"Repent," said he, "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

This John it was of whom it was said through Isaiah, the prophet, The voice of one who cries aloud in the desert, "Prepare a way for the Lord, Make the paths straight for him."

But when John saw that many of the Pharisees and Sadducees were coming for baptism, he said: "O brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

But he tried to prevent him. "It is I," he said, "who need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me?"

while a voice from heaven said, "This is my son, the beloved, In whom I delight."

So the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, bid these stones to become bread."

and said to him. "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, "He will give his angels charge over thee; Upon their hands they will bear thee up, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone."

and said to him, "All these will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me."

"Come, follow me," said Jesus, "And I will make you fishers of men."

"You have heard that it was said to the ancients, "Thou shall not commit murder, and "He who commits murder shall be liable to condemnation by the court;

"You have heard that it was said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery.

"It was also said, "Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of separation.

"Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, "You must not forswear yourselves, but must perform your vows to the Lord.

"You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

"You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."

"Be careful not to do your good deeds in the sight of men, in order to be observed by them. If you do, you have no reward with your heavenly Father.

Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him "I do choose," he said, "become clean," and immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded, as an evidence to them."

"I will come and heal him," said Jesus.

"Lord, "said the captain in reply, "I am not worthy to have you under my roof, but speak the word only, and my slave will be cured,

As Jesus listened to this reply he was astonished, and said to those who followed him. "In solemn truth I tell you that I have found faith like this in any Israelite.

"I tell you that many will come from the east and from the west, and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

Then Jesus said to the captain. "Go! As you have believed, so be it unto you." And his slave was healed in that very hour.

When Jesus saw the great crowds about him, he had given directions to cross to the other side,

when a Scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go!"

Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father,"

"Follow me," Jesus said to him, "and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

"Why are you afraid?" he said, "you men of little faith!" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm.

When he arrived on the other side, in the country of the Gadarenes, he was met by two demoniacs who were coming out of the tombs. They were so violently fierce that no one dared pass along that road.

and the demons began entreating him. "If you are driving us out," they said, "send us into the herd of swine."

And here they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Courage, son, your sins are forgiven."

And behold! certain scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming."

And because Jesus knew well their thought, he said:

As Jesus was passing thence, he saw a man called Mathew sitting at the tax-office, and said to him, "Follow me."

"It is not those who are well," said Jesus, when he heard this, "but the sick, who need a doctor.

"Can the friends fast at a wedding-feast," said Jesus, "so long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom has been taken from them, and then they will fast.

For she said to herself, "If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured."

But Jesus turned and saw her and said, "Be of good courage, daughter, your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that hour.

Now when Jesus had come into the house of the ruler, and had seen the flute-players and the wailing crowd, he said,

And he said to his disciples. "The harvest is great, but the laborers are few;

"Into whatever city or town you enter, inquire for some worthy person there, and stay with him until you leave.

"and if the house is worthy let your blessing sit upon it; but if it be unworthy, let your blessing return to you.

"For I came to set "a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, 'He has a demon';

At that time Jesus answered and said: "I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and wary, and hast revealed them to the children.

"Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.

But the Pharisees, when they perceived it, said to him. "Look! Your disciples are doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"

Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."

When the Pharisees heard it they said, "It is only by the aid of Beelzebub, the Prince of the demons, that this fellow is driving out demons."

Because Jesus knew what was in their minds, he said to them. "Any kingdom divided against itself will become desolate; and any city or household divided against himself will not stand.

Then some of the Scribes and Pharisees accosted him. "Teacher," they said, "we want to see some sign from you."

And stretching his hand toward his disciples, he said,

On that same day, after Jesus had left the house, he took his seat on the seashore;

and such a great crowd gathered about him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the crowd stood on the beach.

Then he told them many truths in parables. "Behold," he said, "the sower went forth to sow;

and as he sowed, some seed fell by the roadside, and the birds came and ate it.

Now when his disciples came up to him, they said,

"This is the seed sown by the wayside. And the word, and at once receives it with joy.

"And the seed sown among thorns is he who hears the word, but the anxieties of the age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

"But the seed sown in good soil is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit, and makes now an hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty."

He told them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven," he said, "is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;

"The slaves of the owner went to him and said: "'Was it not good seed, sir, that you sowed in your field? From whence then, do you get tares?'

"'It is an enemy who has done this,' he answered. "The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and collect them?'

He set forth to them another parable, saying. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard-seed which a man took and planted in his field.

He told them another parable. He said, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole was leavened."

After he had sent the people away and gone into the house, his disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable about the weeds in the field."

"The sower of the seed," he answered, "is the Son of man;

"the field is the world; the good seed is the sons of the kingdom; the weeds, the sons of the Evil One.

"When it was full they hauled it upon the beach, and sat down and sorted the good fish into baskets, but threw the worthless fish away.

"Then," said he, "every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his storehouse new things and old."

and came into his own country, where he continued teaching the people in their synagogues, until they were amazed. "Where did he get such wisdom?" they said, "and such wondrous powers?

This kept them from believing in him. Wherefore Jesus said, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and among his own family."

Just then Herod, the Tetrarch, heard of Jesus' fame, and said to his courtiers.

So, prompted by her mother, the girl said, "Give me at once, upon a dish, the head of John the Baptist."

As twilight fell, his disciples came to him and said: "This is a lonely spot, and the day is far spent; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food."

"They need not go away," said Jesus, "do you, yourselves, give them something to eat."

"Bring them here to me," said Jesus.

Then he told the people to sit down on the grass, and after taking the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves and handed them to the disciples, and the disciples handed them to the crowds.

Then he made his disciples get aboard the boat and precede him to the other side, while he sent away the crowds.

but when the disciples saw him walking upon the sea, they were terrified. "It is a phantom," they said, and cried out for fear.

But at once Jesus spoke to them, "Courage," he said, "it is I. Fear not."

"Come," said Jesus. Then Peter got down from the boat and walked on the water to go to Jesus.

"For God said, Honor your father and mother, and, Let him who reviles father or mother be put to death;

Then Jesus called the people to him and said:

Then his disciples came to him and said, "Do you know that the Pharisees were scandalized when they heard that saying?" He replied.

Then Peter said to Jesus, "Explain the parable to us."

But he answered her not a word. Then the disciples came up and kept beseeching him. "Send her away," they said, "because she wails after us."

In reply he said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

But the woman came and knelt to him and said, "Lord, do help me."

"True, Lord," she said, "but even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."

On leaving that place Jesus went along the shore of the Sea of Galilee; and after climbing a hill, took his seat there.

But Jesus called his disciples to him and said: "My heart yearns over the crowd, for they have been with me now three days, and they have nothing to eat. I am not willing to send them away hungry, for fear they faint on the road."

In answer he said: "In the evening you say, 'It will be fine weather, for the sky is red as fire';

When his disciples reached the other side of the lake, they had forgotten to bring bread.

Presently Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees."

When Jesus knew it he said: "Weaklings in faith! Why are you arguing among yourselves, because you have no bread?

"Blessed are you, Simon, Son of Jonah," said Jesus; "for flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven!

But he turned and said to Peter. "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me, because you are not intent on what pleases God, but what pleases men."

Then Jesus said to his disciples. "If any man wishes to come after me, let him renounce self, take up his cross, and follow me.

Then Peter said to Jesus. "Master, it is good that we are here! If you are willing I will make here three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."