When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come and save his servant's life.

So they went to Jesus and begged him repeatedly, "He deserves to have this done for him,

because he loves our people and built our synagogue for us."

So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to tell Jesus, "Sir, stop troubling yourself, because I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof.

because I, too, am a man under authority and have soldiers under me. I say to one "Go' and he goes, to another "Come' and he comes, and to my servant "Do this' and he does it."

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found this kind of faith!"

As he approached the entrance to the city, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her.

When the Lord saw her, he felt compassion for her. He told her, "You can stop crying."

Then he went up and touched the bier, and the men who were carrying it stopped. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!"

So he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have observed and heard: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear again, the dead are raised, and the destitute hear the good news.

How blessed is anyone who is not offended by me!"

I tell you, no one has ever been born who is greater than John. Yet even the least important person in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

Because John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, yet you say, "He has a demon!'

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, "Look! He's a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. So he went to the Pharisee's home and took his place at the table.

Now the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and told himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who is touching him and what kind of woman she is. She's a sinner!"

Jesus told him, "Simon, I have something to ask you." "Teacher," he replied, "ask it."

When they couldn't pay it back, he generously canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?"

Then, turning to the woman, he told Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You didn't give me any water for my feet, but this woman has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.

Now while a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from every city, he said in a parable:

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, were trampled on, and birds from the sky ate them up.

But others fell on good soil, and when they came up, they produced 100 times as much as was planted." As he said this, he called out, "Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!"

So he said, "You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom of God. But to others they are given in parables, so that "they might look but not see, and they might listen but not understand.'"

"No one lights a lamp and hides it under a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a lamp stand so that those who come in will see the light.

So pay attention to how you listen, because to the one who has something, more will be given. However, from the one who doesn't have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him."

But he answered those people, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear a message from God and heed it."

One day, Jesus and his disciples got into a boat. He told them, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake." So they started out.

So his disciples went to him, woke him up, and kept telling him, "Master! Master! We're going to die!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves. They stopped, and there was calm.

Then he asked the disciples, "Where's your faith?" Frightened and amazed, they asked one another, "Who is this man? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!"

When Jesus stepped out on the shore, a man from the city met him. This man was controlled by demons and had not worn clothes for a long time. He did not live in a house but in the tombs.

When he saw Jesus, he screamed, fell down in front of him, and cried out in a loud voice, "What do you want from me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torture me!"

because Jesus was in the process of ordering the unclean spirit to come out of the man. On many occasions the unclean spirit had seized the man, and though he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, he would break the chains and be driven by the demon into deserted places.

He answered, "Legion," because many demons had gone into him. Then the demons began begging Jesus not to order them to go into the bottomless pit.

Now a large herd of pigs was grazing there on the hillside. So the demons begged Jesus to let them go into those pigs, and he consented to that.

The people who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.

Then all the people from the region surrounding the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were terrified. So he got into a boat and started back.

"Go home and tell what God has done for you." So the man left and kept proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Just then a synagogue leader by the name of Jairus arrived. He fell at Jesus' feet and kept begging him to come to his home,

When the woman saw that she couldn't hide, she came forward trembling. Bowing down in front of him, she explained in the presence of all the people why she had touched Jesus and how she had been instantly healed.

Then he told her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

While he was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue leader's home and told him, "Your daughter is dead. Stop bothering the teacher anymore."

But when Jesus heard this, he told the synagogue leader, "Stop being afraid! Just believe, and she will get well."

When he arrived at the man's house, he allowed no one to go in with him except Peter, John, James, and the young girl's father and mother.

But he took her hand and called out, "Young lady, get up!"

Her parents were amazed, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

He told them, "Don't take anything along on your trip no walking stick, traveling bag, bread, money, or even an extra shirt.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was happening. He was puzzled because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead,

The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. Then he took them away with him privately to a city called Bethsaida.

But the crowds found out about this and followed him. He welcomed them and began to speak to them about the kingdom of God and to heal those who needed healing.

But he told them, "You give them something to eat." They replied, "We have nothing more than five loaves of bread and two fish unless we go and buy food for all these people."

Now there were about 5,000 men. So he told his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about 50."

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to the disciples to pass on to the crowd.

One day, while Jesus was praying privately and the disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"

He asked them, "But who do you say I am?" "God's Messiah," Peter replied.

He gave them strict orders, commanding them not to tell this to anyone.

He said, "The Son of Man must suffer a great deal and be rejected by the elders, the high priests, and the scribes. Then he must be killed, but on the third day he will be raised."

Then he told all of them, "If anyone wants to come with me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross every day, and follow me continuously,

What profit will a person have if he gains the whole world, but destroys himself or is lost?

If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

Now about eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John, and James with him and went up on a mountain to pray.

While he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes turned dazzling white.

They had a glorified appearance, and were discussing Jesus' departure that he would shortly bring about in Jerusalem.

Just as Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter told Jesus, "Master, it's good that we're here! Let's set up three shelters one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (Peter didn't know what he was saying.)

But while he was saying this, a cloud appeared and surrounded them, and they became terrified as they were being overshadowed by the cloud.

Suddenly, a man in the crowd shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, because he is my only child.

Without warning a spirit takes control of him, and he suddenly screams, goes into convulsions, and foams at the mouth. The spirit mauls him and refuses to leave him.

Jesus answered, "You unbelieving and perverted generation! How much longer must I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here!"

All the people continued to be amazed at the greatness of God. Indeed, everyone was astonished at all the things Jesus was doing. So he told his disciples,

Then he told them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, because the one who is least among all of you is the one who is greatest."

John said, "Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name. We tried to stop him, because he wasn't a follower like us."

When the days grew closer for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, he was determined to continue his journey to Jerusalem.

So he sent messengers on ahead of him. On their way they went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him.

But the people would not welcome him, because he was determined to go to Jerusalem.

But he turned and rebuked them,

He told another man, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

But he told him, "Let the dead bury their own dead. But you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

After this, the Lord appointed 70 other disciples and was about to send them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place that he intended to go.

So he instructed them, "The harvest is vast, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into his harvest.

"How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that happened in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

He told them, "I watched Satan falling from heaven like lightning.

Then turning to his disciples in private, he told them, "How blessed are the eyes that see what you see!

Just then an expert in the Law stood up to test Jesus. He asked, "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

He answered, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor as yourself."

But the man wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

After careful consideration, Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of bandits. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.

By chance, a priest was traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he went by on the other side.

Similarly, a descendant of Levi came to that place. When he saw the man, he also went by on the other side.

But as he was traveling along, a Samaritan came across the man. When the Samaritan saw him, he was moved with compassion.

He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

The next day, he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, "Take good care of him. If you spend more than that, I'll repay you when I come back.'

He said, "The one who showed mercy to him." Jesus told him, "Go and do what he did."

She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and kept listening to what he was saying.

Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. After he had finished, one of his disciples told him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come.

Then he told them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread.

Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!'

I tell you, even though that man doesn't want to get up and give him anything because he is his friend, he will get up and give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.

What father among you, if his son asks for bread, would give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of the fish?

Or if he asks for an egg, would he give him a scorpion?