollow must be filled up, And every mountain and hill leveled. What is crooked is to be made straight, And the rough roads are to be made smooth,

So he would say to the crowds that came out there to be baptized by him, "You brood of snakes! Who warned you to fly from the wrath that is coming?