# verses

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This book is the record of Jesus the Messiah<n>Or “Christ.” Christ is the Greek word for Messiah in Hebrew.</n>, the son of David, the son of Abraham, beginning with the family line:<pb/>


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Abraham was the father<n>Or “fathered.”</n> of Isaac; and Isaac the father of Jacob; and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers;


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and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar); and Perez the father of Hezron; and Hezron the father of Ram;


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and Ram the father of Amminadab; and Amminadab the father of Nahshon; and Nahshon the father of Salmon;


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and Salmon the father of Boaz (his mother was Rahab); and Boaz the father of Obed (his mother was Ruth); and Obed the father of Jesse;


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and Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon (his mother had been Uriah’s wife);


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and Solomon the father of Rehoboam; and Rehoboam the father of Abijah; and Abijah the father of Asa;


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and Asa the father of Jehoshaphat; and Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram; and Jehoram the father of Uzziah;


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and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh; and Manasseh the father of Amon; and Amon the father of Josiah;


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After the exile to Babylon, Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel; and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel;


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and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud; and Abiud the father of Eliakim; and Eliakim the father of Azor;


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and Eliud the father of Eleazar; and Eleazar the father of Matthan; and Matthan the father of Jacob;<pb/>


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and Jacob was the father of Joseph, who was the husband of Mary, to whom Jesus was born, the one who is called the Messiah.<pb/>


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So all the generations from Abraham to David add up to fourteen; from David to the Babylonian exile, fourteen; and from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah, fourteen.<pb/>


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This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah happened. His mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, but before they slept together she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit.


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Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and didn’t want to shame her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement discreetly.<pb/>


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While he was thinking about all of this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and told him, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to marry Mary because she is pregnant by the Holy Spirit.


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She will give birth to a son and you shall call him Jesus, for he will save people from their sins.”


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‘A virgin will become pregnant, and will give birth to a son. They will call him Immanuel,’ which means ‘God with us.’”<n>Isaiah 7:14.</n>


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Joseph married Mary, but did not sleep with her until after she had given birth to a son, whom he named Jesus.<pb/>


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After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea during the reign of King Herod, wise men<n>Or “Magi.” These are believed to be religious priest-rulers, probably from Persia, who studied the stars.</n> came from the east to Jerusalem.<pb/>


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“Where is the King of the Jews who has been born?” they asked. “We saw his star in the east and we’ve come to worship him.”<pb/>


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Herod summoned all the chief priests and religious teachers of the people, and asked them where the Messiah was supposed to be born.<pb/>


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‘Bethlehem in the land of Judea, you are certainly not the least important of Judah’s leading cities<n>“Cities,” implied.</n>, for a leader will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel<n>Micah 5:2, plus 2 Sam. 5:2.</n>.’”<pb/>


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Then Herod called the wise men and met with them in private and found out from them exactly when the star appeared.


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He sent them to Bethlehem, telling them, “When you get there, search for the child. Once you find him let me know so that I can come and worship him too.”<pb/>


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After they had heard what the king had to say they went on their way, and the star which they had seen in the east led them until it stopped right above the place where the child was.


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When they saw the star<n>Clearly meaning when they saw the star stop, since they had already seen the star and followed it all the way from their home in the east.</n> they couldn’t contain their happiness!


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They went into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother. They bowed and worshiped him. Then they opened their bags of treasure and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.


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Warned by a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by a different route.<pb/>


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After they’d left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and told him, “Get up, and take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Remain there until I tell you, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”<pb/>


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They stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord said through the prophet, “I called my son out of Egypt.”<n>Hosea 11:1.</n><pb/>


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When Herod realized he’d been fooled by the wise men, he got very angry. He sent men to kill all the young boys in Bethlehem and the regions nearby who were two years old and under. This was based on the time frame he’d discovered from the wise men<n>In other words, it had been up to two years previously that the star had first appeared to the wise men.</n>.


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“The sound of terrible weeping and mourning was heard in Rama, Rachel crying for her children. They are dead, and she can’t be comforted.”<n>Jeremiah 31:15.</n><pb/>


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“Get up! Take the child and his mother, and return to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.”<pb/>


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But Joseph was afraid to go there after he learned that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea. Warned in a dream, Joseph went to the Galilee area,


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and settled down in Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said, “He will be called a Nazarene.”<n>Referring to Jesus. Matthew is not citing one specific prophecy here.</n><pb/>


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He was the one Isaiah spoke about when he said, “A voice is heard crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord. Make the paths straight for him.’”<pb/>


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John had clothes made of camel hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts<n>Probably locust beans.</n> and wild honey.


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But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he said to them, “You vipers’ brood! Who warned you to run away from the coming judgment<n>Literally, “wrath.”</n>?


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Show by what you do that you have truly repented<n>Literally, “Produce fruit worthy of repentance.”</n>,


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and don’t presume to say proudly to yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you that God could make children of Abraham from these stones.


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In fact the ax is ready to chop down the trees. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.<pb/>


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“Yes, I baptize you in water to show repentance, but after me is coming one who is greater than I am. I’m not worthy even to remove his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.


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He has his winnowing tool<n>Used after harvest to separate the grain from the chaff.</n> ready in his hand. He will clean up the threshing floor and gather the wheat into the storehouse, but he will burn the chaff with fire that can’t be put out.”<pb/>


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But John tried to change his mind. He told Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me to baptize you?”<pb/>


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“Please do so, because it’s good for us to do what God says is right,” Jesus told him. So John agreed to do it.<pb/>


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Right after he was baptized, Jesus came out of the water. The heavens were opened, and he saw God’s Spirit like a dove descending, landing on him.


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A voice from heaven said, “This is my son whom I love<n>Or, “This is my son, the beloved one.”</n>, who pleases me.”<pb/>


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The tempter came and said to him, “If you really are the Son of God, order these stones to turn into bread.”<pb/>


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Jesus answered, “As Scripture says, ‘Human beings do not live by only eating bread, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”<pb/>


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Then the devil took him to the holy city<n>Referring to Jerusalem.</n> and placed him on the top of the Temple.<pb/>


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“If you really are the son of God, then throw yourself off,” he told Jesus. “As Scripture says, ‘He will order his angels to save you from harm. They will catch you so that you won’t fall by tripping over a stone.’”<pb/>


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Then the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their glory.


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“Go away, Satan!” said Jesus. “As Scripture says, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him, and him alone.’”


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Leaving Nazareth, he came to stay in Capernaum, on the shores of the sea in the regions of Zebulun and Naphthali.


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“In the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphthali, on the road to the sea, across the Jordan River, in Galilee where the foreigners live:


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The people living in darkness saw a great light; the light of dawn has shined on those living in the land of the shadow of death.”


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From that time on Jesus began declaring his message, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”<pb/>


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As he was walking by the sea of Galilee Jesus saw two brothers. Simon, also called Peter, and his brother Andrew, were casting a net in the sea. They made their living by catching fish.<pb/>


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Continuing on he saw two other brothers, James and John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them to follow him<n>“To follow him,” implied.</n>.


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Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, telling the good news of the kingdom, and healing all the diseases and illnesses the people had.


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News about him spread throughout the province of Syria<n>The area to the north of Galilee.</n>. They brought everyone who was sick to him: people troubled by seizures, the demon-possessed, those who were mentally ill, people who were paralyzed, and he healed all of them.


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Large crowds followed him from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and the region beyond Jordan.<pb/>


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When Jesus saw the crowds following him he went up a mountain. There he sat down together with his disciples.


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Blessed are those who are kind<n>Meaning meek, mild tempered.</n>, for they will own the whole world.


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Blessed are those whose greatest desire<n>Literally, “those who are hungry and thirsty.”</n> is to do what is right, for they will be satisfied.


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Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and accuse you of all kinds of evil things because of me.


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Be glad, be really glad, for you will receive a great reward in heaven—for they persecuted the prophets who came before you in just the same way.<pb/>


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“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt becomes tasteless<n>Or, “useless.”</n>, how can you make it salty again? It’s good for nothing, so it’s thrown out and trodden down.


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No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a bucket. No, it’s placed on a lamp-stand and it provides light to everyone in the house.


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In the same way you should let your light shine before everyone so they can see the good things you do and praise your heavenly Father.<pb/>


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“Don’t think I came to abolish the law or the writings of the prophets. I didn’t come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.


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I assure you, until heaven and earth come to an end, not a single letter, not a single dot of the law will come to an end before everything is fulfilled.


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So whoever disregards<n>Or, “invalidates.”</n> the least important commandment, and teaches people to do so, will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches the commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.


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I tell you, unless your righteousness is more than that of the religious teachers and the Pharisees, you can never enter the kingdom of heaven.<pb/>


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“You’ve heard that the law said<n>Literally, “You’ve heard that it was said.” This phrase is used often in this passage by Jesus to refer to the laws found in the Old Testament.</n> to the people of long ago: ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who commits murder will be condemned as guilty<n>Or, “liable to judgment.”</n>.’


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But I tell you, anyone who is angry with his brother will be condemned as<pb/>guilty. Whoever calls his brother an idiot has to answer to the council<n>Probably the Sanhedrin council.</n>, but whoever insults people is liable to the fire of judgment<n>The word here is Literally, “Gehenna,” sometimes translated “hell” or “hellfire.” Gehenna was the place outside of Jerusalem where fires were lit to dispose of rubbish by burning. “Hell” is a concept that is derived from Nordic and Anglo-Saxon mythology and does not parallel the idea here.</n>.”


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“If you’re at the altar making an offering, and remember that your brother has something against you,


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leave your offering on the altar and go and make peace with him first, and afterwards come back and make your offering.


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While you’re on the way to court with your opponent, make sure you settle things quickly. Otherwise your opponent might hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the court official, and you will be thrown into jail.


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But I tell you that everyone who looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.


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If your right eye leads you to sin, then tear it out and throw it away, because it’s better to lose one part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into the fire of judgment.


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If your right hand leads you to sin, then cut it off and throw it away, for it’s better for you to lose one of your limbs than for your whole body to go into the fire of judgment.<pb/>


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But I tell you that any man who divorces his wife except for sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.<pb/>


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“And again, you’ve heard that the law said to the people of long ago, ‘You shall not perjure yourself. Instead make sure you keep the oaths you swear to the Lord.’


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Don’t swear by the earth, because it’s God’s footstool. Don’t swear by Jerusalem, because it’s the city of the great King.


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But I tell you, don’t resist someone who is evil. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek to them as well.


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If someone wants to sue you in court and takes your shirt, give them your coat too<n>The coat was a much more valuable article of clothing.</n>.


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If someone demands that you go one mile, go with them two<n>Probably referring to a Roman soldier demanding his belongings be carried for him.</n>.


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so you may become children of your heavenly Father. For his sun shines on both the good and the bad; and he makes the rain fall on both those who do right and those who do wrong.


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For if you only love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don’t even the tax-collectors do that?


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If you only speak kindly to your family, what more are you doing than anyone else? Even the heathen<n>Literally, “nations,” or “Gentiles.” A common term used in the New Testament to identify non-Jews, those regarded as not following the true God.</n> do that!


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Grow up and become completely trustworthy<n>Literally, “perfect, complete, undivided, whole, mature.” The idea here is of a way of life totally dedicated to God rather than focusing on some abstract concept of perfection. The focus is on spiritual maturity which translates into being someone dependable, someone who can always be trusted.</n>, just as your heavenly Father is trustworthy.<pb/>


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“Make sure not to do your good deeds in front of people, just so they can be seen. Otherwise you won’t have any reward from your Father in heaven.


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When you give to the poor, don’t be like the hypocrites<n>A word taken from the Greek which literally means “play-acting.”</n> who blow their own trumpets to announce what they’re doing in the synagogues and in the streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth: they already have their reward.


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That way what you give will be in secret, and your Father who sees what happens in secret will reward you.<pb/>


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“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand up and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people can see them. I promise you, they already have their reward.


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But you, when you pray, go indoors and close the door, and pray to your Father in private, and your Father who sees what happens in private will reward you.


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When you pray, don’t babble on meaninglessly like the foreigners do, who think they will be heard because of all the words they repeat.


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“Our heavenly Father, may your name be honored. May your kingdom come! May your will be carried out in earth as it is in heaven.


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Don’t let us be tempted to do wrong<n>Or, “Please help us not to give in to temptation.”</n>, and save us from the Evil One.<pb/>


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But if you don’t forgive those who sin against you, then your heavenly Father won’t forgive your sins.<pb/>


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“When you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites who put on sad faces and make themselves look terrible so that everyone can see they’re fasting. I tell you the truth, they already have their reward.


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so that people won’t see you’re fasting, and your unseen Father who sees what happens in private will reward you.<pb/>


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“Don’t pile up wealth here on earth where moths and rust ruin it, and where thieves break in and steal it.


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Instead, you should pile up your wealth in heaven, where moths and rust don’t ruin it, and where thieves don’t break in and steal it.


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“The eye is like a lamp that lights the body. So if your eye is healthy<n>Or, “good, innocent.”</n>, then your whole body will have light.


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But if your eye is evil, then your whole body will be in the dark. If the light in you is darkness, how dark is that!


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No one can serve two masters. Either you’ll hate one and love the other, or you’ll be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Money<n>Literally, “Mammon,” a transliteration from the Aramaic word for the Syrian god of money and wealth.</n>.<pb/>


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“That’s why I’m telling you not to worry about your life. Don’t worry about what to eat, or what to drink, or what clothes to put on. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothes?


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Look at the birds<n>Literally, “birds of the air,” referring to wild birds rather than domesticated birds.</n>—they don’t sow or reap or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are?


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And why are you worried about clothes? Look at the beautiful flowers in the field. See how they grow: they don’t work hard, they don’t spin thread.


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So if God decorates the fields like this, grass which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, won’t he do much more for you, you people who trust so little?


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These are all the things that the heathen chase after, but your heavenly Father knows everything you need.


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So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow can worry about itself. There’s already enough evil in every day.<pb/>


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For whatever standard you use to judge others will be used to judge you, and whatever measurement you use to measure others will be used to measure you.


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Why do you see the speck that’s in your brother’s eye? Don’t you notice the plank that’s in your own eye?


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How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take out that speck from your eye’ when you have a plank in your own eye?


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You’re being hypocritical! First get rid of the plank that’s in your own eye. Then you’ll be able to see clearly to take out the speck from your brother’s eye.<pb/>


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“Don’t give dogs what’s holy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs. That way the pigs won’t trample them underfoot, and the dogs won’t turn and attack you.<pb/>


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“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you<n>In the original these are present imperatives, and could be translated “Keep on asking” etc.</n>.


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Everyone who asks, receives; everyone who seeks, finds; and everyone who knocks has the door opened for them.


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So if even you who are evil know to give good things to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.<pb/>


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Enter by the narrow entrance. For the entrance is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many travel that way.


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But the entrance is narrow, and the way is difficult that leads to life, and only a few find it.<pb/>


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“Watch out for false prophets who come wearing sheep’s clothing, but who on the inside are vicious wolves.


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You can recognize them by their fruits<n>In other words, you can recognize them by the results of what they do.</n>. Do people harvest grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?


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“Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven—only those who do the will of my Father in heaven.


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Many will say to me at the Day of Judgment, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name and drive out demons in your name, and perform many miracles in your name?’


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Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Leave me, you people who practice wickedness!’<n>See Psalm 6:8.</n>


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Everyone that hears the words I say, and follows them, is like a wise man who built his house on solid rock.


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The rain poured down, and the floods rose, and the winds blew hard against the house, but it didn’t fall down, because its foundations were on solid rock.


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Everyone that hears the words I say, and doesn’t follow them, is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.


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The rain poured down, and the floods rose, and the winds blew hard against the house, and it fell down—it totally collapsed.”<pb/>


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A leper approached him and bowed down, worshiping him, and said, “Lord, if you’re willing, please heal me.”


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Jesus reached out and touched him with his hand. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Immediately he was healed from his leprosy.<pb/>


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“Make sure you don’t tell anyone,” Jesus told him. “Go and show yourself to the priest and give the offering which Moses required as public proof<n>Proof that he had been healed and was ceremonially clean.</n>.”<pb/>


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The centurion answered, “Lord, I don’t merit a visit to my home. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed.


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For I am myself under the authority of superiors, while I also have soldiers under my command. I command one, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I command another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I tell my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”<pb/>


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When Jesus heard what he said, he was astonished. He told those who were following him, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t found this kind of trust anywhere in Israel.


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


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But the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown out into utter darkness where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.”<pb/>


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Then Jesus told the centurion, “Go home. Because you trusted that it would happen, what you asked for has been done.” The servant was healed right away.<pb/>


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When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, he saw that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever.


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When evening came they brought many who were demon-possessed to Jesus. He made the spirits leave at his command, and he healed all those who were sick.


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This fulfilled what the prophet Isaiah said: “He healed our diseases, and freed us from our illnesses.”<pb/>


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When Jesus saw the crowds around him, he gave instructions that they<n>“They” meaning Jesus and the disciples.</n> should go to the other side of the lake.


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One of the religious teachers approached him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go!”<pb/>


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“Foxes have their dens, and wild birds have their nests, but the Son of man has nowhere he can lay down and rest<n>Literally, “lay down his head.”</n>,” Jesus told him.<pb/>


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The disciples went over to him and woke him up. “Save us, Lord! We’re going to drown!” they shouted.<pb/>


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“Why are you so afraid? Why do you trust so little?” he asked them. Then he got up, and commanded the winds and the waves to stop. Everything was absolutely calm.


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When he arrived on the other side, in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men came out of the graveyard to meet him. They were so dangerous that nobody dared to travel that way.


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They shouted out, “What have you got to do with us, you Son of God? Have you come to torture us before our time?”<pb/>


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“Go!” said Jesus. The demons left the men and went into the pigs. The whole herd ran down the steep hillside into the sea and drowned.


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The pig herders ran away. They went to the town and told the people there everything that had taken place, and what had happened to the demon-possessed men.


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The whole town came out to meet Jesus. When they found him, they begged him to leave their district.<pb/>


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There they brought to him a paralyzed man lying on a mat. When Jesus saw how they trusted him, he told the paralyzed man, “My friend<n>Literally, “child.”</n>, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven.”<pb/>


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But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He asked them, “Why are you thinking evil thoughts in your hearts?


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But to convince you that the Son of man does have the authority to forgive sins…” he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your mat, and go home!”


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When the crowds saw what had happened, they were scared. Then they praised God that he had given human beings such power.<pb/>


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As Jesus moved on from there he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth. Jesus called to him, “Follow me!” He got up, and followed Jesus.


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While Jesus was eating at Matthew’s home, many tax-collectors and sinners came and sat down at the table with Jesus and his disciples.


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When the Pharisees saw this they asked Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?”<pb/>


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When Jesus heard the question, he replied, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but sick people do.


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Go and discover what this means: ‘I want mercy, not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call those who do right—I came to call sinners.’”<n>Hosea 6:6.</n><pb/>


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Then the disciples of John came and asked, “Why is that we and the Pharisees fast frequently, but your disciples don’t?”<pb/>


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“Do wedding guests mourn while the bridegroom is with them?” Jesus responded. “But the time is coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.


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No one puts new wine in old wineskins either, otherwise the wineskins will burst, spilling the wine and ruining the wineskins. No, new wine is put into new wineskins, and both last.”<pb/>


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While he was telling them this, one of the leading officials came and bowed before him. “My daughter has just died,” the man told Jesus. “But if you come and place your hand on her, I know she will come back to life.”<pb/>


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At that moment a woman who had been sick with bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the hem of his cloak.


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Jesus turned and saw her. “Be happy, for your trust in me has healed you,” he told her<n>Jesus calls her “daughter,” but such a form of address is not part of modern English.</n>. The woman was immediately healed.<pb/>


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Jesus arrived at the official’s house. He saw the flute-players and the crowd that was weeping loudly.


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“Please leave,” he told them, “For the girl isn’t dead, she’s just asleep.” But they laughed and made fun of him.


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As Jesus continued on from there, two blind men followed him, shouting, “Son of David, please have mercy on us!”


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When Jesus arrived at the house where he was staying, the blind men came in too.<pb/>“Are you convinced that I’m able to do this?” he asked them.<pb/>“Yes, Lord,” they replied.<pb/>


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Once the demon had been thrown out of him, the dumb man spoke, and the crowds were amazed. “Nothing ever happened like this before in Israel,” they said.


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Jesus went all over, visiting the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues, telling them about the good news of the kingdom, and he healed all kinds of sicknesses and diseases.


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


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Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them power to throw out evil spirits, and to heal all kinds of diseases and sicknesses.<pb/>


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


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Heal those who are sick. Resurrect the dead. Cure the lepers. Drive out demons. You received freely, so give freely!


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or a bag for your journey, or two cloaks, or sandals, or a walking stick, for a worker deserves to be supported<n>Or “fed.”</n>.


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Wherever you go, whatever town or village, ask for someone who lives according to good principles, and remain there until you leave.


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If the home deserves it, let your peace<n>“Peace,” meaning blessing.</n> rest on it, but if it doesn’t deserve it, let your peace return to you.<pb/>


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“If someone doesn’t welcome you, and refuses to listen to what you have to say, then leave that house or that town, shaking its dust off your feet as you go.


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I tell you the truth, it will be better for Sodom and Gomorrah at the Day of Judgment than for that town!<pb/>


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“Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves.


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Watch out for those who will hand you over to be tried by town councils<n>Literally, “sanhedrins,” local religious courts.</n> and will whip you in their synagogues.


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You will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, to witness to them and to the foreigners.


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But when they put you on trial, don’t worry about how you should speak or what you should say, because you’ll be told what to say at the right time.


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Brother will betray brother and have him killed, and a father will do the same to his child. Children will rebel against their parents, and have them put to death.


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Everyone will hate you because you follow me, but those who endure until the end will be saved.<pb/>


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“When you’re persecuted in one town, run away to the next. I’m telling the truth: you won’t finish going to the towns of Israel before the Son of man comes.


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Disciples are not more important than their teacher; servants are not more important than their master.


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Disciples should be satisfied to become like their teacher, and servants like their master. If the head of the house has been called the head demon Beelzebub<n>Beelzebub, referring to Satan.</n>, then the members of his household will be demonized even more!


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So don’t be frightened of them, for there’s nothing covered that won’t be exposed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known.


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What I tell you here in the dark, declare when it’s light, and what you hear whispered in your ear, shout from the rooftops.


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Don’t be afraid of those who can kill you physically, but can’t kill you spiritually. Instead, be afraid of the One who can destroy you physically and spiritually in the fires of destruction<n>Literally, “Gehenna.” See note under 5:22.</n>.


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Aren’t two sparrows sold for just one penny? But not a single one of them falls to the ground without your Father knowing about it.


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“Anyone who publicly declares their commitment<n>Literally, “confess.”</n> to me, I will also declare my commitment to them before my Father in heaven.


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I’ve come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.


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If you love your father or mother more than me you don’t deserve to be mine, and if you love your son or daughter more than me you don’t deserve to be mine.


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If you try to save your life, you will lose it<n>In other words, if you try to hold on to your life by your own human effort, you will not succeed.</n>, but if you lose your life because of me you will save it.


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Those who welcome a prophet because that’s what they are will receive the same reward as a prophet. Those who welcome someone who does right will receive the same reward as someone who does right.


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I tell you the truth, those who give a drink of cool water to the least important of my disciples will definitely not miss out on their reward.”<pb/>


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When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, he left to go and teach and speak publicly in the nearby towns.


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to ask on his behalf, “Are you the one we were expecting to come, or should we continue to look for someone else?”<pb/>


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The blind can see, the crippled can walk, the lepers are healed, the deaf can hear, the dead are resurrected, and the poor hear the good news.


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As they left, Jesus began to talk to the crowds about John. “What were you expecting to see when you went out into the desert? A reed tossed about by the wind?


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So what did you go to see? A man dressed in fancy clothes? People dressed like that live in kings’ palaces.


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He’s the one this Scripture was written about: ‘I’m sending my messenger on ahead of you. He will prepare your way for you.’


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I tell you the truth, that among humanity<n>Literally, “among those who are born of women.”</n> there’s no one greater than John the Baptist, but even the least important in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.


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From the time of John the Baptist up till now the kingdom of heaven continues to be under attack and violent people are trying to seize it by force.


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For all the prophets and the law<n>Referring to the message of the Old Testament.</n> spoke for God until John came.


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“What shall I compare this generation to? It’s like children sitting in the market places shouting to each other,


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On the other hand the Son of man came and did feast and drink, and people say, ‘Look, he’s greedy and drinks too much; he’s a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by what it does…”<pb/>


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Then he began to reprimand the towns where he’d done most of his miracles because they had not repented.


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“Shame on you, Korazin! Shame on you, Bethsaida! If the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which happened among you, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago.


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But I tell you that on the Day of Judgment it will be better for Tyre and Sidon than it will for you!


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And what about you, Capernaum? Will you be exalted to heaven? No, you’ll go down to Hades! If the miracles had been performed in Sodom which happened among you, Sodom would still be here today.


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Then Jesus prayed, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you’ve hidden these things from the clever and sophisticated. Instead you’ve revealed them to ordinary people<n>Literally, “infants.”</n>.


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Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father, and no one really understands the Son, except the Father, and no one really understands the Father, except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.


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Accept my yoke, and learn from me. For I am kind and I have a humble heart, and in me you will find the rest you need.


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Around that time Jesus was walking through fields of grain on the Sabbath day. His disciples were hungry so they started to pick ears of grain and eat them.


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When the Pharisees saw this they said to Jesus, “Look at your disciples—they’re doing what isn’t allowed on the Sabbath!”<pb/>


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He went into the house of God, and he and his men ate the sacred bread that they weren’t allowed to eat since it’s only for the priests.


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Haven’t you read in the law that on the Sabbath day the priests in the Temple break the Sabbath but are not considered guilty?


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If you’d known the meaning of this Scripture, ‘I want mercy, and not sacrifice,’<n>Hosea 6:6.</n> you wouldn’t have condemned an innocent man.


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A man was there with a crippled hand. “Does the law allow healing on the Sabbath?” they asked him, looking for a reason to accuse him.<pb/>


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“Suppose you have a sheep and it falls into a hole in the ground on the Sabbath. Don’t you grab hold of it and pull it out?” Jesus asked them.


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“Don’t you think a human being is worth much more than a sheep? So yes, you are allowed to do good on the Sabbath.”


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Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it was healed, just as healthy as the other hand.<pb/>


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“This is my servant whom I’ve chosen,<pb/>The one I love, who pleases me.<pb/>I will put my Spirit on him,<pb/>And he will tell the foreigners what’s right.<pb/>


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He won’t break a damaged reed,<pb/>And he won’t extinguish a smoking wick,<pb/>Until he has proved that his judgment is right<n>Or “has brought victory to justice.”</n>,<pb/>


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Then a man was brought to Jesus who was demon-possessed and blind and dumb. Jesus healed him, so that the dumb man could speak and see.


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All the crowds were amazed, and asked, “Could this really be the son of David?”<n>Meaning the Messiah who was expected to come.</n><pb/>


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But when the Pharisees heard this, they replied, “This man can only throw out demons through the power of Beelzebub, the chief of demons!”<pb/>


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Knowing what they were thinking, Jesus told them, “Any kingdom that is divided against itself will be destroyed. No town or household that is divided against itself can stand.


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If I’m throwing out demons in the name of Beelzebub, in whose name are your people throwing out demons? Your own people prove you’re wrong!


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But if I’m throwing out demons through the power of the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you!<pb/>


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“Can you enter a strong man’s house and take his belongings unless you tie him up first? If you do that then you can take everything in his house.


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Those who are not with me are against me, and those who do not gather together with me do the opposite: they are scattering.


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That’s why I’m telling you that every sin and blasphemy you commit will be forgiven, except blasphemy against the Spirit which won’t be forgiven.


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Those who say something against the Son of man will be forgiven, but those who say something against the Holy Spirit won’t be forgiven, neither in this life nor the next.


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Either decide that the tree is good, and its fruit is good, or decide that the tree is bad and its fruit is bad—for the tree is known by its fruit.


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You viper’s brood, how can you who are evil say anything good? For your mouth simply says what your mind is busy thinking about.


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A good person brings out good from their store of good things, and an evil person brings out evil from their store of evil things.


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Then some of the religious teachers and Pharisees came to him and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign.”<pb/>


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“Evil people who don’t trust in God are the ones who look for a miraculous sign. The only sign they will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah,” Jesus told them.


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“In the same way Jonah was in the belly of a huge fish for three days and three nights, the Son of man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.


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The people of Nineveh will rise in the judgment together with this generation and they will condemn it because they repented in response to Jonah’s message—and as you see, there’s someone greater than Jonah here!


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The Queen of the South will be raised in the judgment together with this generation and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon—and as you see, there’s someone greater than Solomon here!


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When an evil spirit leaves someone, it wanders through deserted places looking for rest, and finds nowhere to stay.


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So it says, ‘I’ll go back to the place I left,’ and when it returns it finds the place empty, all clean and tidy.


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Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits even more evil than it is, and it enters and lives there. So the person ends up worse than they were at the beginning. That’s the way it will be with this evil generation.”<pb/>


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While he was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers arrived and stood outside, wanting to talk to him.


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Someone came and told him, “Look, your mother and brothers are outside, wanting to talk to you.”<pb/>


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Later that day Jesus left the house, and sat down to teach<n>Implied. The religious teachers sat down when they wanted to instruct their disciples.</n> beside the lake.


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So many people gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down there to teach, while all the crowds stood on the beach.


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He explained many things to them, using stories as illustrations<n>“Stories as illustrations,” literally, “parables.”</n>.<pb/>“The sower went out to sow,” he began.


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Still other seeds fell on good soil. They produced a harvest—some one hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what had been planted.


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The disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Why do you use illustrations when you speak to the people?”<pb/>


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“You’re privileged to have revealed to you the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but they’re not given such insights,” Jesus replied.


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“Those who already have<n>Probably meaning “have understanding.”</n> will have more given to them, more than enough. But those who don’t have, whatever they have will be taken away from them.


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That’s why I speak to them in illustrations. For even though they see, they do not see; and even though they hear, they do not hear; nor do they understand.<pb/>


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“The prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled in them: ‘Even though you hear, you won’t understand, and even though you see, you won’t perceive.


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They have a hard-hearted attitude, they don’t want to listen, and they’ve closed their eyes. If they didn’t they might be able to see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand in their minds. Then they could return to me and I would heal them.’<n>Isaiah 6:9, 10.</n><pb/>


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I’m telling you, many prophets and good people longed to see what you’re seeing, but didn’t see it. They longed to hear what you’re hearing, but didn’t hear it.<pb/>


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When people hear the message about the kingdom, and don’t understand it, the Evil One comes along and rips out what was sown in their heart. This is what happens to the seeds sown on the path.


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They last for a while, but because they don’t have roots, when problems and troubles come, they quickly fall away.


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The seeds sown among thorns are people who hear the message, but then life’s worries and the temptation of money choke the message so that they become fruitless.


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The seeds sown on good soil are people who hear the message, and understand it, and who produce a good harvest—some one hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown.”<pb/>


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Then he told them another illustrated story: “The kingdom of heaven is like a farmer who sowed good seeds in his field.


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But while his workers were sleeping, an enemy came and sowed weed seeds<n>Actually “darnel,” or “false wheat,” a weed that looked similar to wheat.</n> on top of the wheat. Then they left.


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The farmer’s workers came and asked him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seeds in your field? Where did the weeds come from?’<pb/>


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“‘Some enemy has done this,’ he replied. ‘Do you want us to go and pull up the weeds?’ they asked him.


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Let them both grow until harvest, and then at harvest-time I’ll tell the reapers, “First gather the weeds, tie them up into bundles and burn them. Then gather the wheat and store it in my barn.”’”<pb/>


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He gave them another illustration: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a farmer sowed in his field.


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Even though it’s the tiniest of seeds it grows much bigger than other plants. In fact it grows into a tree big enough for birds to roost in its branches.”<pb/>


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He told them another illustrated story: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixed with a large quantity<n>Approximately 50 pounds, or 23 kilos.</n> of flour, until all the dough was raised.”


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Jesus explained all these things to the crowds using illustrated stories—in fact he didn’t speak to them without using stories.


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This fulfilled the prophet’s words: “I will speak using stories, and I will explain things hidden from the creation of the world.”<pb/>


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Then he left the crowds and went into a house. His disciples came over to him, and asked him, “Please explain to us the story about the weeds in the field.”<pb/>


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“The field is the world. The good seeds are the children of the kingdom. The weed seeds are the children of the Evil One.


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The enemy that sowed the weed seeds is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world. The reapers are angels.


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The Son of man will send out his angels, and they will gather up every sinful thing and everyone who does evil,


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Then those who live rightly will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. Anybody with ears should be listening!<pb/>


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“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. A man found it, reburied it, and then full of joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.


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Once more, the kingdom of heaven is like a fishing net thrown into the sea that caught all kinds of fish.


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When it was full it was dragged ashore. The good fish were put into baskets while the bad ones were thrown away.<pb/>


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“That’s the way it will be when the end of the world comes. The angels will go out and separate the evil people from the good,


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“Every religious teacher who’s learned about the kingdom of heaven is like a house-owner who brings out from his storeroom both new and old treasures,” Jesus said.<pb/>


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He went back to his home town<n>Nazareth.</n> and taught in the synagogue there. People were amazed, and asked, “Where does he get his wisdom and miracles from?


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Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and his brothers James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?


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And so they refused to believe in him.<pb/>“A prophet is honored everywhere except in his homeland and in his family,” Jesus told them.


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At that time Herod the tetrarch<n>“Tetrarch,” meaning a ruler of a fourth part. In this case it was the region of Galilee.</n> heard what Jesus was doing


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and he told his servants, “He must be John the Baptist resurrected from the dead, and that’s why he has such powers!”


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Herod had detained John, and had him put in chains and imprisoned on account of Herodias, the wife of Philip, his brother.


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Herod wanted to kill John but he was afraid of the people’s reaction for they considered John a prophet.<pb/>


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However, on Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias<n>Usually identified as Salome.</n> danced for the party, and Herod was delighted with her.


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Then the king regretted the promise he had made, but because of the oaths he’d made in front of his dinner guests, he gave the order to do it.


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When Jesus heard the news he went away by boat to a quiet place to be alone, but when the crowds learned where he was, they followed him on foot from the towns.


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When Jesus got out of the boat and saw the huge crowds, he was full of sympathy for them, and healed their sick.


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As evening came the disciples went up to him and said, “This place is miles from anywhere and it’s getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”<pb/>


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He told the crowds to sit down on the grass. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven and blessed them. After that he broke the loaves into pieces and gave the bread to the disciples, and the disciples gave it to the crowds.


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Everybody ate until they were full. Then they collected up the leftovers which filled twelve baskets.


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Right after this he made the disciples get into the boat and go back to the other side of the lake while he sent the crowds on their way.


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After he’d sent the crowds away, he went up into the mountains to pray. Evening came and he was there all alone.


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By now the boat was a long way out from land, being pounded by the waves because the wind was blowing against it.


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About 3 a.m.<n>Literally, “the fourth watch of the night.”</n> Jesus caught up with them, walking on the sea.


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When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. They screamed out in fear, “It’s a ghost!”<pb/>


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But when he saw how strong the wind was, he became scared, and started to sink. “Lord! Save me!” he cried out.


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Immediately Jesus reached out and grabbed hold of him, and said, “You have such little trust in me. Why did you doubt?”


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When the people there realized Jesus was there, they let everyone in the whole area know. They brought all who were sick to him,


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and pleaded with him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak. Everyone that touched him was healed.<pb/>


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“Why do your disciples break the tradition of our forefathers by not washing their hands before they eat a meal?”<pb/>


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“For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Those who curse their father or mother should be put to death.’


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But you say that if someone tells their father or mother, ‘Whatever you might have expected to get from me is now a gift to God,’ then


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they don’t have to honor their father. In this way you’ve annulled God’s word for the sake of your tradition.


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‘These people say they honor me but in their minds they don’t care about me.<n>Or, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are a long way from me.”</n>


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it’s not what goes into you through your mouth that defiles you. It’s what comes out of your mouth that defiles you.”<pb/>


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Then Jesus’ disciples came to him and said, “You do realize that the Pharisees were offended by what you said.”<pb/>


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“Forget about them—they are blind guides<n>Referring to the Pharisees.</n>. If a blind man leads another blind man, then they’ll both fall into a ditch.”<pb/>


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“Don’t you see that whatever goes in through the mouth then passes through the stomach, and then leaves the body as waste<n>Literally, “discharged into the sewer.”</n>?


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For what comes from the mind are evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and blasphemy


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A Canaanite woman from that area came, shouting out, “Lord, son of David! Please have mercy on me, because my daughter is suffering badly because she’s possessed by a demon!”


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But Jesus didn’t reply at all. His disciples came to him and told him, “Tell her to stop following us. All her shouting is really annoying!”<pb/>


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“It’s not right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs<n>The word used for dogs indicates pet dogs, or puppies.</n>,” Jesus told her.<pb/>


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“Yes, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat crumbs that fall from their master’s table,” she replied.<pb/>


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“You have great trust in me,” Jesus answered. “Your wish is granted!” And her daughter was healed immediately.<pb/>


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Huge crowds came to him, bringing those who were lame, blind, crippled, dumb, and many others who were sick. They laid them on the ground at his feet, and he healed them.


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The crowd was astounded at what they saw happen: the deaf could speak, the crippled were healed, the lame could walk, and the blind could see. They praised the God of Israel.<pb/>


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Jesus called his disciples over and told them, “I feel really sorry for all these people, because they’ve been with me now for three days, and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, in case they faint on their way home.”<pb/>


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“Where could we find enough bread here in this desert to feed such a huge crowd?” the disciples responded.<pb/>


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“How many loaves of bread do you have?” Jesus asked.<pb/>“Seven, and a few small fish,” they replied.<pb/>


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He took the seven loaves and the fish, and after blessing the food he broke it into pieces and gave it to the disciples, and the disciples gave it to the crowds.


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The Pharisees and Sadducees came to test<n>Since the test was in an attempt to discredit Jesus, this could also be translated “came to trap Jesus.”</n> Jesus, demanding that he show them a sign from heaven.<pb/>


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while in the morning you say, ‘It’ll be bad weather today, because the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to predict the weather by what the sky looks like, but you can’t recognize the signs of the times!


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Evil people who don’t trust in God are the ones who look for a miraculous sign, and no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah.” He left them and went away.<pb/>


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The disciples started arguing among themselves. “He’s saying that<n>Implied.</n> because we didn’t bring any bread,” they concluded.


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Jesus knew what they were saying and said, “You have so little trust in me! Why are you arguing among yourselves about not having any bread?


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Haven’t you worked it out yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves that fed five thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you collect?


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And what about the seven loaves that fed the four thousand? How many baskets of leftovers did you collect?


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Haven’t you worked it out yet that I wasn’t talking to you about bread? Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”


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Then they realized that he wasn’t warning them to watch out for bread yeast, but about the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.<pb/>


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When Jesus arrived in the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of man is?”<pb/>


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“Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets,” they replied.<pb/>


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“You are truly blessed, Simon son of John,” Jesus told him. “For this wasn’t revealed to you by human flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.


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I also tell you that you are Peter<n>Peter means “a stone,” in contrast to the word for solid rock also used in this verse.</n>, and on this rock I will build my church and the powers of death<n>Literally, “gates of Hades.”</n> won’t overcome it.


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I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you ban on earth will be banned in heaven, and whatever you allow on earth will be allowed in heaven.”


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From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he would have to go Jerusalem, and that he would suffer terribly at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and religious teachers; and that he would be killed, but he would rise again on the third day.<pb/>


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Peter took Jesus aside and started to tell him he shouldn’t talk like that. “God forbid, Lord, that this would ever happen to you!” he said.<pb/>


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Jesus turned to Peter, and told him, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a trap to trip me up<n>Literally, a “stumbling block” or a “snare.”</n>, because you’re thinking in a human way, and not as God thinks!”<pb/>


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Then Jesus told his disciples, “If you want to be a follower of mine, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.


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For if you want to save your life you will lose it, and if you lose your life for my sake you will save it.


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What benefit is it for you to gain the whole world, yet lose your life? What would you give in exchange for your life?


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For the Son of man is going to come in his Father’s glory, together with his angels. Then he will give everyone what they deserve according to what they’ve done.


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I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who won’t die<n>Literally, “taste death.”</n> before they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”<pb/>


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Six days later Jesus took Peter, James and his brother John, with him and they went up a high mountain to be by themselves.


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He was transformed in front of them. His face shone like the sun. His clothes turned white as light.


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Peter spoke up, saying to Jesus, “Lord, it’s really good to be here. If you want I’ll make three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”<pb/>


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While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my son whom I love, who pleases me. Listen to him.”


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As they descended the mountain Jesus gave them strict instructions. “Don’t tell anybody what you saw until the Son of man has risen from the dead,” he told them.<pb/>


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“but I tell you that Elijah has already come and yet people didn’t recognize who he was. They did whatever they felt like to him. In the same way the Son of man will also suffer at their hands.”


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“Lord, please have mercy on my son,” he said. “He loses his mind<n>Literally, “moonstruck.” This parallels the English term “lunatic” from the Latin “lunaticus.”</n> and suffers such terrible fits that he often falls in the fire or into water.


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“You people<n>Literally, “generation.”</n> refuse to trust me, and are so corrupt!” Jesus responded. “How long do I have to remain here with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring him here to me!”


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As they were walking together through Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of man is going to be betrayed and people will have power<n>Literally, “betrayed into the hands of men.”</n> over him.


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They will kill him, but on the third day he will rise again.” The disciples were filled with sadness.<pb/>


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When they arrived at Capernaum, those who were in charge of collecting the half-shekel Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, “Your teacher does pay the half-shekel tax, doesn’t he?”<pb/>


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“Yes, of course,” Peter replied.<pb/>When he returned to where they were staying, Jesus anticipated the issue. “What do you think, Simon?” Jesus asked him. “Do the kings of this world collect their taxes and duties from their own sons or from others?”<pb/>


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But to avoid giving offense to anyone, go to the lake, and throw out a fishing line with a hook. Pull in the first fish you catch, and when you open its mouth there you’ll find a ‘stater’ coin<n>Worth one shekel. The temple tax of the time was half a shekel per person.</n>. Take the coin and give it to them for both me and you.”<pb/>


text:
Around that time the disciples came to Jesus, and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”<pb/>


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“I tell you the truth, unless you change the way you think and become like little children, you won’t ever enter the kingdom of heaven,” he told them.


text:
“But whoever humbles themselves and becomes like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.


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But anyone who makes one of these little ones who trust in me sin, it would be better for them to have a large millstone<n>Literally, “a donkey millstone,” referring to the massive millstone turned by a donkey, rather than a small millstone turned by hand.</n> tied around their neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.<pb/>


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“What a disaster is coming on the world for all its temptations to sin! Temptations will surely come, but it will be a disaster for the person through whom the temptation comes!


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If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better for you to enter eternal life crippled or lame rather than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into eternal fire.


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If your eye causes you to sin, pull it out and throw it away. It’s better for you to enter eternal life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the fire of judgment.


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What do you think about this? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search of the one that’s lost?


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And if he finds it, I tell you he really rejoices over that sheep more than the ninety-nine that didn’t get lost.


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“If a brother<n>Or “fellow believer.”</n> sins against you, go and point out the wrong to him, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you’ve won your brother over.


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But if he doesn’t listen, then take one or two more people with you, so that by two or three witnesses the truth can be confirmed.


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If however he refuses to listen to them, then tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church as well, then treat him as a foreigner<n>Literally, a “Gentile,” a non-believer.</n> and a tax-collector.


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I tell you the truth, whatever you ban on earth will be banned in heaven, and whatever you allow on earth will be allowed in heaven.<pb/>


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“I also tell you that if two of you agree here on earth about something you’re praying for, then my heavenly Father will do it for you.


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Peter came to Jesus and asked him, “How many times should I forgive my brother for sinning against me? Seven times?”<pb/>


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“This is why the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with those servants who owed him money.


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As he began to settle accounts, one servant was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents<n>An astronomical amount.</n>.


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Since he didn’t have the money to pay, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all his possessions, so that the debt could be paid back.


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The servant fell down on his knees and said to his master, ‘Please be patient with me! I will pay everything back!’


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But when that same servant went out he found one of his fellow-servants who owed him just a hundred denarii<n>A denarius was a small coin. The contrast is between the huge amount forgiven the first servant and the very small amount owed to him by the second servant.</n>. He grabbed him by the neck and choked him, saying, ‘Pay me back what you owe me!’


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His fellow-servant threw himself down at the man’s feet and begged him, ‘Please be patient with me! I will pay you back!’


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But the man refused, and went and threw his fellow-servant into prison until he paid back what he owed.<pb/>


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“When the other servants saw what took place they were shocked and upset. They went and told their master everything that had happened.


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Then the master called the man back in and told him, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you all your debt because you begged me to.


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This is what my heavenly Father will do to every one of you unless you sincerely<n>Literally, “from your heart.”</n> forgive your brothers.”<pb/>


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When Jesus finished speaking he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan River.


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Some Pharisees came to test him. “Is a man allowed to divorce his wife for any reason?” they asked.<pb/>


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Jesus replied, “Haven’t you read that God who created people in the beginning made them male and female?


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He said, ‘This is the reason a man will leave his father and mother, and join with his wife, and the two shall become one<n>Literally, “one flesh.”</n>.


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“Then why did Moses give a law that a man could divorce his wife by giving her a written certificate of divorce, and sending her away?” they asked.<pb/>


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“Because of your hard-hearted attitude Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but it wasn’t like that in the beginning,” Jesus replied.


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“I tell you, anyone who divorces his wife except on the grounds of sexual immorality and then marries another woman, commits adultery.”<pb/>


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“If that’s the situation between husband and wife, it’s better not to marry!” his disciples told him.<pb/>


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“Not everyone can accept this instruction<n>Literally, “word.”</n>, only those it’s given to,” Jesus told them.


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“Some are born as eunuchs, some are made eunuchs by men, and some choose to be eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Those who can accept this should accept it.”<pb/>


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The people brought little children to him so he could bless them and pray for them. But the disciples told them not to.<pb/>


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But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them. The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like them!”


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“Why do you ask me what is good?” Jesus replied. “There’s only one who is good. But if you want to have eternal life<n>Literally, “enter life.”</n>, then keep the commandments.”<pb/>


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“Which ones?” the man asked him.<pb/>“Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t give false testimony,


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Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect<n>“Perfect” here has the idea of something fulfilled or complete.</n>, then go and sell your possessions, give the money to the poor, and you’ll have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”<pb/>


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“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to his disciples, “rich people find it hard to enter the kingdom of heaven.


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I also tell you this: It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”<pb/>


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Jesus looked at them and said, “From a human point of view it’s impossible, but all things are possible with God.”<pb/>


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Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth: when everything is remade and the Son of man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.


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All those who because of me have left their homes, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, and fields, will receive back a hundred times more, and will receive eternal life.


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“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.


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“‘Go and work in the vineyard too, and I’ll pay you what’s right,’ he told them. So they went to work.


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At 5 p.m. he went out and found others standing there. ‘Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?’ he asked them.


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“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his manager, ‘Call the workers in, and pay them their wages. Begin with the workers hired last and then move on to those hired first.’


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So when those who were hired first came in, they thought they would get more, but they also received one denarius.


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‘Those who were hired last only worked for an hour, and you’ve paid them the same as us who worked the whole day in the burning heat,’ they grumbled.<pb/>


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“The owner answered one of them, ‘My friend, I haven’t treated you unfairly. Didn’t you agree with me to work for one denarius?


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Can’t I choose to do what I want with my own money? Why should you give me evil looks because I want to do good?’


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“Look, we’re going to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and religious teachers. They will condemn him to death


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and hand him over to the foreigners<n>Here referring to the Romans.</n> to mock him, whip him, and crucify him. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”<pb/>


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Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came with her two sons to Jesus. She kneeled down before him to make a request.<pb/>


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“What is it you are asking me for?” Jesus said to her.<pb/>“Please appoint my sons to sit beside you in your kingdom, one on your right and the other on your left,” she asked.<pb/>


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“You don’t know what you’re asking,” Jesus told them. “Are you able to drink the cup<n>Meaning the cup of suffering.</n> I’m about to drink?”<pb/>“Yes, we are able to do that,” they told him.<pb/>


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“You will certainly drink from my cup,” he said to them, “but the privilege to sit on my right or on my left isn’t mine to give. My Father is the one who has decided who that will be<n>Or, “it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”</n>.”<pb/>


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Jesus called them together and told them, “You know that foreign rulers lord it over their subjects, and powerful leaders oppress them.


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It shall not be like that for you. Whoever among you wants to be the most important will be your servant.


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In the same way the Son of man didn’t come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”<pb/>


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Two blind men were sitting at the side of the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they called out, “Have mercy on us, Lord, son of David!”


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The crowd told them to be quiet, but they shouted even louder, “Have mercy on us, Lord, son of David!”<pb/>


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Jesus had pity on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed him.<pb/>


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Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem. As they were getting close, they came to the village of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two disciples on ahead,


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telling them, “Go into the village. Right there you’ll find a donkey tied up with a colt. Untie them and bring them to me.


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If anyone asks you what you’re doing, just tell them, ‘The Lord needs them,” and they will send them right away.”<pb/>


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“Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, and rides a donkey, and a colt, the offspring of a donkey.”<n>Isaiah 62:11, Zechariah 9:9.</n><pb/>


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Many people in the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and laid them on the road.


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The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed were all shouting, “Hosanna<n>An Aramaic word meaning “please save us,” used as an exclamation of praise.</n> to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”<pb/>


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When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar. “Who is this?” they were asking.<pb/>


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Jesus went into the Temple, and threw out all the people buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the chairs of the dove-sellers.


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He told them, “Scripture says, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’<n>Isaiah 56:7.</n> but you’ve turned it into a den of thieves.”<pb/>


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But when the chief priests and religious teachers saw the wonderful miracles he did, and the children shouting in the Temple, “Hosanna to the son of David,” they were offended.<pb/>“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.<pb/>


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“Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scripture that says, ‘You arranged for children and infants to give you perfect praise’?”<n>Psalm 8:2.</n>


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He saw a fig tree at the side of the road, so he went over to it but didn’t find any fruit, only leaves.<pb/>He told the fig tree, “May you never ever produce fruit again!” Immediately the fig tree withered.<pb/>


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“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “If you really trust in God, and don’t doubt him, you could not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even more. If you said to this mountain, ‘Get up and throw yourself into the sea,’ it would happen!


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Jesus went into the Temple. The chief priests and the ruling elders of the people came to him while he was teaching and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority?”<pb/>


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“I too will ask you a question,” Jesus replied. “If you give me the answer, I will tell you by what authority I do these things.


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Where did the baptism of John come from? Was it from heaven, or was it from human beings?<pb/>They argued with each other. “If we say ‘it was from heaven,’ then he’ll ask us why we didn’t believe him.


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But if we say, ‘it was from human beings,’ then the crowd will turn against us<n>Literally, “we fear the crowd.”</n>, because they all consider John to be a prophet.”


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So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”<pb/>“Then I won’t tell you by what authority I’m doing these things,” Jesus replied.


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“But what do you think about this illustration? Once there was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son, and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’


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Which of the two sons did what his father wanted?”<pb/>“The first,” they answered.<pb/>“I tell you the truth: tax-collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you,” Jesus told them.


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“John came to show you the way to live right with God, and you didn’t believe him, but the tax-collectors and prostitutes did believe him. Later, when you saw what happened, you still didn’t repent and believe him.<pb/>


text:
“Here’s another illustration. There once was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, made a winepress, and built a watchtower. He rented it to some tenant farmers, and then left to go to a different country.


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But the farmers, when they saw the son, said to each other, ‘Here’s the heir! Come on! Let’s kill him so we can take his inheritance!’


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The chief priests and elders said to Jesus, “He will put to death those wicked men in the most awful way, and rent out the vineyard to other farmers who will be sure to give him his fruit at harvest time.”<pb/>


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“So haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus asked them. “‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it is wonderful in our eyes.’


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That’s why I’m telling you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to a people who produce the right kind of fruit.


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Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken, but it will completely crush anyone it falls upon.”<pb/>


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When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his illustrations, they realized he was speaking about them.


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They wanted him arrested, but they were afraid of what the people would do because the people believed he was a prophet.<pb/>


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“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who organized a wedding celebration for his son,” Jesus explained.


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“He sent out his servants to everyone who was invited to the wedding to tell them to come, but they refused.


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So he sent out more servants, with the instructions, ‘Tell those who are invited, “I’ve prepared the wedding banquet. The bulls and fattened calves have been killed—everything’s ready. So come to the wedding!”’”<pb/>


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“But they ignored the invitation and left. One went to his fields; another to take care of his business.


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The king became furious. He sent his soldiers to destroy those murderers and burn down their town.<pb/>


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“Then the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those who were invited didn’t deserve to attend.


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So the servants went out into the streets and brought back everyone they could find, both the good and the bad. The wedding hall was full.<pb/>


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He asked him, ‘My friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ The man had nothing to say.


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Then the king told his servants, ‘Bind his hands and feet, and throw him out into the dark, where there’ll be crying and grinding of teeth.’


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They sent their disciples to him, together with some of Herod’s supporters.<pb/>“Teacher, we know you are a honest man, and that you teach God’s way is the truth,” they began. “You don’t allow yourself to be influenced by anyone, and you don’t care about rank or status.


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Show me the coin that is used to pay the tax.” They brought a denarius coin<n>A silver Roman coin used for paying the tax imposed by the Romans.</n> to him.


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“Caesar’s,” they replied.<pb/>“You should give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God,” he told them.


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Later the same day some Sadducees came to see him. (They are the ones who say there’s no resurrection.)


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They asked him, “Teacher, Moses said that if a married<n>Implied.</n> man dies without having children, his brother should marry his widow and have children on behalf of his brother<n>See Deuteronomy. 25:5, 6.</n>.


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Well, once there were seven brothers here with us. The first married, and died, and since he had no children he left his widow to his brother.


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So when the resurrection takes place, whose wife of the seven brothers will she be, for she married all of them?”<pb/>


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For in the resurrection people don’t marry, and they aren’t given in marriage either—they’re like the angels in heaven.


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‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He’s not the God of the dead, but of the living.”


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When the Pharisees heard that he’d left the Sadducees speechless, they got together and went to ask some more questions.


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Jesus told them, “‘Love the Lord your God in all you think, in all you feel, and in all you do.’<n>Deuteronomy 6:5.</n>


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“What do you think about the Messiah?” he asked. “Whose son is he?”<pb/>“The son of David,” they replied.<pb/>


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‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit down at my right hand until I defeat all your enemies<n>Literally, “place all your enemies under your feet.”</n>.’


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“The religious teachers and the Pharisees are responsible as interpreters of the law of Moses<n>Literally, “sit in Moses’ seat.”</n>,


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so obey them and do everything they tell you. But don’t follow what they do, because they don’t practice what they preach.


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They tie up heavy burdens, and place them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves don’t lift a finger to help them.


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Everything they do is to make sure they get noticed. They make themselves large prayer boxes<n>Or “phylacteries.” These were leather boxes tied to the forehead and arms containing written texts: Exodus 13:1-6 and Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21.</n> to wear and long tassels on their clothes<n>These tassels were to show their devotion to God. See Numbers 15:37-41.</n>.


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They love to be greeted with respect in the market places, and for people to call them, ‘Rabbi.’<n>This is a Hebrew word meaning “my great one,” and was used as a term of respect for or religious teachers.</n><pb/>


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Those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great.<pb/>


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What a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when you do, you make him twice a son of darkness<n>Literally, “Gehenna” (see under 5:22). The emphasis here is the destiny of the wicked.</n> as you are yourselves.


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What a disaster is coming on those of you who say, ‘If you swear by the Temple that doesn’t count, but if you swear by the gold of the Temple, then you have to keep your oath.’ How foolish and blind you are!


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You say, ‘If you swear on the altar that doesn’t count, but if you swear on the sacrifice that’s on the altar, then you have to keep your oath.’


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“What a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay a tithe of mint, aniseed, and cumin, but you neglect the vital aspects of the law—doing right, showing mercy, exercising trust. Yes, you should pay your tithe, but don’t forget these other things.


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“What a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you’re full of greed and self-indulgence.


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You blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, so that the outside will also be clean.<pb/>


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“What a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like white-washed tombs, looking good on the outside, but on the inside full of skeletons and all kinds of rottenness<n>Literally, “uncleanness.”</n>.


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You’re just the same. On the outside you look like good people to others, but on the inside you’re full of hypocrisy and wickedness.<pb/>


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“What a disaster is coming on you, religious teachers and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs as memorials to the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the good,


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and you say, ‘If we had lived in the times of our ancestors we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’


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But by saying this you testify against yourselves, proving that you belong to those who murdered the prophets!


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You snakes, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of condemnation?<n>Literally, “Gehenna” (see under 5:22). Referring to the end-time judgment.</n><pb/>


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“That’s why I’m sending you prophets, wise men, and teachers. Some of them you will kill, some of them you will crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues, hunting them from town to town.


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As a result, you will be held accountable for the blood of all the good people that has been poured out on the land—from the blood of Abel, who did what was right, to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the Temple and the altar.<pb/>


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O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! So often I wanted to gather your children as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings—but you wouldn’t let me.


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I tell you this: you won’t see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”<pb/>


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As Jesus was leaving the Temple his disciples came to him, pointing proudly to the Temple buildings.


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But Jesus replied, “You see all these buildings? I tell you the truth: there won’t be one stone left upon another. Every last one will come crashing down!”<pb/>


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As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him in private, and asked, “Please tell us when this will happen. What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the world?”<pb/>


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You’ll hear about wars, and rumors about wars, but don’t be anxious. These things have to happen, but this isn’t the end.


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Nations will attack other nations, and kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places,


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“Then they will arrest you, they will persecute you, and they will kill you. All people will hate you because of me.


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At that time many believers will give up believing. They will betray one another and hate one another.


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The good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed around the whole world so everyone will be able to hear it, and then the end will come.


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So when you see the ‘evil that defiles’<n>Or, “desolating sacrilege,” referring back to Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11.</n> standing in the holy place that the prophet Daniel spoke about (those who read this please consider carefully),


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For at that time there will be terrible persecution—more terrible than anything that has happened from the beginning of the world up till now, and won’t ever happen again.


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Unless those days are cut short, nobody will be saved, but for the sake of the chosen those days will be cut short.<pb/>


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For false messiahs will appear, and false prophets too, and they will perform incredible signs and miracles in order to deceive the chosen, if that were possible.


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So if they tell you, ‘Look, he’s out in the desert,’ don’t go looking there; or if they say, ‘Look, he’s secretly here,’ don’t believe it.


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For the coming of the Son of man will be like the lightning that flashes brightly from east to west.


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“But right after those days of persecution the sun will be darkened, the moon will not shine, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken.


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Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and in brilliant glory.


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With a blast from a trumpet he will send his angels to gather his chosen ones from every place, from one end of heaven and earth to the other<n>Literally, “from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”</n>.<pb/>


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“Learn an illustration from the fig tree. When its shoots become tender and leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is coming.


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In the same way when you see all these things happening, you know that his coming is near, in fact it’s right at the door!


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“But no one knows the day or hour when this will take place, not the angels in heaven, nor the Son. Only the Father knows.


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It will be as in the days before the flood, when they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, right up until the day that Noah went into the Ark.


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They didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That’s how the coming of the Son of man will be.<pb/>


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But consider this: if the house-owner knew what time a thief was coming, he would keep watch. He would not allow his house to be broken into and robbed.


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You also need to be ready, because the Son of man is coming at a time when you’re not expecting him.<pb/>


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“For who is the trustworthy and thoughtful servant? It’s the one his master puts in charge of his household to provide them with food at the proper time.


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He’ll cut him to pieces, and treat him in the same way as the hypocrites<n>Those who claim to follow their Lord but in reality don’t.</n>, sending him to a place where there’s crying and gnashing of teeth.<pb/>


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“The kingdom of heaven is like ten girls, who took their lamps with them to go and meet the bridegroom.


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‘No, because otherwise there won’t be enough for both you and for us. Go to the shopkeepers and buy some oil for yourselves.’


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While they went to buy oil, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was locked shut.


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“It’s like a man who went away on a trip. He called in his servants and entrusted them with what he owned.


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To one of them he gave five talents<n>Probably referring to talents of silver, a large amount of money.</n>, to another he gave two, and to another one, according to their different abilities. Then he left.


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Immediately the one with five talents went and invested them in a business, and made another five talents.


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The one with five talents came and presented the other five talents. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘You gave me five talents. Look, I’ve made a profit of five talents.’


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His master said to him, ‘You’ve done well—you are a good, faithful servant. You have proved yourself trustworthy over small things, so now I’m placing you in charge over many things. Be happy because I’m really pleased with you!’


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The one with two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘You gave me two talents. Look, I’ve made a profit of two talents.’


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His master said to him, ‘You’ve done well—you are a good, faithful servant. You have proved trustworthy over small things, so now I’m placing you in charge over many things. Be happy because I’m really pleased with you!’<pb/>


text:
“Then the man with one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I know that you’re a hard man. You reap where you didn’t sow, and you harvest crops that you didn’t plant.


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So since I was afraid of you I went and buried your talent in the ground. Look, you can have back what belongs to you.’


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But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you think I reap where I don’t sow, and harvest crops I didn’t plant,


text:
then you should have deposited my silver in the bank so that when I returned I could have had my money with interest.


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For everyone who has will be given even more; and everyone who doesn’t have anything, even what they have will be taken away from them.


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Now throw this useless servant out into the darkness where there’ll be crying and gnashing of teeth.’<pb/>


text:
“But when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his majestic throne.


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Everyone will be brought before him. He will separate them from one another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.


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Then the king will say to the ones on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, and inherit the kingdom that’s been prepared for you from the beginning of the world.


text:
For I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in.


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I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you visited me.’


text:
Then those who are right will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and fed you, or thirsty and gave you a drink?


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The king will tell them, ‘I tell you the truth: whatever you did for one of these of least importance you did for me.’<pb/>


text:
“He’ll also say to those on his left, ‘Go away from me, you who are doomed, into the eternal<n>Eternal in consequence, rather than in duration.</n> fire prepared for the devil and his angels!


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For I was hungry and you didn’t give me anything to eat. I was thirsty and you didn’t give me a drink.


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I was a stranger and you didn’t invite me in. I was naked and you didn’t clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you didn’t visit me.’


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Then they will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t look after you?’


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Then he will tell them, ‘I tell you the truth: whatever you didn’t do for one of these of least importance you didn’t do for me.’


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“You know that it’s Passover in two days time, and the Son of man will be handed over to be crucified.”<pb/>


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Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of Caiaphas, the high priest.


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There they plotted to arrest Jesus on some deceitful pretext<n>Literally, “with guile.”</n> and kill him.


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a woman came over to him carrying an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on Jesus’ head while he was sitting eating. But when the disciples saw what she did, they were upset.<pb/>


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Jesus was aware of what was going on and told them, “Why are you upset with this woman? She’s done something wonderful for me!


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I tell you the truth: wherever in the world this good news is spread, the story of what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”<pb/>


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and asked them, “How much will you pay me for betraying Jesus to you?” They paid him thirty silver coins.


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On the first day of the festival of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you to eat?”<pb/>


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Jesus told them, “Go into the city and find this particular man, and tell him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is approaching. I’m coming to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.”’”


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“The Son of man will die just as it was prophesied about him, but what a disaster it will be for the man who betrays the Son of man! It would be better for that man if he’d never been born!”<pb/>


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Judas, the one who would betray Jesus, asked “It’s not me, is it, Rabbi?”<pb/>“You said it,” Jesus replied.<pb/>


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While they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave pieces to the disciples. “Take and eat this for it is my body,” said Jesus.


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Then he picked up the cup, blessed it, and gave it to them. “Drink from it, all of you,” he told them.


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However, I tell you, I won’t drink this fruit of the vine until the day I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father.”


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“All of you will abandon me tonight,” Jesus told them. “As Scripture says, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the flock of sheep will be completely scattered.’<n>Zechariah 13:7.</n>


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“I’m telling you the truth,” Jesus told him, “This very night, before the cock crows, you’ll deny me three times.”<pb/>


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“Even if I have to die with you, I’ll never deny you!” Peter insisted. And all the disciples said the same thing.<pb/>


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Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane. He told them, “Sit down here while I go over there and pray.”


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He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him, and he began to suffer agonizing sorrow and distress.


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Then he said to them, “I am so overwhelmed with sadness that it’s killing me. Wait here and keep watch with me.”


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He went a little farther forward, fell face down, and prayed.<pb/>“My Father, please, if it’s possible, let this cup of suffering be taken from me,” Jesus asked. “Even so, may it not be what I want but what you want.”<pb/>


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He went back to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “What, you couldn’t stay awake with me for just one hour?


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Stay awake and pray, so that you don’t fall into temptation. Yes, the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”


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He went away a second time and prayed.<pb/>“My Father, if this cup cannot be taken from me without me drinking from it, then your will be done,” he said.


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He went back and found them sleeping, for they just couldn’t stay awake<n>Literally, “their eyes were weighed down.”</n>.


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Then he returned to the disciples, and told them, “How can you still be sleeping and resting? Look, the time has come. The Son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners!


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As he said this, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived with a large mob armed with swords and clubs sent by the chief priests and elders of the people.


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The betrayer had arranged to give them a signal: “The one that I kiss, that’s him—arrest him,” he’d told them.<pb/>


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“My friend, do what you came to do,” Jesus said to Judas. So they came and grabbed hold of Jesus, and arrested him.<pb/>


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One of those who was with Jesus reached for his sword and pulled it out. He struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear.


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Don’t you think I could ask my Father, and he’d immediately send more than twelve legions of angels?


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Then Jesus told the mob, “Have you come with swords and clubs to arrest me as if I was some kind of dangerous criminal? Every day I sat in the Temple teaching and you didn’t arrest me then.


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But all this is happening to fulfill what the prophets wrote.” Then all the disciples abandoned him and ran away.<pb/>


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Those who’d arrested Jesus took him to the home of Caiaphas, the high priest, where the religious teachers and elders had gathered.


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Peter followed him at a distance, and went into the high priest's courtyard. He sat there with the guards to see how things would end.<pb/>


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The chief priests and the whole council were trying to find some false evidence against Jesus so they could put him to death.


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But they couldn’t find anything, even though many false witnesses came forward. Eventually two came forward


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The high priest stood up and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What do you have to say in your defense?”


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But Jesus remained silent.<pb/>The high priest said to Jesus, “In the name of the living God I place you under oath. Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”<pb/>


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“You said it,” Jesus replied. “And I also tell you that in the future you’ll see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the Almighty, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”<pb/>


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Then the high priest tore his clothes, and said, “He’s speaking blasphemy! Why do we need any witnesses? Look, now you’ve heard for yourselves his blasphemy!


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Meanwhile Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came up to him, and said, “You were with Jesus the Galilean too!”


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When he went back to the courtyard entrance another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”


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A little while later the people standing there came up to Peter and said, “You definitely are one of them. Your accent gives you away.”


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Then he started to swear: “Curses on me if I’m a liar!<n>Or, “he called down curses on himself.”</n> I don’t know the man!” Immediately the cock crowed.<pb/>


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Then Peter remembered what Jesus had told him: “Before the cock crows, three times you will deny knowing me.” He went outside and wept bitterly.<pb/>


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Early in the morning all the chief priests and elders of the people consulted together and decided to have Jesus put to death.


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When Judas, the one who’d betrayed Jesus, saw that Jesus had been condemned to death, he regretted what he’d done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders.


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“I’ve sinned! I’ve betrayed innocent blood!” he told them.<pb/>“What’s that got to do with us?” they replied. “That’s your problem!”


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The chief priests took the silver coins and said, “This is blood money, so it’s not lawful to put this in the Temple treasury.”


text:
This fulfilled the prophecy spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: “They took thirty silver coins—the ‘value’ of the one who was bought at the price set by some of the children of Israel—


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and used them to pay for the potter’s field, just as the Lord instructed me to do.”<n>Zechariah 11:12, 13, referencing Jeremiah 32:6-15.</n><pb/>


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Jesus was brought before Pilate the governor who asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”<pb/>“You said it,” Jesus replied.


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Now it was the custom of the governor to release to the crowd during the festival whichever prisoner they wanted.


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So Pilate asked the crowds that had gathered, “Who do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus, called the Messiah?”


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While he was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent a message to him that said, “Don’t do anything to this innocent man, for I’ve suffered terribly today as a result of a dream about him.”<pb/>


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But the chief priests and the elders convinced the crowds to ask for Barabbas, and to have Jesus put to death.


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When the governor asked them, “So which of the two do you want me to release to you?” they answered, “Barabbas.”<pb/>


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“Then what shall I do with Jesus, the Messiah?” he asked them.<pb/>They all shouted out, “Have him crucified!”<pb/>


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When Pilate saw it was a lost cause, and that a riot was developing, he took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I’m innocent of this man’s blood. It’s on your heads!<n>Literally, “see to it yourselves.”</n>” he told them.


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The governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium<n>The military headquarters.</n> and the whole troop surrounded him.


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They made a crown of thorns and placed it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand. They kneeled down in front of him and mocked him, saying, “We salute you, King of the Jews!”


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When they’d finished mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.


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On the way they found a man called Simon, from Cyrene, and they forced him to carry Jesus’ cross.<pb/>


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They placed a sign over his head with the charge against him. It read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”


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saying, “You who promised to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, why don’t you save yourself! If you really are the Son of God, then come down from the cross.”


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“He saved other people, but he can’t save himself!” they said. “If he really is the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and then we’ll believe him!


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He trusts God so confidently—well let God rescue him now if he wants him, because he claimed ‘I am the Son of God.’”


text:
At about three o’clock Jesus shouted out loud, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”


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Immediately one of them ran and grabbed a sponge, soaked it in vinegar, put it on a stick, and gave it to Jesus to drink.


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Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and breathed his last<n>The expression is a Hebrew one meaning that he died.</n>.


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Right then the veil of the Temple was torn apart from top to bottom. The ground shook, the rocks split apart,


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and the graves were opened. Many of those who had lived good lives and had fallen asleep in death were raised to life.


text:
After the resurrection of Jesus they went out from the graveyards into the holy city<n>Referring to Jerusalem.</n> where many people saw them.<pb/>


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When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what happened, they were terrified, and said, “This really was the Son of God!”


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Many women were also watching from a distance, those who had followed Jesus from Galilee and had supported him.


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These included Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.<pb/>


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and placed it in his own new tomb, cut out of solid rock. He rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb, and left.


text:
The next day<n>Referring to the Sabbath.</n>, after the Preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went together to see Pilate.


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They said to him, “Sir, we recall that the imposter said while he was still alive, ‘After three days, I’ll rise again.’


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Give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. That way his disciples can’t come and steal his body and tell people that he was raised from the dead, and the deception in the end will become worse than it was at first.”<pb/>


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“I’ll give you a guard of soldiers,” Pilate told them. “Now go, and make it as secure as you possibly can.”


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So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the entrance stone and posting soldiers as guards.<pb/>


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All of a sudden there was a tremendous earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled away the stone, and sat on it.


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He’s not here. He’s risen from the dead, just as he said he would. Come and see where the Lord was lying.


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Now go quickly and tell his disciples that he’s risen from the dead and that he’s going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, I promise you!”<pb/>


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Suddenly Jesus came to meet them, and greeted them. They went over to him, held onto his feet and worshiped him.


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Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”<pb/>


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As they left, some of the guards went into the city and explained to the chief priests everything that had happened.


text:
After the chief priests had met with the elders, and worked out a plan, they bribed the soldiers with a great deal of money.<pb/>


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“Say that his disciples came during the night and stole him while we were sleeping,’” they told the soldiers.


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So the soldiers took the money and did what they were told. This story has been spread among the Jewish people to this very day.<pb/>


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So go and make disciples of people of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.


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Teach them to follow all the commands I have given you. Remember, I am always with you, to the very end of the world.”


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A voice is calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the Lord’s way! Make his paths straight.’”<n>Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3.</n><pb/>


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John came, baptizing in the desert, announcing a baptism of repentance<n>Repentance means a “change of mind.”</n> for the forgiveness of sins.


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Everybody from the country of Judea and from Jerusalem went to him. They admitted their sins publicly and were baptized in the Jordan River.<pb/>


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John wore clothes made of camel hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts<n>Most likely locust-beans rather than the insect.</n> and wild honey.


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This is what he had to say: “After me someone is coming who is greater than I am. I’m not worthy to bend down and untie his sandals.


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As Jesus came out of the water, he saw the heavens split apart and the Spirit like a dove descending upon<n>Or “into.”</n> him.


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where he was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was with the wild animals, and angels took care of him.<pb/>


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“The time predicted has come,” he said. “God’s kingdom is near. Repent and believe in the good news.”<pb/>


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As he was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they made their living by fishing.


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He went a little farther and saw James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat mending their nets.


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Immediately he called them to follow him<n>Implied.</n>, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers, and followed Jesus.<pb/>


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The people were amazed at his teaching, for he spoke with authority, unlike the religious teachers<n>“Religious teachers” or “scribes.” These were more than “scribes” in the writing sense. These were men who had authority in interpreting Scripture and spent time instructing people in the requirements of the religious law.</n>.<pb/>


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“Jesus of Nazareth, why are you bothering us? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are! You’re God’s Holy One!”<pb/>


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Everyone was amazed at what happened. “What is this?” they asked each other. “What is this new teaching that has such authority? Even evil spirits do what he tells them!”


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He went to her, took her by the hand, and helped her up. The fever immediately left her. Then she made them a meal.<pb/>


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He healed many people who had various diseases, and threw out many demons. He did not permit the demons to speak, for they knew who he was.<pb/>


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Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went alone to a quiet place to pray.


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But Jesus replied, “We have to go to the other towns around here so that I can tell them the good news as well—for that’s why I came.”<pb/>


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A leper came to him asking for help. The man kneeled down before Jesus, saying, “Please, if you’re willing, you can heal me!”


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“Make sure you don’t tell anybody anything about this,” he told him. “Go to the priest and show yourself to him. Give the offering which is required by the law of Moses for such cleansing, so that people will have proof.”<pb/>


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But the healed leper went out and told everyone what had happened. As a result Jesus could not openly go into the cities anymore, but had to stay out in the country where people came to him from everywhere around.<pb/>


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So many people crowded inside the house that it was packed, even outside the door, as Jesus told them the message<n>Literally, “the word,” here used for the first time to mean the message of God’s good news.</n>.


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but they could not get near Jesus because of the crowds. So they went up on the roof and took it apart. After they had made an opening above Jesus, they lowered down the mat with the paralyzed man lying on it.<pb/>


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When Jesus saw the trust these men had, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”<pb/>


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What’s easier: to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Get up, pick up your mat, and walk’?


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He stood up, picked up his mat, and walked out in front of everyone there. They were all amazed, and praised God, saying “We’ve never ever seen anything like this!”<pb/>


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As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax-collector’s booth.<pb/>“Follow me,” Jesus told him. Levi got up and followed Jesus.<pb/>


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That evening Jesus ate dinner at Levi’s house. Many tax collectors and “sinners”<n>“Sinners” here refers to those who were not seen as so strict in their keeping of the religious law as the religious teachers and the Pharisees.</n> joined Jesus and his disciples for the meal, for there were many of these people that followed Jesus.<pb/>


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When the religious leaders of the Pharisees saw Jesus eating with such people, they asked Jesus’ disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”<pb/>


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When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It’s not healthy people who need a doctor, but those who are sick. I haven’t come to invite those who do what is right, but those who don’t—the sinners.”<pb/>


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Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting<n>Fasting: choosing not to eat on certain days for religious reasons.</n>. Some of them came to Jesus, and asked him, “Why is it that John’s disciples and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t?”<pb/>


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“Do wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” Jesus asked them. “No. While the bridegroom’s with them, they can’t fast.


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No one puts a patch that’s not shrunk on old clothes. Otherwise the new piece will shrink away from the old, and make the tear worse.


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No one puts new wine in old wineskins. Otherwise the wine will burst the wineskins, and both the wine and wineskins will be wasted. No. You put new wine in new wineskins.”<pb/>


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One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through the grain fields, his disciples started picking heads of grain as they walked along.


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“Haven’t you ever read what David did when he and his men were hungry and in need?” Jesus asked them.


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“He went into God’s house when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the consecrated bread which no one except the priests are permitted to eat, and gave it to his men too.”<pb/>


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Some of those there were watching Jesus to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath because they were looking for a reason to accuse him of breaking the law.


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“Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or to do evil? Should you save life, or should you kill?” he asked them. But they didn’t say a word.<pb/>


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He looked around at them in exasperation, very upset by their hard-hearted attitude. Then he told the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it was healed.


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The Pharisees left, and immediately began plotting with Herod’s party as to how they might kill Jesus.<pb/>


text:
Meanwhile Jesus returned to the Sea<n>Of Galilee.</n>, and a large crowd followed him. They were from Galilee, Judea,


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Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and from the regions of Tyre and Sidon. So many people came to see him because they’d heard all he was doing.<pb/>


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because he had healed so many that all the sick people kept on pressing towards him so they could touch him.


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Whenever the evil spirits saw him they would fall down in front of him and shout out, “You are the Son of God!”


text:
Then Jesus went away to the hill country. He called those he wanted to be with him, and they came to him.


text:
He chose twelve to be with him, and called them apostles. They were to be with him, and he would send them out to announce the good news,


text:
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Revolutionary,


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Jesus went home, but such a large crowd gathered again that he and his disciples didn’t even have time to eat.


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When Jesus’ family<n>Literally, “those who were close to him.”</n> heard about it, they came to take him away, saying, “He’s lost his senses!”


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But the religious leaders from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Beelzebub! It’s by the ruler of demons that he’s driving out demons!”<pb/>


text:
But Jesus called them over to him. Using illustrations<n>Or “parables,” meaning analogies, comparisons, illustrations.</n> he asked them, “How can Satan throw out Satan?


text:
Clearly, if someone breaks into the house of a strong man and tries to take his things, he won’t get far in his theft unless he ties up the strong man first.”<pb/>


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but if someone blasphemes by rejecting the Holy Spirit they can never be forgiven, because they are guilty of an eternal sin.”


text:
Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. They waited outside and sent him a message, asking him to come out.


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The crowd that was sitting around him told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside asking for you.”<pb/>


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Looking around at all those sitting there in a circle, he said, “Here is my mother! Here are my brothers!


text:
Jesus began teaching beside the Sea again. So many people came to listen to him that he climbed into a boat and sat in it on the water while the crowd listened from the shore.


text:
Other seeds fell on stony ground where there wasn’t much earth. In the shallow soil the plants started growing quickly, but because the soil wasn’t deep


text:
Other seeds fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked the sprouting seeds, so they produced nothing.


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Other seeds fell on good soil where they sprouted and grew. They produced a harvest of some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred times what was planted.


text:
When he was by himself, his twelve disciples and the others who were with him asked him what the illustrations meant.<pb/>


text:
He told them, “The mystery of God’s kingdom has been given to you to understand. But outsiders only have the stories,


text:
so that even though they see, they don’t really ‘see,’ and even though they hear, they don’t understand, otherwise they might turn to me and be forgiven.”<pb/>


text:
“Don’t you understand this story?” Jesus asked them. “If you can’t, how are you going to understand all the other stories?”<pb/>


text:
“The sower sows the word<n>Word—or “message,” the Word of God that Jesus came to bring. (See also John 1:1).</n>.


text:
The seeds on the path where the word is sown illustrate those who hear the message, but then Satan immediately comes along and takes away the word that’s been sown in them.


text:
Likewise the seeds on the rocky ground illustrate those who hear the word, and happily accept it right away.


text:
But since they have no real roots, they only last for a while until trouble or persecution comes, and then they quickly fall away.


text:
but worries of this world, the temptation of wealth, and other distractions choke the growth of the word, and it becomes unproductive.


text:
But the seeds sown on good soil illustrate those who hear the word, accept it, and are productive—producing thirty, sixty, and hundred times what was originally sown.<pb/>


text:
“Who puts a lamp under a bucket, or beneath a bed?” Jesus asked them. “No, you put a lamp up on a lamp-stand.


text:
Everything that is hidden will be revealed, and everything that is secret will be brought out into the open.


text:
Pay attention to what you’re hearing,” he told them, “for you will be given according to how much you want to receive, measure for measure.


text:
More will be given to those who already have understanding, but those who don’t want to know will have what little understanding they have taken from them.<pb/>


text:
“He goes to bed and gets up, day after day, but the man has no knowledge of how the seeds sprout and grow.


text:
The earth produces a harvest by itself. First a shoot appears, then the heads of grain, and then the heads of grain ripen.


text:
But when it’s sown it grows into a plant that’s larger than other plants. It has branches big enough that birds can roost in its shade.”<pb/>


text:
Jesus used many of these illustrated stories when he spoke to the people so they would understand as much as they could.


text:
In fact, when he spoke publicly, he only used stories; however in private he explained everything to his disciples.<pb/>


text:
Later that day, in the evening, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the Sea.”


text:
Leaving the crowd behind, the disciples went with Jesus and got into a boat. Other boats went with them.


text:
Jesus was asleep in the stern, resting his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting at him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re about to drown?”<pb/>


text:
Jesus woke up. He told the wind to die down and told the waves, “Be quiet! Be still.” The wind stopped, and the water became completely calm.


text:
“Why are you so frightened<n>The word used is for cowards.</n>? Haven’t you learned to trust me?” he asked them.<pb/>


text:
They were stunned and terrified<n>Although the aspect of fear is usually brought out in translations, the text indicates that they had been frightened previously. Now they were amazed, in awe at what had happened, though no doubt still terrified.</n>. They asked each other, “Who ‘is’ this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”<pb/>


text:
This man lived among the tombs, and it had been impossible to tie him up any more, even with a chain.


text:
He had often been tied up with chains and shackles, but he simply tore the chains apart and broke the shackles into pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.


text:
Day and night he was always shouting out among the tombs and in the hills nearby, cutting himself with sharp stones.<pb/>


text:
In a loud voice he cried out, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of Almighty God? Swear by God that you won’t torture me!”


text:
Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”<pb/>“My name is Legion, because we are many!” he replied.


text:
He also repeatedly pleaded with Jesus not to send them a long way away<n>Literally, “out of the region.”</n>.<pb/>


text:
Jesus allowed them to do this. The evil spirits left the man and went into the pigs. The whole herd, about two thousand, rushed down the steep cliff into the sea and drowned.


text:
The pig-keepers ran away, and spread the news all over town and in the countryside. People came out to see what had happened.


text:
When they found Jesus they saw the man who had been demon-possessed sitting there, dressed, and in his right mind—the one who had the legion of evil spirits—and they became frightened!


text:
Then those who had seen what had happened to the man who had been demon-possessed and the pigs told the others.


text:
But Jesus refused, telling him, “Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has been merciful to you.”<pb/>


text:
So the man went on his way and began to tell the people of the Ten Cities everything Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.<pb/>


text:
Jesus went back again by boat to the other side of the lake where a large crowd gathered around him at the shore.


text:
and pleaded with him, saying, “My little daughter is about to die. Please come and place your hands on her so she may be healed and live.”<pb/>


text:
She’d suffered considerably under the care of many doctors, and had spent all she had. But nothing helped her—in fact she’d grown worse.


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Jesus, sensing at once that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my cloak?”<pb/>


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The woman, realizing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.<pb/>


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“My daughter, your trust in me has healed you. Go in peace. You have been completely cured of your disease,” Jesus told her.<pb/>


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While he was still speaking some people came from the home of the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “You don’t need to bother the Teacher any longer.”<pb/>


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But Jesus paid no attention to what they said. He told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid, just trust in me<n>“In me,” implied.</n>.”


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When they arrived at the synagogue leader’s house, Jesus saw all the commotion, with people crying and wailing.


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He went in and asked them, “Why are you making such a commotion with all this crying? The little girl isn’t dead, she’s just sleeping.”


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They laughed scornfully at him.<pb/>Jesus made everyone leave. Then he went into the room where the little girl was lying, taking with him the child’s father and mother, and the three disciples.


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The little girl, who was twelve years old, got up immediately and began walking around. They were completely astonished at what had happened.


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He gave them strict instructions not to let anyone know, and he told them to give the little girl something to eat.<pb/>


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On Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many of those who were listening were surprised.<pb/>“Where does he get these ideas?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom he’s been given? Where does he get the power to do miracles?


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Isn’t this the carpenter, Mary’s son—the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Don’t his sisters live here among us?” They were offended and rejected him<n>“And rejected him”—implied in the idea of taking offense.</n>.<pb/>


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“A prophet is treated with respect except in his home town, among his relatives, and within his own family,” Jesus told them.


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He called together the twelve disciples, and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority over evil spirits.


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He told them not to take anything with them except a walking stick—no bread, no bag, and no money in their belts.


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“If you’re not welcomed and not listened to, then shake the dust from your feet as you leave as a sign you have given up on them<n>Literally, “a witness to them.” The act of shaking even the dust of the place from your feet was to indicate you completely abandoned them.</n>.”


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King Herod got to hear about Jesus since he had become well-known. Some said, “This is John the Baptist risen from the dead. That’s why he has such miraculous powers.”


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Others said, “It’s Elijah.” Still others said, “He’s a prophet, like one of the prophets of the past.”<pb/>


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But when Herod heard about it, he said, “It’s John, the one I beheaded! He’s come back from the dead!”


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For Herod had given orders to arrest and imprison John because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom Herod had married.


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because Herod knew John was a holy man who did what was right. Herod protected John and though what John said was very disturbing to him, he was still happy to hear what he had to say.<pb/>


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Herodias had her opportunity on Herod’s birthday. He gave a banquet for the nobles, military officers, and important leaders of Galilee.


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Herodias’ daughter came in and danced for them. Herod and those eating with him were delighted at her performance, so he told the girl,


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“Ask me for whatever you like, and I’ll give it to you.” He confirmed his promise with an oath, “I’ll give you up to half my kingdom.”<pb/>


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She went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?”<pb/>“The head of John the Baptist,” she replied.<pb/>


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The girl hurried back in and said to the king, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a plate.”<pb/>


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The king was very upset, but because of the oaths he’d made in front of his guests, he didn’t want to refuse her.


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the executioner brought John’s head on a plate and gave it to the girl, and the young girl handed it to her mother.


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When John’s disciples heard what had happened they came and took his body and placed it in a tomb.<pb/>


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The apostles returned<n>From their tour of the villages, spreading the good news.</n> and gathered around Jesus. They told him all they had done and what they had taught.<pb/>


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“Come with me, just yourselves. We’ll go to a quiet place, and rest for a while,” Jesus told them, because there was so much coming and going that they didn’t even have time to eat.


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But people saw them leaving and recognized them. So people from all the surrounding towns ran ahead and got there before them.


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When Jesus got off the boat he saw a huge crowd, and he felt pity for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them about many things.<pb/>


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It was getting late in the day and Jesus’ disciples came to him. They told him, “We’re miles from anywhere, and it’s really late.


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You should tell the people to go and buy themselves something to eat in the villages and countryside nearby.”<pb/>


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But Jesus replied, “You give them something to eat.”<pb/>“What? We’d need more than six month’s pay<n>Literally, “200 denarii.”</n> to buy bread to feed all these people,” the disciples replied.<pb/>


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“Well, how much bread do you have?” Jesus asked. “Go and see.”<pb/>They went and checked, and told him, “Five loaves, and a couple of fish.”<pb/>


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Then he took the five loaves and the two fish. Looking up to heaven he blessed the food and broke the bread into pieces. Then he handed the bread to the disciples to give to the people, and he divided the fish up between all of them.


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Immediately after this Jesus instructed his disciples to get back into the boat. They were to go on ahead to Bethsaida on the other side of the lake while he sent the people on their way.


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He could see them being buffeted about as they rowed hard because the wind was blowing against them. In the early morning hours Jesus came to them, walking on the water. He would have passed them,


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because they could all see him and were absolutely terrified.<pb/>Jesus told them right away: “Don’t worry, it’s me. Don’t be afraid!”


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for they hadn’t understood the meaning of the feeding miracle due to their stubborn, hard-hearted attitude.<pb/>


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They ran everywhere around the whole area to bring in all the sick on their mats to where they’d heard Jesus was.


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Wherever he went, in the villages, in the towns, or in the countryside, they put the sick in the marketplaces and begged Jesus to let the sick touch just the edge of his clothes. Everyone who touched him was healed.<pb/>


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(The Pharisees and all Jews don’t eat until they wash their hands, following the tradition of their ancestors.


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In the same way, they don’t eat when they return from the market until they have had a wash. They observe many other rituals, like the washing of cups, pots, and pans<n>While hygienic, the focus was on making sure everything was ceremonially clean.</n>).<pb/>


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So the Pharisees and religious leaders asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples follow the tradition of our ancestors? They eat food<n>Literally, “bread.”</n> with unclean hands.”<pb/>


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Jesus replied, “Isaiah was right about you hypocrites when he said, ‘These people claim they honor me, but in their thinking they are far from me.


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There’s no point in their worship of me, for what they teach as doctrines are merely human rules.’<n>Isaiah 29:13.</n>


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Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses their father or mother should die.’<n>Exodus 20:12; 21:17.</n>


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But you say, ‘If someone tells their father or mother, “Anything you might have received from me is now ‘Corban,’”’ (that means dedicated to God),


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By means of this tradition of yours that you pass down, you make God’s word null and void. You do many other things like this.”<pb/>


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Then Jesus went inside to escape the crowd, and his disciples asked him about his illustration.<pb/>


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“Don’t you understand it either?” he asked them. “Don’t you see that what you eat doesn’t make you unclean?


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It doesn’t go into your mind, but into your stomach, and then passes out of the body. So all foods are ceremonially “clean.”<n>Some scholars believe this sentence is a later addition.</n><pb/>


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It’s from the inside, from people’s minds, that evil thoughts come: sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,


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Then Jesus left and went to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know he was staying in a house there, but he couldn’t keep it a secret.


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As soon as a woman, whose little daughter had an evil spirit, heard about him she came and fell at his feet.


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The woman was Greek, born in Syrophoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive out the demon from her daughter.<pb/>


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“First let the children eat until they’re full,” Jesus replied. “It’s not right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs<n>Or puppies, small dogs.</n>.”<pb/>


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Leaving the region of Tyre, Jesus passed through Sidon and then on to the Sea of Galilee and the territory of the Ten Cities.


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There they brought him a deaf man who also could not speak properly. They asked Jesus to touch the man with his hand and heal him.


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After Jesus took him aside from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers in the deaf man’s ears. Then he touched the man’s tongue with spit.


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Jesus looked up to heaven and with a sigh he said, “‘Ephphatha’,”<n>This is the Aramaic word meaning “cause to be open.”</n> which means, “Open!”


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Jesus gave strict orders not to tell anyone, but the more he said this, the more they spread the news.


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They were totally amazed and said, “Everything he does is marvelous. He even makes the deaf hear, and the dumb speak.”<pb/>


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Around this time there was another large crowd that had nothing to eat. Jesus called the disciples together and told them,


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“My heart goes out to the crowd because they have already stayed with me for three days and they have nothing to eat.


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If I send them home without food, they’ll faint on the way. Some have come from a long way away.”<pb/>


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“Where could anybody find enough bread to feed them here in this wilderness?” answered his disciples.<pb/>


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He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves of bread, and gave thanks. He broke the bread and handed the pieces to his disciples to give to the crowd.


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The Pharisees arrived and began to argue with him, wanting him to give them a miraculous sign from heaven, trying to get him to prove himself.


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Jesus sighed deeply, and asked, “Why do you people<n>Literally, “this generation.”</n> want a sign? I tell you the truth: I will not give you a sign.”<pb/>


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But the disciples had forgotten to bring bread with them. All they had in the boat was one loaf.<pb/>


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Jesus knew what they were saying, and said, “Why are you talking about not having any bread? Are you still not thinking and not understanding? Have you closed your minds<n>Literally, “Have you hardened your hearts?”</n>?


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Don’t you remember when I shared five loaves among five thousand? How many basketfuls of leftovers did you pick up?”<pb/>“Twelve,” they replied.<pb/>


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“And the seven loaves divided among four thousand. How many basketfuls of leftovers did you pick up?”<pb/>“Seven,” they answered.<pb/>


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They went to Bethsaida where some people brought a blind man to Jesus. They begged Jesus to touch him and heal him.


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Jesus took the blind man by the hand and took him outside the village. Jesus spat on the man’s eyes and touched him with his hands.<pb/>Then Jesus asked him, “Can you see anything?”<pb/>


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Jesus sent the man home, and told him, “Don’t go back through the village<n>In other words, do not spread the news of what has happened.</n>.”<pb/>


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Jesus and his disciples left to go to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say I am?”<pb/>


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Then Jesus began to explain to them that the Son of man would suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and religious teachers. He would be killed, but three days later would rise again.


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Jesus explained this to them very clearly. But Peter took Jesus aside and started to reprimand him for what he said.<pb/>


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Jesus turned around and looking at his disciples, reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan,” he said. “You’re not thinking as God thinks, but as human beings do.”<pb/>


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Jesus called the crowd and his disciples over to him, and told them, “If you want to follow me, you must give up on yourselves, pick up your cross and follow me.


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If you want to save your life you will lose it, but if you lose your life because of me and the good news you will save it.<pb/>


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If you’re ashamed to acknowledge<n>“Ashamed to acknowledge me,” or, “do not take their stand for me.”</n> me and what I say among this unfaithful and sinful people<n>Literally, “generation.”</n>, then the Son of man will be ashamed to acknowledge you when he comes with his Father’s glory with the holy angels.<pb/>


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Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth: some standing here won’t die before they see the kingdom of God having come with power.”<pb/>


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Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him, and led them up a high mountain to be by themselves. His appearance totally changed.


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Peter spoke up and said, “Rabbi, it’s great for us to be here! We should make three shelters—one each for you, Moses, and Elijah.”


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Then a cloud covered<n>Or, “overshadowed.”</n> them, and a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, the one I love. Listen to him.”<pb/>


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As they came down the mountain Jesus instructed them not to tell anyone what they’d seen until the Son of man had risen from the dead.


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They kept this to themselves, but they did argue with each other over what it meant to rise from the dead.<pb/>


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“It’s true that Elijah comes first to prepare everything,” Jesus replied. “But why then does it say in Scripture that the Son of man has to suffer so much and be treated with contempt?


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However, I tell you that Elijah has come, and they abused him in whatever way they wanted, just as Scripture said they would.”<pb/>


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When they returned to the other disciples, they saw them surrounded by a large crowd and some religious teachers arguing with them.


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One of the people in the crowd answered, “Rabbi, I brought my son to you. He has an evil spirit that prevents him speaking.


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Whenever he has a seizure it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and he becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out of him, but they couldn’t do it.”<pb/>


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“You unbelieving people!” Jesus responded. “How long must I remain here with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring him over here to me!”<pb/>


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So they brought him to Jesus. When the evil spirit saw Jesus it immediately sent the boy into convulsions and threw him on the ground, where he rolled around, foaming at the mouth.<pb/>


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“How long has he had this?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.<pb/>“Since he was small,” the father replied.


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“Often it throws him into the fire to burn him to death, or throws him into water to drown him. Please have mercy on us and help, if you can.”<pb/>


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“Why do you say<n>Implied. Jesus was asking why the man said to him, “if you can,” which suggested doubt as to what Jesus could do.</n>, ‘if you can?’” replied Jesus. “Whoever trusts has every power!”<pb/>


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Jesus, seeing that the crowd was closing in<n>Or, “running together.” This word is only used once in the New Testament.</n>, commanded the evil spirit, “Spirit that causes deafness and dumbness, I order you to come out of him and never return.”<pb/>


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The spirit screamed and threw the boy into severe convulsions. Then the spirit came out of the boy and left him for dead—to the extent that many of the people said, “He’s dead.”<pb/>


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Later, when Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him in private, “Why couldn’t we drive the evil spirit out?”<pb/>


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because he was teaching his disciples<n>In other words, he wanted to spend time teaching his disciples.</n>. “The Son of man will be betrayed to human authorities,” he told them. “They will kill him, but three days later he will rise again.”


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They arrived at Capernaum, and once they were inside the house where they were staying, Jesus asked them, “What were you talking about on the way?”


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Jesus sat down and called the twelve disciples together. “If anyone wants to be first, he has to be the very last, the servant of everyone else,” he told them.


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He took a small child and had the child stand right in the middle of them. Then he picked up and hugged the child, and told them,


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“Whoever welcomes a child like this in my name, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me doesn’t welcome me but the One who sent me.”<pb/>


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John said to Jesus, “Rabbi, we saw someone driving out demons in your name. We tried to stop him because he wasn’t one of us.”<pb/>


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“Don’t stop him,” Jesus replied. “For no one who is doing miracles in my name can curse me at the same time.


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Anyone who gives a cup of water to you in my name, because you belong to Christ, won’t lose their reward, believe me.<pb/>


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“But if anyone leads one of these little ones who trust in me into sin, it would be better for them if they were thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around their neck.


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If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out! It’s better to enter the kingdom of God with just one eye than to be thrown into Gehenna still having both eyes,


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Salt is good, but if it loses its taste, how could you make it salty again? You need to be like salt, and live in peace with one another.”<pb/>


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Jesus left Capernaum and went to the region of Judea and Transjordan. Once again people flocked to see him, and he was teaching them like he always did.


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Some Pharisees came to see him. They tried to test him by asking the question, “Is divorce legal?”<pb/>


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Then Jesus told them, “Moses only wrote down this rule for you because of your hard-hearted attitude.


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Some people brought their children to Jesus so that he could bless them, but the disciples told them off and tried to keep the children away from Jesus.


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But when Jesus saw what they were doing, he became very upset and told them, “Let the children come to me! Don’t stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.


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As Jesus set out on his journey<n>To Jerusalem, see 11:1.</n>, a man came running over and kneeled down before Jesus. “Good teacher, what should I do to make sure I have eternal life?” he asked.<pb/>


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You know the commandments: you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not cheat, honor your father and mother…”<pb/>


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Jesus looked at him with love and said, “You’re only missing one thing. Go and sell everything you own, give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.”<pb/>


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Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, “It’s only with difficulty that wealthy people enter the kingdom of God!”<pb/>


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The disciples were shocked at this. But Jesus went on, “My friends, it is difficult to enter God’s kingdom.


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It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter God’s kingdom.”<pb/>


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The disciples were even more confused. “Then who on earth can be saved?” they asked one another.<pb/>


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Looking right at them, Jesus replied, “From a human point of view, it’s impossible—but not with God. Everything is possible with God.”<pb/>


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“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “anyone who has left behind their home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands because of me, and for the sake of the good news,


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will receive in return in due course a hundred times as many homes and brothers and sisters and children and lands—as well as persecution. In the world to come they will receive eternal life.


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They continued on their way to Jerusalem, with Jesus walking on ahead. The disciples were apprehensive and the other followers were afraid. So Jesus took the disciples aside and began to explain to them what was about to happen to him.


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“We’re going to Jerusalem,” he told them, “and the Son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and religious teachers. They will condemn him to death and hand him over to the foreigners<n>In this context meaning the Romans.</n>.


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They will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. But three days later he will rise again.”<pb/>


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James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to see him.<pb/>“Teacher,” they said, “We want you to do for us whatever we ask you.”<pb/>


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“When you’re victorious and sit on your throne<n>Implied.</n>, make sure we sit beside you, one on the right, the other on the left,” they told him.<pb/>


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“You don’t know what you’re asking,” replied Jesus. “Can you drink the cup I drink? Can you be baptized with the baptism of pain I will suffer?”<pb/>


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“Yes, we can,” they replied.<pb/>“You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the same baptism as me,” Jesus told them.


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“But it’s not for me to grant who should sit on my right or on my left. These places are reserved for those for whom they have been prepared.”<pb/>


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Jesus called the disciples together and told them,<pb/>“You realize that those who claim to rule over nations oppress their people. The rulers act like tyrants.


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For even the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”<pb/>


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Jesus and his disciples passed through Jericho , and as they were leaving town, accompanied by a large crowd, Bartimaeus,<n>For his non-Jewish readers Mark also adds that Bartimaeus means the “son of Timaeus.”</n> a blind beggar, was sitting at the roadside.


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When he heard it was Jesus of Nazareth, he started shouting out, “Jesus, son of David, please have mercy on me!”


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Lots of people told him to be quiet, but that only made him shout even more, “Jesus, son of David, please have mercy me!”<pb/>


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Jesus stopped, and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called him over, telling him, “Good news!<n>Literally, “take courage.”</n> Get up. He’s calling for you.”


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“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.<pb/>“Teacher,” he said to Jesus, “I want to see!”<pb/>


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“You can go. Your trust in me has healed<n>Or “saved.” The word can mean both “save” and “heal.”</n> you.” Immediately Bartimaeus could see and he followed Jesus as he went on his way.<pb/>


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As they approached Jerusalem, near to Bethphage and Bethany, beside the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead.


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He told them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as soon as you enter, you’ll find a colt tied up that no one has ever ridden before. Untie it and bring it here.


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If anyone asks you what you are doing, tell them, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back soon.’”<pb/>


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Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others laid down leafy branches that they’d cut in the fields.<pb/>


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Those leading in the front and those that were following were all shouting, “Hosanna<n>“Hosanna!” This is simply a transliteration of the Aramaic word meaning “Save!”</n>! Bless the one coming in the name of the Lord.


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Jesus entered Jerusalem and went in to the Temple. He looked around him, observing everything, and then, since it was getting late, he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples.<pb/>


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From some distance away he saw a fig tree with leaves, so he went over to it to see if it had any fruit. But when he got there, he found it had only leaves, because it was not the season for figs.<pb/>


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He said to the tree, “May no one eat fruit from you ever again.” His disciples heard his words.<pb/>


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They arrived back in Jerusalem, and Jesus went into the Temple. He started driving out the people who were buying and selling in the Temple. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the chairs of the people selling doves.


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He explained to them, “Doesn’t Scripture say, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have turned it into a den of thieves!”<pb/>


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The chief priests and religious teachers heard what had happened, and tried to find a way to kill Jesus. But they were afraid of him, for everyone was so impressed by his teaching.<pb/>


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Peter remembered what Jesus had done, and said to him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree that you cursed has withered.”<pb/>


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“Believe me when I say to you that if you told this mountain, ‘Get out of here and be thrown into the sea,’ and you don’t doubt in your heart, but are convinced about what you asking, then it will happen!


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I’m telling you that whatever you pray for, whatever you ask, trust that you’ve received it, and it’s yours.


text:
They returned to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the Temple, the chief priests, religious teachers, and the leaders approached him.


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“Let me ask you a question,” Jesus told them. “You answer me, and I’ll tell you by whose authority I do these things.


text:
They discussed it among themselves. They said, “If we say it’s from heaven, he’ll reply, ‘So why didn’t you believe him?’


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But if we say, it’s of human origin, well…” They were afraid of the crowd, because everyone believed that John was a true prophet.<pb/>


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So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”<pb/>“Then I’m not telling you by whose authority I do these things,” replied Jesus.<pb/>


text:
Then Jesus began to speak to them using illustrated stories<n>See on 3:23.</n>.<pb/>“Once there was a man who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a pit for a winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to some farmers, and left on a journey.<pb/>


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“When harvest-time came, he sent one of his servants to the tenant farmers to collect some of the grapes from the vineyard.


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He sent another servant, and this one they killed. He sent many other servants, and they beat some of them and killed others.


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In the end the only one left was his son whom he loved, and eventually he sent him, thinking ‘they will respect my son.’


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But the farmers said to themselves, ‘Here’s the owner’s heir—if we kill him, we can get what he would have inherited!’


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Now what is the owner of the vineyard going to do? He will come and kill those farmers, and then he will lease the vineyard to others.<pb/>


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“Haven’t you even read this Scripture: ‘The stone rejected by the builders has become the chief cornerstone.


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The Jewish leaders tried to have him arrested because they realized that the illustration was directed at them, but they were afraid of the crowd. So they left him alone and went away.


text:
Later they sent some Pharisees with some of Herod’s supporters to Jesus in an attempt to catch him out by what he said.<pb/>


text:
They arrived and said, “Teacher, we know you are a truthful person and you don’t look for approval, because you don’t care about status or position<n>Literally, “You have no concern for anyone because you do not look at the face of men.” However this literal translation could make it seem that Jesus was uncaring and indifferent.</n>. Instead you teach God’s way in accordance with the truth. So is it right to pay tribute to Caesar or not?


text:
Should we pay up, or should we refuse?”<pb/>Jesus, realizing how hypocritical they were, asked them, “Why are you trying to catch me out? Bring me a coin to look at.”<pb/>


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They gave him a coin. “Whose is this image, and whose inscription?” Jesus asked them. “Caesar’s,” they replied.<pb/>


text:
“Then give back to Caesar what belongs to him, and give back to God what belongs to him,” Jesus told them. They were amazed at his reply.<pb/>


text:
“Teacher, Moses instructed us that if a man dies, leaving his widow childless, then his brother should marry his wife, and have children by her on his behalf.


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Jesus told them, “This proves you’re mistaken, and that you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God.


text:
When the dead rise, they don’t marry, and aren’t given in marriage. They’re like the angels in heaven.


text:
But concerning the resurrection, haven’t you read in Moses’ writings the story of the burning bush, where God spoke to Moses and told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’<n>See Exodus 3.2–6.</n>


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One of the religious teachers came and heard them arguing. He recognized that Jesus had given them a good answer. So he asked him, “Which is the most important commandment of all?”<pb/>


text:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your spirit, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’<n>Deuteronomy 6:4.</n>


text:
The second is ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’<n>Leviticus 19:18.</n> There’s no more important commandment than these.”<pb/>


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“That’s right, Teacher,” the man replied. “It’s true as you said that God is one, and there is no other.


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We are to love him with all our heart, all our understanding, and all our strength, and we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is far more important than offerings and sacrifices.”<pb/>


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Jesus saw that he gave a thoughtful answer, and said, “You’re not far from the kingdom of God.” After this no one was brave enough to ask him any more questions.<pb/>


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While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked, “Why do the religious teachers state that Christ is the son of David?


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As David himself declared, inspired by the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’<n>Psalm 110:1.</n>


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Since David himself calls him Lord, how can he be David’s son?” The large crowd listened to what Jesus said with great delight.<pb/>


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Jesus continued to teach them, saying, “Beware of religious leaders! They love to walk around in long robes, to be greeted respectfully in the marketplaces.


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They cheat widows out of what they own<n>Literally, “devour widow’s houses.”</n>, and cover up the kind of people they really are with long-winded prayers. They will receive severe condemnation in the judgment.”<pb/>


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Jesus sat down opposite the treasury collection box, watching people tossing in coins. Many of the rich were extravagantly throwing in a lot of money.


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Then a poor widow came along and put in just two small coins<n>Literally, “two ‘lepta’,” of little value.</n>.


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He called his disciples together and told them, “I tell you the truth: this poor widow has put in more than all the rest together.


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All of them gave from their wealth what they had, but she gave from her poverty what she didn’t have. She put in all she had to live on.”<pb/>


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As Jesus was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look at these massive stones and magnificent buildings!”<n>Literally, “what sort of stones and what sort of buildings.”</n><pb/>


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“You see all these great buildings?” Jesus replied. “Not one stone will be left on top of another. Everything will be torn down.”<pb/>


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As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him in private,


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“Tell us when this will happen. What’s the sign that all this is about to be fulfilled?”<n>Because the disciples’ question merges the two events, Jesus’ answer combines aspects of the destruction of the Temple and the final end-time.</n><pb/>


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Don’t be troubled when you hear of wars nearby and wars far away. These things must happen but this is not the end.


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Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines too. These are the beginnings of the world’s birth pains.<pb/>


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“Watch out for yourselves! They will hand you over to the courts to be tried. You will be beaten in synagogues. Because of me you will have to stand before governors and kings, and you will be witnesses to them.<pb/>


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When they come to arrest you and put you on trial, don’t worry what to say. Just say what you’re told at that time, because it’s not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.<pb/>


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“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father will betray his child. Children will turn against their parents and have them condemned to death.


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“But when you see the “abomination of desolation”<n>Or “the abomination that causes desolation.”</n> standing where he should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea should run to the mountains.


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For these will be days of trouble like never before since the beginning of God’s creation until now, and they won’t ever come again.


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If God doesn’t cut short these days, no one will survive. However for the sake of those God has chosen, he has cut them short.<pb/>


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For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear, and they will perform miraculous signs and wonders to deceive the chosen of God, if that were possible.


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the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.’<n>See Isaiah 13:10.</n><pb/>


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He will send out the angels, and gather together all his chosen ones from wherever they are<n>Literally, “from the four winds.”</n>, from the most distant part of the earth to the farthest point of heaven.<pb/>


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“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches grow soft and send out leaves, you know that summer is near.


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In the same way, when you see these things happening, you know that it’s near—right outside the door!


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“No one knows the day or hour when this will happen—not even the angels in heaven, not even the Son; only the Father knows.


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It’s like a man who went away on a journey. He left his house, and gave each of his servants the authority to do what he told them. He told the doorkeeper to stay awake.<pb/>


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“So keep watch, because you don’t know when the owner of the house is coming back. It may be in the evening, in the middle of the night, before dawn, or in the morning.


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It was now two days before Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the religious leaders were trying to find a surreptitious way to arrest Jesus and have him killed.


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Meanwhile Jesus was in Bethany, eating a meal at Simon the leper’s home. A woman came in with an alabaster jar of very expensive pure nard perfume<n>Nard: an essential oil derived from the roots of the spikenard plant native to China and India.</n>. She broke the jar open and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head.<pb/>


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It could’ve been sold for a year’s wages<n>Literally, “300 denarii.”</n> and the money given to the poor.” They were angry with her.<pb/>


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But Jesus replied, “Leave her alone! Why are you criticizing her for doing something beautiful to me?


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You’ll always have the poor with you, and you can help them whenever you want. But you won’t always have me with you.


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I tell you the truth: wherever the good news is spread in the world, people will remember what she did.”<pb/>


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Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the chief priests and arranged to betray Jesus to them.


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When they heard this, they were delighted, and promised to pay him. So Judas began to look for an opportunity to betray Jesus.<pb/>


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On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the time when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare the Passover meal for you?”<pb/>


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He sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city and there you’ll meet a man carrying a water pot. Follow him,


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He will take you to a large upstairs room that is furnished and ready. You can make preparations for us there.”<pb/>


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The disciples went into the city, and found things just as he’d described them. They prepared the Passover meal.


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While they were sitting eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth: one of you is going to betray me; one who is eating with me now.”<pb/>


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The Son of man will die, just as the Scriptures predicted. But how terrible it will be for the man who betrays the Son of man! It would be better for that man if he’d never been born.”


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As they were eating, Jesus picked up some bread. He blessed it, and gave it to them. “Take it. This is my body,” he told them.<pb/>


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“This is my blood,” he told them, “the covenant<n>Meaning “agreement” or “pledge.”</n> that’s being poured out for many.


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I tell you the truth, I won’t drink of the fruit of the vine until the day I drink it fresh in God’s kingdom.”<pb/>


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“All of you will abandon me,” Jesus told them. “For as the Scriptures say, ‘I will attack the shepherd, and the sheep will be completely scattered.’


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Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth that today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny that you even know me three times.”<pb/>


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But Peter was totally adamant, saying, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” All of them said the same.<pb/>


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They arrived at a place called Gethsemane<n>Meaning, “olive press.”</n>, where Jesus told his disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray.”


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Jesus told them, “My agony is so painful it feels like I’m dying. Please, remain here and stay awake.”


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He went a little farther on and then fell to the ground. He prayed, asking to be spared the time<n>Literally, “hour.”</n> that was coming, if it were possible.<pb/>


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“Abba, Father! You can do everything,” he said. “Please, take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet it’s not what I want, but what you want.”<pb/>


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Then Jesus returned and found the disciples asleep. “Simon, are you sleeping?” he asked Peter. “Couldn’t you stay awake for just an hour?


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Stay awake, and pray so you won’t fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”<pb/>


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Then he returned, and again he found them sleeping because they couldn’t keep their eyes open<n>Literally, “their eyes were burdened down.”</n>. They didn’t know what to say!


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He returned a third time, and asked them, “Are you still asleep? Are you still resting? Well that’s enough,<n>The meaning of the Greek word here is unclear. It usually means “paid in full.”</n> because the time has come! Look, the Son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners.


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Just as he was saying this, Judas—one of the twelve disciples—arrived with a mob carrying swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests, religious leaders, and elders.


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Now the betrayer had arranged a sign with them: “He’s the one that I kiss. Arrest him, and take him away under guard.”<pb/>


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But one of those standing there pulled out his sword and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear.<pb/>


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“I was there with you, teaching in the Temple every day. Why didn’t you arrest me then? But this is happening to fulfill the Scriptures.”<pb/>


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They took Jesus to the high priest’s house where all the chief priests, elders, and religious teachers had gathered.


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Peter followed him at a distance, and went into the courtyard of the high priest’s house. He sat down with the guards and warmed himself by the fire.<pb/>


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Inside the chief priests and the whole governing council<n>Literally, “Sanhedrin.”</n> were trying to find some evidence to have Jesus put to death, but they couldn’t find anything.


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“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this Temple that human hands built, and in three days I will build another without hands.’”


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Then the high priest stood up in front of the council, and asked Jesus, “Have you nothing to say in response to these charges made against you?”


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But Jesus remained silent and didn’t answer. So the high priest asked again, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”<pb/>


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“I am,” Jesus replied, “and you will see the Son of man sitting on the right of the Mighty One, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”<pb/>


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The high priest tore his clothes<n>In those times an expression of great anguish.</n> and asked, “Why do we need any more witnesses?


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You have heard the blasphemy! What’s your reaction?”<pb/>They all found him guilty and condemned him to death.


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Then some of them began to spit on him. They blindfolded him, hit him with their fists, and said, “Why don’t you prophesy then, you ‘Prophet’!” The guards took him away and beat him up.<pb/>


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and seeing Peter warming himself, looked straight at him and said, “You were with Jesus of Nazareth too!”<pb/>


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But he denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about or what you mean,” he replied. Then he went out to the forecourt, and a rooster crowed<n>“And a rooster crowed.” This phrase is not found in some of the early manuscripts.</n>.<pb/>


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Once more Peter denied it. A little while later they said to Peter again, “You’re definitely one of them because you’re a Galilean too!”<pb/>


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Peter began calling down curses on himself and he swore, “I don’t know this man who you’re talking about.”


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Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said to him: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” When he realized what he’d done, he burst into tears.<pb/>


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Early the next morning, the chief priest, elders, and religious teachers—the whole governing council—came to a decision. They had Jesus bound and sent him to be handed over to Pilate.<pb/>


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Pilate questioned him again, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many charges they’re bringing against you!”


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Now it was Pilate’s custom at the Passover feast to release a prisoner to the people, whoever they requested.


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One of the prisoners was a man called Barabbas who belonged to a group of rebels who had committed murder during an uprising.


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for he realized that it was because of their jealousy of Jesus that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.


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“Why? What crime has he committed?” Pilate asked them.<pb/>“Crucify him!” they shouted back even louder.<pb/>


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Wanting to please the mob, Pilate released Barabbas to them. First he had Jesus flogged and then handed him over to be crucified.


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The soldiers took him away into the Praetorium<n>The Roman governor’s official residence.</n> courtyard, where they called out the whole cohort<n>A cohort was a group of some 600 soldiers.</n>.


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They repeatedly beat him around the head with a rod, spat at him, and fell on their knees before him as if in worship.


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After they finished mocking him, they took off the purple robes, and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to be crucified.


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They forced a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the countryside, to carry his cross. Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.<pb/>


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People passing by shouted insults at him, shaking their heads, and saying. “Aha! You who claimed you were going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days;


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Likewise the chief priests and the religious teachers made fun of him, saying to each other, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself.


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If he really is the Messiah, the King of Israel, then why doesn’t he come down from the cross so we can see and believe!” Even those who were crucified with him insulted him.<pb/>


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At three o’clock Jesus cried out, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”<n>Ps. 22:1.</n>


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One man ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on a stick, and tried to give it to Jesus to drink. “Leave him alone,” he said. “Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down.”


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When the centurion standing there in front of Jesus saw how he died, he said, “This man was truly the Son of God.”<pb/>


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Some women were watching from a distance including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome.


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They had followed Jesus and had taken care of him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.<pb/>


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Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the governing council who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, had the courage to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body.


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Pilate was surprised that Jesus had died so soon, so he summoned the centurion and asked him if Jesus had already died.


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Joseph bought a linen sheet. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross and wrapped it in the sheet, and placed it in a tomb that had been cut out of rock. Then he rolled a heavy stone up against the entrance.


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Once the Sabbath had ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought aromatic ointments so that they could go and anoint Jesus’ body.


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Very early Sunday<n>Literally, “the first day of the week.”</n> morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb.


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But when they arrived and looked, they saw that the very large, heavy stone had already been rolled away.<pb/>


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When they went into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right, wearing a long white robe. They became very frightened.<pb/>


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“Don’t be frightened,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the one who was crucified. He is risen from the dead. He is not here.


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Look, this is the place where they laid him to rest. Now go, and tell his disciples and Peter that he’s going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there just as he told you.”<pb/>


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They left and ran from the tomb, shaking and confused. They said nothing to anyone because they were too scared<n>Many of the early manuscripts of Mark end here. Others continue as shown.</n>.<pb/>


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When Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday morning, he appeared first of all to Mary Magdalene, from whom he’d driven out seven demons.


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Later Jesus appeared in a different form to two other disciples who’d left to go to the countryside.


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After this he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating. He rebuked them for their lack of trust and their stubbornness, because they had not believed those who’d seen him after he had risen.<pb/>


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Then he told them, “Go to the whole world, and announce the good news to everyone<n>Literally, “all creation.”</n>.


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“Anyone who trusts in me and is baptized will be saved, but anyone who chooses not to trust will be condemned.


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The following signs will accompany those who trust in me: in my name they will drive out demons; they will speak new languages;


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they will be able to handle snakes; if they drink something poisonous they won’t be harmed; they will place their hands on the sick and they will be healed.”<pb/>


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Then, the Lord Jesus, when he had finished speaking to them, was taken up into heaven where he sat down at the right hand of God.


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The disciples went out and spread the good news everywhere, and the Lord worked with them, confirming the message through miraculous signs that accompanied it.


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As you know, many others have attempted to put down in writing the things that have been fulfilled<n>Or, “achieved,” “accomplished.”</n> that involve us.


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and so I also decided that since I have followed these things very carefully from the beginning, it would be a good idea to write out an accurate account of all that happened.


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I have done this dear Theophilus<n>“Theophilus” means one who loves God. Also in Acts 1:1.</n> so you can be certain that what you were taught is completely reliable.<pb/>


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During the time when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest called Zechariah, who came from the Abijah priestly division. He was married to Elizabeth, who was also descended from Aaron the priest.


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They both did what was right before God, being careful to follow all the Lord’s commandments and regulations.<pb/>


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he was chosen by lot<n>A system of random choice like “choosing straws” was used because more wanted to serve than there were places available.</n> according to priestly custom to enter the Temple of the Lord and burn incense.


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But the angel told him, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call him John.


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He will be great in the sight of the Lord. He will refuse to drink wine or other alcoholic drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he’s born.


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He will go ahead of the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children, and to turn those who are rebellious back to a right understanding—to prepare a people ready for the Lord.<pb/>


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“How can I be sure about this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “I’m an old man, and my wife is getting old too.”<pb/>


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“I am Gabriel,” the angel replied. “I stand in God’s presence, and I was sent to speak to you and give you this good news.


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But since you didn’t believe what I told you, you’ll become dumb, unable to speak, until the appointed time when my words come true.”<pb/>


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When eventually he came out, he wasn’t able to speak to them. They realized he’d seen a vision in the Temple, for though he could make gestures, he was completely dumb.<pb/>


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“The Lord has done this for me,” she said, “now that he’s taken away my disgrace in the eyes of others.”<pb/>


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In the sixth month of her pregnancy God sent the angel Gabriel to a young girl called Mary who lived in the town of Nazareth in Galilee.


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The angel greeted her<n>In fact the angel uses the common form of greeting of the time that literally meant “Rejoice” but was actually equivalent to saying “Hello.” Even modern translations have trouble here, with the angel saying “Hail, favored woman” or “Greetings, O favored one,” neither of which seem particularly suitable. On the other hand an angel arriving and saying “Hi” hardly fits either…</n>. “You are very privileged,” he told her. “The Lord is with you.”


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He will be very great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,


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He replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you. The baby who is to be born is holy, and will be called the Son of God.


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And Elizabeth, your relative, even she is pregnant in her old age. The woman that people said couldn’t have children is already six months pregnant.


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“Here I am, ready to be the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me just as you said.” Then the angel left her.<pb/>


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A little while later, Mary got herself ready and hurried up into the hills of Judea, to the town where


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As soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s voice, the baby jumped for joy inside her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,


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and cried out in a loud voice,<pb/>“How blessed you are among women, and how blessed will be the child born to you!


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How fortunate you are, because you are convinced that the Lord will do what he has promised you!”<pb/>


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because he decided that I, his servant, was worthy of his consideration, despite my humble background. From now on every generation will say I was blessed.


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His mercy lasts for generation after generation to those who respect him<n>Literally, “fear,” but in modern use this can have the idea of abject terror.</n>.


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With his power<n>Literally, “strong arm.”</n> he has broken to pieces those who arrogantly think they’re so clever.


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Her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had showed her great kindness, and they celebrated together with her.


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Eight days later they came to circumcise the boy. They planned to call him Zechariah after his father.<pb/>


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All those living nearby were in awe at what had happened, and the news spread throughout the hill country of Judea.


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Everyone who heard the news wondered what it meant. “What will the little boy grow up to be?” they asked, for it was clear he was very special to God<n>Literally, “for the hand of the Lord was with him.”</n>.<pb/>


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Even though you are only a small child, you will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his way,


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to shine on those who live in darkness and under the shadow of death, and to guide us along the path of peace.”<pb/>


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The boy John grew and became spiritually strong. He lived in the desert until the time came for his public ministry to Israel.<pb/>


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It was the time when Caesar Augustus issued a decree that there should be a census of everyone in the Roman Empire.


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Joseph was descended from King David, so he left Nazareth in Galilee to go to Bethlehem, the city of David, in Judea.


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He went to register there, together with Mary, who was pledged in marriage to him and expecting a baby.


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She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him up in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger because the inn had no rooms left.<pb/>


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An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone all around them. They were scared out of their wits!<pb/>


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“Don’t be afraid!” the angel told them. “I’m here to bring you good news that will make the all the people really glad.


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You will recognize him by this sign: you will find the child wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”


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After the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see what’s happened concerning these things the Lord has told us about.”<pb/>


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After they’d seen for themselves, they spread the news of what had happened and what they had been told about this baby.


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The shepherds went back to watching their flocks, glorifying and thanking God for all that they’d heard and seen, for it was just as they’d been told.<pb/>


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After eight days, the time came for the baby to be circumcised, and he was named Jesus. This was the name given to him by the angel before he had even been conceived.


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When the time of their purification according to the law of Moses was finished, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,


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as the law of the Lord states, “Every firstborn son must be dedicated to the Lord.”<n>Exodus 13:2.</n>


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There they made a sacrifice, as God’s law also states, of “a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.”<n>Leviticus 12:8.</n><pb/>


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Living in Jerusalem at that time was a man called Simeon. Simeon did what was right and was very devout. He was waiting expectantly for the hope of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.


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The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would not die before he saw the Lord’s Messiah<n>Or “Christ.”</n>.


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Following the Spirit’s leading, he went to the Temple. When Jesus’ parents brought in the little boy to be dedicated as required by the Law,


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Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Jesus’ mother Mary, “This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall and many to rise. He is a sign from God that many will reject,


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revealing what they really think. For you it will feel like a sword piercing right though your heart.”<pb/>


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Anna the prophetess also lived in Jerusalem. She was the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. She had been married for seven years,


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and then she had been widowed. She was eighty-four years old. She spent her time at the Temple in worship, fasting and praying.


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She came up to them right at that moment, and began praising God. She spoke about Jesus to all those who were looking forward to the time when God would set Jerusalem free.<pb/>


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Once they had completed everything God’s law required, they returned to their home town of Nazareth in Galilee.


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When the festival had finished and it was time to return home, the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, but his parents didn’t realize this.


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They assumed he was with all the others traveling home. A day passed before they started looking for him among their friends and relatives.


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It was three days before they found him in the Temple. He was sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.


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His parents were totally confused when they saw what he was doing. His mother asked him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I—we’ve been worried sick! We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”<pb/>


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“Why is it that you were looking for me?” Jesus replied. “Didn’t you know I should be here in my Father’s house?”


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Then he went back with them to Nazareth, and did what he was told. His mother kept a careful note of everything that happened.


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By now Tiberias had been Caesar for fifteen years. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea. Herod was ruler<n>Literally, “tetrarch.” Also the other instances where ruler is used in this verse.</n> of Galilee, his brother Philip was ruler of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanius was ruler of Abiline.


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Annas and Caiphas were the current high priests. This was the time when the word of God came to John, Zechariah’s son, who was living in the desert.


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He went throughout the whole Jordan region, announcing to everyone that they needed to be baptized to show they had repented and their sins had been forgiven.


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As Isaiah the prophet wrote: “A voice was heard crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord: make his paths straight.


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Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled. Crooked ways will be straightened, and rough roads will be smoothed.


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John addressed the crowds that came to him to be baptized. “You viper’s brood! Who warned you to flee from the coming judgment?” he asked.


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“Demonstrate that you have truly repented<n>Literally, “Produce worthy fruits of repentance.”</n>. Don’t try to justify yourselves by saying, ‘We’re Abraham’s descendants.’ Let me tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these stones.


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The ax is set to begin chopping at the base of the trees. Any tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”<pb/>


text:
“If you have two coats, then share with someone who doesn’t have one. If you have food, then share with those who don’t,” he told them.<pb/>


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“What about us?” some soldiers asked. “What should we do?”<pb/>“Don’t demand money with threats of violence. Don’t make accusations that are untrue. Be satisfied with your wages,” he replied.<pb/>


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John replied and explained to everybody, “Yes, I am baptizing you in water. But the one who is coming is more important than me, and I’m not worthy to undo his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.


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His winnowing fork is in his hand and he’s ready to separate the wheat from the chaff on his threshing floor. He’ll gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with fire that can’t be extinguished.”<pb/>


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But when John reprimanded Herod the ruler for marrying Herodias, Herod’s brother’s wife, and for all the evil things he’d done,


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Now it happened that after everyone had been baptized, Jesus was baptized as well. As he was praying, heaven was opened,


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and the Holy Spirit descended upon him, taking the form of a dove. A voice came from heaven, saying, “You are my son, the one I love. I am truly pleased with you.”<pb/>


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Jesus was around thirty when he began his public ministry. People presumed he was the son of Joseph. Joseph was the son of Heli,


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the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,


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Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led by the Spirit into the desert,


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where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. He didn’t eat anything during that whole time, so at the end he was starving.<pb/>


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Then the devil said to Jesus, “I will give you authority over all of them, and their glory. This authority has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want.


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“It is written in Scripture, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve only him,’” Jesus replied.<pb/>


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The devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, set him on the top of the Temple, and told him, “If you are the Son of God, then jump!


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When the devil had completed all his temptations, he waited for another opportunity<n>Or, “for an opportune time.”</n>.<pb/>


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When he arrived in Nazareth, where he had grown up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day as usual.


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The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Jesus unrolled the scroll and found the place where it’s written:<pb/>


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“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to announce good news to the destitute. He has sent me to proclaim that prisoners will be released, the blind will see, the oppressed will be freed,


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He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant. Then he sat down. Everybody in the synagogue was staring at him.<pb/>


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Everybody expressed their approval of him, amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they wondered.<pb/>


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Jesus replied, “I’m sure you’ll repeat this proverb to me, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ and ask, “Why don’t you do here in your own hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum?”


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I guarantee that there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah when there was a drought for three and a half years, causing a great famine throughout the country.


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Even though there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the only one who was healed was Naaman the Syrian!”<pb/>


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They jumped to their feet and threw him out of the town. Then they dragged him to the top of the hill on which the town was built in order to throw him off the cliff.


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“So, what do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: God’s Holy One!”<pb/>


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Jesus interrupted him, saying. “Be quiet!” Then he ordered the demon, “Come out of him!” Throwing him to the ground right before them, the demon left the man without injuring him.


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They were all amazed and asked each other, “What is this teaching? With power and authority he orders evil spirits to leave—and they do!”


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Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon’s house. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a high fever and those who were there asked Jesus to help.


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Jesus went and stood over her. He told the fever to leave her—which it did. She got up right away and prepared a meal for them.


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When the sun set, they brought to him all who were sick, suffering from various diseases. Jesus placed his hands on them, one after the other, and he healed them.


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Demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God.” But Jesus stopped them and refused to let them speak because they knew he was the Christ.<pb/>


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Early the following morning Jesus left to find some peace and quiet. But the crowds went out looking for him, and finally found him. They tried to stop him leaving because they did not want him to go.<pb/>


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But he told them, “I have to go to other towns to tell them the good news of the kingdom of God too, because that is what I was sent to do.”


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One&nbsp;day as Jesus was standing beside the Sea of Galilee, people crowded around him to hear the word of God.


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Jesus got into a boat, the one that belonged to Simon, and asked him to push it out into the water, just offshore. Then Jesus sat down in the boat and taught the people from there.<pb/>


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After he’d finished speaking, he told Simon, “Go out into deeper water, and let down your nets for a catch.”<pb/>


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“Lord, we worked hard all night, and didn’t catch anything. But if you say so, I’ll let down the nets,” Simon replied.<pb/>


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They waved to their partners in the other boat, asking them to come over and help. The others came over and together they filled both of the boats with fish. The boats were so full that they began to sink.<pb/>


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When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he dropped to his knees before Jesus. “Lord, please stay away from me, for I am a sinful man!” he exclaimed.


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James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners, felt the same way.<pb/>“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told Simon. “From now on you’ll be fishing for people!”


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Once when Jesus was visiting one of the towns, he met a man there who had a very bad case of leprosy. The man fell with his face to the ground and begged Jesus, “Please Lord, if you’re willing, you can make me clean<n>“Clean.” Of course, what the man was looking for was healing from his leprosy, however his leprosy made him ceremonially unclean. So “clean” not only healed his disease but made him socially accepted also.</n>.”<pb/>


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Jesus reached out and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy disappeared.<pb/>


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“Say nothing to anyone,” Jesus instructed him. “Go and show yourself to the priest and make the ceremonial offerings as required by the law of Moses as proof that you’ve been healed.”<pb/>


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Yet the news about Jesus spread more and more. Large crowds came to hear Jesus and to be healed from their diseases.


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One day when Jesus was teaching, the Pharisees and religious teachers who had come from all over Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem were sitting there. The power of the Lord to heal was with him so he could heal.


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Some men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They tried to take him in and lay him in front of Jesus.


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But they couldn’t find any way through the crowd, so they went up on the roof and made a hole in the roof tiles. Then they lowered the man down on the mat, right into the crowd in front of Jesus.<pb/>


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The religious teachers and the Pharisees began to argue with that. “Who is this who’s speaking blasphemies?” they asked. “Who can forgive sins? Only God can do that!”<pb/>


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However I will prove to you that the Son of man has the authority here on earth to forgive sins.” Then he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you: Get up, pick up your mat, and go home.”<pb/>


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Immediately the man stood up in front of them. He picked up the mat he’d been lying on, and went home, praising God as he went.


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Everyone was completely astonished at what had happened, and in great awe they praised God, saying, “What we saw today was amazing!”<pb/>


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Later, as Jesus was leaving the town, he saw a tax collector called Levi sitting at his tax booth.<pb/>“Follow me,” Jesus told him.


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Levi organized a large banquet at his home in Jesus’ honor. Many tax collectors and others were in the crowd that sat down to eat with them. But the Pharisees and the religious teachers complained to Jesus’ disciples, asking,


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“Well, John’s disciples often fast and pray, and the Pharisees’ disciples do so as well. But your disciples don’t—they go on eating and drinking,” they told him.<pb/>


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“No—but the time is coming when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they can fast.”<pb/>


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Then he gave them an illustration: “You don’ tear out a patch from new clothes to mend old clothes. Otherwise you’d ruin new clothes, and the patch from the new wouldn’t match the old.


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You don’t put new wine into old wineskins, because if you did the new wine would burst the wineskins. Then both wine and wineskins would be wasted.


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One Sabbath while Jesus was walking through grainfields, his disciples began picking some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands<n>To remove the husks, or chaff, from the grain. This was seen by the Pharisees as equivalent to doing the work of threshing.</n>, and eating them.


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Some of the Pharisees questioned him, asking, “Why are you doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?”<pb/>


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How he went into the house of God and took the consecrated bread? He ate it, and gave it to his men too. That’s not permitted either. The consecrated bread is only for the priests.”<pb/>


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The religious teachers and the Pharisees were observing Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. They wanted to find something to accuse him of.<pb/>


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But Jesus knew what was in their minds. He told the man with the crippled hand, “Get up, and stand here in front of everyone.” The man got up and stood there.<pb/>


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Then Jesus turned to them and said, “Let me ask you a question. Is it legal to do good on the Sabbath, or to do bad? To save life, or to destroy it?”<pb/>


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He looked round at all of them there. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man did so, and his hand became like new.


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One day shortly after, Jesus went up a mountain to pray. He remained there all night, praying to God.


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When morning came he called together his disciples, and chose twelve of them. These are the names of the apostles:


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Jesus went back down the mountain with them, and stopped at a place where there was some flat ground. There a crowd made up of his disciples and many other people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, had gathered to listen to him and to be cured from their diseases.


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Everyone in the crowd tried to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing them all.<pb/>


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“How happy are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. How happy are you who are hungry now, for you will eat all you need. How happy are you who are weeping now, for you will laugh.<pb/>


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“How happy are you when people hate you, exclude you, insult you, and curse your name as evil because of me, the Son of man.


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When that day comes, be happy. Jump for joy, for great is your reward in heaven. Don’t forget<n>Implied. Also v. 26.</n> their forefathers mistreated the prophets just like this.<pb/>


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“How sad are you who are full now, for you will become hungry. How sad are you who laugh now, for you will mourn and cry.


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“How sad are you when everyone praises you. Don’t forget that their forefathers praised false prophets just like this.<pb/>


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If someone hits you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone takes your coat, don’t prevent them taking your shirt.


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“If you love those who love you, why should you deserve any credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them.


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If you do good to those who do good to you, why should you deserve any credit for that either? Sinners do that as well.


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If you lend money expecting to be repaid, why should you deserve any credit for that? Sinners lend money to other sinners as well, expecting to be repaid what they loaned.


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No: love your enemies, do good to them, and lend without expecting to be repaid anything. Then you will receive a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God, for he is kind to ungrateful and wicked people.


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“Don’t judge<n>Or, “criticize.”</n>, and you won’t be judged; don’t condemn, and you won’t be condemned; forgive, and you’ll be forgiven;


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give, and you will be given generously in return. When what you’re given is measured out, it’s pressed down so more can be added, spilling out over the top, pouring into your lap! For how much you give will determine how much you receive<n>Or, “For the way you measure what you give will be used to measure what you receive.”</n>.”<pb/>


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Then he illustrated the point: “Can a blind person lead another? Wouldn’t they both fall into a ditch?


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Do students know more than the teacher? Only when they’ve learned everything: then they will be like their teacher.


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Why are you so worried about the speck that’s in your brother’s eye when you don’t even notice the plank that’s in your own eye?


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How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that’s in your eye,’ when you don’t even see the plank that’s in your own eye? Hypocrite! Take out the plank from your own eye first, and then you’ll be able to see well enough to take out the speck from your brother’s eye.<pb/>


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You recognize a tree by the fruit it produces. You don’t pick figs from thorn bushes, or harvest grapes from brambles.


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Good people produce what’s good from the good things they value that they have stored inside them. Bad people produce what’s bad from the bad things they have stored inside them. What fills people’s minds spills out in what they say.<pb/>


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That person is like a man building a house. He digs down deep and lays the foundations on solid rock. When the river bursts its banks and the floodwater breaks against the house it’s not damaged because it’s built so well.


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The person who hears me but doesn’t do what I say is like a man who builds a house without foundations. When the floodwater breaks against the house it collapses immediately, completely destroyed.”<pb/>


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When he heard about Jesus, the centurion sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.<pb/>


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When the elders came to Jesus, they pleaded with him strongly, saying, “Please come and do what he asks. He deserves your help,


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Jesus went with them and as they approached the house, the centurion sent some friends to Jesus to tell him, “Lord, please don’t trouble yourself by coming into my house, because I’m not worthy of that.


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I didn’t even think that I was worthy to come and see you. Just give the command, and my servant will be healed.


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For I’m under the authority of my superior officers, and I have soldiers under my authority too. I command one to go and he goes, another to come and he comes. I command my servant to do something and he does it.”<pb/>


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When Jesus heard this he was astounded. He turned to the crowd that was following him, and said, “I tell you, I haven’t found trust like this even in Israel.”


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As he approached the town gate a funeral procession was coming the other way. The man who had died was the only son of a widow, and a sizeable crowd from the town was with her.


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Jesus went over to the coffin and touched it, and the pall-bearers stopped.<pb/>Jesus said, “Young man, I tell you, get up.”


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A sense of awe filled everyone there and they praised God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us,” and “God has visited his people.”


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John called two of his disciples and told them to go and see Jesus, and ask, “Are you the one we’ve been expecting, or should we wait for someone else?”


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When they came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you, to ask you, ‘Are you the one we’ve been expecting or should we wait for someone else?’”<pb/>


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Right at that time Jesus healed many people of their diseases, illnesses, evil spirits, and made blind people see.<pb/>


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Jesus answered John’s disciples, “Go and tell John what you’ve seen and heard. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers cured, the deaf hear, the dead raised back to life, the poor are told the good news.


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After the messengers from John had left, Jesus began telling the crowd, “About John: what did you expect to see when you went out to meet him in the desert? Some reed blown about by the wind?


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Did you come looking for a man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who have stylish clothes and live in luxury are found in palaces.


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“It was written about him in Scripture: ‘Look, I’m sending my messenger to go before you to prepare your way.’<pb/>


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“I tell you, no one born of women is greater than John, but even the most unimportant person in God’s kingdom is greater than he is!”<pb/>


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When they heard this, all of them—even the tax collectors—followed what God said was right, for they had been baptized by John.


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But the Pharisees and the religious teachers rejected what God wanted them to do, for they had refused to be baptized by John.<pb/>


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“They’re like children sitting in the market who tell one other, ‘We played the flute for you but you didn’t dance; we sang sad songs but you didn’t cry.’


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Now the Son of man is here, and eats and drinks with people, but you say, ‘Look, he spends his time eating too much food and drinking too much wine<n>“Eating too much food and drinking too much wine.” The words used here indicate excess, in comparison to the basic words used earlier in the verse.</n>. Plus he’s a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’


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However, God’s wise ways are proved right by all who follow him!”<n>Probably a proverb. Literally, “Wisdom is proved right by all her children,” meaning that the proof is in the consequences…</n><pb/>


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One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to come and eat with him. Jesus went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down to the meal.


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A woman who was a sinner<n>Usually understood to mean that she was living an immoral life.</n> in that town found out that Jesus was eating in the Pharisee’s house. She went there, carrying an alabaster jar of perfume.


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She kneeled beside Jesus and with her tears wet his feet, and dried them with her hair. She kissed his feet, and then she poured the perfume over them.<pb/>


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When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this he said to himself, “If this man was really a prophet he would know who this woman was who’s touching him, and what kind of person she was—that she’s a sinner!”<pb/>


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Jesus spoke up and said, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”<pb/>“Tell me, Teacher,” he responded.<pb/>


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“Once two people were in debt to a money-lender. One owed five hundred denarii<n>Denarius: equivalent to a day’s wage.</n>, the other only fifty.


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“The one he forgave the most, I would think,” Simon answered.<pb/>“You’re absolutely right,” said Jesus.


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Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “You see this woman? When I came into your house, you didn’t give me water to wash my feet. But she has washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair.


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You didn’t anoint my head with oil<n>A sign of hospitality and respect.</n>, but she poured perfume over my feet.


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So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—that’s why she loves so much<n>This verse is sometimes understood as if it’s woman’s love that brings the great forgiveness. However the context (especially verse 43) makes it clear that it’s the extent of forgiveness that engenders the great love.</n>. But whoever is forgiven little, only loves a little.”


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Those who were sitting eating with him began talking among themselves, saying, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”


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Soon after this Jesus went around the towns and villages announcing the good news of God’s kingdom. The twelve disciples went with him,


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along with a number of women who had been healed from evil spirits and sickness: Mary called Magdalene from whom he had cast out seven demons;


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Joanna, the wife of Herod’s manager Chuza; Susanna; and many more who provided support from their personal resources.<pb/>


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Once when a large crowd of people gathered, coming from many towns to see him, Jesus spoke to them, using a story as an illustration.


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“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he scattered the seed, some fell on the road where people trampled on it and birds ate it up.


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Some seeds fell on good earth and after they grew they produced a harvest one hundred times more than what had been sown.” After he told them this, he called out, “If you have ears, then listen!”<pb/>


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Jesus replied, “You’ve been given insights into the mysteries of God’s kingdom, but the rest are given illustrations, so that, ‘Even though they see, they don’t really see; and even though they hear, they don’t really understand.’<pb/>


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The seeds that fall on the road are those who hear the message, but then the devil comes and steals away the truth from their minds so they won’t trust in God and be saved.


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The seeds that fall on the stony ground are those who hear and welcome the message with joy but don’t have any roots. They trust for a while but when difficult times come they give up.


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The seeds that fall among thorns are those who hear the message but it’s choked out by life’s distractions—worries, wealth, pleasure—so they don’t produce anything.


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The seeds sown on good earth are those who are honest and do what is right. They hear the message of truth, hold on to it, and through their perseverance produce a good harvest.<pb/>


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“You don’t light a lamp and then cover it with a bucket, or hide it under a bed. No, you put it on a stand, so that anyone who comes in can see the light.


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For there’s nothing hidden that won’t be revealed; there’s nothing secret that won’t become known and obvious.<pb/>


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“So pay attention how you ‘hear.’<n>“Hear”: Listen to God’s message.</n> To those who have received, more will be given; from those who don’t receive, even what they think they have will be taken away!”<pb/>


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One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set off.


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As they were sailing, Jesus fell asleep, and a storm came down on the lake. The boat began filling with water and they were in danger of sinking.


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They went over to Jesus and woke him up. “Master, master, we’re going to drown!” they said. Jesus woke up and commanded the wind and the rough waves to stop. They stopped, and all was calm.<pb/>


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“Where is your trust?” he asked them. Terrified and amazed, they said to each other, “So who is this? He gives commands to the winds and the water, and they obey him!”<pb/>


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When Jesus stepped out of the boat onto the shore, a demon-possessed man from the town came to meet him. For a long time he hadn’t worn any clothes or lived in a house. He lived in the tombs.


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When he saw Jesus he screamed, fell down at Jesus’ feet, and asked in a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please don’t torture me, I beg you!”


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For Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to leave the man. It had often seized him, and despite being tied down with chains and shackles, and placed under guard, he would break the chains apart and would be driven by the demon into the desert areas.<pb/>


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“What is your name?” Jesus asked him. “Legion,”<n>Or “many.”</n> he replied, for many demons had entered him.


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There was a large herd of pigs feeding on the nearby hillside, and the demons begged him to be allowed to go into the pigs. Jesus gave them permission,


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so the demons left the man and entered the pigs. The herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned.<pb/>


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When the pig-keepers saw what had happened they ran off and spread the news through the town and the countryside.


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The people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus they found the man freed from the demons. He was sitting there at Jesus’ feet, wearing clothes and in his right mind; and they became scared.


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Then all the people from the Gerasene region asked Jesus to leave because they were overwhelmed by fear. So he got into the boat and went back.


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“Go back home, and tell people all that God has done for you,” Jesus told him. So he went away, telling the whole town all that Jesus had done for him.<pb/>


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One was a man called Jairus, a synagogue leader, who came and fell at Jesus’ feet. He pleaded with Jesus to come to his home


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because his only daughter was dying. She was about twelve years old.<pb/>While Jesus was on his way there people were crowding around him.


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In the crowd was a woman who had suffered with bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all she had on doctors, but none of them had been able to help her.


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She approached Jesus from behind and touched the hem of his cloak. Immediately the bleeding stopped.<pb/>


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“Who touched me?” Jesus asked. Everybody around denied doing so.<pb/>“But Master,” said Peter, “there are people crowding around you, and they keep pushing up against you.”<pb/>


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When the woman realized she couldn’t go unnoticed, she came forward, trembling, and fell down before him. Right in front of everybody she explained the reason why she had touched Jesus, and that she’d been cured immediately.<pb/>


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While he was still speaking, someone came from the home of the synagogue leader to tell him, “Your daughter’s dead. You don’t need to bother the Teacher any longer.”<pb/>


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When Jesus arrived at the house he didn’t allow anyone else to go in except Peter, John, and James, and the girl’s father and mother.


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All the people there were crying and mourning for her.<pb/>“Don’t cry,” Jesus told them. “She’s not dead, she’s just sleeping.”


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She came back to life<n>Literally, “her ‘breath/spirit returned.” The word for breath or spirit is the same.</n>, and she got up at once. Jesus told them to give her something to eat.


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Her parents were astonished at what had happened, but Jesus instructed them not to tell anyone about it.<pb/>


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Jesus called the twelve disciples together. He gave them power and authority over all demons, and the ability to heal diseases.


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“Take nothing with you for the journey,” he told them. “No staff, no bag, no bread, no money, not even any extra clothes.


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If people refuse to accept you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave town as a warning against them.”


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They left and went around the villages, announcing the good news and healing everywhere they went.<pb/>


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Herod the tetrarch had heard about all that was happening<n>Particularly in reference to Jesus.</n>, and he was very puzzled. Some were saying that John had been raised from the dead;


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others that Elijah had appeared; still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life.<pb/>


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Herod said, “There’s no question<n>Implied; reflecting the fact that the “I” is emphatic.</n> I beheaded John. So who is this man? I’m hearing all these things about him.” And he tried to find a way to meet Jesus.<pb/>


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When the apostles returned they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he left with them and went to a town called Bethsaida.


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However the crowds found out where he was going and followed him there. He welcomed them and explained the kingdom of God to them, and healed those who needed healing.<pb/>


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Late in the day, the twelve disciples came to him and said, “You should send the crowd away now so they can go to the villages and farms nearby and find a place to stay and food to eat—there’s nothing here where we are.”<pb/>


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“You give them something to eat!” said Jesus.<pb/>“All we have here are five loaves and two fish—unless you want us to go and buy food for everyone,” they said.


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There were about five thousand men present.<pb/>“Sit them down in groups of about fifty,” he told his disciples.


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Jesus picked up the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed the food and broke it into pieces. He kept on giving the food to the disciples to share with the people.


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At another time, when Jesus was praying in private with just his disciples with him, he asked them, “All these crowds of people—who do they say I am?”<pb/>


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“Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others say one of the ancient prophets risen from the dead,” they replied.<pb/>


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“The Son of man must experience terrible sufferings,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the religious teachers. He will be killed, but on the third day he will rise again.”<pb/>


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“If any one of you wants to follow me, you must deny yourself, pick up your cross daily, and follow me,” Jesus told all of them.


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“For if you want to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for my sake, you will save it.


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If you are ashamed of me and my message, the Son of man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his glory, and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.


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About eight days later, after he had told them this, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a mountain to pray.


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They spoke about his death<n>Literally, “departure.”</n>, which would soon happen in Jerusalem.<pb/>


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Peter and the others were asleep. When they woke up they saw Jesus in his glory, and the two men standing next to him.


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As the two men were about to leave, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it’s great to be here. Let’s make some shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He really didn’t know what he was saying.<pb/>


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While he was speaking a cloud came and spread over them. They were terrified as they entered the cloud.<pb/>


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When the voice finished speaking, Jesus was there alone. They kept this to themselves, and didn’t tell anyone at that time what they’d seen.<pb/>


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A spirit possesses him and he screams immediately. It sends him into convulsions and makes him foam at the mouth. It hardly ever leaves him alone and it causes him a lot of pain.


text:
“What an unbelieving and corrupt people you are! How long do I have to remain here with you, and put up with you?” said Jesus. “Bring your son here.”


text:
Even as the boy came over, the demon sent him into convulsions, throwing him to the ground. But Jesus intervened, rebuking the evil spirit and healing the boy, and then gave him back to his father.


text:
Everyone was amazed at this demonstration of God’s power. However even though everyone was amazed by all he did, Jesus warned his disciples,


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“Listen carefully to what I’m telling you: the Son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”<pb/>


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But they didn’t understand what this meant. Its meaning was hidden from them so they didn’t realize its implications, and they were afraid to ask him about it.<pb/>


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But Jesus, knowing what they were arguing about, picked up and placed a small child next to him.<pb/>


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Then he said to them, “Anyone who accepts this little child in my name accepts me, and anyone who accepts me accepts the One who sent me. Whoever is least among you all is the greatest.”<pb/>


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John spoke up, saying, “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t one of us.”<pb/>


text:
When James and John saw this, they asked Jesus, “Master, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to burn them up?”


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Jesus told the man, “Foxes have their dens, and wild birds have their nests, but the Son of man doesn’t even have a place to rest his head.”<pb/>


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He told another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Master, first let me go home and bury my father.”<pb/>


text:
Another man said, “Lord, I will follow you! But first let me go home and say goodbye to my family.”<pb/>


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But Jesus told him, “Nobody once they’ve started plowing and then looks back is fit for God’s kingdom.”<pb/>


text:
After this, the Lord appointed seventy<n>Some early texts read “seventy-two.”</n> other disciples, and sent them in pairs to every town and place that he planned to visit.<pb/>


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“The harvest is large, but the number of workers is small,” he told them. “Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers to his harvest fields.


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If there’s a peaceful person living there, then your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you.


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Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for a worker deserves to be paid. Don’t go from house to house.


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But if you enter a town and the people there don’t welcome you, go through their streets telling them,


text:
‘We are wiping off even the dust from your town that clings to our feet to show you our disapproval<n>“Disapproval”—implied.</n>. But you should recognize this: God’s kingdom has come.’<pb/>


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Shame on you Korazin! Shame on you Bethsaida! For if the miracles you saw happen had happened in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented a long time ago, and they would be sitting in sackcloth and ashes.


text:
“Anyone who hears you hears me, and anyone who rejects you rejects me. But anyone who rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”<pb/>


text:
The seventy disciples returned in great excitement, saying, “Lord, even the demons do what we tell them in your name!”<pb/>


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Yes, I have given you power to tread on snakes and scorpions, and to overcome all the enemy’s strength, and nothing will harm you.


text:
But don’t take delight that the spirits do what you tell them—just be glad that your names are written in heaven.”<pb/>


text:
At that moment Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and said, “I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you hid these things from the wise and clever people and revealed them to children! Yes, Father, you were pleased to do it in this way.<pb/>


text:
“My Father has handed over everything to me. No one understands the Son except the Father, and no one understands the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”<pb/>


text:
When they were by themselves Jesus turned to the disciples and told them, “Those who see what you’re seeing should be really happy!


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I tell you, many prophets and kings have wanted to see what you’re seeing, but they didn’t see, and wanted to hear the things you’re hearing, but didn’t hear.”<pb/>


text:
Once an expert in religious law stood up and tried to trap Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “What do I have to do to gain eternal life?”<pb/>


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“You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and your whole spirit, and your whole strength, and your whole mind; and love your neighbor as yourself,” the man replied.<pb/>


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Jesus replied, saying, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was attacked by robbers who stripped him and beat him, and left him for dead.


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It so happened that a priest was going the same way. He saw the man, but he passed by on the other side of the road.


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Then a Levite came along. But when he got to the place and saw the man, he also passed by on the other side.<pb/>


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He went over and treated the man’s wounds with oil and wine, and bandaged them. Then he placed the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he took care of him.


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The next day he gave two denarii to the innkeeper and told him, ‘Take care of him, and if you spend more than this, I’ll pay you back when I return.’


text:
While they were on their way<n>To Jerusalem.</n>, Jesus arrived at a village, and a woman called Martha invited him to her home.


text:
Martha was concerned about all that needed to be done to prepare the meal, so she came to Jesus and said, “Master, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!”<pb/>


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But only one thing is really necessary. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it shall not be taken away from her.”<pb/>


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Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples asked him, “Lord, please teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”<pb/>


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Jesus told them, “When you pray, say, ‘Father, let your name be honored as holy. May your kingdom come.


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Forgive us our sins, just as we forgive everyone who sins against us. Keep us from temptation.’”<pb/>


text:
Jesus went on to tell them, “Say you have a friend and you go to him in the middle of the night and ask, ‘My friend, lend me three loaves of bread


text:
Your friend in the house might reply, ‘Don’t bother me—I’ve already locked the door, and I and my children have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything now.’


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I tell you, even though he refuses to get up and give you anything, despite you being his friend, if you are persistent, your friend will get up and give you everything you need.<pb/>


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“I tell you: ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you.


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For everyone who asks, receives; and everyone who seeks, finds; and to everyone who knocks the door will be opened.


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So if you, even though you are evil, still know to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”<pb/>


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Jesus was driving out a demon that had made a man dumb. When the demon had left, the man who was dumb spoke, and the crowds were amazed.


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But some of them said, “He is driving out demons using the power of Beelzebub, the ruler of demons.”


text:
Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be destroyed. A family<n>Literally, “house.”</n> divided against itself will fall.


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If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? You say that I cast out demons using the power of Beelzebub.


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But if I drive out demons by the power of Beelzebub, by whose power do your own people<n>Literally, “sons.”</n> drive them out? They themselves will condemn you as wrong!<pb/>


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“However, if I am driving out demons by the power of God, then this proves God’s kingdom has arrived. It’s right here among you!


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But if a stronger man comes and defeats him, taking from him all his weapons that he depended on, then he can carry off all his possessions.


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“Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who doesn’t build together with me is breaking it all apart.<pb/>


text:
“When an evil spirit leaves someone, it goes through the desert looking for a place to stay. When it doesn’t find anywhere, it says, ‘I’ll return to the house I left.’


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So it goes and finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there. In the end that man is worse off than before.”<pb/>


text:
As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the womb from where you came and the breasts that nursed you.”


text:
As people crowded around him, Jesus began telling them, “This is an evil generation for it’s looking for some miraculous sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.


text:
In the same way that Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of man be a sign to this generation.


text:
The queen of the south will rise in the judgment together with the people of this generation and will condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon’s wisdom, and now there is someone greater than Solomon here!


text:
The people of Nineveh rise in the judgment together with this generation, and will condemn it, for they repented when they heard Jonah’s message, and now there’s someone greater than Jonah here!


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No one lights a lamp and then hides it or places it under a bowl. No, you put it on a lamp stand so that those who come into the house can see the light.


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Your eye is the light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body is in the dark.


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If your whole body is full of light, with no areas of darkness, then it will be completely illuminated, just as a bright lamp gives you light.”<pb/>


text:
After Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to come and eat with him. So Jesus went and sat down to a meal.


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So the Lord told him, “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you’re full of greed and wickedness.


text:
Shame on you Pharisees! You pay tithe on herbs<n>Literally, “mint and rue.”</n> and plants, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You need to pay attention to the latter, while not leaving the former things undone.


text:
Shame on you Pharisees! You love to have the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect when you go to the markets.


text:
One of the experts in religious law reacted, saying, “Teacher, when you talk like this, you’re insulting us too!”<pb/>


text:
Jesus replied, “Shame on you lawyers too! You place burdens on people that are too hard to carry, but you don’t lift a finger to help them.


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Shame on you! You build memorial tombs to honor the prophets, but it was your own fathers who killed them in the first place!


text:
By doing this you are witnesses showing that you agree with what your fathers did. They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs!<pb/>


text:
“This is why God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will kill, and others they will persecute.’


text:
Consequently, this generation will be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets shed from the beginning of the world,


text:
from the blood of Abel right up to the blood of Zachariah who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held accountable for all of it.


text:
Shame on you lawyers! You have removed the key of knowledge. You didn’t go in yourselves, and you prevented others from going in too.”<pb/>


text:
As Jesus was leaving, the religious teachers and the Pharisees began to attack him aggressively, asking questions to provoke him.


text:
They were hoping to catch him out, trying to get him to say something they could use against him.<pb/>


text:
In the meantime so many thousands of people had gathered that they were treading on each another. Jesus began speaking first to his disciples. “Beware the yeast of the Pharisees—hypocrisy.


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Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and whatever you whispered in private will be announced from the rooftops.


text:
I tell you, my friends, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, for once they’ve done that there’s no more they can do.


text:
Let me make it clear whom you should be afraid of. You should be afraid of the one who after he has killed has the power to dispose of them in Gehenna<n>The word here is Literally, “Gehenna,” sometimes translated “hell” or “hellfire.” Gehenna was the place outside of Jerusalem where fires were lit to dispose of rubbish by burning. “Hell” is a concept that is derived from Nordic and Anglo-Saxon mythology and does not parallel the idea here.</n>. That’s the one you should be afraid of.


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Even the hairs on your head have been counted. Don’t be afraid—you’re worth more than many sparrows!<pb/>


text:
“I tell you the truth, those who declare they belong to me, the Son of man will also declare they belong to him before God’s angels,


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Everyone who speaks against the Son of man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.<pb/>


text:
“When you’re brought to trial before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself, or what you should say.


text:
Someone in the crowd asked Jesus, “Teacher, please tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”<pb/>


text:
“My friend,” Jesus replied, “Who appointed me as your judge to decide how your inheritance should be divided?” He told the people,


text:
“Watch out, and beware of all greedy thoughts and actions, for a person’s life isn’t summed up by all the things they own.”<pb/>


text:
Then he told them a story as an illustration. “Once there was a rich man who owned land that was very productive.


text:
‘I know what I’ll do,” he decided. “I’ll pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and then I’ll be able to store all my crops and everything I own.


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Then I’ll tell myself, ‘You have enough to live on for many years, so take life easy: eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!’


text:
But God said to him, ‘You foolish man! Your life will be demanded back this very night, and then who will get everything you’ve stored up?’


text:
This is what happens to people who hoard up wealth for themselves but are not rich as far as God is concerned.”<pb/>


text:
Jesus told his disciples, “That’s why I tell you don’t worry about life, about what to eat, or about what clothes you should wear.


text:
Look at the ravens. They don’t sow or reap, they don’t have any storerooms or barns, but God feeds them. And you’re far more valuable than birds!


text:
Think of the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work, and they don’t spin thread for clothes, but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was as beautifully dressed as one of them.<pb/>


text:
“So if God clothes the fields with such beautiful flowers, which are here today but gone tomorrow when they are burned in a fire to heat an oven, how much more will God clothe you, you who have so little trust!


text:
Sell what you have, and give the money to the poor. Get yourselves purses that don’t wear out: treasure in heaven that will never run out, where no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it.


text:
like servants waiting for their master when he returns from his wedding feast, prepared to open the door quickly for him when he comes and knocks.


text:
How good it will be for those servants that the master finds watching when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will get dressed, have them sit down for a meal, and will come and serve them himself!<pb/>


text:
“Even if he comes at midnight, or just before dawn—how good for them if he finds them watching and ready!


text:
But remember this: if the master knew when a thief was coming, he would keep watch, and not allow his house be broken into.


text:
The Lord replied, “Who then is the trustworthy and wise manager, the one person in the household that the master puts in charge to share out their food at the right time?


text:
But what if the servant were to say to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and then starts beating the other servants, both men and women, feasting and getting drunk?


text:
That servant’s master will return unexpectedly one day at a time he wasn’t aware of, and will punish him severely, treating him as totally untrustworthy.<pb/>


text:
“That servant who knew what his master wanted and yet didn’t get ready or follow his instructions, will be beaten severely;


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but the servant who didn’t know and did things deserving punishment will be beaten only lightly. From those who are given much, much will be required, and from those who are entrusted with more, more will be demanded.


text:
From now on, if there are five in a family, they will be divided against each other: three against two, and two against three.


text:
They will be divided against each other—father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”<pb/>


text:
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds. “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘a rain-shower’s coming,’ and it happens.


text:
You hypocrites, how is it that you know how to rightly interpret the weather but you don’t know how to interpret the present time?


text:
As you go with your accuser to the magistrate, on the way you should be working on a settlement. Otherwise you may be dragged before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.


text:
It was around this time that some people told Jesus about Pilate’s killing of some Galileans while they were offering sacrifices in the Temple.


text:
“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than any other Galileans because they suffered like this?” Jesus asked.


text:
What about those eighteen people that were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were the worst people in the whole of Jerusalem?


text:
Then he told them this story as an illustration. “Once there was man who had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came to look for fruit on the tree, but he didn’t find any.


text:
So he told the gardener, ‘Look, for three years I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and I haven’t found any. Chop it down! Why should it be taking up space?’<pb/>


text:
“‘Master,’ the man replied, ‘please leave it alone for just one more year. I’ll dig the soil around it and put down some fertilizer.


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and a woman was there who had been crippled by an evil spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not stand straight.


text:
However the synagogue leader was upset that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. He said to the crowd, “There are six days for work. Come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”<pb/>


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But the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t every one of you untie your ox or donkey from the stall and take it to drink?


text:
Why shouldn’t this woman, this daughter of Abraham whom Satan has kept tied up for eighteen years, be untied and set free this Sabbath day?”<pb/>


text:
What he said shamed all his opponents, but everyone in the crowd was delighted by all the wonderful things he was doing.<pb/>


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It’s like a mustard seed that a man planted in his garden. It grew into a tree, and the birds came and nested in its branches.”<pb/>


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It’s like yeast that a woman took and mixed into three measures<n>About 3 gallons or 13 liters.</n> of flour which made the whole batch rise.”<pb/>


text:
“Try very hard to enter the narrow doorway, because I tell you that many will try to go in, and won’t succeed.


text:
Once the house owner gets up and closes the door, you’ll be standing outside knocking on the door, saying, ‘Master, please open the door for us.’ But he’ll reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you’re from.’


text:
He’ll reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you’re from. Get away from me, all of you who don’t do what’s right!’


text:
There will be crying and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you are thrown out.


text:
People will come from the east and the west, the north and the south, and they will sit down to eat in the kingdom of God.


text:
At that moment some Pharisees came to Jesus and told him, “You should leave here. Herod wants to kill you!”<pb/>


text:
Jesus replied, “Go tell that fox that I will go on driving out demons and healing people for today and tomorrow, and on the third day I’ll achieve what I came to do<n>Or “achieve my goal.”</n>.


text:
Well anyway I must continue on my way for today and tomorrow, and the day after. For it wouldn’t be right for a prophet to die outside of Jerusalem!<pb/>


text:
“Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have wanted to gather all your children together just like a hen does with her chicks under her wings, but you refused!


text:
Look, your house is left desolate, and I tell you that you won’t see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”<pb/>


text:
One Sabbath Jesus went to have a meal at the home of one of the leaders of the Pharisees where they watched him closely.


text:
So Jesus asked the experts in religious law and the Pharisees, “Does the law allow healing on the Sabbath or not?”


text:
Then Jesus said to them, “If your son or your ox happened to fall into a well on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you go and pull him out immediately?”


text:
“When you’re invited to a wedding reception, don’t take the place of honor, because someone more important than you may have been invited,” he began.


text:
“Your host who invited you both will come and tell you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then in embarrassment you’ll have to move to whatever place is left.


text:
Instead, when you’re invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes in, he’ll tell you, ‘My friend, please move to a better seat.’ Then you’ll be honored before all the guests sitting with you.


text:
For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”<pb/>


text:
Then he said to the man who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, or your brothers, or your relatives, or your rich neighbors, for they may invite you back, and then you’d be repaid.


text:
and you will be blessed, for they have nothing to repay you with, and you’ll be rewarded at the resurrection of the good.”<pb/>


text:
When one of them eating at the table with Jesus heard this, he said to Jesus, “How wonderful it will be for those who feast in the kingdom of God!”<pb/>


text:
“When it was time to eat he sent his servant out to tell everyone who had been invited, ‘Come, because the banquet’s ready.’


text:
But they all started to make excuses. The first said, ‘I’ve just bought a field and I have to go and see it. Please excuse me.’


text:
Another said, ‘I’ve just bought five pairs of oxen and have to go and try them out. Please excuse me.’ Still another said,


text:
The servant returned and told his master what they’d said. The home-owner became angry and told his servant, ‘Quickly, go out into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’<pb/>


text:
“So the master told the servant, ‘Go out on the country roads and lanes, and make people come—I want my house to be full.


text:
“If you want to follow me but you don’t hate your father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters—even your own life—you can’t be my disciple.


text:
If you planned to build a tower, wouldn’t you first work out how much it would cost, and see if you had enough money to complete it?


text:
Otherwise, if after laying the foundation you weren’t able to finish it, everyone who saw it would laugh at you, saying,


text:
“What king goes to war with another king without first sitting down with his advisors to work out whether he and his ten thousand can defeat the one marching against him with twenty thousand?


text:
If he can’t, he’ll send representatives to ask for peace while the other king is still a long way off.


text:
It’s no good for the soil or for fertilizer—you just toss it out. Whoever has ears, then listen!”<pb/>


text:
As a result the Pharisees and the religious teachers complained, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”<pb/>


text:
“Imagine a man who had a hundred sheep lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture, and search for the one that’s lost until he finds it?


text:
Once he gets home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Come and celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’


text:
I tell you that there’s more joy in heaven over a sinner that repents than over ninety-nine good people who don’t need to repent.<pb/>


text:
“Imagine a woman who has ten silver<n>Literally, “‘drachma.’”</n> coins, and loses one of them. Wouldn’t she light a lamp and sweep the house, carefully searching until she finds it?


text:
When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Come and celebrate with me! I’ve found the silver coin that I lost.’


text:
“The younger one told his father, ‘Father, give me my inheritance now.’ So the man divided his property between them.


text:
A few days later the younger son packed up what he had and left for a distant country. Here he wasted all his money living a reckless life.<pb/>


text:
He was so hungry that he would have eaten even the pig food<n>Literally, “seed pods the pigs were eating.”</n>, but no one gave him anything.


text:
When he came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘All of my father’s workers have more than enough to eat—why am I dying from hunger here?


text:
So he left and went home to his father.<pb/>“Even though he was still far away in the distance, his father saw him coming, and his heart went out to his son. The father ran to his son, hugging and kissing him.


text:
The son said to him, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and against you. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’<pb/>


text:
“But the father told his servants, ‘Quick—bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.


text:
because this is my son who was dead, but who has returned alive; he was lost but now he’s found.’ So they started celebrating.<pb/>


text:
“Now the older son was working out in the fields. As he walked towards the house, he heard music and dancing.


text:
“‘Your brother is back,” he replied, “and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he’s come home safe and sound.”<pb/>


text:
“He told his father, ‘Look, all these years I’ve served you, and never disobeyed you, but you never once gave me even a young goat so I could have a party with my friends.


text:
Now this son of yours comes back, having spent your money on prostitutes, and you kill the fattened calf for him!’<pb/>


text:
But we should be happy and celebrate! This is your brother who was dead, but who has returned alive; he was lost but now he’s found!’”<pb/>


text:
Jesus told his disciples this story. “There was once a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting what belonged to his master.


text:
So the rich man called in his manager, and asked him, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Bring in your accounts, because you won’t be continuing as manager.’<pb/>


text:
The manager said to himself, ‘Now what will I do since my master is going to fire me from my job? I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg.


text:
Oh, I know what I’m going to do so that when I’m sacked as manager people will make me welcome in their homes.’<pb/>


text:
“So he invited all those who were in debt to his master to come and see him. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe my master?’


text:
The man replied, ‘A hundred units<n>One ‘batos’ “bath” was equivalent to around 6 gallons or 22 liters.</n> of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Sit down quickly. Take your bill, and change it to fifty.’


text:
Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?” The man replied, ‘A hundred units<n>One ‘koros’ “kor” was equivalent to 11 bushels or 390 liters.</n> of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and change it to eighty.’<pb/>


text:
“The rich man commended his dishonest manager for his cunning idea. The children of this world are more cunning towards one another than are the children of light.<pb/>


text:
“I tell you, use the wealth of this world to make friends for yourselves so that when it’s gone, you’ll be welcomed into an eternal home.


text:
If you can be trusted with very little you can also be trusted with much; if you are dishonest with very little you will also be dishonest with much.


text:
And if you can’t be trusted with what belongs to someone else, who will trust you with what is yours?


text:
No servant can obey two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Money.”<pb/>


text:
But Jesus told them, “You appear pious to people, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detested by God.


text:
What was written in the law and the prophets lasted until John. From then on the good news of the kingdom of God is being spread, and everyone is forcing their way in.


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However, it’s easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the smallest point of the Law to disappear.


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Any man who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and a man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.<pb/>


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“Once there was a man who was rich. He wore purple clothes<n>Purple clothes were very expensive.</n> and fine linen, and enjoyed a luxurious life.


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longing to eat the leftovers from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.<pb/>


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“Then the beggar died, and angels carried him away to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.


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In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the far distance, with Lazarus beside him.<pb/>


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“‘Father Abraham,’ he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I’m burning in agony.’<pb/>


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“But Abraham replied, ‘My son, remember that you enjoyed the good things of life, while Lazarus had a very poor life. Now he is here being comforted, while you suffer in torment.


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Apart from that, there’s a great gulf that stretches between us and you. Nobody who wants to cross from here to you can do so, and nobody can cross from there over to us.’<pb/>


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For I have five brothers and he can warn them so that they don’t end up here in this place of torment.’<pb/>


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“‘No, father Abraham,’ said the man. ‘But they would repent if someone went to them from the dead!’<pb/>


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“Abraham said to him, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be convinced even if someone returns from the dead.’”<pb/>


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Jesus said to his disciples, “Temptations are unavoidable, but it will be a disaster for those through whom they come!


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For such people it would be better to have a millstone hung around the neck and be thrown into the sea than to cause these little ones to sin.


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Even if he sins against you seven times a day, and seven times comes back and tells you, ‘I’m really sorry,’ forgive him.”<pb/>


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The Lord replied, “Even if your trust was as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Uproot yourself, and plant yourself in the sea,’ and it would obey you.<pb/>


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“Say you have a servant who does plowing or shepherding. When he comes in from work, do you say to him, ‘Come in and sit down now for a meal’?


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No. You say to him, ‘Prepare a meal for me, get yourself dressed, and serve me until I’ve finished my meal. After that you can have your meal.’


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Likewise once you’ve done everything you were told, you should simply say, ‘We are undeserving servants. We just did our duty.’”<pb/>


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When Jesus saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” On their way there, they were healed.


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Once, when the Pharisees came and asked him when God’s kingdom would come, Jesus replied, “God’s kingdom doesn’t come with visible signs that you can observe.


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People won’t be saying, ‘Look, it’s here’ or ‘Look, it’s there,’ for God’s kingdom is among you<n>Or, “within you.”</n>.”<pb/>


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Then Jesus told the disciples, “The time is coming when you’ll long to see the day<n>Literally, “one of the days.”</n> when the Son of man comes, but you won’t see it.


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They’ll be telling you, “Look, there he is,’ or ‘look, here he is,’ but don’t go running off after them.


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The day when the Son of man comes will be just like lightning that flashes, lighting up the sky from one side to the other.


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People went on eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah went into the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.


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It will be like it was in Lot’s day. People went on eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.


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But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.<pb/>


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If you’re up on the roof that day don’t go down and get your things; and if you’re out in the fields don’t go back home either.


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“Where, Lord?” they asked. “Where the carcass is, that’s where the vultures gather,” Jesus replied.<pb/>


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“Once there was a judge in this particular town who didn’t respect God or care about anyone,” Jesus explained.


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“In the same town lived a widow who time and again went to the judge, saying, ‘Give me justice in the case against my enemy!’


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For a while he didn’t want to do anything about it, but eventually he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t respect God or care about anyone,


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this widow is so annoying I’ll make sure she receives justice. Then she won’t wear me out by her coming to see me so often.’<pb/>


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“Don’t you think that God will make sure his chosen people receive justice, those who cry out to him day and night? Do you think he will make them wait?


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No, I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. However, when the Son of man comes, will he find people on earth who trust in him?”<pb/>


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He also told this story about those who are so sure that they are living right, and who put everybody else down.


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The Pharisee stood up and prayed to himself, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—cheats, criminals<n>Literally, “unright.”</n>, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.


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“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn’t even look up to heaven. Instead he beat his chest and prayed, ‘God, please be merciful to me. I am a sinner.’<pb/>


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“I tell you, it was this man who went home right in God’s sight and not the other. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, while those who humble themselves will be exalted.”<pb/>


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Parents were bringing their infants to Jesus to have him bless them by his touch. When the disciples saw what was happening, they tried to stop them.


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But Jesus called the children to him. “Let the little children come to me,” he said. “Don’t prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like them.


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I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”<pb/>


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One of the rulers came to Jesus and asked him, “Good Teacher, what do I have to do to inherit eternal life?”<pb/>


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You know the commandments: do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.”<pb/>


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When Jesus heard this he told the man, “You still lack one thing. Go and sell all you have, give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me!<pb/>


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When he saw his reaction, Jesus said, “How difficult it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!


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It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”<pb/>


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“I tell you the truth,” Jesus told them, “anybody who leaves behind their home, wife, brothers, parents, or children for the sake of God’s kingdom


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Jesus took the twelve disciples aside, and told them, “We’re going to Jerusalem, and all that the prophets wrote about the Son of man will be fulfilled.


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He will be handed over to the foreigners<n>Literally, “Gentiles.”</n>; he will be mocked, insulted, and spat upon.


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But they didn’t understand anything Jesus told them. The meaning was hidden from them and they didn’t grasp what he was talking about.<pb/>


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Those at the front of the crowd told him to stop shouting and be quiet, but he only shouted louder, “Son of David, please have mercy on me!”<pb/>


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Immediately the man could see. He followed Jesus, praising God. Everyone there who saw what happened also praised God.<pb/>


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When Jesus got there, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly! I need to stay at your house today.”<pb/>


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But Zacchaeus stood up and said before the Lord, “Look, I’m giving half of everything I own to the poor, and if I’ve cheated anybody, I’ll pay them back four times as much!”<pb/>


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In response Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man has shown he is a son of Abraham too.


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While they were still paying attention, Jesus told them a story for they were close to Jerusalem and the people thought that God’s kingdom was going to become a reality right away.<pb/>


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“Once there was a nobleman who left home to go to a distant country to be crowned king there, and then to return.


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He called ten of his servants, divided money<n>Money: actually one ‘mina’ worth 100 ‘drachmas’, equivalent to 100 days pay.</n> equally among them, and told them, ‘Invest this money until I return.’


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But his people hated him, and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We won’t have this man as king over us.”


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After he had been crowned king he returned. He ordered his servants brought to him. He wanted to know what profit they had made by investing the money he had given them.


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“‘Well done! You’re a good servant,’ said the king. ‘Since you proved yourself trustworthy in a very small matter, I’m placing you in charge of ten cities.’<pb/>


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“Another servant came in and said, ‘Lord, look, here’s your money back. I kept it safe, wrapped up in a cloth.


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I was afraid of you because you’re a hard man. You take what doesn’t belong to you, and you harvest what you didn’t plant.’<pb/>


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“‘I’ll judge you by your own words,’ the king replied. ‘You know I’m a hard man, “who takes what doesn’t belong to me, and I harvest what I didn’t plant.”


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Why then didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, so that when I returned I could have had my money with interest?’<pb/>


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“The king told those who were standing beside him, ‘Take the money away from him, and give it to the one who made ten times as much.’<pb/>


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“The king said, ‘I tell you, to those who have, more will be given; but those who do not have, even what they have will be taken away from them.


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And as for my enemies who didn’t want me to be king over them, bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”<pb/>


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As he approached Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples, telling them:<pb/>


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“Go to the village farther on. As you enter it you’ll find a colt tied up that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.


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As he approached Jerusalem<n>“Jerusalem” implied.</n>, right where the road goes down from the Mount of Olives, the crowd of disciples all began shouting joyful praises to God at the top of their voices for all the miracles they had seen.<pb/>


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“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord,” they shouted. “Peace in heaven and glory in highest heaven.”


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Some of the Pharisees who were in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, stop your disciples from saying that.”


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“I really wish today that you, even you, had known the path that leads to peace!” he said. “But now it’s hidden from your eyes.


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The time is coming upon you when your enemies will besiege you, building ramps to attack you, encircling you and closing you in from every side.


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They will smash you to the ground, you and your children within you. They won’t leave one stone on another within you, for you refused to accept salvation when it came to you.”<pb/>


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Jesus entered the Temple and began driving out all the people trading<n>Particularly in reference to selling animals for sacrifice.</n> there.


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He told them, “Scriptures state that ‘my house will be a house of prayer,’ but you’ve turned it into a den of thieves.”<pb/>


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He was teaching in the Temple every day. The chief priests, the religious teachers, and the leaders of the people were trying to kill him.


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But they couldn’t find a way to do it because everyone appreciated him, hanging on his every word.<pb/>


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Once when Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple, telling them the good news, some of the chief priests and religious teachers came with the elders.


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They asked him, “Tell us: by whose authority are you doing what you do? Who gave you the right to do this?”<pb/>


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They talked about it among themselves: “If we say it was from heaven, he’ll ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’


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Then he began to tell the people a story:<pb/>“Once there was a man who planted a vineyard, leased it to some farmers, and went to live in another country for a long while.


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At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenant farmers to collect his share of the crop, but the farmers beat the servant and sent him away with nothing.


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So the owner sent another servant, but they beat him too and treated him shamefully, and sent him away with nothing.


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“The owner of the vineyard asked himself, ‘What shall I do? I know, I’ll send my son whom I love. Perhaps they will respect him.’


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But when they saw him coming, the farmers said to themselves, ‘This is the owner’s heir. Let’s kill him! That way we can take his inheritance.’


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They threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do to them?


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He will come and kill these farmers and let others have the vineyard.”<pb/>When they heard the story, they said, “May this never happen!”


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But Jesus looked at them and said, “Then why is it written in the Scriptures, ‘The stone the builders rejected has now become the chief cornerstone’?


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Immediately the religious teachers and the chief priests wanted to arrest him because they realized that the story Jesus told was aimed at them, but they were afraid of what the people would do.<pb/>


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Watching for an opportunity they sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They tried to catch Jesus out in something he said so they could hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.


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They said, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you’re not swayed by the opinions of others. You truly teach the way of God.


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“Show me a coin—a ‘denarius’<n>Jesus specifically asks for a denarius, a Roman coin.</n>. Whose image and inscription is on it?” “Caesar’s,” they answered.<pb/>


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“Then give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give back to God what belongs to God,” he told them.


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They weren’t able to trap him by what he told the people. They were stunned at his reply, and fell silent.<pb/>


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“Teacher,” they began, “Moses gave us a law that if a married man dies leaving a wife without children, then his brother should marry the widow and have children for his dead brother.


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and then the third brother also married her. In the end all seven brothers married her, and then died without having children.


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“But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and the resurrection from the dead don’t marry or are given in marriage.


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They can’t die any longer; they’re like the angels and are children of God since they’re children of the resurrection.


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But on the question of whether the dead are raised, even Moses proved this when he wrote about the burning<n>“Burning bush”—the Greek simply says “bush.”</n> bush, when he calls the Lord, ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’


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“Watch out for religious leaders who like to go around in long robes, and love to be greeted with respect in the markets, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets.


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They cheat widows out of what they own<n>Literally, “they devour widow’s houses.”</n>, and cover up the kind of people they really are with long-winded prayers. They will receive severe condemnation in the judgment.”<pb/>


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Looking around, Jesus watched rich people putting their gifts into the collection box<n>In the Temple (See 20:1).</n>.


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He also saw a very poor widow put in two small coins<n>Small low value coins called “‘lepta’.”</n>.<pb/>


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All of them gave from their wealth what they had, but she gave from her poverty all she had to live on.<pb/>


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Some of those<n>Probably some of the disciples by reference to Mark 13:1.</n> there were talking about the Temple, its fine stonework and the beautiful gifts that had been donated. But Jesus said,


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“Regarding these things you’re looking at… The time is coming when not one stone will be left on another; everything will be destroyed!”<pb/>


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“Teacher, when will this happen?” they asked him. “What will be the sign that these things are about to happen?<pb/>


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“Make sure you’re not deceived,” Jesus warned them. “Many people will come claiming to be me<n>Or “come in my name.”</n>, saying, ‘Here I am!’ and, ‘The time has come!’ but don’t follow them.


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When you hear of wars and revolutions, don’t be frightened, because these things have to happen first, but the end won’t come immediately.”<pb/>


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“There will be severe earthquakes, famines, and epidemic diseases in many lands, and extraordinary signs in the sky that are terrifying.


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But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will drag you before synagogues and throw you into prison, and put you on trial before kings and governors on account of me.


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You will be betrayed even by your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will kill some of you.


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By standing firm you will gain your lives<n>Meaning eternal life, or even that you gain who you really were intended to be.</n>.<pb/>


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Those who are in Judea should run away to the mountains, and those who are in Jerusalem should leave, and those who are the countryside shouldn’t enter the city.


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“How hard it will be for those who are pregnant or nursing babies at that time! For terrible trouble is coming on the land and punishment against this people.


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They will be killed by the sword and taken away as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trodden down by the foreign nations until their time is fulfilled.<pb/>


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“There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and on the earth the nations will be in distress, confused by the sea’s rolling and crashing.


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People will be faint from fear, terrified about what is happening to the world, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.


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In the same way, when you see these things happening, you don’t need to be told that God’s kingdom is near.


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“Watch out that you don’t become distracted by partying or getting drunk or by the worries of this life, so that this day<n>“This day”—the coming of the Son of man.</n> catches you by surprise.


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Always keep watch and pray, so that you may be able to escape all that will happen and stand before the Son of man.”<pb/>


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The chief priests and religious teachers were looking for a way to kill Jesus, but were afraid of what the people would do.<pb/>


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He agreed, and began to look for an opportunity to hand over Jesus when a crowd would not be there.<pb/>


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Jesus sent Peter and John, telling them, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”<pb/>


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He replied, “When you enter the city you’ll meet a man carrying a jar of water. Follow him and go into the house he enters.


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Tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks you, “Where is the dining room where I can eat the Passover with my disciples?”’


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He’ll show you a large upstairs room that already has the necessary furniture. Prepare the meal there.”<pb/>


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They went and found that everything was just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover meal there.


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Jesus took the cup, and after he had given thanks, he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves.


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He picked up some bread, and after he had given thanks, he broke it into pieces and gave it to them. “This is my body which is given for you; do this in order to remember me,” Jesus told them.


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In the same way after they had finished supper, he picked up the cup and said, “This cup is the new agreement<n>Or “covenant.”</n> in my blood which is poured out for you.”<pb/>


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“In spite of this, my betrayer<n>Literally, “the hand of the one betraying me.”</n> is sitting right here with me at the table.


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For it has been determined that the Son of man will die, yet how disastrous it will be for his betrayer!”


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Jesus told them, “Foreign kings lord it over their subjects, and those having power even want people to call them ‘benefactors.


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“But it should not be so with you! Whoever is highest among you should be like the lowest, and the leader should be like a servant.


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Who is greater—the one who sits at the table, or the one who serves? Isn’t it the one who sits at the table? But I’m among you as the one who serves.


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so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”<pb/>


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“Simon, Simon—Satan has asked to have all of you<n>The first “you” in this statement is plural, the rest are singular, applying specifically to Peter.</n> to sift like wheat,


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but I have prayed for you that your trust in me may not fail. And when you have returned<n>Meaning “return to the truth.”</n>, encourage your brothers.”<pb/>


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Jesus replied, “I’m telling you, Peter, before the cock crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”<pb/>


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Jesus asked them, “When I sent you out without money, without a bag, and without an extra pair of sandals, did you lack anything?”<pb/>“No, nothing,” they replied.<pb/>


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“But now, if you have money you should take it, as well as a bag, and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.


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I tell you that this statement in Scripture about me must be fulfilled: ‘He was counted with the wicked.’ What was said about me is now being fulfilled.<pb/>


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“Father,” he prayed, “if you’re willing, please take away this cup of suffering from me. But I want to do what you want, not what I want.”


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In great distress Jesus prayed even harder, and his sweat fell like drops of blood onto the ground<n>The authenticity of verses 43 and 44 are disputed. Manuscript evidence is divided.</n>.


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He finished praying, stood up, and went over to the disciples. He found them asleep, worn out by grief.


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“Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you won’t fall into temptation.”<pb/>


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While he was still speaking, a crowd appeared led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. Judas went up to Jesus to kiss him.


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Then Jesus spoke to the chief priests, and the officers of the Temple guard, and the elders. “Am I some kind of criminal that you had to come with swords and clubs?” he asked.


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“You didn’t arrest me before, even though I was with you in the Temple every day. But this is your moment now, the time when darkness is in power.”<pb/>


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They arrested him and led him away, taking him to the chief priest’s house. Peter followed at a distance.


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A little later someone else looked at him and said, “You’re also one of them.” “No, I’m not!” Peter replied.


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“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about!” Peter replied. Right then, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter.


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And Peter remembered what the Lord had said, how he’d told him: “Before the cock crows today, you’ll deny me three times.”


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They put a blindfold on him, and then asked him, “If you can prophesy, tell us who hit you that time!”


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Early in the morning the council of elders gathered together with the chief priests and religious teachers. Jesus was led before the council.


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“If you really are the Messiah then tell us,” they said.<pb/>“Even if I were to tell you, you wouldn’t believe me,” Jesus replied.


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There they started to accuse him. “We found this man deceiving our nation, telling people not to pay taxes to Caesar, and claiming he is Messiah, a king,” they said.<pb/>


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Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I don’t find this man guilty of any crime.”<pb/>


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But they insisted, saying, “He is inciting rebellion all over Judea with his teachings, from Galilee to right here in Jerusalem.”<pb/>


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When he discovered that Jesus came under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod who was also in Jerusalem at the time.<pb/>


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Herod was very pleased to see Jesus since he had wanted to meet him for a long time. He had heard about Jesus and was hoping to see him perform a miracle.


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Herod and his soldiers treated Jesus with contempt and mocked him. Then they placed a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.


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and told them, “You brought this man before me, accusing him of inciting the people to rebellion. I’ve carefully examined him in your presence, and do not find him guilty of the charges you have brought against him.


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Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. He has done nothing that demands he should be put to death.


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Pilate asked them for the third time, “But why? What crime has he committed? I don’t find any reason for executing him. So I will have him flogged and then release him.”<pb/>


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But they continued insisting with loud shouts, demanding that he be crucified. Their shouting succeeded,


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He released the man imprisoned for rebellion and murder, but he sent Jesus to be put to death in accordance with their demands<n>Literally, “handed Jesus over to their will.” It does not say that Pilate handed Jesus over to the Jews, since Jesus was executed by the Romans, but that Pilate acceded to their demands for Jesus’ death.</n>.<pb/>


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As the soldiers<n>Implied.</n> led him away, they seized a man called Simon of Cyrene, who had come in from the countryside. They put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.


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Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me. Weep for yourselves and your children.


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For the time is coming when they’ll say, ‘Happy are those who are childless, and those who never had babies, and those who never nursed them.’


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For if they do this to wood that is new, what will happen when it’s dried out?”<n>Meaning that things become worse later.</n><pb/>


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When they reached the place called the Skull they crucified him together with the criminals, one on his right, and the other on his left.<pb/>


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Jesus said, “Father, please forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” They divided up his clothes by throwing dice for them.<pb/>


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The people stood and watched and the leaders sneered at Jesus. “He saved others, let him save himself, if he is really God’s Messiah, the Chosen One,” they said.<pb/>


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One of the criminals hanging there joined in the insults against Jesus. “Aren’t you the Messiah?” he asked. “Then save yourself—and us too!”<pb/>


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But the other criminal disagreed and argued with him, “Don’t you fear God even when you’re suffering the same punishment?” he asked.


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“For us the sentence is right since we’re being punished for what we did, but this man didn’t do anything wrong.”<pb/>


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Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, I place myself in your hands.” Having said this he breathed his last<n>“Myself”: Literally, “my spirit.” Breath and spirit are the same word.</n>.<pb/>


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When all the crowds that had come to watch saw what happened they went home beating their chests in grief.


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But all those who knew Jesus, including the women who’d followed him from Galilee, watched from a distance.<pb/>


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but he hadn’t agreed with its decisions and actions. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God.


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Once he’d taken it down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth. He laid Jesus in an unused tomb cut into the rock.


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The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee had followed Joseph and had seen the tomb where Jesus’ body had been laid.


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They returned home and prepared spices and ointments<n>To anoint Jesus’ body.</n>. But on the Sabbath they rested, observing the commandment.<pb/>


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Very early on the first day of the week<n>i.e. Sunday.</n>, the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they’d prepared.


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While they were wondering what was going on, two men suddenly appeared dressed in clothes that shone brilliantly.


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The women were terrified and bowed down, their faces on the ground.<pb/>They said to the women, “Why are you looking for someone who is alive among the dead?


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‘The Son of man must be betrayed into the hands of evil men, be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’”<pb/>


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When they returned from the tomb they reported all that had happened to the eleven disciples and to all the others.


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Those who told the apostles what had happened were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other women with them.


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However Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Bending down, he looked in and saw only the linen grave-clothes. So he went back home, wondering what had happened.<pb/>


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The same day two disciples were on their way to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.


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One of them, called Cleopas, replied, “Are you just visiting Jerusalem? You must be the only person who doesn’t know the things that have happened in the past few days.”<pb/>


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“What things?” Jesus asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet who spoke powerfully and performed great miracles before God and all the people.


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We had hoped he was the one who was going to rescue Israel. It’s been three days now since all this happened.”<pb/>


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At dawn they went to the tomb and they didn’t find his body. They came back saying that they’d seen a vision of angels who told them he’s alive.


text:
Then, starting with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them everything that was said in Scripture about himself.<pb/>


text:
But they urged him, saying, “Please come and stay with us. It’s getting late—the day is almost over.” So he went to stay with them.<pb/>


text:
When he sat down to eat with them, he took the bread and gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them.


text:
The two disciples said to each other, “Weren’t our thoughts on fire when he spoke to us, as he explained the Scriptures to us?”


text:
They got up right away and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven disciples and those who were with them meeting together,


text:
Then those who had just arrived explained to the other disciples what had happened to them on the road, and how they had recognized Jesus when he broke bread.


text:
“Look at my hands and my feet—you can see it’s me. Touch me and you’ll be certain, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”<pb/>


text:
But they still couldn’t believe it because they were so elated and amazed. He asked them, “Do you have anything to eat?”


text:
Then Jesus said to them, “This is what I explained to you while I was still with you. Everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, had to be fulfilled.”


text:
He told them, “It was written like this: the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and in his name


text:
Now I’m going to send you what my Father promised—but wait in the city until you receive power from heaven.”<pb/>


text:
In the beginning the Word already was<n>In other words, the Word existed from eternity past. The concept of the Word means more than letters making up a word: it is the divine mind, the expression of God, the active aspect of divinity that speaks into existence as in Genesis 1:1.</n>. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.


text:
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not extinguished it<n>The word in the original can also mean “overpowered” or “understood.”</n>.<pb/>


text:
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world didn’t know who he was<n>Or “didn’t recognize him.”</n>.


text:
He came to his own people, but they didn’t accept him<n>Or “He came to his own home but his own people did not welcome him.”</n>.


text:
These are the children born not in the usual way, not as the result of human desire or a father’s decision, but born of God.


text:
The Word became human and lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only<n>Literally, “only begotten.” This refers to position and uniqueness rather than birth.</n> Son, full of grace and truth.<pb/>


text:
John gave his testimony about him, shouting out to the people, “This is the one I was telling you about when I said, ‘The one who is coming after me is more important than me, for before I ever existed he already was.’”


text:
While no one has ever seen God, God the one and only, who is close to the Father, has shown us what God is like<n>Or “has made him known.”</n>.<pb/>


text:
This is what John publicly stated when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’


text:
“So then, who are you?” they asked. “Elijah?”<pb/>“No, I’m not,” he answered.<pb/>“Are you the Prophet<n>In Jewish thought a special prophet was expected before the End.</n>?”<pb/>“No,” he replied.<pb/>


text:
“Well, who are you, then?” they asked. “We have to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”<pb/>


text:
“I am ‘a voice calling in the desert, “Make the Lord’s way straight!”’” he said, using the words of the prophet Isaiah<n>Isaiah 40:3.</n>.<pb/>


text:
The next day John saw Jesus approaching him, and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!


text:
This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man who is coming after me is more important than me, for before I ever existed he already was.’


text:
I didn’t know myself who he was, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.”<pb/>


text:
John gave his evidence about him, saying, “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and rest upon him.


text:
I wouldn’t have known him except he who sent me to baptize with water had told me, ‘The one you see the Spirit descend to and rest upon, he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’


text:
Jesus turned round and saw them following him. “What are you looking for?” he asked them,<pb/>“Rabbi (which means ‘Teacher’), where are you staying?” they asked in reply.<pb/>


text:
“Come and see,” he told them. So they went with him and saw where he was staying. It was about four p.m., and they spent the rest of the day with him.<pb/>


text:
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of these two disciples who had heard what John said and followed Jesus.


text:
He went at once to find his brother Simon and told him, “We’ve found the Messiah!” (which means ‘Christ’<n>Christ means “the Anointed One.”</n>).


text:
He took him to Jesus. Looking directly at Simon, Jesus said, “You are Simon, son of John. But now you will be called Cephas (which means ‘Peter’<n>Cephas and Peter both mean “rock” or “stone.”</n>).<pb/>


text:
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the one that Moses wrote about in the law and that the prophets did too—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”<pb/>


text:
“From Nazareth? Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael wondered.<pb/>“Just come and see,” Philip replied.<pb/>


text:
As Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said about him, “Look, here’s a true Israelite! There’s nothing false about him.”<pb/>


text:
“How do you know who I am?” Nathanael asked.<pb/>“I saw you there under the fig tree, before Philip called you,” Jesus replied.<pb/>


text:
“You believe this just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree?” Jesus replied. “You’ll get to see much more than that!


text:
Then Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open, and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of man.”<n>Referring to Jacob’s experience in Genesis 28:12, with the term “Son of man” replacing the word “ladder.”</n><pb/>


text:
Two days<n>Literally, “on the third day” (by inclusive reckoning).</n> later a wedding was held at Cana in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was there.


text:
“Mother, why should you involve me<n>Literally, “What to me and to you?” (i.e. “What has this got to do with me or you?”</n>? My time hasn’t come yet,” he replied.<pb/>


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Standing nearby were six stone jars used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each one holding twenty to thirty gallons<n>Literally, “two or three measures.”</n>.


text:
The master of ceremonies didn’t know where it had come from, only the servants knew. But when he tasted the water that had been turned to wine, he called the bridegroom over.<pb/>


text:
“Everyone serves out the best wine first,” he told him, “and once people have had plenty to drink, then they put out the cheaper wine. But you have kept the best wine till last!”


text:
This was the very first of Jesus’ miraculous signs, and was performed in Cana of Galilee. Here he revealed his glory, and his disciples put their trust in him.<pb/>


text:
After this Jesus left for Capernaum with his mother, brothers, and disciples where they stayed for a few days.


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In the Temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves; and money-changers sitting at their tables.


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He made a whip out of cords and drove everyone out of the Temple, along with the sheep and cattle, scattering coins of the money-changers and turning over their tables.


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He ordered the dove-sellers, “Take these things out of here! Don’t turn my Father’s house into a market!”


text:
His disciples remembered the Scripture that says, “My devotion for your house is like a fire burning inside me!”<n>Psalm 69:9.</n><pb/>


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The Jewish leaders reacted, asking him, “What right do you have to do this? Show us some miraculous sign to prove it!”<pb/>


text:
“It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you’re going to raise it up in three days?” the Jewish leaders replied.


text:
After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered what he said, and so they believed in Scripture and Jesus’ own words.<pb/>


text:
As a result of the miracles Jesus did while he was in Jerusalem during the Passover, many believed in him.


text:
He came at night to where Jesus was and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God, for nobody could do the miraculous signs you’re doing unless God was with him.”<pb/>


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“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “Unless you are reborn<n>Or “born from above.”</n>, you can’t experience God’s kingdom.”<pb/>


text:
“How can you be reborn when you’re old?” Nicodemus asked. “You can’t go back into your mother’s womb and be born a second time!”<pb/>


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“I tell you the truth, you can’t enter God’s kingdom unless you are born of water and the Spirit,” Jesus told him.


text:
Don’t be surprised at my telling you, ‘You must be reborn.’<n>The first “you” refers to Nicodemus in the singular. The second “you” is plural, and refers to a wider audience.</n>


text:
The wind blows wherever it wants, and just as you hear the sound it makes, but don’t know where it’s coming from or where it’s going, that’s how it is for everyone who is born of the spirit.”<pb/>


text:
“You’re a famous teacher in Israel<n>Literally, “you are the teacher of Israel.”</n>, and yet you don’t understand such things?” Jesus replied.


text:
“I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know and give evidence regarding what we have seen, but you refuse to accept our testimony.


text:
If you don’t trust what I say when I tell you about earthly things, how would you ever trust what I say if I were to tell you about heavenly things?


text:
Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert<n>See Numbers 21:9.</n>, so the Son of man must be lifted up,


text:
“For God loved the world, and this is how<n>The word often translated “so” (as in “so loved”) is primarily describing the way or manner in which God loves rather than the extent or intensity of his love.</n>: he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who trusts in him shouldn’t die, but have eternal life.


text:
Those who trust in him are not condemned, while those who don’t trust in him are condemned<n>Or “have condemned themselves.”</n> already because they didn’t trust in the one and only Son of God.


text:
This is how the decision<n>Or “judgment.”</n> is made: the light came to the world, but people loved the darkness rather than the light, for their actions were evil.


text:
All those who do evil hate the light and don’t come into the light, because they don’t want their actions to be exposed.


text:
But those who do good<n>Literally, “doing the truth.”</n> come into the light, so that what God accomplishes in them can be revealed.”<pb/>


text:
After this Jesus and his disciples went into Judea and spent some time with the people, baptizing them.


text:
John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there and people kept coming to be baptized.


text:
They went to John and told him, “Rabbi, the man you were with on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you testified in support of—see, now he’s baptizing, and everyone is going to him!”<pb/>


text:
“You yourselves can testify that I declared, ‘I’m not the Messiah. I’ve been sent to prepare his way.’


text:
The bridegroom is the one who has the bride! The best man waits, listening for the bridegroom, and is so happy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice—in the same way my happiness is now complete.


text:
He who comes from above is greater<n>Or “above” in the sense of authority.</n> than all; he who comes from the earth belongs to the earth and talks about earthly things. He who comes from heaven is greater than all.


text:
Yet anyone who accepts what he says confirms<n>Literally, “stamp of approval.”</n> that God is truthful.


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Anyone who trusts in the Son has eternal life, but anyone who refuses to trust the Son will not experience eternal life but remains under God’s condemnation.<pb/>


text:
When Jesus realized that the Pharisees had discovered that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John,


text:
Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, who was tired from the journey, sat straight down beside the well. It was around noon.<pb/>


text:
“You’re a Jew, and I’m a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” the woman replied, for Jews don’t associate with Samaritans<n>Or “Jews do not share dishes with Samaritans.”</n>.<pb/>


text:
Jesus answered her, “If you only recognized God’s gift, and who is asking you, ‘Please could you give me a drink?’ you would have asked him and he would have given you the water of life.”<pb/>


text:
“Sir, you don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep. Where are you going to get the water of life from?” she replied.


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“Our father Jacob gave us the well. He drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock. Are you greater than he?”<pb/>


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But those who drink the water I give won’t ever be thirsty again. The water I give becomes a bubbling spring of water inside them, bringing them eternal life.”<pb/>


text:
“Sir,” replied the woman, “Please give me this water so I won’t be thirsty, and I won’t have to come here to fetch water!”<pb/>


text:
“I don’t have a husband,” the woman answered.<pb/>“You’re right in saying you don’t have a husband,” Jesus told her.


text:
You’ve had five husbands, and the one you’re living with now is not your husband. So what you say is true!”<pb/>


text:
“Tell me this: our ancestors worshiped here on this mountain, but you<n>As a Jew.</n> say that Jerusalem is where we must worship.”<pb/>


text:
Jesus replied<n>Jesus addresses her as “woman” which is the normal term used, but sounds impolite in English.</n>, “Believe me the time is coming when you won’t worship the Father either on this mountain or in Jerusalem.


text:
You really don’t know the God<n>Literally, “what.”</n> you’re worshiping, while we worship the God we know, for salvation comes from the Jews.


text:
But the time is coming—and in fact it’s here already—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for these are the kind of worshipers the Father wants.


text:
The woman said, “Well, I know that the Messiah is coming,” (the one who is called Christ). “When he comes he will explain it all to us.”<pb/>


text:
Jesus replied, “I AM—the one who is speaking to you.”<n>“I AM” is used in the Old Testament as a name for God. Jesus is telling her he is the Messiah and also identifying his divinity.</n><pb/>


text:
Just then the disciples returned. They were shocked that he was talking to a woman, but none of them asked “What are you doing?” or “Why are you talking with her?”


text:
Don’t you have a saying, ‘four more months until harvest?’<n>It was usually four months between sowing and reaping.</n> Open your eyes and look around! The crops in the fields are ripe, ready for harvest.


text:
The reaper is being paid and harvesting a crop for eternal life so that both the sower and the reaper can celebrate.


text:
I sent you to reap what you didn’t work for. Others did the hard work and you have reaped the benefits of what they did.”<pb/>


text:
Many Samaritans from that town trusted in him because of what the woman said: “He told me everything I ever did.”


text:
They said to the woman, “Now our trust in him isn’t just because of what you told us but because we have heard him for ourselves. We’re convinced that he really is the Savior of the world.”<pb/>


text:
But when he arrived in Galilee, the people welcomed him, because they had also been at the Passover feast and had seen everything he’d done in Jerusalem.


text:
He visited Cana in Galilee again, where he had turned water into wine. Nearby in the town of Capernaum lived a royal official whose son was very sick.


text:
When he heard that Jesus had returned from Judea to Galilee, he went to Jesus and begged him to come and heal his son who was close to death.<pb/>


text:
“Go on home,” Jesus told him. “Your son will live!”<pb/>The man trusted what Jesus told him and left for home.


text:
He asked them what time it was when his son began to get better. “Yesterday at one p.m. the fever left him,” they told him.


text:
Then the father realized this was the precise time when Jesus had told him, “Your son will live!” So he and everyone in his household trusted in Jesus.


text:
Now near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem is a pool called Bethzatha in Hebrew, with five porches beside it.


text:
One man who was there had been sick for thirty-eight years. Jesus looked at him, knowing he had been laying there for long time, and asked him,


text:
“Sir,” the sick man answered,” I don’t have anyone to help me get into the pool when the water is stirred. While I’m trying to get there, someone always gets in before me.”<pb/>


text:
Immediately the man was healed. He picked up his mat and started walking.<pb/>Now the day that this happened was the Sabbath.


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So the Jews said to the man who’d been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It’s against the law to carry a mat!”<pb/>


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However the man who’d been healed didn’t know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the surrounding crowd.


text:
Later on Jesus found the man in the Temple, and told him, “Look, now you’ve been healed. So stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”<pb/>


text:
But Jesus told them, “My Father is still working, and so am I.”<n>Or “My Father is always working, and I am working too.”</n>


text:
This was why the Jews tried even harder to kill him, for not only did he break the Sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God.<pb/>


text:
Jesus explained to them, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does the Son does as well.


text:
For the Father loves the Son, and reveals to him everything he does; and the Father will show to him even more incredible things that will completely amaze you.


text:
For just as the Father gives life to those he resurrects from the dead, in the same way the Son also gives life to those that he wants.


text:
so that everyone may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.


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I tell you the truth: those who follow<n>Literally, “hear.”</n> what I say and trust the One who sent me have eternal life. They won’t be condemned, but have gone from death to life.<pb/>


text:
“I tell you the truth: The time is coming—in fact it’s here already—when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live!


text:
Just as the Father has life-giving power in himself, so has he given the Son the same life-giving power in himself.


text:
and will rise again: those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.


text:
I can do nothing by myself. I judge based on what I’m told<n>Implying “told by God the Father.”</n>, and my decision is right, for I’m not doing my own will but the will of the One who sent me.


text:
But the evidence I’m giving is greater than John’s. For I am doing the work that the Father gave me to do,


text:
and this is the proof that the Father sent me. The Father who sent me, he himself speaks on my behalf. You’ve never heard his voice, and you’ve never seen what he looks like,


text:
“You search the Scriptures because you think that through them you’ll gain eternal life. But the evidence they give is in support of me!


text:
For I’ve come to represent<n>Literally, “in the name of.”</n> my Father, and you won’t accept me; but if someone comes representing themselves, then you accept them!


text:
How can you trust in me when you look for praise from one another and yet you don’t look for praise from the one true God?


text:
But don’t think I will be making accusations about you to the Father. It’s Moses who is accusing you, the one in whom you place such confidence.


text:
After this, Jesus left to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also known as the Sea of Tiberias).


text:
When Jesus looked up, and saw a large crowd coming towards him, he asked Philip, “Where can we buy enough bread to feed all these people?”


text:
He only asked this to see how Philip would respond, because Jesus already knew what he was going to do.<pb/>


text:
“Two hundred’ ‘silver coins<n>Literally, ‘denarius.’ One ‘denarius’ was worth a day’s wage.</n> wouldn’t buy enough bread to give everyone even just a little,” Philip replied.<pb/>


text:
“There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and a couple of fish, but what good is that when there are so many people?”<pb/>


text:
“Have everybody sit down,” Jesus said. There was plenty of grass there, so they all sat down, the men numbering around five thousand.


text:
Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, and had it handed out to the people as they sat there. Then he did the same with the fishes, making sure the people had as much as they wanted.


text:
So they collected and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves the people had eaten.


text:
When the people saw this miracle, they said, “Surely this is the Prophet who was to come into the world.”


text:
Jesus realized that they were about to force him to become their king, so he left them and went up into the hills to be by himself.<pb/>


text:
climbed into a boat, and headed across the water towards Capernaum. By now it was night and Jesus had not joined them yet.


text:
When they had rowed three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, coming towards the boat. They were very frightened.


text:
Then they gladly took him into the boat, and immediately they reached the shore where they were going.<pb/>


text:
The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea noticed that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but they had left without him.


text:
Then other boats arrived from Tiberias, landing near to the place where they’d eaten the bread once the Lord had blessed it.


text:
Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went over to Capernaum, looking for Jesus.


text:
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”<n>An oblique question for they were really wondering ‘how’ he got there…</n><pb/>


text:
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “you’re looking for me because you ate as much bread as you wanted, not because you understood the miracles.


text:
Don’t be preoccupied about food that doesn’t last, but concentrate on the lasting food of eternal life which the Son of man will give you, for God the Father has placed his seal of approval on him.”<pb/>


text:
“What miracle are you going to perform for us to see so we can trust you? What are you able to do?” they asked.


text:
“Our forefathers ate manna in the desert in fulfillment of the Scripture that says, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”<pb/>


text:
“I tell you the truth, it wasn’t Moses who gave you bread from heaven,” Jesus replied. “It’s my Father who gives you the true bread of heaven.


text:
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus replied. “Anyone who comes to me will never be hungry again, and anyone who trusts in me will never be thirsty again.


text:
But as I explained to you before, you have seen me<n>Referring to all that Jesus had done, not just seeing his person. In fact the word “me” is not in all ancient manuscripts.</n>, but you still don’t trust me.


text:
What he wants is for me not to lose anyone he has given to me, but for me to raise them up at the last day<n>“Last day,” referring to the day of judgment. Also verses 40, 44, and 54.</n>.


text:
What my Father wants is for everyone who sees the Son and trusts in him to have eternal life, and for me to raise them up at the last day.”<pb/>


text:
Then the Jews began to grumble about him because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”


text:
They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and his mother. So how can he now tell us, ‘I came down from heaven’?”<pb/>


text:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me attracts them, and I will raise them up at the last day.


text:
As is written in Scripture by the prophets, ‘Everyone will be taught by God.’<n>Isaiah 54:13.</n> Everyone who listens to and learns from the Father comes to me.


text:
I am the life-giving bread from heaven, and anyone who eats this bread will live forever. The bread is my flesh that I give so that the world may live.<pb/>


text:
Then the Jews argued heatedly among themselves. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.<pb/>


text:
Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you cannot truly live.


text:
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.


text:
Just as the life-giving Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so anyone who feeds on me will live because of me.


text:
Now this is the bread that came down from heaven, not the kind your forefathers ate and still died. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.”<pb/>


text:
Many of his disciples when they heard it said, “This is hard to accept! Who can follow<n>“Follow” not only in the sense of “understand,” but also “observe” or “agree with.”</n> it?”<pb/>


text:
Jesus saw that his disciples were complaining about this, so he asked them, “Are you offended by this?


text:
The Spirit gives life; the physical body doesn’t do anything<n>Or “counts for nothing.”</n>. The words I’ve told you are spirit and life!


text:
Yet there are some of you who don’t trust me.” (Jesus had known from the very beginning who didn’t trust him, and who would betray him).<pb/>


text:
Jesus added, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is made possible<n>Or “granted.”</n> by the Father.”<pb/>


text:
(Jesus was referring to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. He was the one of the twelve disciples who would betray Jesus).<pb/>


text:
After this, Jesus spent his time going from place to place in Galilee. He did not want to do so in Judea because the Jews were out to kill him.


text:
his brothers told him, “You ought to leave and go to Judea so your followers will be able to see what miracles you can do.


text:
No one who wants to be famous keeps what they do hidden. If you can do such miracles, then show yourself to the world!”


text:
Jesus told them, “This is not my time to go, not yet; but you can go whenever you want, for any time’s the right time for you.


text:
The world has no reason to hate you, but it does hate me, because I make it clear that its ways are evil.


text:
You go on to the festival. I’m not going to this festival because this is not the right time for me, not yet.”


text:
After his brothers left to go to the festival, Jesus also went, but not openly—he stayed out of sight.


text:
Many people in the crowds were complaining about him. Some said, “He’s a good man,” while others argued, “No! He deceives people.”


text:
But no one dared to speak openly about him because they were afraid of what the Jewish leaders would do to them.<pb/>


text:
The Jewish leaders were very surprised, and asked, “How does this man have so much learning<n>In the sense of religious education.</n> when he hasn’t been educated?”<pb/>


text:
Anyone who chooses to follow what God wants will know if my teaching comes from God or if I’m only speaking for myself.


text:
Those who speak for themselves want to glorify themselves, but someone who glorifies the one who sent him is truthful and not deceitful.


text:
Moses gave you the law, didn’t he? Yet none of you keeps the law! Why are you trying to kill me?”<pb/>


text:
“I did one miracle<n>On the Sabbath, referring back to what happened in 5:1-9.</n> and you’re all shocked by it,” Jesus replied.


text:
However because Moses told you to circumcise—not that it really came from Moses, but from your forefathers before him—you perform circumcision on the Sabbath.


text:
If you circumcise on the Sabbath to make sure that the law of Moses isn’t broken, why are you angry with me for healing someone on the Sabbath?


text:
But see how openly he’s speaking, and they’re saying nothing to him. Do you think the authorities believe he’s the Messiah?


text:
But that’s not possible because we know where he comes from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he’s from.”<pb/>


text:
While he was teaching in the Temple, Jesus called out in a loud voice, “So you think you know me and where I’m from? However I did not come for my own sake. The One who sent me is true. You don’t know him,


text:
However many of the crowd did put their trust in him. “When the Messiah appears, will he do more miraculous signs than this man has done?” they said.


text:
When the Pharisees heard the crowd whispering this about him, they and the chief priests sent guards to arrest Jesus.<pb/>


text:
Then Jesus told the people, “I’ll be with you just a little longer, but then I’ll return to the One who sent me.


text:
The Jews said to each other, “Where could he be going that we couldn’t find him? Is he planning to go to those scattered among the foreigners<n>Literally, “Greeks.”</n>, and teach the foreigners?


text:
What does he mean by saying, ‘You’ll search for me but you won’t find me; and you can’t come where I’m going’?”<pb/>


text:
On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted out in a loud voice, “If you’re thirsty, come to me and drink.


text:
If you trust in me, you will have streams of life-giving water flowing out from within you, as Scripture says<n>The closest reference appears to be Song of Solomon 4:15.</n>.”


text:
He was referring to the Spirit that those who trusted in him would later receive. The Spirit hadn’t been given yet because Jesus hadn’t yet been glorified.<pb/>


text:
When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This man is definitely the Prophet<n>See 6:14.</n>!”


text:
Doesn’t Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David’s lineage, and from David’s home town of Bethlehem?”


text:
Then the guards returned to the chief priests and the Pharisees who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”<pb/>


text:
“So you’re a Galilean as well, are you?” they replied. “Check the Scriptures and you’ll discover that no prophet comes from Galilee!”


text:
Then they all went home,<n>-8:11 do not appear in this location in all manuscripts. However they surely represent an authentic account.</n><pb/>


text:
Early in the morning he returned to the Temple where many people gathered around him and he sat down and taught them.


text:
The religious teachers and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught committing adultery and made her stand before everyone.<pb/>


text:
They said this to try and trap Jesus so they could condemn him. But Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger.<pb/>


text:
They kept on demanding an answer, so he stood up and told them, “Whichever one of you has never sinned may throw the first stone at her.”


text:
When they heard this they began to leave, one by one, starting with the oldest until Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman still standing there.


text:
“No one did, sir,” she replied.<pb/>“I don’t condemn you either,” Jesus told her. “Go, and don’t sin anymore.”<pb/>


text:
Jesus spoke again to the people, telling them, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me you won’t walk in darkness for you will have the life-giving light.”<pb/>


text:
The Pharisees replied, “You can’t be your own witness!<n>Or, “you’re just making claims about yourself!”</n> What you say doesn’t prove anything!”<pb/>


text:
“Even if I am my own witness, my testimony is true,” Jesus told them, “for I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I came from or where I’m going.


text:
Even if I did judge, my judgment would be right because I am not doing this alone. The Father who sent me is with me.


text:
Your own law states<n>See Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15.</n> that the testimony of two witnesses is valid.


text:
“Where is your father?” they asked him.<pb/>“You don’t know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me then you would know my Father as well.”


text:
Jesus explained this while he was teaching near the Temple treasury. Yet no one arrested him because his time had not yet come.<pb/>


text:
Jesus told them again, “I’m leaving, and you’ll search for me, but you’ll die in your sin. You can’t come where I’m going.”<pb/>


text:
The Jews wondered out loud, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means when he says ‘You can’t come where I’m going’?”<pb/>


text:
Jesus told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.


text:
That is why I told you that you’ll die in your sins. For if you don’t trust in me, the ‘I am,’ you’ll die in your sins.”<pb/>


text:
Then they asked him, “Who are you?”<pb/>“Exactly who I told you I was from the beginning,” Jesus replied.


text:
“There’s much I could say about you, and much I could condemn. But the One who sent me tells the truth, and what I’m saying to you here in this world is what I heard from him.”<pb/>


text:
They didn’t understand that he was talking to them about the Father. So Jesus explained to them:<pb/>


text:
“When you have lifted up the Son of man then you’ll know that I am the ‘I am,’ and that I do nothing of myself, but only say what the Father taught me.


text:
Then Jesus said to those Jews who trusted in him, “If you follow my teaching then you really are my disciples.


text:
“We’re descendants of Abraham! We’ve never been slaves to anyone,” they answered. “How can you say that we’ll be set free?”<pb/>


text:
I know you’re Abraham’s descendants, yet you’re trying to kill me because you refuse to accept my words.


text:
I’m telling you what the Father has revealed to me<n>Or “what I have seen with the Father.”</n>, while you do what your father told you.”<pb/>


text:
“Abraham is our father,” they answered.<pb/>“If you really were children of Abraham, you’d do what Abraham did,” Jesus told them.


text:
“But you are trying to kill me now, because I told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham would never have done that.


text:
You’re doing what your father does.”<pb/>“Well ‘we’<n>The word in the original is emphasized, implying that while they were not illegitimate, Jesus was.</n> are not illegitimate,” they responded. “God alone is our father!”<pb/>


text:
Jesus replied, “If God really was your father, you would love me. I came from God and now I am here. The decision to come wasn’t mine, but the One who sent me.


text:
Your father is the Devil, and you love to follow your father’s evil desires. He was a murderer from the beginning. He never stood for the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies he reveals his true character, for he’s a liar and the father of lies.


text:
Can any one of you prove that I’m guilty of sin? If I’m telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me?


text:
Anyone who belongs to God listens to what God says. The reason you don’t listen is because you don’t belong to God.”<pb/>


text:
I’m not here looking to glorify myself. But there is One who does this for me and who judges in my favor.


text:
“Now we know you’re demon-possessed,” said the Jews. “Abraham died, and the prophets did too, and you’re telling us ‘anyone who follows my teaching will never die’!


text:
Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and the prophets died. Who do you think you are?”<pb/>


text:
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. But it is God himself who glorifies me, the one you claim, ‘He is our God.’


text:
You don’t know him, but I know him. If I were to say, ‘I don’t know him,’ I’d be a liar, just like you. But I do know him, and I do what he says.


text:
Your father Abraham was delighted as he looked forward to see my coming, and was so happy when he saw it.”<pb/>


text:
“I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am,”<n>Literally, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Once again Jesus uses the name of God himself given in Exodus 3:14. That the significance is not lost on his hearers is shown in their reaction of wanting to stone him for blasphemy.</n> said Jesus.<pb/>


text:
At this they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus was hidden from them and he left the Temple.<pb/>


text:
His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, why was this man born blind? Was it him who sinned, or was it his parents?”<pb/>


text:
Jesus replied, “It wasn’t because the man or his parents sinned, but so that what God can do may be shown in his life.


text:
We have to keep on doing the work of the One who sent me as long as it is still daytime. The night is coming when no one can work.


text:
After he’d said this, Jesus spat on the ground and made some mud with the saliva which he put on the man’s eyes.


text:
Then Jesus told him, “Go and wash yourself in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “sent”). So the man went and washed himself, and when he went home he could see.<pb/>


text:
His neighbors and those who had known him as a beggar, asked, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”


text:
Some said he was, while others said “no, it’s just someone who looks like him.” But the man kept saying, “It ‘is ‘me!”<pb/>


text:
He replied, “A man called Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go and wash yourself in the Pool of Siloam.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see.”<pb/>


text:
So the Pharisees also asked him how he could see. He told them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.”<pb/>


text:
Some of the Pharisees said, “The man who did this can’t be from God because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” But others wondered, “How could a sinner do such miracles?” So they were divided in their opinion.<pb/>


text:
So they went on questioning the man. “What’s your opinion about him, then, since it’s your eyes he opened,” they asked.<pb/>“He’s surely a prophet,” the man replied.<pb/>


text:
The Jewish leaders still refused to believe that the man who had been blind could now see until they had called in the man’s parents.<pb/>


text:
They asked them, “Is this your son whom you say was born blind? So how is it that now he can see?”<pb/>


text:
But we’ve no idea how he can see now, or who healed him. Why don’t you ask him, he’s old enough. He can speak for himself.”


text:
The reason his parents said this was because they were afraid of what the Jewish leaders would do. The Jewish leaders had already announced that anyone who declared that Jesus was the Messiah would be thrown out of the synagogue.


text:
Once more they called in the man who had been blind, and told him, “Give God the glory! We know this man is a sinner.”<pb/>


text:
The man replied, “Whether he’s a sinner or not, I don’t know. All I know is that I was blind and now I can see.”<pb/>


text:
The man replied, “I already told you. Weren’t you listening? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”<pb/>


text:
We’re disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this person, we don’t even know where he comes from.”<pb/>


text:
We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he does listen to anyone who worships him and does what he wants.


text:
“You were born totally sinful, and yet you’re trying to lecture us,” they replied. And they threw him out of the synagogue.<pb/>


text:
When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found the man, and asked him, “Do you trust in the Son of man?”<pb/>


text:
Then Jesus told him, “I’ve come into the world to bring judgment so that those who are blind may see, and those who see will become blind.<pb/>


text:
Jesus answered, “If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty. But now that you say you see, your guilt remains.”<pb/>


text:
“I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t come in through the gate of the sheepfold but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber.


text:
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep respond to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.


text:
After bringing them out, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.


text:
They won’t follow strangers. In fact they run away from a stranger because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.”<pb/>


text:
I am the gate. Anyone who comes in through me will be healed<n>Or “saved.”</n>. They will be able to come and go, and find the food they need.


text:
The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I’ve come to bring you life, life full to overflowing.


text:
The man paid to look after the sheep is not the shepherd and he runs away when he sees the wolf coming. He abandons the sheep because they’re not his, and the wolf attacks and scatters the flock


text:
I have other sheep that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them too. They will listen to my voice and there will be one flock with one shepherd.<pb/>


text:
No one takes it from me; I choose to lay it down. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is the command my Father gave me.”<pb/>


text:
Others said, “These aren’t the words of someone who’s demon-possessed. Besides a demon can’t open eyes that are blind.”<pb/>


text:
“How long are you going to keep us hanging in suspense<n>A colloquial expression that is literally “lift up our souls,” and means creating a position of uncertainty.</n>? If you are the Messiah then tell us plainly!”<pb/>


text:
Jesus replied, “I already told you but you refuse to believe it. The miracles I do in my Father’s name prove who I am.


text:
I give them eternal life; they shall never be lost, and no one can snatch them from me<n>Literally, “out of my hand.” Similarly verse 29.</n>.


text:
Jesus said to them, “You’ve seen many good deeds that I’ve done from the Father. Which one are you stoning me for?”<pb/>


text:
The Jews replied, “We’re not stoning you for a good deed, but for blasphemy because you are just a man but you’re claiming to be God.”<pb/>


text:
He called those people ‘gods,’ the people to whom the word of God came—and Scripture can’t be altered.


text:
So why are you saying the one whom the Father set apart and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said ‘I am the Son of God’?


text:
But if that is what I’m doing, even though you don’t believe me, you should believe because of the evidence of what I’ve done. That way you can know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.<pb/>


text:
He went back across the Jordan River to the place where John had begun baptizing, and he stayed there.


text:
Many people came to him, and they said, “John didn’t perform miracles, but everything he said about this man has come true.”


text:
A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters<n>In the original it states that Lazarus lived in Bethany with Mary and her sister Martha. However in verse 2 it’s mentioned that Lazarus is Mary’s brother, so their relationship is best identified at the outset.</n> Mary and Martha.


text:
Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick.


text:
When Jesus heard the news he said, “The end result of this sickness will not be death. Through this God’s glory will be revealed so that the Son of God may be glorified.”<pb/>


text:
The disciples replied, “Rabbi, just a few days ago the Jews were trying to stone you. Do you really want to go back there now?”<pb/>


text:
“If you walk during the day you don’t stumble because you can see where you’re going by the light of this world. But if you walk during the night you stumble because you have no light.”


text:
After telling them this, he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m going to go there and wake him up!”<pb/>


text:
Jesus had been referring to the death of Lazarus, but the disciples thought he meant actual sleep<n>In the New Testament sleep often represents death.</n>.


text:
For your sake I’m glad I wasn’t there, because now you will be able to trust in me. Let’s go and see him.”<pb/>


text:
Thomas, the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, “Let’s go too so we can die with him<n>Meaning Jesus.</n>.”<pb/>


text:
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who trust in me will live, even though they die.


text:
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one expected to come to this world.”<pb/>


text:
When she had said this, she went and told her sister Mary in private, “The Teacher’s here, and asking to see you.”<pb/>


text:
The Jews who had been comforting Mary in the home saw how she’d got up quickly and left. So they followed her, thinking she was going to the tomb to weep there.


text:
When Mary arrived at the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you’d been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”<pb/>


text:
When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying as well, he was very troubled<n>The word used here expresses intense emotion, even anger. Also used in verse 38.</n> and upset.


text:
But some of them said, “If he could open the eyes of a blind man, couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”<pb/>


text:
Very troubled, Jesus went to the tomb. It was a cave with a large stone placed at the entrance.<pb/>


text:
“Remove the stone,” Jesus told them.<pb/>But Martha, the dead man’s sister, said, “Lord, by now there will be a terrible smell, for he’s been dead for four days.”<pb/>


text:
So they removed the stone. Jesus looked heavenwards, and said, “Father, thank you for listening to me.


text:
I know you always listen to me. I said this because of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me.”<pb/>


text:
The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of linen, and with a cloth around his face.<pb/>“Unbind him and set him free,” Jesus told them.<pb/>


text:
Consequently many of the Jews who had come to comfort Mary and who saw what Jesus did put their trust in him.


text:
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the ruling council. “What shall we do?” they asked. “This man is doing many miracles.


text:
If we allow him to continue, everybody will believe in him, and then the Romans will destroy both the Temple and our status as a nation<n>Literally, “the place and the nation.”</n>.”<pb/>


text:
“Can’t you see that it’s better for you that one man die for the people so that the whole nation won’t be destroyed?”


text:
He didn’t say this on his own behalf, but as chief priest that year he was prophesying that Jesus would die for the nation.


text:
And this was not just for the Jewish nation, but for all the scattered children of God so that they might be gathered together and be made into one.<pb/>


text:
So Jesus did not travel openly among the Jews but went to a town called Ephraim in the region near the desert and stayed there with his disciples.<pb/>


text:
It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover, and many people went from the countryside to Jerusalem to purify<n>By a series of religious rituals.</n> themselves for the Passover.


text:
People were looking for Jesus and talking about him as they stood in the Temple. “What do you think?” they asked each other. “Isn’t he coming to the festival?”


text:
The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should report it so they could arrest him.<pb/>


text:
Six days before the Passover Jesus went to Bethany, the home of Lazarus who had been raised from the dead.


text:
There a dinner was arranged in his honor. Martha helped serve the food while Lazarus sat at the table with Jesus and the others guests.


text:
Mary brought a pint<n>A “litra,” about 12 ounces, or half a liter.</n> of pure nard perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet, wiping them dry with her hair. The scent of the perfume filled the whole house.<pb/>


text:
“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth three hundred denarii<n>About a year’s wages at one ‘denarius’ per day.</n>.”<pb/>


text:
He wasn’t saying this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was the one who looked after the disciples’ money and he often took some for himself.<pb/>


text:
“Don’t criticize her<n>Or, “leave her alone.”</n>,” Jesus replied. “She did this in preparation for the day of my burial.


text:
A large crowd had found out that he was there. They came there not just to see Jesus but because they wanted to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead.


text:
since it was because of him that many Jews were no longer following them but putting their trust in Jesus.<pb/>


text:
The following day the crowds of people who had come for the Passover festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.


text:
They cut off palm branches and went to welcome him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.”<pb/>


text:
At the time, Jesus’ disciples did not understand what these things meant. It was only later when he was glorified<n>Glorified: in his resurrection and ascension.</n> that they realized what had happened had been prophesied and applied to him.<pb/>


text:
Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb and raise him from the dead and were telling the story.


text:
That was the reason so many people went to meet Jesus—because they had heard about this miracle.<pb/>


text:
I tell you the truth: unless a grain of wheat is planted in the soil and dies<n>Clearly meaning it apparently dies.</n>, it remains just one grain. But if it dies, it produces many more grains of wheat.


text:
If you love your own life you will lose it, but if you don’t love your own life in this world you will keep your life forever.


text:
If you want to serve me you need to follow me. My servants will be where I am, and my Father will honor anyone who serves for me.<pb/>


text:
“Now I am troubled. What should I say? ‘Father, save me from this coming time of suffering<n>Literally, “this hour.”</n>’? No, for this is why I came—to go through this time of suffering.


text:
Father, show the glory of your character<n>Or “name.” Name is synonymous with character.</n>.”<pb/>A voice came from heaven, saying, “I have shown its glory, and I will show it again.”


text:
The crowd that was standing there heard it. Some said it thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.<pb/>


text:
The crowd responded, “The Law<n>Referring to what we call the Old Testament.</n> tells us that the Messiah will live forever, so how can you say the Son of man must be ‘lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of man’?”<pb/>


text:
Jesus replied, “The light is here with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that the darkness doesn’t overtake you. Those who walk in the dark don’t know where they’re going.


text:
Put your trust in the light while you still have it so that you can become children of light.” When Jesus had told them this, he left and hid himself from them.<pb/>


text:
This fulfilled the message of Isaiah the prophet who said, “Lord, who has believed what we told them? To whom has the Lord’s power been revealed?”<n>Is. 53:1.</n><pb/>


text:
“He blinded their eyes, and made their minds dull, so that their eyes would not see, and their minds would not think, and they would not turn to me—for if they did I would heal them.”


text:
Even so many of the leaders did trust in him. However, they did not openly admit it because they did not want the Pharisees to expel them from the synagogue,


text:
Jesus called out, “If you trust in me you’re not just trusting in me but also in the One who sent me.


text:
I don’t judge anyone who hears my words but doesn’t do what I say. I came to save the world, not to judge it.


text:
Anyone who rejects me and does not accept my words will be judged at the end-time judgment in accordance with what I have said.


text:
For I’m not speaking for myself but for my Father who sent me. He is the One who instructed me what to say and how to say it.


text:
I know that what he told me to say brings eternal life—so whatever I say is what the Father told me.”<pb/>


text:
It was the day before the Passover festival, and Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world and go to his Father. He had loved those in the world who were his own, and he now demonstrated his complete and utter love for them.


text:
It was during supper, and the devil had already put the thought of betraying Jesus into the mind of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.


text:
Jesus knew that the Father had placed everything under his authority<n>Literally, “into his hands.”</n>, and that he had come from God and was going back to God.


text:
He poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had wrapped around him.


text:
“No!” Peter protested. “You’ll never wash my feet!”<pb/>Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me,”<pb/>


text:
Jesus responded, “Anyone who has had a bath only needs to wash their feet and then they’re clean all over. You are clean—but not all of you.”


text:
After Jesus had washed their feet, he put his robe back on, and sat down. “Do you understand what I’ve done to you?” he asked them.


text:
I tell you the truth, servants are not more important than their master, and the one sent is not greater than the sender.


text:
I’m not talking about all of you—I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill Scripture: ‘The one who shares my food has turned against me.’


text:
I’m telling you this now, before it happens, so when it does happen you will be convinced that I am who I am.


text:
I tell you the truth, whoever welcomes anyone I send welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the One who sent me.”<pb/>


text:
After he had said this, Jesus was deeply troubled, and declared: “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.”


text:
The disciple whom Jesus loved<n>Usually understood as John referring to himself. (See also 20:2, 21:7, 21:20).</n> was sitting next to Jesus at the table, leaning close him.


text:
After dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. Once Judas had taken the bread, Satan entered him. “What you’re going to do, do it quickly,” Jesus told him.<pb/>


text:
Since Judas was in charge of the money some of them thought that Jesus was telling him to go and buy what was needed for the Passover festival, or to donate something to the poor.


text:
If God is glorified through him, then God will glorify the Son himself, and will glorify him immediately.


text:
My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, but I’m telling you now just as I told the Jews: you cannot come where I’m going.<pb/>


text:
Simon Peter asked him, “Where are you going, Lord?” Jesus answered, “You can’t follow me now where I’m going. You will follow me later.”<pb/>


text:
“Are you really ready to die for me? I tell you the truth: before the cock crows you will deny me three times,” Jesus replied.<pb/>


text:
“Don’t let your minds be anxious. Trust in God, trust in me as well<n>Or “You trust in God, trust in me too.”</n>.


text:
In my Father’s house there are many rooms. If this wasn’t so I would have told you. I’m going to prepare a place for you.


text:
Once I’ve gone and prepared a place for you, I will come again and take you with me, so that you can be there with me too.


text:
Jesus replied, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.


text:
If you had known me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and you have seen him.”<pb/>


text:
Jesus replied, “Have I been with you such a long time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know me? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?


text:
Don’t you believe that I live in the Father and the Father lives in me? The words I speak are not mine; it’s the Father living in me who is doing his work.


text:
Believe me when I tell you that I live in the Father, and the Father lives in me, or at least believe because of the evidence provided by all that I’ve done.<pb/>


text:
“I tell you the truth, anyone who trusts in me will do the same things I am doing. In fact they will do even greater things<n>Greater in extent.</n> because I am going to the Father.


text:
I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter<n>Comforter. The word in the original (transliterated into English as “Paraclete”) refers to one who is called to “come alongside” and help. See also 14:26, 15:26, 16:7, and 1 John 2:1.</n>,


text:
the Spirit of truth, who will always be with you. The world cannot accept him because it isn’t looking for him and does not know him. But you know him because he lives with you and will be in you.<pb/>


text:
On that day<n>Referring to verse 18, primarily referencing his coming to them after his resurrection.</n> you will know that I live in the Father, you live in me, and I live in you.


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Those who keep my commands are the ones who love me, those who love me will be loved by my Father. I will love them too, and will reveal myself to them.”<pb/>


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Judas (not Iscariot) responded, “Lord, why would you reveal yourself to us and not to the world?”<pb/>


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Jesus replied, “Those who love me will do as I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with them.


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Those who don’t love me don’t do what I say. These words don’t come from me, they come from the Father who sent me.<pb/>


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But when the Father sends the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, in my place<n>Literally, “in my name.” This phrase can mean “with my authority,” “through me,” “for me,” “belonging to me” etc. It really is a way of referring to the person and their character.</n>, he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.<pb/>


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“Peace I leave you; my peace I’m giving you. The peace I give you is nothing like what the world gives. Don’t let your minds be anxious, and don’t be afraid.<pb/>


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“You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I am going away, but I will come back to you.’ If you really loved me, you would be happy because I’m going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.


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I can’t talk to you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no power to control me,


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but I’m doing what my Father told me to do so that the world will know that I love the Father. Now get up. Let’s go.”<pb/>


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He cuts off every one of my branches that doesn’t bear fruit. He prunes every branch that bears fruit so it can bear even more.


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You are already pruned and made clean<n>The word for pruning in this context is Literally, “to cleanse.”</n> through what I’ve told you.


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Remain in me, and I will remain in you<n>Obviously the word “in” should be taken as “in connection with” as the rest of the verse makes clear.</n>. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it remains part of the vine, so it is for you: you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.


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I’m the vine, you’re the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit—for apart from me you can’t do anything.


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Anyone who doesn’t remain in me is like a branch that is thrown out and dries up. Such branches are gathered together, thrown into the fire and burned.


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If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, then you can ask for whatever you want, and it will be given you.


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If you do what I say, you will remain in my love, just as I do what my Father says and remain in his love.


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I don’t call you servants any longer, for servants are not taken into their master’s confidence<n>Literally, “a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing.”</n>. I call you friends, for everything my Father told me I’ve explained to you.


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You didn’t choose me, I chose you. I have given you the responsibility to go and produce lasting fruit. So the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.


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If you were part of this world, it would love you as its own. But you’re not part of the world, and I chose you out of the world—that’s why the world hates you.<pb/>


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“Remember what I told you: servants aren’t more important than their master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them too.


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If I hadn’t come and spoken to them, they wouldn’t be guilty of sin—but now they have no excuse for their sin.


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If I had not given them such a demonstration through things that no one had ever done before, they wouldn’t be guilty of sin, but despite seeing all this they hated both me and my Father.


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But this just fulfilled what Scripture says, “They hated me for no reason at all.”<n>Ps. 35:19 or 69:5.</n><pb/>


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“But I will send you the Comforter from the Father. When he comes, he will give evidence about me. He is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father.


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They will expel you from the synagogues—in fact the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing God a service.


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They’ll do this because they have never known the Father or me. I’ve told you this so that when these things happen, you’ll remember what I told you.


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But now I’m going to the One who sent me, and yet not one of you is asking me, “Where are you going?”


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“But I’m telling you the truth: it’s better for you that I go away, for if I don’t the Comforter won’t come to you. If I go away, I will send him to you.


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When he comes, he will convince those in the world that they have wrong ideas regarding sin, what’s right, and judgment:


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However, when the Spirit of truth comes, he will teach you the whole truth. He doesn’t speak for himself, but he only says what he hears, and he will tell you what’s going to happen.


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All that belongs to the Father is mine. This is why I said that the Spirit teaches you whatever he receives from me.


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In a little while you won’t see me anymore, but then a little while after that you will see me.”<pb/>


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Some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me’? and ‘For I’m going to the Father’?”


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They were asking, “What does he mean by ‘in a little while’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”<pb/>


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Jesus realized that they wanted to ask him about this. So he asked them, “Are you wondering about my comment, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me’?


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I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will turn into joy.


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A woman in labor suffers pain because her time has come, but once the baby is born, she forgets the agony because of the joy that a child has been brought into the world.


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Yes, you’re grieving now, but I will see you again; and you will rejoice, and no one can take away your joy.<pb/>


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“When that time comes you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.


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Until now you haven’t asked for anything in my name, so ask and you shall receive, and your happiness will be complete.


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I’ve been talking to you using picture language. But soon I won’t use such picture language any more when I speak to you. Instead I’ll explain the Father to you very plainly.<pb/>


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“At that time you will ask in my name. I’m not saying to you that I will plead with the Father on your behalf,


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Now we’re certain that you know everything, and that in order to know what questions people are thinking you don’t need to ask them<n>Referring back to what happened in 16:19.</n>. This convinces us that you came from God.”<pb/>


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“The time is coming—in fact it’s just about to happen—when you will be scattered, each of you to your own homes, leaving me all alone. But I’m not really alone, for the Father is with me.


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I’ve told you all this so that you may have peace because you are one with me<n>Literally, “peace in me.”</n>. You will suffer in this world, but be brave—I have defeated the world!”<pb/>


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When Jesus finished saying this he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.


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For you gave him authority over all people so that he might give eternal life to all those you have given to him.


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Now Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the beginning of the world.<pb/>


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“I have revealed your character<n>Or “name.”</n> to those you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you; you gave them to me; and they have done what you said.


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I have given them the message that you gave me. They accepted it, completely convinced that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.


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All who belong to me are yours, and those who belong to you are mine, and I have been glorified through them.<pb/>


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“I am leaving the world, but they will remain in the world; I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name, the name that you gave to me, so that they may be one, just as we are one.


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While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you gave to me. I watched over them so that no one was lost except the ‘son of the lost,’ so Scripture was fulfilled.<pb/>


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“Now I’m coming to you, and I say these things while I am still here in the world so they may share completely in my joy.


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I gave them your message, and the world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I’m not of the world.


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I dedicate<n>“Dedicate”: this is the same word translated “make holy” in verse 17.</n> myself for them so that they may also be truly holy.<pb/>


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“I’m not only praying for them, I’m also praying for those who trust in me because of their message.


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I pray that they all may be one, just as you, Father, live in me, and I live in you, so that they too may live in us so that the world will believe you did send me.


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I live in them, and you live in me. May they be completely one, so the whole world will know that you did send me, and that you love them, just as you love me.<pb/>


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“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so they can see the glory which you gave to me—for you loved me before the world was created.


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Good Father<n>Literally, “Father Right.”</n>, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these here with me know that you sent me.


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I have revealed your character to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have for me will be in them, and I will live in them.”<pb/>


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After Jesus had finished speaking, he and his disciples crossed over the Kidron brook and went into an olive grove.


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So Judas took with him a troop of soldiers together with guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They arrived there carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons.<pb/>


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Jesus knew everything that was going to happen to him. He went to meet them, and asked, “Who are you looking for?”<pb/>


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“Are you Jesus of Nazareth?” they asked.<pb/>“I am,” Jesus told them<n>Jesus’ words are not only an affirmation of his identity but also echo the name of God from Exodus.</n>. Judas the betrayer was standing with them.


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So he asked them again, “Who are you looking for?”<pb/>“Are you Jesus of Nazareth?” they asked again.<pb/>


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Then Simon Peter drew a sword and struck Malchus, the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear.<pb/>


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Jesus told Peter, “Put the sword away! Do you think<n>“Do you think”—implied.</n> I shouldn’t drink the cup the Father has given me?”<pb/>


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Caiaphas was the one who had told the Jews, “It’s better that one man die for the people.”<n>See 11:50.</n><pb/>


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Simon Peter followed Jesus, and another disciple did so too. This disciple was well-known to the high priest, and so he entered the high priest’s courtyard with Jesus.


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Peter had to remain outside by the door. So the other disciple who was known to the high priest went and spoke to the servant girl watching the door and brought Peter inside.


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It was cold, and the servants and guards were standing by a fire they had made, warming themselves. Peter went and stood with them, warming himself.<pb/>


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“I’ve spoken openly to everyone<n>Literally, “to the world.”</n>,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in the synagogues and in the Temple where all the Jewish people meet. I haven’t said anything in secret.


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So why are you questioning me? Ask the people who heard me what I told them. They know what I said.”<pb/>


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When he said this, one of the guards standing nearby slapped Jesus, saying, “Is that any way to speak to the high priest?”<pb/>


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Jesus replied, “If I said something wrong, tell everyone what was wrong with it. But if what I said was right, why did you hit me?”<pb/>


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As Simon Peter stood warming himself by the fire, the people there asked him, “Aren’t you one of his disciples?”<pb/>Peter denied it and said, “No, I’m not.”<pb/>


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One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked Peter, “Didn’t I see you in the olive grove with him?”


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Early in the morning they took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. The Jewish leaders<n>Implied.</n> didn’t enter the palace because if they did they would be ceremonially defiled, and they wanted to be able to eat the Passover meal.<pb/>


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“Then you take him and judge him according to your law,” Pilate told them.<pb/>“We’re not permitted to execute anyone,” the Jews answered.


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Pilate went back into the governor’s palace. He summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”<pb/>


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“Did you think of this question yourself, or did others talk to you about me?” Jesus responded.<pb/>


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“Am I a Jew?” Pilate countered. “It was your own people and high priests who handed you over to me. What is it that you’ve done?”<pb/>


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Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it was of this world, my subjects would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from here.”<pb/>


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Then Pilate asked, “So you are a king, then?”<pb/>“You say that I’m a king,” Jesus replied. “The reason why I was born and I came to the world was to give evidence for the truth. All those who accept the truth pay attention to what I say.”<pb/>


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“What is truth?” Pilate asked.<pb/>Having said this Pilate went back out to the Jews and told them, “I find him not guilty of any crime.


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However it is customary for me to release a prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to release the King of the Jews?”<pb/>


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“No, not him! We want Barabbas instead!” they shouted back. Barabbas was a rebel<n>Usually translated “robber.” It may be that Barabbas had taken part in some insurrection.</n>.<pb/>


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Pilate went outside once more and said to them, “I’m bringing him out here to you so you’ll know I find him not guilty of any crime.”


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Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. “Look, here’s the man,” said Pilate.<pb/>


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When the chief priests and the guards saw Jesus, they shouted out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”<pb/>“You take him and crucify him,” Pilate answered. “I find him not guilty.”<pb/>


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The Jewish leaders replied, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God.”<pb/>


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and he went back into the governor’s palace. He asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?” But Jesus didn’t respond.<pb/>


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“Are you refusing to talk to me?” Pilate said to him. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to have you released or to crucify you?”<pb/>


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“You would have no power over me unless it had been given to you from above,” Jesus answered. “Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of the greater sin.”<pb/>


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When Pilate heard this he tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you set this man free you’re not Caesar’s friend. Anyone who sets himself up as a king is rebelling against Caesar.”<pb/>


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When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called Stone Pavement (Gabbatha in Hebrew).


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It was around noon on the preparation day before the Passover.<pb/>“Look, here is your king,” he said to the Jews.


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“Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!” they screamed out.<pb/>“Do you want me to crucify your king?” Pilate asked.<pb/>“The only king we have is Caesar,” the chief priests replied.<pb/>


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They led Jesus away, who carried his own cross, and went out to the “Place of the Skull,” (Golgotha in Hebrew).


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They crucified him there, and two others with him: one on either side, with Jesus between them.<pb/>


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Pilate had a notice made and placed on the cross which said, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”


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Many people read the notice because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.<pb/>


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Then the chief priests came to Pilate and asked him, “Don’t write ‘the King of the Jews,’ but ‘This man said I am the King of the Jews.’”<pb/>


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When the soldiers had crucified Jesus they took his clothes and divided them in four so that each soldier had his share. There was also his robe, made without seams, woven in one piece.


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So they said to each other, “Let’s not tear it, but let’s decide who will have it by rolling dice.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among them and rolled dice for my clothing.”<n>Psalm 22:18.</n>


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So that is what the soldiers did.<pb/>Standing near the cross was Jesus’ mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.


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When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Mother<n>Literally, “woman,” but this does not work in English.</n>, this is your son.”


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Then he said to the disciple, “This is your mother.” From then on the disciple took her into his home.<pb/>


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Jesus now realized that he had finished all that he had come to do. In fulfillment of Scripture, he said, “I’m thirsty.”<n>Psalm 69:21.</n>


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A jar of wine vinegar was standing there, so they soaked a sponge in the vinegar, put it on a hyssop stick, and held it to his lips.


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After he’d had the vinegar, Jesus said, “It’s finished!” Then he bowed his head and breathed his last.<pb/>


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It was preparation day, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want to leave the bodies on the crosses during the Sabbath day (in fact this was a special Sabbath), so they asked Pilate to break the legs, so that the bodies could be removed.


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So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first one and then the other of those crucified with Jesus,


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The one who saw this has given this evidence, and his evidence is true. He’s certain that what he says is true so you can believe it too.


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and as another Scripture says, “They will look at the one they pierced.”<n>Referring to Exodus 12:46, Number 9:12, or Psalm 34:20.</n><pb/>


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After this Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate if he could take down the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave his permission. Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but in secret because he feared the Jews. So Joseph came and took the body away.


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He was joined by Nicodemus, the man who had first visited Jesus at night. He brought with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about seventy-five pounds.


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They took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in linen cloth together with the mixture of spices, in accordance with Jewish burial customs. There was a garden near where Jesus was crucified;


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Since it was the Jewish day of preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus to rest there.<pb/>


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Early on the first day of the week<n>i.e. Sunday.</n>, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been moved from the entrance.


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So she ran to tell Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve put him.”


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The two of them were running together, but the other disciple ran faster and reached the tomb first.


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Then Simon Peter arrived after him and went right into the tomb. He saw the linen grave-clothes lying there,


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and that the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head wasn’t with the other grave-clothes but had been folded and placed on its own.<pb/>


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He looked around and believed it was true<n>That Jesus had risen from the dead.</n>—for up till then they hadn’t understood the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.


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But Mary stayed outside the tomb crying, and as she was crying, she bent down and looked into the tomb.


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She saw two angels in white, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of where Jesus’ body had been lying.<pb/>


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“Why are you crying?” they asked her.<pb/>She answered, “Because they’ve taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.”


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After she’d said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t realize it was Jesus.<pb/>


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“Why are you crying?” he asked her. “Who are you looking for?”<pb/>Assuming he was the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you’ve taken him away, tell me where you’ve put him so I can go and get him.”<pb/>


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Jesus said to her, “Mary.”<pb/>She turned to him and said, “Rabboni,” which means “Teacher” in Hebrew.<pb/>


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“Don’t hold onto me<n>Meaning don’t detain me by holding me back.</n>,” Jesus said to her, “for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers and tell them I am ascending to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.


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So Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord,” and she explained to them what he had said to her.<pb/>


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That evening, on the first day of the week, as the disciples were meeting together behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “May you have peace.”


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After this greeting he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were full of joy to see the Lord.<pb/>


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“May you have peace!” Jesus told them again. “In the same way the Father sent me, so I’m sending you.”


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If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you hold them unforgiven, unforgiven they remain.”<pb/>


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So the other disciples told him, “We’ve seen the Lord.”<pb/>But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger in them, and put my hand in his side.”<pb/>


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One week later the disciples were together inside the house; and Thomas was with them. The doors were closed, and Jesus came and stood among them.<pb/>“May you have peace!” he said.


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Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand in the wound on my side. Stop doubting and trust in me!<pb/>


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“You trust in me because you’ve seen me,” Jesus told him. “Happy are those that haven’t seen me yet still trust in me.”<pb/>


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Jesus did many other miraculous signs while he was with his disciples that are not recorded in this book.


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But these are written down here so that you may trust that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by trusting in him as he is<n>Literally, “in his name.”</n> you will have life.<pb/>


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Later Jesus appeared again to the disciples by the Sea of Galilee<n>Literally, “Sea of Tiberias.”</n>. This is how it happened.


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Simon Peter, Thomas the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and Zebedee’s sons, and two other disciples were together.<pb/>


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“I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them. “We’ll come with you,” they replied. So they left and went out in the boat, but all night they caught nothing.<pb/>


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“Throw the net out on the right side of the boat, and you’ll find some,” he told them. So they threw out the net, and they weren’t able to haul it in because it had so many fish.


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The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord.” When Peter heard it was the Lord, he put some clothes on since he was naked, and jumped into the sea.


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The other disciples followed in the boat, pulling the net full of fish, because they were not far from the shore, only about a hundred yards.


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Simon Peter went aboard and pulled the net full of fish ashore. There were 153 large fish, yet even so the net hadn’t torn.<pb/>


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“Come and eat some breakfast,” Jesus said to them. None of the disciples was brave enough to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.


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After breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others<n>Literally, “these.” This could refer to the objects around them, meaning the fisherman’s trade, but is more likely that it refers to the other disciples. It is Peter’s love for Jesus which is in question, not love for the disciples.</n>?”<pb/>“Yes, Lord,” he replied, “you know I love you,”<pb/>


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“Take care of my lambs,” Jesus told him. “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” he asked for the second time.<pb/>“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know I love you,”<pb/>


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“Look after my sheep,” Jesus said to him. “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” he asked a third time.<pb/>Peter was saddened that Jesus had asked him for the third time if he loved him. “Lord, you know everything. You know I love you,” Peter told him.<pb/>“Take care of my sheep,” said Jesus.<pb/>


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“I tell you the truth,” said Jesus, “when you were young, you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted. But when you’re old, you’ll hold out your hands and someone will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.”


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Jesus said this to explain the kind of death by which he would glorify God. Then he said to Peter, “Follow me.”<pb/>


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As Peter turned round, he saw the disciple Jesus loved following them, the one who had leaned over to Jesus during the supper and asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”<pb/>


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Jesus told him, “If I want him to remain alive here until I return, why is that your concern? You follow me!”<pb/>


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This is why the saying spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus didn’t say to him that he wouldn’t die, just that “If I want him to remain alive here until I return, why is that your concern?”<pb/>


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Jesus did many other things as well, and if it all was written down, I doubt the whole world could hold all the books that would be written.


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Dear Theophilus<n>Meaning “One who loves God,” either a specific person, or more generically. The “previous book” mentioned is the Gospel of Luke.</n>, in my previous book I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning


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until the day he was taken up to heaven. This was after he’d given instructions through the Holy Spirit to his chosen apostles.


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Over the course of forty days after the death he suffered, he showed himself to them, proving that he was alive with convincing evidence. He appeared to them, and told them about the kingdom of God.


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While he was still with them<n>Or, “while he was sharing a meal with them.”</n> he instructed them, “Do not leave Jerusalem. Wait to receive what the Father promised, just as you heard it from me.


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It’s true that John baptized with water, but in just a few days’ time you will be baptized by the Holy Spirit.”<pb/>


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So when the disciples met with Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will re-establish Israel’s kingdom?”<pb/>


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“You don’t need to know about the dates and times that are set by the Father’s authority,” he told them.


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“But you will be given power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest places on earth.”<pb/>


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After Jesus had told them this, he was taken up as they were watching and a cloud hid him from their sight.


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While they were staring intently at the sky as he ascended, two men dressed in white were suddenly standing beside them.


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“Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky?” they asked. “This same Jesus who has been taken up from you to heaven shall come in the same way you saw him go into heaven.”<pb/>


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Then the disciples went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives which is about a Sabbath day’s walk from Jerusalem<n>In other words, a relatively short distance.</n>.


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When they arrived, they went upstairs to the upper room where they were staying: Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.


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They all joined together in prayer, together with the women and Mary, Jesus’ mother, and his brothers.<pb/>


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At this time Peter stood up and addressed a crowd of around one hundred and twenty believers who had gathered together.<pb/>


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“My brothers and sisters,” he said, “The Scriptures, spoken by the Holy Spirit through David, had to be fulfilled regarding Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus.


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(Judas had bought a field with his ill-gotten gains. There he fell down headfirst, and his body burst apart, spilling out all his intestines.


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Everybody who lived in Jerusalem heard about this so that the field was called in their language “Akeldama,” which means, “Field of blood.”).


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As it’s written in the book of Psalms, “Let his home be abandoned, and no-one live there;” and “Let someone else take over his position.”<n>Citing Psalm 69:25 and 109:8.</n><pb/>


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from the time John was baptizing up until the day Jesus was taken up to heaven from us. One of these must be chosen to join together with us as we witness, giving evidence of Jesus’ resurrection.”


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They prayed together and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s thoughts<n>“You know everyone’s thoughts”—literally, “heart-knower.”</n>; please show us which of these two you have chosen


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Suddenly a noise came from heaven like a roaring wind that filled the whole house where they were staying.


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All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages as the Spirit gave them the ability to do so.<pb/>


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When they heard this noise, a large crowd of them gathered. They were puzzled because everyone heard their own language being spoken.


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Phrygia and Pamphylia; from Egypt and the area of Libya around Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts,


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Cretans and Arabians—we hear them speaking in our own languages about all the great things God has done.”<pb/>


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Then Peter stood up with the eleven disciples and spoke in a loud voice: “Fellow Jews and everyone living here in Jerusalem: pay attention to me and I’ll explain all this to you!


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‘God says, “In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.


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I will also give you miraculous signs in the heavens above and on the earth below—blood, fire, and swirling smoke!


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The sun will become dark, and the moon will become red like blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord.


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“People of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man confirmed by God to you by the powerful miracles and signs that God performed through him, right here among you—as you well know.


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God, knowing beforehand what would happen, followed his plan and resolved to hand him over to you. By means of the hands of wicked men, you killed him by nailing him to a cross.


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But God raised him back to life, freeing him from the burden of death, because death did not have the power to keep him a prisoner.<pb/>


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“David says of him, ‘I saw the Lord always in front of me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.


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For you will not abandon me in the grave<n>Literally, “Hades,” the place of the dead. Also verse 31.</n>, nor will you allow your Holy One to experience decay.


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You have revealed to me the ways of life. You will fill me with joy with your presence.’<n>Quoting Psalm 16:8-11.</n><pb/>


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“My brothers and sisters, let me tell you plainly that our ancestor David died and was buried, and his tomb is here with us to this day.


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But he was a prophet, and knew that God had promised on oath to place one of his descendants on his throne.


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David saw what would happen and spoke about the resurrection of Christ—for Christ was not abandoned to the grave nor did he experience decay.<pb/>


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Now he’s been exalted to God’s right hand, and has received from the Father the Holy Spirit whom he promised, and has poured out what you’re seeing and hearing.


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For David didn’t ascend into heaven, but he did say, ‘The Lord told my Lord, “Sit down here at my right hand


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until I have made your enemies a stool to put your feet on.”’<n>Quoting Psalm 110:1. A sign of victory.</n>


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Now let everyone in Israel be totally convinced of this: God has made this Jesus, who you killed on a cross, both Lord and Messiah!”<n>Messiah (Hebrew) is equivalent to Christ (Greek).</n><pb/>


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When the people heard this they were conscience-stricken<n>Literally, “cut to the heart.”</n>. They asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”<pb/>


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“Repent!” Peter told them. “All of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.


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This promise is given to you, to your children, and to all who are far away—everyone the Lord our God calls.”<pb/>


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Peter went on speaking, giving them much more evidence. He warned them, “Save yourselves from this perverted generation.”


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Those who accepted what he’d said were baptized, adding about three thousand people to the group of believers that day.<pb/>


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They committed themselves to what the apostles had taught them, and to the fellowship of the believers, “breaking bread”<n>This is probably a reference to the Lord’s Supper, and not just ordinary meals, though they would also be included.</n> and praying together.


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Day after day they continued to meet together in the Temple, and ate together in their homes. They enjoyed their meals humbly and happily. They praised God, and everyone thought favorably of them.


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Peter and John were on their way up to the Temple at the time of the afternoon prayer, around 3 p.m.


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A man who had been lame from birth was being carried there. Every day he was placed beside the Temple gate called “Beautiful” so he could beg from the people going into the Temple.


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“I don’t have any silver or gold,” Peter told him, “but I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!”<pb/>


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He jumped to his feet, and then began to walk. He went with them into the Temple, walking and jumping and praising God.


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They recognized him as the beggar who used to sit by the Temple’s Beautiful Gate, and they were surprised and amazed at what had happened to him.


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He held on tightly to Peter and John while everyone ran to them by Solomon’s Porch<n>A section of the Temple, see also 5:12.</n> in complete astonishment at what had happened.<pb/>


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When Peter saw this opportunity he told them, “People of Israel, why are you surprised at what’s happened to this man? Why are you staring at us as if it was by our own power or faith that we made him walk?


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The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of our forefathers—has glorified his servant Jesus. He was the one you betrayed and rejected in the presence of Pilate, even after Pilate had decided to release him.


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By trusting in Jesus’ name this man was healed by him. You see this man here; you know him. Through trusting in Jesus this man has received complete healing right in front of all of you.<pb/>


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Now repent, and change your ways, that your sins can be wiped away, so the Lord can send opportunities for you to heal and recover,


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For he must stay in heaven until the time when everything is restored, as God announced through his holy prophets long ago.<pb/>


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“Moses said, ‘The Lord God will send you a prophet from among your own people who is like me. You must listen to everything he tells you.


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You are the sons of the prophets, and of the agreement<n>Or “covenant.”</n> which God made with your fathers when he said to Abraham, “From your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed.


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God prepared his Servant and sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your evil ways.”<pb/>


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While they were talking to the people, the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and the Sadducees came up to them.


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They were angry that they were teaching the people, telling them that through Jesus there is resurrection from the dead.


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They arrested them and placed them under guard until the following day since it was already evening.


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But many who had heard the message believed it, and the total number of believers grew to about five thousand.<pb/>


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They included the high priest Annas, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others of the high priest’s family.


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They brought Peter and John before them and asked, “By what power or by whose authority have you done this?”<pb/>


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Are we being interrogated regarding a good deed done to a man who couldn’t help himself, and how he came to be healed?


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If so, all of you should know, and all the people of Israel, that it was in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the one you killed on a cross and whom God raised from the dead—it’s because of him that this man stands before you completely healed.


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‘He is the stone you builders rejected, but he has been made the chief cornerstone.’<n>Quoting Ps. 118:22.</n>


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There is no salvation in anyone else; there is no other name under heaven given to humanity that can possibly save us.”<pb/>


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When they saw Peter and John’s confidence, and realized they were uneducated, ordinary men, they were very surprised. They also recognized them as Jesus’ companions.


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Since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there with them, they had nothing to say in response to what had happened.<pb/>


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So they instructed them to wait outside the council while they discussed the matter among themselves.


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“What should we do with these men?” they asked. “We can’t deny a significant miracle has happened through them. Everybody living here in Jerusalem knows about it.


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But to prevent it spreading among the people any further, we should threaten them never to speak to anybody in this name<n>Clearly the name of Jesus, but they did not even want to mention the actual name…</n> again.”<pb/>


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But Peter and John responded, “Whether it’s right in God’s eyes to obey you rather than God—you decide.


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After making more threats they let them go. They couldn’t work out how to punish them because everyone was glorifying God for what had happened.


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After the disciples had been released, they went to the other believers and told them everything the chief priests and elders had said to them.


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When they heard what had happened, they prayed to God together:<pb/>“Lord, you made heaven and earth and sea, and everything that is in them.


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You spoke by the Holy Spirit through David, our forefather and your servant, saying ‘Why did the people of the other nations become so angry? Why did they plot so foolishly against me?


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The kings of the earth prepared for war<n>“For war,” implied.</n>; the rulers united together against the Lord and against his Chosen One.’<n>Literally, “Anointed.” The quote is from Ps. 2:1, 2.</n><pb/>


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“Now this has really happened right here in this city! Both Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the foreigners and the people of Israel, united together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed as Messiah.


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“Now Lord: look at all their threats against us! Help us your servants to speak your word really boldly.


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As you exercise your power to heal, may signs and miracles be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus!”<pb/>


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When they had finished praying, the building they were meeting in was shaken. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of God boldly.


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All the believers were of one heart and mind. None of them claimed anything they had as their own, but shared everything with each other.


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The apostles gave their testimony regarding the resurrection of the Lord Jesus with tremendous power, and God greatly blessed them all.


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Joseph, the one the apostles called Barnabas (meaning “son of encouragement”), was a Levite, a Cypriot national.


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He sold a field that belonged to him. Then he brought the money and presented it to the apostles.<pb/>


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He kept back some of the money he received for himself, and brought the rest to present to the apostles. His wife knew what he was doing.<pb/>


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Then Peter asked him, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back some of the money from the land you sold?


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While you had the land, didn’t it belong to you? And after you sold it, didn’t you still have control over what you did with the money? Why did you decide to do this? You haven’t lied to human beings, but to God!”<pb/>


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Some of the young men got up and wrapped him in a shroud. Then they carried him out and buried him.<pb/>


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Peter asked her, “Tell me, did you sell the land for this price?”<pb/>“Yes, that was the price,” she replied.<pb/>


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Then Peter told her, “How could you agree together to swindle<n>Literally, “tempt.”</n> the Spirit of the Lord? Look, those who buried your husband are just returning, and they’ll carry you out too!”<pb/>


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Immediately she fell down dead at his feet. The young men came back in and found her dead, so they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.


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Great fear spread through the whole church, as well as among everyone who heard what had happened.<pb/>


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Many miraculous signs were performed among the people by the apostles. All the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s porch<n>See footnote for 3:11.</n>.


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As a result, people brought those who were sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that as Peter passed by his shadow might fall on them<n>With the thought that even the touch of Peter’s shadow could heal.</n>.


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Crowds from the towns around Jerusalem brought their sick and those afflicted by evil spirits. They were all healed.<pb/>


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However, the high priest and those with him (who were Sadducees) became very jealous and decided to intervene.


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They did as they were told and went into the Temple at around dawn and began teaching.<pb/>Then the high priest and his followers called a council meeting with all the leaders of Israel. He sent for the apostles to be brought from prison.


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But when the officials went to the prison they couldn’t find the apostles so they went back and told the council,


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“We found the prison all locked up, with guards at the doors. But when we had them open up, we couldn’t find anyone inside.”<pb/>


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Now when the captain of the Temple guards and the chief priests heard this they were totally baffled, and wondered what was going on.


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Then someone came in and said, “Look, the men you put in prison are right there in the Temple teaching people!”<pb/>


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So the captain went with his guards and brought them in, but did not use force because they were afraid that the people would stone them.


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“Didn’t we order you not to teach in this name?” the high priest demanded to know. “Now look—you’ve filled the whole of Jerusalem with your teaching, and you’re trying to blame us for his death!”<pb/>


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God exalted him to a position of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior, as a way to bring repentance to Israel, and for the forgiveness of sins.


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We are witnesses of what happened, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”<pb/>


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But then one of the council members stood up to speak. He was Gamaliel, a Pharisee and a doctor of law who was respected by everyone. He ordered the apostles sent out for a short while.<pb/>


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Some time ago Theudas tried to make a name for himself, and about four hundred men joined him. He was killed and all who followed him were scattered and it came to nothing.


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Then after him Judas of Galilee came along at the time of the census, and he attracted some followers. He also died, and those who listened to him were dispersed.


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So in the current case I recommend that you leave these men alone, and just let them go. If what they are planning or what they are doing comes from their own human thinking, then it will be defeated.


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But if it comes from God, you won’t be able to defeat them. You could even find yourselves fighting against God!”<pb/>


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They were convinced by what he said. So they called the apostles back in, had them whipped, and ordered them not to say anything in the name of Jesus. Then they let them go.


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Every day they continued to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah, in the Temple and from house to house.<pb/>


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At this time, when the number of believers was increasing rapidly, the Greek-speaking believers started arguing with the Aramaic-speaking believers<n>Literally, “Hellenists” and “Hebrews.”</n>. They complained that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food.<pb/>


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The twelve apostles called all the believers together, and told them, “It’s not appropriate for us to give up spreading the word of God so we can wait at tables.


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Brothers, choose from among you seven trustworthy men full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will hand this responsibility over to them.


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Everybody was happy with the arrangement, and they chose Stephen, (a man full of trust in God and of the Holy Spirit), Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, (originally a Jewish convert from Antioch).


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These men were presented to the apostles who prayed for them and placed their hands on them in blessing.


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The word of God continued to spread, and the number of disciples in Jerusalem greatly increased, with a large number of priests committing themselves to trusting in Jesus.<pb/>


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But some started arguing with him. They were from the synagogue called “the Free,”<n>Presumably a synagogue made up of former slaves.</n> as well as Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and people from Cilicia and Asia Minor.


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They stirred up the people, and together with the elders and the teachers of the law, they came and arrested him. They brought him before the council,


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and called false witnesses who testified against him.<pb/>“This man is always slandering the holy Temple<n>Literally, “this holy place,” also in 6:14.</n> and the law,” they said.


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“We’ve heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy the Temple, and will change the laws<n>Also translated “customs”; however in the context this has far more to do with legal and ceremonial requirements.</n> we received from Moses.”<pb/>


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Everyone sitting on the council looked closely at Stephen, and his face shone like the face of on angel.<pb/>


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“Brothers and fathers, listen to me!” Stephen replied. “God in his glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was living in Mesopotamia, before he moved to Haran.<pb/>


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“God told him, ‘Leave your country and your relatives, and go to the country that I’m going to show you.’


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So he left the country of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. After his father’s death, God sent him here to this country where you now live.


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God didn’t give Abraham an inheritance here, not even one square foot. But God did promise Abraham that he would give him and his descendants possession of the land, even though he had no children.


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God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign country, and that they would be enslaved there, and would be mistreated for four hundred years.


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God said, ‘I will punish the nation that enslaves them. Eventually they will leave and come here to worship me.’


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God also gave Abraham the circumcision covenant<n>Or “agreement.”</n>, and so when Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised him on the eighth day. Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of the twelve patriarchs.<pb/>


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and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave him wisdom and helped him gain the favor of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him governor over Egypt and the royal household.<pb/>


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“Now a famine occurred throughout Egypt and Canaan. It caused terrible misery, and our forefathers had no food.


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During their second visit, Joseph revealed to his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh discovered Joseph’s family background.


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Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought with silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.<pb/>


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“As the time approached regarding the promise that God had made to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt increased.


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He took advantage of our people and treated our ancestors badly, forcing them to abandon their babies so they would die.


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It was at this time that Moses was born. He was a handsome child, and for three months he was looked after in his father’s home


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When he had to be abandoned, Pharaoh’s daughter rescued him and took care of him as her own son.<pb/>


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“Moses received instruction in all areas of Egyptian knowledge, and he became a powerful speaker and leader.


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He saw one of them being mistreated, so he intervened to defend him. On behalf of the man he took revenge and killed the Egyptian.


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Moses thought his fellow Israelites would see that God was rescuing them through him, but they didn’t.


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The next day when he arrived, two Israelites were fighting one another. He tried to reconcile them and stop the fight. ‘Men! You are brothers!’ he told them. ‘Why are you attacking each other?”<pb/>


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“But the man who had started the fight pushed Moses away. “Who put you in charge over us? Are you our judge now?” he asked.


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When he heard this, Moses ran away. He went and lived in exile in the land of Midian, where two sons were born to him.<pb/>


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“Forty years later, in the desert of Mount Sinai, an angel appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush.


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When Moses saw this, he was amazed at the sight, and went over to take a closer look. The voice of the Lord spoke to him:


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‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and didn’t dare look up.


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I have closely observed the suffering of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their groans. I have come down to rescue them. Now come over here, for I’m sending you to Egypt.’<pb/>


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“This was the same Moses that the people had rejected when they said, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us?’ God sent him to be both a ruler and a liberator, by means of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.


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Moses led them out after performing miraculous signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and continued to do so in the desert for forty years.


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This is the same Moses who promised the Israelites, ‘God will send you a prophet like me from among your people.’


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Moses was with God’s assembled people in the desert when the angel spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and there with our forefathers he received God’s living word to give to us.


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They told Aaron, “Make gods for us to lead us, because we don’t know what’s happened to this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt.’


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Then they made an idol in the shape of a calf, sacrificed to it, and celebrated what they themselves had made!<pb/>


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“So God gave up on them. He left them to their worship of the stars in the sky. This is what the prophets wrote, ‘Were you giving offerings or making sacrifices to me during the forty years in the desert, you Israelites?


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No, you carried the tabernacle of the god Moloch and the image of the god Rephan’s star, images that you made so you could worship them. So I will banish you in exile beyond Babylon.’<pb/>


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“Our ancestors had the Tabernacle of testimony<n>Meaning that it gave God’s message, and provided evidence of his presence.</n> in the desert. God had told Moses how he should make it following the blueprint he had seen.


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Later on, our forefathers carried it with them when they went in with Joshua to occupy the land taken from the nations the Lord drove out before them. It stayed there until the time of David.


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‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth the place I put my feet. What kind of dwelling could you build for me?’ the Lord asks. ‘What bed could you make for me to rest in?


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“You arrogant, hard-hearted people! You never listen!<n>Literally, “uncircumcised in heart and ears.”</n> You always fight against the Holy Spirit! You act just like your fathers did!


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Was there ever a prophet your fathers didn’t persecute? They killed those who prophesied about the coming of the One who is truly good and right. He is the One you betrayed and murdered—


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When they heard this, the council members became mad with rage, and snarled at him, grinding their teeth.


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But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed up into heaven and saw God’s glory, with Jesus standing at God’s right hand.


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But they held their hands over their ears and shouted as loudly as they could. They rushed together at him,


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dragged him out of the city, and began to stone him. His accusers laid their coats down beside a young man called Saul.


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He kneeled down, calling out, “Lord, please don’t hold this sin against them!” And after he said this, he died<n>Literally, “fell asleep.” Death is often spoken of as a sleep in the NT.</n>.<pb/>


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Saul agreed that Stephen had to be killed. On that very day terrible persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except for the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.


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But Saul set about destroying the church, going from house to house, dragging both men and women off to prison.<pb/>


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When the crowds heard what Philip was saying and saw the miracles he did they all paid attention to what he was telling them.


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Many were freed from possession by evil spirits that screamed as they came out, and many who were lame or disabled were healed.


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Now there was a man named Simon living in the city who used to practice sorcery. He claimed that he was someone very important, and had astounded the people of Samaria


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so they all paid attention to him. From the lowest to the highest in society they said, “This man is ‘God the Great Power.’”


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But when they believed in what Philip told them about the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.


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Simon too believed and was baptized. He accompanied Philip, amazed at the miraculous signs and wonders he saw.<pb/>


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When the apostles back in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to visit them.


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The Holy Spirit hadn’t come to any of these converts yet—they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.


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When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given when the apostles placed their hands on people, he offered them money.


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“Give me this power, too,” he asked them, “so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.”<pb/>


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“May your money be destroyed together with you for thinking God’s gift is something that can be bought!” Peter replied.


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You’re not part of any of this. None of this work belongs to you, because in God’s eyes your attitude is totally wrong.


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After they had given their testimony and shared the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, sharing the good news in many Samaritan villages along the way.<pb/>


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An angel of the Lord told Philip, “Get ready and go south to the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza.”


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So Philip set out, and met an Ethiopian man, a eunuch who had a high position in the service of the Kandake<n>Kandake is not the personal name of the Queen, but her title, like “Pharaoh.”</n>, Queen of Ethiopia. He was her chief treasurer. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship there, and


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was returning from his trip, sitting in his chariot. He was reading out loud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.<pb/>


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So Philip ran over, and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. <sup>(30)</sup>“Do you understand what you’re reading?” Philip asked him.<pb/>


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“How can I unless someone explains it?” the man replied. He invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.


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The Scripture passage he was reading was this: “He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered. Like a lamb is silent in front of his shearer, he didn’t say a word.


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He was humiliated and denied justice. No one can speak of his descendants, for his life came to an end<n>Literally, “his life was taken from the earth.”</n>.”<pb/>


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The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about? Is it himself, or someone else?”


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He ordered that the chariot be stopped. Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water and Philip baptized him.


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When they came out of the water the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again, but he continued on his way full of joy. Philip found himself at Azotus.


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But meanwhile Saul was making violent threats against the disciples of the Lord, wanting to kill them. He went to the high priest


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and asked for letters of authorization to take with him to the synagogues in Damascus, giving him permission to arrest any believers in the Way<n>“Believers in the Way,” one early term referring to followers of Jesus.</n> that he found, men or women, and bring them back to Jerusalem as prisoners.<pb/>


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The men who were traveling with Saul stood there speechless. They heard the voice speaking, but they didn’t see anyone.


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Saul got to his feet, and when he opened his eyes, he couldn’t see anything. His companions took him by the hand and led him into Damascus.


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A follower of Jesus called Ananias lived in Damascus, and the Lord spoke to him in a vision.<pb/>“Ananias!” he called.<pb/>“I’m here, Lord,” Ananias responded.<pb/>


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“Get up, and go to Straight Street,” the Lord told him. “Ask at Judas’ house for someone called Saul, from Tarsus. He’s praying.


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He’s seen in vision a man called Ananias come and place his hands on him so he can regain his sight.”<pb/>


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“But Lord,” Ananias replied, “I’ve heard a lot about this man—about all the evil things he did to the believers in Jerusalem.


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The chief priests have given him the power to arrest everyone here that worships and follows you.”<pb/>


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But the Lord told him, “Get on your way, because he is the person I have chosen to take my name to foreigners and kings, as well as to Israel.


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So Ananias left and went to the house. He placed his hands on Saul. “Brother Saul,” he said, “The Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were traveling here, has sent me so you can regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”


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Immediately, something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. He got up and was baptized.


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He also had something to eat and felt stronger.<pb/>Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.


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All who heard him were amazed, and asked, “Isn’t this the man who caused so much trouble in Jerusalem for those who believed in Jesus? Wasn’t he coming here to have the believers arrested and taken in chains to the chief priests?”


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Saul grew more and more confident, proving Jesus was the Messiah so convincingly that the Jews who lived in Damascus could not refute him.<pb/>


text:
but Saul learned of their intentions. Day and night they waited by the city gates looking for the chance to murder him.


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So during the night his followers took him and lowered him down in a basket from an opening in the city wall.


text:
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to meet with the disciples, but they were all afraid of him because they were not convinced he was really a disciple.


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However, Barnabas took him to meet the apostles, and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and how the Lord had spoken to Saul. Barnabas also explained how in Damascus Saul had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.<pb/>


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speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they tried to kill him.


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During this time the whole church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was left in peace. The church grew strong and increased rapidly in numbers as the believers lived reverently for the Lord<n>Literally, “in the fear of the Lord.”</n>, encouraged by the Holy Spirit.<pb/>


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There he met a man called Aeneas who was paralyzed and had been confined to his bed for eight years.


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Peter told him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up and pick up your mat!” Immediately Aeneas got up.


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In Joppa lived a follower called Tabitha, (Dorcas in Greek<n>Tabitha/Dorcas means “gazelle.”</n>). She was always doing good and helping the poor.


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However about this time she became sick, and died. After washing her body, they laid her out in an upstairs room.


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Lydda was near Joppa, so the disciples in Joppa, hearing that Peter was in Lydda, sent two men to him with the message, “Please come to us right away.”


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So Peter got ready and left with them. When he arrived they took him upstairs. All the widows were there crying, and they showed him the coats and clothes that Dorcas had made while she was with them.


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Peter told them all to leave, kneeled down, and prayed. He turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.


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He took her by the hand and lifted her up. He called in the believers and the widows, and presented her to them alive.


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He was a religious man who, together with everyone in his household, had great reverence for God. He gave generously to the poor, and prayed regularly to God.


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At about 3p.m. one day he had a vision in which he saw very clearly an angel of God who came to him and called to him, “Cornelius!”<pb/>


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Frightened, Cornelius stared at him and asked, “What do you want, Lord?”<pb/>“God has paid attention to your prayers, and recognized your generosity to the poor,” he told Cornelius.


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When the angel who had spoken to him had left, Cornelius called in two of his house-servants and a soldier of his personal guard, a religious man.


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The next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up onto the top of the house<n>Houses of the time had flat roofs, and served as open-air rooms.</n> to pray. It was about noon,


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and he was getting hungry, wanting to eat. But while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance, and


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he saw heaven opened. He saw something coming down that looked like a large sheet held by its four corners being lowered onto the earth.


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But Peter replied, “Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything that is impure and unclean.”<pb/>


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While Peter was puzzling over what the vision he’d seen really meant, the men sent by Cornelius had found out where Simon’s house was and were standing at the gate.


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While Peter was still wondering about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Look, there are three men looking for you.


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Get up, go downstairs, and go with them. Don’t worry at all because I’m the one who sent them.”<pb/>


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So Peter went downstairs to meet the men. “I’m the one you’re looking for,” he said. “Why are you here?”<pb/>


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“We come from Cornelius, a good, religious man who has reverence for God and is widely respected among the Jewish people,” they replied. “A holy angel instructed him to send for you to come to his house so he can hear what you have to tell him.”


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So he invited them in and they stayed there.<pb/>The next day he got up and left with them. Some of the brothers from Joppa went with them too.


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The following day they arrived in Caesarea where Cornelius was waiting for them with his relatives and close friends whom he’d called together.


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He said to them, “You certainly know that it’s not permitted for a Jew to be associated with or to visit foreigners. But God has shown me that it’s not for me to call anyone impure or unclean.


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That’s why I came without any argument when I was sent for. So now I want to know the reason why you sent for me.”<pb/>


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“Four days ago, at about this time—three in the afternoon—I was praying in my house,” Cornelius explained. “Suddenly I saw a man standing in front of me, dressed in clothes that shone brightly.


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He told me, ‘Cornelius, your prayers have been heard, and God has recognized your generosity to the poor.


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Send someone to Joppa for Simon Peter. He’s staying at Simon the tanner’s house, down by the sea-shore.’


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So immediately I sent for you, and it was good of you to come. That’s why we’re all here, meeting together before God, ready to hear everything the Lord has told you.”<pb/>


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You know the message he sent to Israel, sharing the good news of peace that comes from Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.


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You know that this good news spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, following John’s call to baptism.


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It’s about Jesus of Nazareth—how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how he went around doing good, healing all those who were under the devil’s control, for God was with him.<pb/>


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We can testify to all that he did in Judea and Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross.


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not to everyone, but to those witnesses chosen by God—including us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.


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He gave us the responsibility of publicly telling this to the people, to testify that he is the one God chose as the Judge of the living and the dead.


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He is the one all the prophets spoke about, that everyone who trusts in him will receive forgiveness through his name.”<pb/>


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While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on all of them who were listening to the message.


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The Jewish believers<n>Literally, “those of the circumcision that believed.”</n> who had come with Peter were astonished, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the foreigners.


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Then Peter asked, “Is anybody going to prevent them being baptized in water, since they have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”


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He gave orders for them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they pleaded with him to spend some time with them.<pb/>


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When Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, those who believed circumcision<n>Literally, “those of the circumcision,” which could mean simply “Jews.” However from the context it would appear that these were Jewish Christians concerned over relationships with “foreigners.”</n> was still essential argued with him.


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“While I was in the town of Joppa I was praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. Something that looked like a large sheet was being let down by its four corners from heaven, and it came down to me.


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At that very moment three men were standing in front of the house where we were staying. They had been sent from Caesarea to see me.


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The Spirit told me to go with them, and not to worry about who they were. These six brothers here also went with me, and we went into the man’s house.


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He explained to us how an angel had appeared to him in his house, who told him, ‘Send someone to Joppa, and fetch Simon, also called Peter,


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Then I remembered what the Lord said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”


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Since God gave them the same gift as he gave us when we trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, what power did I have to oppose God?”<pb/>


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After they had heard this explanation, they didn’t argue with him anymore, and praised God, saying, “Now God has granted the opportunity to repent and have eternal life to foreigners as well.”<pb/>


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Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that happened when Stephen was killed traveled all the way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. They only spread the good news among the Jews.


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But when some of them who were from Cyprus and Cyrene arrived in Antioch, they shared the good news with the Greeks too, telling them about the Lord Jesus.


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When he arrived and saw for himself how God’s grace was working, he was delighted. He encouraged all of them to completely dedicate themselves to God and to stay true.


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Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and put his whole trust in God. Many people were brought to the Lord.


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and when he found him, he took Saul back with him to Antioch. Over the course of the next year they worked together with the church, teaching the message to crowds of people. It was in Antioch that the believers were first called “Christians.”<pb/>


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One of them called Agabus stood up and gave a prophetic warning by the Spirit that there would be a terrible famine that would affect the known world<n>Literally, “the inhabited world,” basically referring to the Roman Empire.</n>. (This came true in the reign of Emperor Claudius).


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The believers decided to send funds to help the brothers that lived in Judea, with everyone giving according to what they had.


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When he saw that the Jews were pleased by this, he had Peter arrested too. (This was during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.)


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After having Peter arrested, he threw him in prison, with four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. He planned to have Peter brought out for a public trial after the Passover.<pb/>


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The night before Herod was to have him put on trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, chained to each of them, and with guards at the door keeping watch.


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Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. The angel shook Peter awake, saying “Quick! Get up!” The chains fell from his wrists,


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and the angel told him, “Get dressed, and put on your sandals.” So he did. Then the angel told him, “Put on your coat and follow me.”


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So Peter followed the angel out. He didn’t realize that what the angel was doing was actually happening—he thought he was seeing a vision.<pb/>


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They passed the first and second sets of guards, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. This opened for them by itself. They went out and down the street, when suddenly the angel left him.


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When Peter came to his senses, he said, “Now I realize this really happened! The Lord sent an angel to rescue me from Herod’s power, and from everything that the Jewish people had planned.”<pb/>


