1 A GROUP OF PHARISEES, with some doctors of the law who had come from Jerusalem, met him 2 and noticed that some of his disciples were eating their food with 'defiled' hands-in other words, without washing them. 3 (For the Pharisees and the Jews in general never eat without washing the hands, in obedience to an old-established tradition; 4 and on coming from the market-place they never eat without first washing. And there are many other points on which they have a traditional rule to maintain, for example, washing of cups and jugs and copper bowls.) 5 Accordingly, these Pharisees and the lawyers asked him, 'Why do your disciples not conform to the ancient tradition, but eat their food with defiled hands?' 6 He answered, 'Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites in these words: "This people pays me lip-service, but their heart is far from me: 7 their worship of me is in vain, for they teach as doctrines the commandments of men." 8 You neglect the commandment of God, in order to maintain the tradition of men.'
9 He also said to them, 'How well you set aside the commandment of God in order to maintain your tradition! 10 Moses said, "Honour your father and your mother", and, "The man who curses his father or mother must suffer death." 11 But you hold that if a man says to his father or mother, "Anything of mine which might have been used for your benefit is Corban"' (meaning, set apart for God), 12 'he is no longer permitted to do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus by your own tradition, handed down among you, you make God's word null and void. And many other things that you do are just like that.'
14 On another occasion he called the people and said to them, 'Listen to me, all of you, and understand this: 15 nothing that goes into a man from outside can defile him; no, it is the things that come out of him that defile a man.' 16 Some manuscripts here add: 'If you have ears to hear, then hear.'
17 When he had left the people and gone indoors, his is disciples questioned him about the parable. 18 He said to them, 'Are you as dull as the rest? Do you not see that nothing that goes from outside into a man can 19 defile him, because it does not enter into his heart but into his stomach, and so passes out into the drain?' 20 Thus he declared all foods clean. He went on, 'It is what comes out of a man that denies him. 21 For from inside, out of a man's heart, come evil thoughts, acts of fornication, of theft, murder, 22 adultery, ruthless greed, and malice; fraud, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly; 23 these evil things all come from inside, and they defile the man.'
24 Then he left that place and went away into the territory of Tyre. He found a house to stay in, and he would have liked to remain unrecognized, but this was impo 25 Almost at once a woman whose young daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard of him, came in, and fell at his feet. 26 (She was a Gentile, a Phoenician of Syria by nationality.) She begged him to drive the spirit out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, 'Let the children be satisfied first; it is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.' 28 'Sir,' she answered, 'even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps.' 29 He said to her, 'For saying that, you may go home content; the unclean spirit has gone out of your daughter.' 30 And when she returned home, she found the child lying in bed; the spirit had left her.
31 On his return journey from Tyrian territory he went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee through the territory of the Ten Towns. 32 They brought to him a man who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, with the request that he would lay his hand on him. 33 He took the man aside, away from the crowd, put his fingers into his ears, spat, and touched his tongue. 34 Then, looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, 'Ephphatha', which means 'Be opened.' 35 With that his ears were opened, and at the same time the impediment was removed and he spoke plainly. 36 Jesus forbade them to tell anyone; but the more he forbade them, the more they published it. 37 Their astonishment knew no bounds: 'All that he does, he does well,' they said; 'he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.'
1 THERE WAS ANOTHER OCCASION about this time when a huge crowd had collected, and, as they had no food, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, 2 'I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home unfed, they will turn faint on the way; some of them have come from a distance.' 4 The disciples answered, 'How can anyone provide all these people with bread in this lonely place?' 5 'How many loaves have you?' he asked; and they answered, 'Seven.' 6 So he ordered the people to sit down on the ground; then he took the seven loaves, and, after giving thanks to God, he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples to distribute; and they served it out to the people. 7 They had also a few small fishes, which she blessed and ordered them to distribute. 8 They all ate to their hearts' content, and seven baskets were filled with the scraps that were left. 9 The people numbered about four thousand. 10 Then he dismissed them; and, without delay, got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
11 Then the Pharisees came out and engaged him in discussion. 12 To test him they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply to himself and said, 'Why does this generation ask for a sign? I tell you this: no sign shall be given to this generation.' 13 With that he left them, re-embarked, and went off to the other side of the lake.
14 Now they had forgotten to take bread with them; they had no more than one loaf in the boat. 15 He began to warn them: 'Beware,' he said, 'be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.' 16 They said among themselves, 'It is because we have no bread.' 17 Knowing what was in their minds, he asked them, 'Why do you talk about having no bread? Have you no inkling yet? Do you still not is understand? Are your minds closed? 18 You have eyes: can you not see? You have ears: can you not hear? Have you forgotten? 19 When I broke the five loaves among five thousand, how many basketfuls of scraps did you pick up?' 'Twelve', they said. 20 'And how many when I broke the seven loaves among four thousand?' 21 They answered, 'Seven.' He said, 'Do you still not understand?'
22 They arrived at Bethsaida. There the people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him away out of the village. Then he' spat on his eyes, laid his hands upon him, and asked whether he could see anything. 24 The man's sight began to come back, and he said, 'I see men; they look like trees, but they are walking about.' 25 Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; he looked hard, and now he was cured so that he saw everything clearly. 26 Then Jesus sent him home, saying, 'Do not tell anyone in the village.'
27 JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, 'Who do men say I am ?' 28 They answered, 'Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others one of the prophets.' 29 'And you,' he asked, 'who do you say I am?' Peter replied: 'You are the Messiah.' 30 Then he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him; 31 and he began to teach them that the Son of Man had to undergo great sufferings, and to be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and doctors of the law; to be put to death, and to rise again three days afterwards. 32 He spoke about it plainly. At this Peter took him by the arm and began to rebuke him. 33 But Jesus turned round, and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter. 'Away with you, Satan,' he said; 'you think as men think, not as God thinks.'
34 Then he called the people to him, as well as his disciples, and said to them, 'Anyone who wishes to be a follower of mine must leave self behind; he must take up his cross, and come with me. 35 Whoever cares for his own safety is lost; but if a man will let himself be lost for my sake and for the Gospel, that man is safe. 36 What does a man gain by winning the whole world at the cost of his true self? 37 What can he give to buy that self back? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and mine in this wicked and godless age, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father and of the holy angels.'
1 He also said, 'I tell you this: there are some of those standing here who will not taste death before they have seen the kingdom of God already come in power.' 2 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain where they were alone; and in their presence he was transfigured; 3 his clothes became dazzling white, with a whiteness no bleacher on earth could equal. 4 They saw Elijah appear, and Moses with him, and there they were, conversing with Jesus. 5 Then Peter spoke: 'Rabbi,' he said, 'how good it is that we are here! Shall we make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah?' 6 (For he did not know what to say; they were so terrified.) 7 Then a cloud appeared, casting its shadow over them, and out of the cloud came a voice: 'This is my Son, my Beloved; listen to him.' 8 And now suddenly, when they looked around, there was nobody to be seen but Jesus alone with themselves.
9 On their way down the mountain, he enjoined them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They seized upon those words, and discussed among themselves what this 'rising from the dead' could mean. 11 And they put a question to him: 'Why do our teachers say that Elijah must be the first to come?' 12 He replied, 'Yes, Elijah does come first to set everything right. Yet how is it that the scriptures say of the Son of Man that he is to endure great sufferings and to be treated with contempt? 13 However, I tell you, Elijah has already come and they have worked their will upon him, as the scriptures say of him.'
14 When they came back to the disciples they saw a large crowd surrounding them and lawyers arguing is with them. 15 As soon as they saw Jesus the whole crowd were overcome with awe, and they ran forward to welcome him. 16 He asked them, 'What is this argument about?' 17 A man in the crowd spoke up: 'Master, I brought my son to you. He is possessed by a spirit which makes him speechless. 18 Whenever it attacks him, is it dashes him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes rigid. I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they failed.' 19 Jesus answered: 'What an unbelieving and perverse generation! How long shall I be with you? How long must I endure you? Bring him to me.' 20 So they brought the boy to him; and as soon as the spirit saw him it threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell on the ground and rolled about foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked his father, 'How long has he been like this?' 'From childhood,' 22 he replied; 'often it has tried to make an end of him by throwing him into the fire or into water. But if it is at all possible for you, take pity upon us and help us.' 23 'If it is possible!' said Jesus. 'Everything is possible to one who has faith.' 24 'I have faith,' cried the boy's father; 'help me where faith falls short.' 25 Jesus saw then that the crowd was closing in upon them, so he rebuked the unclean spirit. 'Deaf and dumb spirit.' he said, 'I command you, come out of him and never go back!' 26 After crying aloud and racking him fiercely, it came out; and the boy looked like a corpse; in fact, many said, 'He is dead.' 27 But Jesus took his hand and raised him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 Then Jesus went indoors, and his disciples asked him privately, 'Why could not we cast it out?' 29 He said, 'There is no means of casting out this sort but prayer.'
30 THEY NOW LEFT that district and made a journey so through Galilee. Jesus wished it to be kept secret; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, and telling them, 'The Son of Man is now to be given up into the power of men, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.' 32 But they did not understand what he said, and were afraid to ask.
33 So they came to Capernaum; and when he was indoors, he asked them, 'What were you arguing about on the way?' 34 They were silent, because on the way they had been discussing who was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, 'If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.' 36 Then he took a child, set him in front of them, and put his arm round him. 37 'Whoever receives one of these children in my name', he said, 'receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.'
38 John said to him, 'Master, we saw a man driving out devils in your name, and as he was not one of us, we tried to stop him.' 39 Jesus said, 'Do not stop him; no one who does a work of divine power in my name will be able in the same breath to speak evil of me. 40 For he who is not against us is on our side. 41 I tell you this: if anyone gives you a cup of water to drink because you are followers of the Messiah, that man assuredly will not go unrewarded.
42 'As for the man who leads astray one of these little ones who have faith, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone round his neck. 43 If your hand is your undoing, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life maimed than to keep both hands and go to hell and the unquenchable fire." 44 Some manuscripts add: where the devouring worm never dies and the fire is not quenched. 45 And if it is your foot that leads you astray, cut it off; it is better to enter into life a cripple than to keep both your feet and be thrown i nto hell. 46 Some manuscripts add: where the devouring worm never dies and the fire is not quenched. 47 And if it is your eye, tear it out; it is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where the devouring worm never dies and the fire is not quenched.
49 'For everyone will be salted with fire.
50 'Salt is a good thing; but if the salt loses its saltness, what will you season it with?
'Have salt in yourselves; and be at peace with one another.'
1 ON LEAVING THOSE PARTS he came into the regions of Judaea and Transjordan; and when a crowd gathered round him once again, he followed his usual practice and taught them. 2 The question was put to him: 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?' This was to test him. 3 He asked in return, 'What did Moses command you?' 4 They answered, 'Moses permitted a man to divorce his wife by note of dismissal.' 5 Jesus said to them, 'It was because you were so unteachable that he made this rule for you; 6 but in the beginning, at the creation. God made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be made one with his wife; 8 and the two shall become one flesh. It follows that they are no longer two individuals: they are one flesh. 9 What God has joined together, man must not separate.'
10 When they were indoors again the disciples questioned him about this matter; 11 he said to them, 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her: 12 so too, if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.'
13 They brought children for him to touch; and the disciples scolded them for it. 14 But when Jesus saw this he was indignant, and said to them, 'Let the children come to me; do not try to stop them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.' 16 And he put his arms round them, laid his hands upon "them, and blessed them.
17 As he was starting out on a journey, a stranger ran up, and, kneeling before him, asked, 'Good Master, is what must I do to win eternal life?' 18 Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: "Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not give false evidence; do not defraud; honour your father and mother." ' 20 'But, Master,' he replied, 'I have kept all these since I was a boy.' 21 Jesus looked straight at him; his heart warmed to him, and he said, 'One thing you lack: go, sell everything you have, and give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; and come, follow me.' 22 At these words his face fell and he went away with a heavy heart; for he was a man of great wealth.
23 Jesus looked round at his disciples and said to them, 'How hard it will be for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!' 24 They were amazed that he should say this, but Jesus insisted, 'Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 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.' 26 They were more astonished than ever, and said to one another, 'Then who can be saved ?' 27 Jesus looked them in the face and said, 'For men it is impossible, but not for God; to God everything is possible.'
28 At this Peter spoke. 'We here', he said, 'have left everything to become your followers.' 29 Jesus said, 'I tell you this: there is no one who has given up home, brothers or sisters, mother, father or children, or land, for my sake and for the Gospel, 30 who will not receive in this age a hundred times as much-houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and land - and persecutions besides; and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last and the last first.'