I tell you, on the last day it will be easier for Sodom than for that town!"

It will be easier for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you!

The 70 disciples came back and joyously reported, "Lord, even the demons are submitting to us in your name!"

At that moment, the Holy Spirit made Jesus extremely joyful, so 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.

All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and the person to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

Jesus answered him, "What is written in the Law? What do you read there?"

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?"

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

Now as they were traveling along, Jesus went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.

But there's only one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better, and it is not to be taken away from her."

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."

Keep giving us every day our daily bread,

and forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who sins against us. And never bring us into temptation.'"

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.

Since he knew what they were thinking, he told them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is devastated, and a divided household collapses.

Now, if Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom last? After all, you say that I drive out demons by Beelzebul.

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

"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own mansion, his property is safe.

"The person who isn't with me is against me, and the person who doesn't gather with me scatters."

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all go in and settle there. And so the final condition of that person is worse than the first."

As Jesus was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and told him, "How blessed is the womb that gave birth to you and the breasts that nursed you!"

Now as the crowds continued to throng around Jesus, he went on to say, "This people living today are an evil generation. It craves a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah,

because just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.

The queen of the south will stand up at the judgment and condemn the people living today, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But look, something greater than Solomon is here!

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!"

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light. But when it's evil, your body is full of darkness.

Now if your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays."

So give what is inside to the poor, and then everything will be clean for you.

Then one of the experts in the Law told him, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us, too."

That is why the Wisdom of God said, "I will send them prophets and apostles. They will kill some of them and persecute others,'

As Jesus was leaving, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely, interrogating him about many things.

Meanwhile, the people had gathered by the thousands and were trampling on one another. Jesus began to speak first to his disciples. "Watch out for the yeast that is, the hypocrisy of the Pharisees!

There is nothing covered up that won't be exposed and nothing secret that won't be made known.

"Five sparrows are sold for two pennies, aren't they? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.

Then he said, "This is what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and I'll store all my grain and goods in them.

That's how it is with the person who stores up treasures for himself rather than with God."

because life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

Now if that's the way God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and thrown into an oven tomorrow, how much more will he clothe you you who have little faith?

because it is the unbelievers who are concerned about all these things. Surely your Father knows that you need them!

Instead, be concerned about his kingdom, and these things will be provided for you as well.

Stop being afraid, little flock, because your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.

Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Be like people who are waiting for their master to return from a wedding. As soon as he arrives and knocks, they will open the door for him.

So be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at a time when you don't expect him."

Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable just for us or for everyone?"

The Lord said, "Who, then, is the faithful and careful servant manager whom his master will put in charge of giving all his other servants their share of food at the right time?

How blessed is that servant whom his master finds doing this when he comes!

But if that servant says to himself, "My master is taking a long time to come back,' and begins to beat the other servants and to eat, drink, and get drunk,

When you see a south wind blowing, you say, "It's going to be hot,' and so it is.

"Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?

At that time, some people who were there told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

But the synagogue leader, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, told the crowd, "There are six days when work is to be done. So come on those days to be healed, and not on the Sabbath day."

Even as he was saying this, all of his opponents were blushing with shame. But the rest of the crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.

So Jesus went on to say, "What is the kingdom of God like? What can I compare it to?

It is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches."

Then Jesus taught in one town and village after another as he made his way to Jerusalem.

After the homeowner gets up and closes the door, you can stand outside, knock on the door, and say again and again, "Lord, open the door for us!' But he will answer you, "I don't know where you come from.'

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you people were unwilling!

Look! Your house is left vacant to you. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

A man whose body was swollen with fluid suddenly appeared in front of him.

So Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the Law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?"

Now one of those eating with him heard this and told him, "How blessed is the person who will eat in the kingdom of God!"

When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, "Come! Everything is now ready.'

The servant said, "Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.'

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as his own life, he can't be my disciple.

"Or suppose a king is going to war against another king. He will first sit down and consider whether with 10,000 men he can fight the one coming against him with 20,000 men, won't he?

If he can't, he will send a delegation to ask for terms of peace while the other king is still far away.

"Now, salt is good. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can its flavor be restored?

"Suppose one of you has 100 sheep and loses one of them. He leaves the 99 in the wilderness and looks for the one that is lost until he finds it, doesn't he?

In the same way, I tell you that there is joy in the presence of God's angels over one sinner who repents."

"Now the father's older son was in the field. As he was coming back to the house, he heard music and dancing.

But he answered his father, "Listen! All these years I've worked like a slave for you. I've never disobeyed a command of yours. Yet you've never given me so much as a young goat for a festival so I could celebrate with my friends.

"His father told him, "My child, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

"Then the servant manager told himself, "What should I do? My master is taking my position away from me. I'm not strong enough to plow, and I'm ashamed to beg.

Whoever is faithful with very little is also faithful with a lot, and whoever is dishonest with very little is also dishonest with a lot.

And if you haven't been faithful with what belongs to foreigners, who will give you what is your own?

So he told them, "You try to justify yourselves in front of people, but God knows your hearts, because what is highly valued by people is detestable to God.

"The Law and the Prophets remained until John. Since then, the good news about the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone entering it is under attack.

However, it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for one stroke of a letter in the Law to be dropped.

"But Abraham said, "My child, remember that during your lifetime you received blessings, while Lazarus received hardships. But now he is being comforted here, while you suffer.

Besides all this, a wide chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot do so, nor can they cross from your side to us.'

Jesus told his disciples, "It is inevitable that temptations to sin will come, but how terrible it will be for the person through whom they come!

Then the apostles told the Lord, "Give us more faith!"

That's the way it is with you. When you have done everything you were ordered to do, say, "We are worthless servants. We have done only what we ought to have done.'"

As he was going into a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance

and shouted, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come. He answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with a visible display.

People won't be saying, "Look! Here it is!' or "There it is!' because now the kingdom of God is among you."

Then Jesus told the disciples, "The time will come during which you will long to see one of these days when the Son of Man is with you, but you will not see it.

People will say to you, "Look! There he is!' or "Look! Here he is!' But don't go and chase after him.

Because just as lightning flashes and shines from one end of the sky to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his time.

"Just as it was in Noah's time, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man.

The day when the Son of Man is revealed will be like that.

"The person who is on the housetop that day must not come down to get his belongings out of his house. The person in the field, too, must not turn back to what's left behind.

Won't God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them?

I tell all of you with certainty, whoever doesn't receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never get into it at all."

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus asked him. "Nobody is good except for one God.

So when Jesus saw how sad he was, he said, "How hard it is for rich people to get into the kingdom of God!