"There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

who longed to eat what fell from the rich man's table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.

Besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.'

Jesus said to his disciples, "Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!

"Would any one of you say to your slave who comes in from the field after plowing or shepherding sheep, 'Come at once and sit down for a meal'?

On that day, anyone who is on the roof, with his goods in the house, must not come down to take them away, and likewise the person in the field must not turn back.

He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people.

There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.'

Won't God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay long to help them?

Jesus also told this parable to some who were confident that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else.

I tell you that this man went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Now people were even bringing their babies to him for him to touch. But when the disciples saw it, they began to scold those who brought them.

Those who heard this said, "Then who can be saved?"

Then Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of God's kingdom

who will not receive many times more in this age -- and in the age to come, eternal life."

And those who were in front scolded him to get him to be quiet, but he shouted even more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

And when the people saw it, they all complained, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."

When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted to know how much they had earned by trading.

And he said to his attendants, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.'

I tell you that everyone who has will be given more, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and slaughter them in front of me!'"

So those who were sent ahead found it exactly as he had told them.

"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"

Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling things there,

and said to him, "Tell us: By what authority are you doing these things? Or who it is who gave you this authority?"

Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed."

Then they watched him carefully and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They wanted to take advantage of what he might say so that they could deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.

Now some Sadducees (who contend that there is no resurrection) came to him.

But those who are regarded as worthy to share in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.

Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Those who are inside the city must depart. Those who are out in the country must not enter it,

Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people.

For it will overtake all who live on the face of the whole earth.

Then Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot, who was one of the twelve.

"But look, the hand of the one who betrays me is with me on the table.

For the Son of Man is to go just as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!"

So they began to question one another as to which of them it could possibly be who would do this.

Not so with you; instead the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves.

For who is greater, the one who is seated at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

"You are the ones who have remained with me in my trials.

He said to them, "But now, the one who has a money bag must take it, and likewise a traveler's bag too. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one.

When those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said, "Lord, should we use our swords?"

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders who had come out to get him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs like you would against an outlaw?

Now the men who were holding Jesus under guard began to mock him and beat him.

They blindfolded him and asked him repeatedly, "Prophesy! Who hit you?"

When he learned that he was from Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who also happened to be in Jerusalem at that time.

and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. When I examined him before you, I did not find this man guilty of anything you accused him of doing.

(This was a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city, and for murder.)

He released the man they asked for, who had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.

As they led him away, they seized Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country. They placed the cross on his back and made him carry it behind Jesus.

A great number of the people followed him, among them women who were mourning and wailing for him.

One of the criminals who was hanging there railed at him, saying, "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"

And all those who knew Jesus stood at a distance, and the women who had followed him from Galilee saw these things.

Now there was a man named Joseph who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man.

The women who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.

Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.

Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have happened there in these days?"

He said to them, "What things?" "The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene," they replied, "a man who, with his powerful deeds and words, proved to be a prophet before God and all the people;

But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. Not only this, but it is now the third day since these things happened.

and when they did not find his body, they came back and said they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.

Then some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him."

The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

But to all who have received him -- those who believe in his name -- he has given the right to become God's children

Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory -- the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.

John testified about him and shouted out, "This one was the one about whom I said, 'He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.'"

No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.

Now this was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"

So they asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not!" "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No!"

Then they said to him, "Who are you? Tell us so that we can give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not recognize,

who is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal!"

On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

This is the one about whom I said, 'After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because he existed before me.'

And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining -- this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two disciples who heard what John said and followed Jesus.

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed, "Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"

When the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he called the bridegroom

He found in the temple courts those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers sitting at tables.

To those who sold the doves he said, "Take these things away from here! Do not make my Father's house a marketplace!"

Now a certain man, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council,

came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him."

The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven -- the Son of Man.

so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed.

But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.

So they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, about whom you testified -- see, he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!"

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly when he hears the bridegroom's voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete.

The one who comes from above is superior to all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is superior to all.

The one who has accepted his testimony has confirmed clearly that God is truthful.

For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly.

The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God's wrath remains on him.

Jesus answered her, "If you had known the gift of God and who it is who said to you, 'Give me some water to drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

Jesus replied, "Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty again.

God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Surely he can't be the Messiah, can he?"

Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work.

The one who reaps receives pay and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps can rejoice together.

Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the report of the woman who testified, "He told me everything I ever did."