He answered them, "I must preach the glad news of the Reign of God to the other towns as well, for that is what I was sent to do."

Now as the crowd were pressing on him to listen to the word of God, he saw, as he stood beside the lake of Gennesaret,

as was the case with James and John, the sons of Zebedaeus, who were partners of Simon. Then said Jesus to Simon, "Have no fear; from now your catch will be men."

One day he was teaching, and near him sat Pharisees and doctors of the Law who had come from every village of Galilee and Judaea as well as from Jerusalem. Now the power of the Lord was present for the work of healing.

Then the scribes and Pharisees began to argue, "Who is this blasphemer? Who can forgive sins, who but God alone?"

Which is the easier thing, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?

They said to him, "The disciples of John fast frequently and offer prayers, as do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your adherents eat and drink."

Jesus said to them, "Can you make friends at a wedding fast while the bride groom is beside them?

A time will come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and then they will fast at that time."

Besides, no one wants new wine [immediately] after drinking old; 'The old,' he says, 'is better.'"

One sabbath it happened that as he was crossing the cornfields his disciples pulled some ears of corn and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.

Some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not allowed on the sabbath?"

He went into the house of God, took the loaves of the Presence and ate them, giving them to his men as well ??bread that no one is allowed to eat except the priests."

And he said to them, "The Son of man is Lord even over the sabbath."

and the scribes and Pharisees watched to see if he would heal on the sabbath, so as to discover some charge against him.

Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it right on the sabbath to help or to hurt, to save life or to kill?"

Then, raising his eyes he looked at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you poor! the Realm of God is yours.

Blessed are you when men will hate you, when they will excommunicate you and denounce you and defame you as wicked on account of the Son of man;

rejoice on that day and leap for joy! rich is your reward in heaven for their fathers did the very same to the prophets.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you! that is just what their fathers did to the false prophets.

If a man strikes you on the one cheek, offer him the other as well: if anyone takes your coat, do not deny him your shirt as well;

As you would like men to do to you, so do to them.

If you love only those who love you, what credit is that to you? Why, even sinful men love those who love them.

If you help only those who help you, what merit is that to you? Why, even sinful men do that.

If you only lend to those from whom you hope to get something, what credit is that to you? Even sinful men lend to one another, so as to get a fair return.

No, you must love your enemies and help them, you must lend to them without expecting any return; then you will have a rich reward, you will be sons of the Most High for he is kind even to the ungrateful and the evil.

Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.

A scholar is not above his teacher: but if he is perfectly trained he will be like his teacher.

How dare you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,' and you never notice the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite! take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see properly to take out the splinter in your brother's eye.

each tree is known by its fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, and grapes are not plucked from a bramble-bush.

The good man produces good from the good stored in his heart, and the evil man evil from his evil: for a man's mouth utters what his heart is full of.

Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like.

He is like a man engaged in building a house, who dug deep down and laid his foundation on the rock; when a flood came, the river dashed against that house but could not shake it, for it had been well built.

He who has listened and has not obeyed is like a man who built a house on the earth with no foundation; the river dashed against it and it collapsed at once, and the ruin of that house was great."

"for he is a lover of our nation; it was he who built our synagogue."

Just as he was near the gate of the town, there was a dead man being carried out; he was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the town were with her.

All were seized with awe and glorified God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said, "God has visited his people."

When the men reached Jesus they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask if you are the Coming One or if we are to look out for someone else?"

So he replied, "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard; that the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and to the poor the gospel is preached.

And blessed is he who is repelled by nothing in me!"

This is he of whom it is written, Here I send my messenger before your face, to prepare the way for you.

I tell you, among the sons of women there is none greater than John, and yet the least in the Realm of God is greater than he is."

(On hearing this all the people and the taxgatherers acknowledged the justice of God, as they had been baptized with the baptism of John;

the Son of man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of taxgatherers and sinners!'

Nevertheless, Wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

When his host the Pharisee noticed this, he said to himself, "If he was a prophet he would know what sort of a woman this is who is touching him; for she is a sinner."

As they were unable to pay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, now, which of them will love him most?"

Therefore I tell you, many as her sins are, they are forgiven, for her love is great; whereas he to whom little is forgiven has but little love."

His fellow guests began to say to themselves, "Who is this, to forgive even sins?"

As a large crowd was gathering and as people were resorting to him from town after town, he addressed them in a parable.

"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the road and was trampled down, and the wild birds ate it up;

so he said, "It is granted you to understand the open secrets of the Reign of God, but the others get it in parables, so that for all their seeing they may not see, and for all their hearing they may not understand.

This is what the parable means. The seed is the word of God.

As for the seed that fell among thorns, that means people who hear but who go and get choked with worries and money and the pleasures of life, so that they never ripen.

As for the seed in the good soil, that means those who hear and hold fast the word in a good and sound heart and so bear fruit stedfastly.

For nothing is hidden that shall not be disclosed, nothing concealed that shall not be known and revealed.

So take care how you listen; for he who has, to him shall more be given, while as for him who has not, from him shall be taken even what he thinks he has."

It happened on one of these days that he embarked in a boat alone with his disciples and said to them, "Let us cross to the other side of the lake." So they set sail.

Then he said to them, "Where is your faith?" They marvelled in awe, saying to one another, "Whatever can he be? He gives orders to the very winds and water, and they obey him!"

As he stepped out on land he was met by a man from the town who had daemons in him; for a long while he had worn no clothing, and he stayed not in a house but among the tombs.

So Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he said, for a number of daemons had entered him.

for he had an only daughter about twelve years old and she was dying. As Jesus went the crowds kept crushing him,

Jesus said, "Who touched me?" As everyone denied it, Peter and his companions said, "Master, the crowds are all round you pressing hard!"

He was still speaking when someone came from the house of the synagogue-president to say, "Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the teacher any further."

Everyone was weeping and bewailing her, but he said, "Stop weeping; she is not dead but asleep."

Calling the twelve apostles together he gave them power and authority over all daemons as well as to heal diseases.

Whoever will not receive you, leave that town and shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."

Herod said, "John I beheaded. But who is this, of whom I hear such tales?" And he made efforts to see him.

Now as the day began to decline the twelve came up to him and said, "Send the crowd off to lodge in the villages and farms around and get provisions there, for here we are in a desert place."

For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

When they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is a good thing we are here; let us put up three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" (not knowing what he was saying).

As he spoke, a cloud came and overshadowed them. They were awestruck as they passed into the cloud,

but a voice came from the cloud, "This is my Son, my Chosen one; listen to him."

"Teacher," shouted a man from the crowd, "look at my son, I beg of you, for he is my only boy,

"Let these words sink into your ears: 'the Son of man is to be betrayed into the hands of men.'"

A dispute arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.

then he said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For it is the lowliest of you all who is great."

John said to him, "Master, we saw a man casting out daemons in your name, but we stopped him because he is not a follower of ours."

Jesus said to him, "Do not stop him; he who is not against you is for you."

As the time for his assumption was now due, he set his face for the journey to Jerusalem.

So when the disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, will you have us bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?"

And as they journeyed along the road a man said to him, "I will follow you anywhere."

Jesus said to him, "No one is any use to the Reign of God who puts his hand to the plough and then looks behind him."

He said to them, "The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few; so pray the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to gather his harvest.

Then, if there is a soul there breathing peace, your peace will rest on him; otherwise it will come back to you.

Wherever you are received on entering any town, eat what is provided for you,

heal those in the town who are ill, and tell them, 'The Reign of God is nearly on you.'

'The very dust of your town that clings to us, we wipe off from our feet as a protest. But mark this, the Reign of God is near!'

The seventy came back with joy. "Lord," they said, "the very daemons obey us in your name."

He thrilled with joy at that hour in the holy Spirit, saying, "I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for concealing this from the wise and learned and revealing it to the simple-minded; yes, Father, I praise thee that such was thy chosen purpose." Then turning to the disciples he said,

"All has been handed over to me by my Father: and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

He said to him, "What is written in the law? What do you read there?"

He replied, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, with your whole strength, and with your whole mind. Also your neighbour as yourself."

Anxious to make an excuse for himself, however, he said to Jesus, "But who is my neighbour?"

Now Martha was so busy attending to them that she grew worried; she came up and said, "Lord, is it all one to you that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Come, tell her to lend me a hand."

Mary has chosen the best dish, and she is not to be dragged away from it."

He was praying at a certain place, and when he stopped one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

give us our bread for the morrow day by day,

and forgive us our sins for we do forgive everyone who has offended us; and lead us not into temptation."

And suppose he answers from the inside, 'Don't bother me; the door is locked by this time, and my children are in bed with me. I can't get up and give you anything.'