"There isn't a person among you who would give his son a stone if he asked for bread, is there?

"Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the road is spacious that leads to destruction, and many people are entering by it.

How narrow is the gate and how constricted is the road that leads to life, and there aren't many people who find it!"

"Therefore, everyone who listens to these messages of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock.

"Everyone who keeps on hearing these messages of mine and never puts them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

Then Jesus told him, "See to it that you don't speak to anyone. Instead, go and show yourself to the priest, and then offer the sacrifice that Moses commanded as proof to the authorities."

"Sir, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and in terrible pain."

"Go," Jesus told the centurion, "and it will be done for you, just as you have believed." And his servant was healed that very hour.

This was to fulfill what was declared by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "It was he who took our illnesses away and removed our diseases."

They went to him and woke him up. "Lord!" they cried, "Save us! We're going to die!"

The men were amazed. "What kind of man is this?" they asked. "Even the winds and the sea obey him!"

When Jesus arrived on the other side in the region of the Gerasenes, two demon-possessed men met him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could travel on that road.

Suddenly, they screamed, "What do you want with us, Son of God? Did you come here to torture us before the proper time?"

So the demons began to plead with Jesus, saying, "If you drive us out, send us into that herd of pigs."

Then the whole city went out to meet Jesus, and as soon as they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Then some of the scribes told themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"

Which is easier: to say, "Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, "Get up and walk'?

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's desk and told him, "Follow me." So he got up and followed him.

Jesus asked them, "The wedding guests can't mourn as long as the groom is with them, can they? But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast."

he said, "Go away! The young lady hasn't died, but is sleeping." But they ridiculed him with laughter.

As Jesus was traveling on from there, two blind men followed him, shouting, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"

As the men were going out, a man who couldn't talk because he was demon-possessed was brought to him.

As soon as the demon had been driven out, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!"

Then he told his disciples, "The harvest is vast, but the workers are few.

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

As you go, make this announcement: "The kingdom from heaven is near!'

"Whatever town or village you enter, find out who is receptive in it and stay there until you leave.

As you enter the house, greet its occupants.

If the household is receptive, let your blessing of peace come on it. But if it isn't receptive, let your blessing of peace return to you.

If no one welcomes you or listens to your words, as you leave that house or town, shake its dust off your feet.

"Pay attention, now! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves.

"A disciple is not above his teacher, and a slave is not above his master.

It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher and a slave to be like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they do the same to those of his household!"

"So never be afraid of them, because there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not be made known.

What I tell you in darkness you must speak in the daylight, and what is whispered in your ear you must shout from the housetops.

The one who receives a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward.

I tell all of you with certainty, whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple will never lose his reward."

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

As they were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

This is the man about whom it is written, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'

I tell all of you with certainty, among those born of women no one has appeared who is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least important person in the kingdom from heaven is greater than he.

If you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, "Look, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Absolved from every act of sin, is wisdom by her kith and kin."

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from wise and intelligent people and have revealed them to infants.

Yes, Father, because this is what was pleasing to you.

because my yoke is pleasant, and my burden is light."

When the Pharisees saw this, they told him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"

How is it that he went into the house of God and ate the Bread of the Presence, which was not lawful for him and his companions to eat but was reserved for the priests?

But I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here!

for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

But he asked them, "Is there a man among you who, if he had one sheep and it fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, wouldn't take hold of it and pull it out?

How much more is a human being worth than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on Sabbath days."

Then he told the man, "Hold out your hand." He held it out and it became normal, as healthy as his other hand.

This was to fulfill what was declared by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

"Here is my Servant whom I have chosen, whom I love, and with whom I am pleased! I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to unbelievers.

All the crowds were amazed and kept saying, "This man isn't the Son of David, is he?"

He knew what they were thinking and told them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

So if Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How, then, can his kingdom stand?

If I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own followers drive them out? That is why they will be your judges!

The person who isn't with me is against me, and the person who isn't gathering with me is scattering.

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten, because a tree is known by its fruit.

because just as Jonah was in the stomach of the sea creature for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment and condemn the people living today, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But look something greater than Jonah is here!

The queen of the south will stand up and condemn the people living today, because she came from so far away to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But look! Something greater than Solomon is here!"

He asked the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"

because whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, and birds came and ate them up.

"With them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says: "You will listen and listen but never understand. You will look and look but never comprehend,

When anyone hears the word about the kingdom yet doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.

As for what was sown on the stony ground, this is the person who hears the word and accepts it joyfully at once,

As for what was sown among the thorn bushes, this is the person who hears the word, but the worries of life and the deceitful pleasures of wealth choke the word so that it can't produce a crop.

But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word, understands it, and produces a crop that yields 100, 60, or 30 times what was sown."

"He told them, "An enemy did this!' "The servants asked him, "Do you want us to go and pull them out?'

He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom from heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in his field.

Although it is the smallest of all seeds, when it is fully grown it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, and the birds in the sky come and nest in its branches."

He told them another parable: "The kingdom from heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

Then Jesus left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to him and asked, "Explain to us the parable about the weeds in the field."

He answered, "The person who sowed good seed is the Son of Man,

while the field is the world. The good seed are those who belong to the kingdom, while the weeds are those who belong to the evil one.

The enemy who sowed them is the Devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

Just as weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at end of the age.

"The kingdom from heaven is like treasure hidden in a field that a man found and hid. In his excitement he went and sold everything he had and bought that field."

"Again, the kingdom from heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.

"Again, the kingdom from heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea that gathered all kinds of fish.

That is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, cull out the evil people from among the righteous ones,

Then he told them, "That is why every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom from heaven is like the master of a household who brings both new and old things out of his treasure chest."

This is the builder's son, isn't it? His mother is named Mary, isn't she? His brothers are James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, aren't they?

And his sisters are all with us, aren't they? So where did this man get all these things?"

But Jesus told them, "A prophet is without honor only in his hometown and in his own home." He did not perform many miracles there because of their unbelief.

told his servants, "This is John the Baptist! He has been raised from the dead, and that's why these miracles are being done by him."

John had been telling him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."

Although Herod wanted to kill him, he was afraid of the crowd, since they regarded John as a prophet.

When evening had come, the disciples went to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and it's already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves."

But when he noticed the strong wind, he was frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, "Lord, save me!"

As they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing.

You hypocrites! How well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said,

Their worship of me is empty, because they teach human rules as doctrines.'"

It is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean."

Then Peter told him, "Explain to us this parable."

Don't you know that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is expelled as waste?