Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.

“And I say to you, anyone who acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God,

but whoever denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’

“That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Consider the ravens: They don’t sow or reap; they don’t have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than the birds?

If that’s how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will He do for you—you of little faith?

Those slaves the master will find alert when he comes will be blessed. I assure you: He will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them.

But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female slaves, and to eat and drink and get drunk,

that slave’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid the last cent.”

He told the vineyard worker, ‘Listen, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it even waste the soil?’

Perhaps it will bear fruit next year, but if not, you can cut it down.’”

Then He laid His hands on her, and instantly she was restored and began to glorify God.

He said, therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like, and what can I compare it to?

Again He said, “What can I compare the kingdom of God to?

But He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you’re from. Get away from Me, all you workers of unrighteousness!’

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown out.

They will come from east and west, from north and south, and recline at the table in the kingdom of God.

At that time some Pharisees came and told Him, “Go, get out of here! Herod wants to kill You!”

When one of those who reclined at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed!”

“And another said, ‘I just got married, and therefore I’m unable to come.’

In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to all his possessions cannot be My disciple.

“Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty?

I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.

So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.

But he replied to his father, ‘Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.

No household slave can be the slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t be slaves to both God and money.”

And He told them: “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.

“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is strongly urged to enter it.

But a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, was left at his gate.

“‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

Instead, will he not tell him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, get ready, and serve me while I eat and drink; later you can eat and drink’?

In the same way, when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are good-for-nothing slaves; we’ve only done our duty.’”

But one of them, seeing that he was healed, returned and, with a loud voice, gave glory to God.

Didn’t any return to give glory to God except this foreigner?”

And He told him, “Get up and go on your way. Your faith has made you well.”

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God will come, He answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable;

no one will say, ‘Look here!’ or ‘There!’ For you see, the kingdom of God is among you.”

On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back.

“There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God or respect man.

“For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect man,

Will not God grant justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay to help them?

The Pharisee took his stand and was praying like this: ‘God, I thank You that I’m not like other people —greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’

“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, turn Your wrath from me—a sinner!’

Jesus, however, invited them: “Let the little children come to Me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

I assure you: Whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

A ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call Me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good but One—God.

Seeing that he became sad, Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!

For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

He replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

So He said to them, “I assure you: There is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers, parents or children because of the kingdom of God,

Then those in front told him to keep quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Instantly he could see, and he began to follow Him, glorifying God. All the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

As they were listening to this, He went on to tell a parable because He was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.

“‘Well done, good slave!’ he told him. ‘Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, have authority over 10 towns.’

Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their robes on the donkey, they helped Jesus get on it.

Now He came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

One day as He was teaching the people in the temple complex and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the scribes, with the elders, came up

Then the scribes and the chief priests looked for a way to get their hands on Him that very hour, because they knew He had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.

They questioned Him, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You don’t show partiality, but teach truthfully the way of God.

“Well then,” He told them, “give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”

For they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are sons of God, since they are sons of the resurrection.

Moses even indicated in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are raised, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

He is not God of the dead but of the living, because all are living to Him.”

As some were talking about the temple complex, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, He said,

In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near.

So he accepted the offer and started looking for a good opportunity to betray Him to them when the crowd was not present.

For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

For I tell you, from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

When He got up from prayer and came to the disciples, He found them sleeping, exhausted from their grief.

“Why are you sleeping?” He asked them. “Get up and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation.”

Then one of them struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his right ear.

But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the Power of God.”

They all asked, “Are You, then, the Son of God?”

And He said to them, “You say that I am.”

The people stood watching, and even the leaders kept scoffing: “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One!”

But the other answered, rebuking him: “Don’t you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment?

When the centurion saw what happened, he began to glorify God, saying, “This man really was righteous!”

There was a good and righteous man named Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin,

who had not agreed with their plan and action. He was from Arimathea, a Judean town, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God.

Taking it down, he wrapped it in fine linen and placed it in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever been placed.

Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. When he stooped to look in, he saw only the linen cloths. So he went home, amazed at what had happened.

“What things?” He asked them.

So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, who was a Prophet powerful in action and speech before God and all the people,

That very hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those with them gathered together,

And they were continually in the temple complex praising God.

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

There was a man named John
who was sent from God.

But to all who did receive Him,
He gave them the right to be children of God,
to those who believe in His name,

who were born,
not of blood,
or of the will of the flesh,
or of the will of man,
but of God.

No one has ever seen God.
The One and Only Son—
the One who is at the Father’s side—
He has revealed Him.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!”

When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”

“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him.

“Come and see,” Philip answered.

“Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Then He said, “I assure you: You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”