21 JESUS THEN LEFT that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And a Canaanite woman from those parts came crying out, 'Sir! have pity on me. Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a devil.' 23 But he said not a word in reply. His disciples came and urged him: 'Send her away; see how she comes shouting after us.' 24 Jesus replied, 'I was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and to them alone.' 25 But the woman came and fell at his feet and cried, 'Help me, sir.' 26 To this Jesus replied, 'It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.' 27 'True, sir,' she answered; 'and yet the dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters' table.' 28 Hearing this Jesus replied, 'Woman, what faith you have! Be it as you wish!' And from that moment her daughter was restored to health.
29 After leaving that region Jesus took the road by the Sea of Galilee and went up to the hills. 30 When he was seated there, crowds flocked to him, bringing with them the lame, blind, dumb, and crippled, and many other sufferers; they flung them down at his feet, and he healed them. 31 Great was the amazement of the people when they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled strong, the lame walking, and sight restored to the " blind; and they gave praise to the God of Israel. 32 Jesus called his disciples and said to them, 'I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away unfed; they might turn faint on the way.' 33 The disciples replied, 'Where in this lonely place can we find bread enough to feed such a crowd?' 34 'How many loaves have you?' Jesus asked. 'Seven,' they replied; 'and there are a few small fishes.' 35 So he ordered the people to sit down on the ground; 36 then he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and after giving thanks to God he broke them and gave to the disciples, and the disciples gave to the people. 37 They all ate to their hearts' content; and the scraps left over, which they picked up, were enough to fill seven baskets. 38 Four thousand men shared in this meal, to say nothing of women and children. 39 He then dismissed the crowds, got into a boat, and went to the neighbourhood of Magadan.
1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 His answer was: [Some manuscripts here insert 'In the evening you say, "It will be fine weather, for the sky is red"; 3 "and in the morning you say, "It will be stormy today; the sky is red and lowering." You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky; can you not interpret the signs of the times ?'] 4 'It is a wicked generation that asks for a sign; and the only sign that will be given it is the sign of Jonah.' So they went off and left them.
5 In crossing to the other side the disciples had forgotten to take bread with them. 6 So, when Jesus said to them, 'Beware, be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees', 7 they began to say among themselves, 'It is because we have brought no bread!' 8 Knowing what was in their minds, Jesus said to them: 'Why do you talk about bringing no bread? Where is your faith? 9 Do you not understand even yet? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you picked up? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you picked up? 11 How can you fail to see that I was not speaking about bread? Be on your guard, I said, against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' 12 Then they understood: they were to be on their guard, not against the baker's leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, but against their teaching.
13 WHEN HE CAME to the territory of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples, 'Who do men say that the Son of Man is?' 14 They answered, 'Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.' 15 'And you,' he asked, 'who do you say I am ?' 16 Simon Peter answered: 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.' 17 Then Jesus said: 'Simon son of Jonah, you are favoured indeed! You did not learn that from mortal man; it was revealed to you by my heavenly Father. 18 And I say this to you: You are Peter, the Rock; and on this rock I will build my church, and the forces of death shall never overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; what you forbid on earth shall be forbidden in heaven, and what you allow on earth shall be allowed in heaven.' 20 He then gave his disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
21 From that time Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem, and there to suffer much from the elders, chief priests, and lawyers; to be put to death and to be raised again on the third day. 22 At this Peter took him by the arm and began to rebuke him: 'Heaven forbid!' he said. 'No, Lord, this shall never happen to you.' 23 Then Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Away with you, Satan; you are a stumbling-block to me. You think as men think, not as God thinks.'
24 Jesus then said to his disciples, 'If anyone wishes to be a follower of mine, he must leave self behind; he must take up his cross and come with me. 25 Whoever cares for his own safety is lost; but if a man will let himself be lost for my sake, he will find his true self. 26 What will a man gain by winning the whole world, at the cost of his true self? Or what can he give that will buy that self back? 27 For the Son of Man is to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will give each man the due reward for what he has done. 28 I tell you this: there are some standing here who will not taste death before they have seen the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.'
1 SIX DAY LATER Jesus took Peter and James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain where they were alone; 2 and in their presence he was transfigured; his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as the light. 3 And they saw Moses and Elijah appear, conversing with him. 4 Then Peter spoke: 'Lord,' he said, 'how good it is that we are here! If you wish it, I will make three shelters here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud suddenly overshadowed them, and a voice called from the cloud: 'This is my Son, my Beloved, on whom my favour rests; listen to him.' 6 At the sound of the voice the disciples fell on their faces in terror. 7 Jesus then came up to them, touched them, and said, 'Stand up; do not be afraid.' 8 And when they raised their eyes they saw no one, but only Jesus.
9 On their way down the mountain Jesus enjoined them not to tell anyone of the vision until the Son of Man had been raised from the dead. 10 The disciples put a question to him: 'Why then do our teachers say that Elijah must come first?' 11 He replied, 'Yes, Elijah will come and set everything right. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they failed to recognize him, and worked their will upon him; and in the same way the Son of Man is to suffer at their hands.' 13 Then the disciples understood that he meant John the Baptist.
14 When they returned to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, fell on his knees before him, 15 and said, 'Have pity, sir, on my son: he is an epileptic and has bad fits, and he keeps falling about, often into the fire, often into water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.' 17 Jesus answered, 'What an unbelieving and perverse generation! How long shall I be with you? How much longer must I endure you? Bring him here to me.' 18 Jesus then spoke sternly to the boy; the devil left him, and from that moment he was cured.
19 Afterwards the disciples came to Jesus and asked him privately, 'Why could not we cast it out?' 20 He answered, 'Your faith is too weak. I tell you this: if you have faith no bigger even than a mustard-seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there!", and it will move; nothing will prove impossible for you.' 21 [Some manuscipts add: 'But there is no means of casting out this sort but prayer and fasting.']
22 THEY WERE GOING about together in Galilee when Jesus said to them, 'The Son of Man is to be given up into the power of men, 23 and they will kill him; then on the third day he will be raised again.' And they were filled with grief.
24 On their arrival at Capernaum the collectors of the temple-tax came up to Peter and asked, 'Does your master not pay temple-tax?' 25 'He does', said Peter. When he went indoors Jesus forestalled him by asking, 'What do you think about this, Simon? From whom do earthly monarchs collect tax or toll? From their own citizens, or from aliens?' 26 'From aliens', said Peter. 'Why then,' said Jesus, 'the citizens are exempt! 27 But as we do not want to cause difficulty for these people, go and cast a line in the lake; take the first fish that comes to the hook, open its mouth, and you will find a silver coin; take that and pay it in; it will meet the tax for us both.'
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?' 2 He called a child, set him in front of them, 3 and said, 'I tell you this: unless you turn round and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. 4 Let a man humble himself till he is like this child, and he will be the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. 5 Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. 6 But if a man is a cause of stumbling to one of these little ones who have faith in me, it would be better for him to have a millstone hung round his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Alas for the world that such causes of stumbling arise! Come they must, but woe betide the man through whom they come!
8 'If your hand or your foot is your undoing, cut it off and fling it away; it is better for you to enter into life maimed or lame, than to keep two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 If it is your eye that is your undoing, tear it out and fling it away; it is better to enter into life with one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell.
10 'Never despise one of these little ones; I tell you, they have their guardian angels in heaven, who look continually on the face of my heavenly Father. 11 [Some manuscripts add: For the Son of Man came to save the lost.]
12 'What do you think? Suppose a man has a hundred sheep. If one of them strays, does he not leave the other ninety-nine on the hill-side and go in search of the one that strayed? 13 And if he should find it, I tell you this: he is more delighted over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that never strayed. 14 In the same way, it is not your heavenly Father's will that one of these little ones should be lost.
15 'If your brother commits a sin, go and take the matter up with him, strictly between yourselves, and if he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 If he will not listen, take one or two others with you, so that all facts may be duly established on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, report the matter to the congregation; and if he will not listen even to the congregation, you must then treat him as you would a pagan or a tax-gatherer.
18 'I tell you this: whatever you forbid on earth shall is be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you allow on earth shall be allowed in heaven.
19 'Again I tell you this: if two of you agree on earth is about any request you have to make, that request will be granted by my heavenly Father. 20 For where two or three have met together in my name, I am there among them.'
21 Then Peter came up and asked him, 'Lord, how often am I to forgive my brother if he goes on wronging me? As many as seven times?' 22 Jesus replied, 'I do not say seven times; I say seventy times seven.
23 'The kingdom of Heaven, therefore, should be thought of in this way: There was once a king who decided to settle accounts with the men who served him. 24 At the outset there appeared before him a man whose debt ran into millions. 25 Since he had no means of paying, his master ordered him to be sold to meet the debt, with his wife, his children, and everything he had. 26 The man fell prostrate at his master's feet. "Be patient with me," he said, "and I will pay in full"; 27 and the master was so moved with pity that he let the man go and remitted the debt. 28 But no sooner had the man gone out than he met a fellow-servant who owed him a few pounds; and catching hold of him he gripped him by the throat and said, "Pay me what you owe." 29 The man fell at his fellow-servant's feet, and begged him, "Be patient with me, and I will pay you"; 30 but he refused, and had him jailed until he should pay the debt. 31 The other servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and told him the whole story. 32 He accordingly sent for the man. "You scoundrel!" he said to him, 33 "I remitted the whole of your debt when you appealed to me; were you not bound to show your fellow-servant the same pity as I showed to you?" 34 And so angry was the master that he condemned the man to tenure until he should pay the debt in full. 35 And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you, unless you each forgive your brother from your hearts.'
1 WHEN JESUS HAD FINISHED this discourse he left Galilee and came into the region of Judaea across Jordan. 2 Great crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on any and every ground?' 4 He asked in return, 'Have you never read that the Creator made them from the beginning male and female?'; 5 and he added, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be made one with his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. 6 It follows that they are no longer two individuals: they are one flesh. What God has joined together, man must not separate.' 7 'Why then', they objected, 'did Moses lay it down that a man might divorce his wife by note of dismissal?' 8 He answered, 'It was because you were so unteachable that Moses gave you permission to divorce your wives; but it was not like that when all began. 9 I tell you, if a man divorces his wife for any cause other than unchastity, and marries another, he commits adultery.'
10 The disciples said to him, 'If that is the position with husband and wife, it is better to refrain from marriage.' 11 To this he replied, 'That is something which not everyone can accept, but only those for whom God has appointed it. 12 For while some are incapable of marriage because they were born so, or were made so by men, there are others who have themselves renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. Let those accept it who can.'
13 They brought children for him to lay his hands on them with prayer. The disciples scolded them for it, 14 but Jesus said to them, 'Let the children come to me; do not try to stop them; for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.' 15 And he laid his hands on the children, and went his way.
16 And now a man came up and asked him, 'Master, what good must I do to gain eternal life?' 17 'Good?' said Jesus. 'Why do you ask me about that? One alone is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.' 18 'Which commandments?' he asked, is Jesus answered, 'Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not give false evidence; 19 honour your father and mother; and love your neighbour as yourself.' The young man answered, 20 'I have kept all these. Where do I still fall short?' 21 Jesus said to him, 'If you wish to go the whole way, go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and then you will have riches in heaven; and come, follow me.' 22 When the young man heard this, he went away with a heavy heart; for he was a man of great wealth.
23 Jesus said to his disciples, 'I tell you this: a rich man will find it hard to enter the kingdom of Heaven. 24 I repeat, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.' 25 The disciples were amazed to hear this. 'Then who can be saved?' they asked. 26 Jesus looked them in the face, and said, 'For men this is impossible; but everything is possible for God.'
27 At this Peter said, 'Here are we who left everything to become your followers. What will there be for us?' 28 Jesus replied, 'I tell you this: in the world that is to be, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne in heavenly splendour, you my followers will have thrones of your own, where you will sit as judges of the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And anyone who has left brothers or sisters, father, mother, or children, land or houses for the sake of my name will be repaid many times over, and gain eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
1 'The kingdom of Heaven is like this. There was once a landowner who went out early one morning to hire labourers for his vineyard; 2 and after agreeing to pay them the usual day's wage he sent them off to work. 3 Going out three hours later he saw some more men standing idle in the market-place. 4 "Go and join the others in the vineyard," he said, "and I will pay you a fair wage"; so off they went. 5 At noon he went out again, and at three in the afternoon, and made the same arrangement as before. 6 An hour before sunset he went out and found another group standing there; so he said to them, "Why are you standing about like this all day with nothing to do?" 7 "Because no one has hired us", they replied; so he told them, "Go and join the others in the vineyard." 8 When evening fell, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, "Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with those who came last and ending with the first." 9 Those who had started work an hour before sunset came forward, and were paid the full day's wage. 10 When it was the turn of the men who had come first, they expected something extra, but were paid the same amount as the others. 11 As they took it, they grumbled at their employer: 12 "These late-comers have done only one hour's work, yet you have put them on a level with us, who have sweated the whole day long in the blazing sun!" 13 The owner turned to one of them and said, "My friend, I am not being unfair to you. You agreed on the usual wage for the day, did you not? 14 Take your pay and go home. I choose to pay the last man the same as you. 15 Surely I am free to do what I like with my own money. Why be jealous because I am kind?" 16 Thus will the last be first, and the first last.'