So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who keep on asking him!

"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.

"Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are savage wolves.

You will know them by their fruit. Grapes aren't gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles, are they?

Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name, drove out demons in your name, and performed many miracles in your name, didn't we?'

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, the crowds were utterly amazed at his teaching,

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and told those who were following him, "I tell all of you with certainty, not even in Israel have I found this kind of faith!

When evening came, people brought to him many who were possessed by demons. He drove out the spirits by speaking a command and healed everyone who was sick.

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."

He asked them, "Why are you afraid, you who have little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

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.

All at once some people brought him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he told the paralyzed man, "Be courageous, son! Your sins are forgiven."

But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking, replied, "Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?

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

But so you will know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"" he told the paralyzed man, "Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home!"

The Pharisees saw this and asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

Then John's disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don't fast?"

Nor do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill out, and the skins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

While Jesus was telling them these things, an official came up and fell down before him. "My daughter has just died," he said. "But come and lay your hand on her, and she will live."

When Jesus turned and saw her, he said, "Be courageous, daughter! Your faith has made you well." And from that very hour the woman was well.

Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith, let it be done for you!"

And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly told them, "See to it that nobody knows about this."

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!"

When he saw the crowds, he was deeply moved with compassion for them, because they were troubled and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

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;

These were the Twelve whom Jesus sent out after he had given them these instructions: "Don't turn on to the road that leads to the unbelievers, and don't enter Samaritan towns.

Don't take any gold, silver, or copper in your moneybags,

or a traveling bag for the trip, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or a walking stick, because a worker deserves his food.

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

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.

When they hand you over, don't worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, because in that hour what you are to say will be given to you.

It won't be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

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.

"Two sparrows are sold for a penny, aren't they? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's permission.

Indeed, even the hairs on your head have all been counted!

So stop being afraid. You are worth more than a bunch of sparrows."

"The one who loves his father or mother more than me isn't worthy of me, and the one who loves a son or daughter more than me isn't worthy of me.

and asked him, "Are you the Coming One, or should we wait for someone else?"

the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the destitute hear the good news.

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?

Really, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy clothes? See, those who wear fancy clothes live in kings' houses.

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.'

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

Because John didn't come eating or drinking, yet people say, "He has a demon!'

"Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest.

Place my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest for your souls,

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

But he told them, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

Or haven't you read in the Law that on every Sabbath the priests in the Temple violate the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

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

He will not quarrel or shout, and no one will hear him shouting in the streets.

He will not snap off a broken reed or snuff out a smoldering wick until he has brought justice through to victory.

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.

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

Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come."

"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.

You children of serpents! How can you say anything good when you are evil? The mouth speaks about what overflows from the heart.

because by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

Someone told him, "Look! Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak to you."

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

Then pointing with his hand at his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers,

Other seeds fell on stony ground, where they did not have a lot of soil. They sprouted at once because the soil wasn't deep.

But when the sun came up, they were scorched. Since they did not have any roots, they dried up.

That's why I speak to them in parables, because "they look but don't see, and they listen but don't hear or understand.'

for this people's heart has become dull, and their ears are hard of hearing. They have shut their eyes so that they might not see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.'

"How blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear!

but since he doesn't have any root in himself, he lasts for only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes along because of the word, he immediately falls away.

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."

While people were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.

"The owner's servants came and asked him, "Master, you sowed good seed in your field, didn't you? Then where did these weeds come from?'

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.

He went to his hometown and began teaching the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were amazed and asked, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miracles?

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?"

And they were offended by him.

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."

All of them ate and were filled. Then the disciples picked up what was left of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.

Now those who had eaten were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.

When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and cried out, "It's a ghost!" And they screamed in terror.

Then the men in the boat began to worship Jesus, saying, "You certainly are the Son of God!"

"Why do your disciples disregard the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands when they eat."

But he answered them, "Why do you also disregard the commandment of God because of your tradition?

Because God said, "You are to honor your father and your mother,' and, "Whoever curses father or mother must certainly be put to death.'

But you say, "Whoever tells his father or his mother, "Whatever support you might have received from me has been given to God,"

does not have to honor his father.' Because of your tradition, then, you have disregarded the authority of God's word.

"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Then the disciples came and asked him, "Do you realize that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?"

Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If one blind person leads another blind person, both will fall into a ditch."

Jesus said, "Are you still so ignorant?

These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands doesn't make a person unclean."

Then Jesus answered her, "Lady, your faith is great! What you want is granted." That very hour her daughter was healed.

As a result, the crowd was amazed to see those who were unable to talk speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel.

Then Jesus called his disciples and said, "I have compassion for the crowd because they have already been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away without food, or they may faint on the road."