He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find Him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship Him.”

and do not imagine that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our forefather,' for I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones.

His winnowing-fork is in His hand, and He will clean out His threshing-floor and store His wheat in His barn, but He will burn up the chaff with fire that never can be put out."

But he answered, "The Scripture says, 'Not on bread alone can man live, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste (purpose), how can it be made salty? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and walked on by people [when the walkways are wet and slippery].

You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can't be hidden.

Neither does a person light an [olive oil] lamp and place it under a bushel-sized container, but on a stand where it can illuminate everything in the house.

In the [same] way let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

For truly I say unto you, Until heaven and earth may pass away, one jot or tittle can not pass from the law, until all things may be accomplished.

For I say unto you, that if your righteousness may not abound more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you can not enter into the kingdom of the heavens.

Truly I say unto you, You can not go out from thence until you have paid the last farthing.

Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can't make one hair white or black.

For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that?

"Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.

"Do not store your valuables [here] on earth, where moths can eat them and where rust can corrode them, and where burglars can break in and steal [them].

But [rather] store up your valuables in heaven [i.e., by investing your life in spiritual things], where neither moths can eat nor rust corrode, nor burglars break in and steal,

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

That is why I say to you, Do not be anxious about your life here--what you can get to eat or drink; nor yet about your body-- what you can get to wear. Is not life more than food, and the body than its clothing?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Therefore be not solicitous, saying, What can we eat? or what can we drink? or with what can we be clothed?

Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me get the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own eye?

You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye.

If ye then, which are evil, can give to your children good gifts, how much more shall your father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask of him?

You can recognize them by their fruit [i.e., by what their lives produce]. Do people harvest grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistle weeds?

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

So you can tell them by their fruit.

Right away a man with a serious skin disease came up and knelt before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

For I also am a man [who serves] under the authority [of others], and I have soldiers [who serve] under me. I can say to this one 'Go,' and he goes, and to another one, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave 'Do this,' and he does it."

And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where he can lay his head.

And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

for she said to herself, “If I can just touch His robe, I’ll be made well!”

When He entered the house, the blind men approached Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they answered Him.

Simon of Cana, and Judas Iscariot, he who betrayed him.

A disciple is doing well if he can be [as good] as his teacher, and the slave [as good] as his master. If they have called the master of the house [i.e., Jesus] Beelzebub [i.e., the chief of evil spirits. See Mark 3:22], how much more [likely] will they call members of his household [i.e., the disciples] the same thing!

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Are not two sparrows sold [in the market for food] for a small coin [Note: The coin mentioned here was worth about a half hour's worth of a farm laborer's pay, or about $3 in 1994]? And not a [single] one of them can fall to the ground without your Father [knowing about it].

And whosoever may give one of these little ones only a cup of cold water, in the name of a disciple, truly I say unto you, He can not lose his reward.

The blind are regaining their sight and the lame can walk, the lepers are being cured and the deaf can hear, the dead are being raised and good news is being preached to the poor.

"To what can I compare the people living today? They're like little children who sit in the marketplaces and shout to each other,

A bruised cane, will he not break, and, a smoking wick, will he not quench, - until he urge on, justice, to victory,

And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Can this be the son of David?

But knowing their thoughts, he said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed; and no city or house divided against itself can stand.

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

Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

“Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy [every evil, abusive, injurious speaking, or indignity against sacred things] will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit will not be forgiven.

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

"When a foul spirit goes out of a man, it roams through deserts in search of rest and can find none.

He answered them, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them.

Therefore, I am speaking to them with parables because [although] they can see, they [really] do not perceive, and [although] they can hear, they [really] do not comprehend, and so they [utterly] fail to understand [what I am trying to get across].

For this people's soul has grown dull, and with their ears they can scarcely hear, and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they will never see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn to me, so that I may cure them!'

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.

He said to them, "Then remember that every scribe who has become a disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven must be like a householder who can supply from his storeroom new things as well as old."

He told his servants, "This must be John, the Immerser; he has risen from the dead and [that explains how] these powers can work through him [i.e., Jesus]."

Now [when it] was evening, the disciples came to him saying, "The place is desolate and the hour {is late}. Release the crowds so that they can go away into the villages [and] purchase food for themselves."

And Jesus immediately constrained His disciples to embark into the ship and go before Him to the other side, until he can send away the multitudes.

Can you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is disposed of?

But Jesus, having called his disciples to him, said, I have compassion on the crowd, because they have stayed with me already three days and they have not anything they can eat, and I would not send them away fasting lest they should faint on the way.

And the disciples said to him, "Where in [this] desolate place {can we get} so much bread that such a great crowd could be satisfied?"

And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, yet you can't interpret the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." Then he left them and went away.

How can you fail to understand that I wasn't talking to you about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!"

And Peter took him aside and began to reprove him for it, saying, "God bless you, Master! that can never happen to you!"

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wants to be my follower, he should deny self [i.e., of always having its own way] and lift up his cross [of responsibility] and [then he can] become my follower.

because what profit will a person have if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?

And Jesus answered, "O you unbelieving and perverted people of the times! How long can I put up with you? Bring him here to me!"

He answered, “Because of your little faith [your lack of trust and confidence in the power of God]; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have [living] faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and [if it is God’s will] it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

But this kind [of spirit] can not be driven out except by praying and fasting.]}]}

and said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent [that is, change your inner self—your old way of thinking, live changed lives] and become like children [trusting, humble, and forgiving], you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

But if he does not listen [to your reasoning], take one or two other people with you, so that two or three witnesses can verify every word [that was said].

For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.

But he said unto them, Not all men can receive this saying, but they to whom it is given.

For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs who were made by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way because of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”

And a man came up to Him and asked, "What is there good that I can do to possess eternal life?"

When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

Can I not do as I please with what belongs to me? Have you a grudge because I am generous?'

And Jesus answering said, Ye know not what ye ask. Can ye drink the cup which I am about to drink? They say to him, We are able.

But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir [to the vineyard]. Come on, let us kill him so we can take over his inheritance.'

"The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.

So go into the roads leading out of town and invite as many people as you can find to the wedding.'

He asked them, "Then how can David by the Spirit call him "Lord' when he says,

“If David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how then can the Messiah be his Son?”

children that can't fail to fill up the measure of your fathers iniquities.

Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

For I say unto you, that ye can see me no more until you can say; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.

for false Christs and false prophets will appear, and they will show great signs and wonders to mislead God's chosen people if they can.

For just like lightning that appears in the east can be seen even in the west, so it will be with the presence [i.e., coming] of the Son of man.

Wherever there is a dead body, [you can expect to see] vultures gathered there. [Note: This may mean that such a significant event as the coming of Christ would surely not go unnoticed].

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words can not pass away.

But the thoughtful ones not only took their lamps but also extra oil in their oil cans.

and I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you [can] have your own talent [back].'

Being deeply grieved and extremely distressed, each one of them began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?”

Then Judas, the disciple who was betraying Him, asked, "Can it be I, Rabbi?" "It is you," He replied.

Again, a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cup can't pass away from me unless I drink it, your desire be done."

Do you think that I can not now call upon my Father, and he would cause more than twelve legions of angels to stand by me?

stated, “This man said, ‘I can demolish God’s sanctuary and rebuild it in three days.’”

They twisted a wreath of thorny twigs and put it on His head, and they put a sceptre of cane in His right hand, and kneeling to Him they shouted in mockery, "Long live the King of the Jews!"

Then they spat upon Him, and taking the cane they repeatedly struck Him on the head with it.

and saying, "You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are God's Son, come down from the cross!"

"He saved others, but he can't save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.

One of them ran forthwith, and filling a sponge with sour wine put it on the end of a cane and offered it Him to drink;