Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

¹sOn a Sabbath,1 while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples tplucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. ²But some of the Pharisees said, u“Why are you doing vwhat is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” ³And Jesus answered them, w“Have you not read xwhat David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴how he entered the house of God and took and ate ythe bread of the Presence, ywhich is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” ⁵And he said to them, z“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

⁶On another Sabbath, ahe entered the synagogue band was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷And the scribes and the Pharisees cwatched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, dso that they might find a reason to accuse him. ⁸But ehe knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. ⁹And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, fis it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰And gafter looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And hhe did so, and his hand was restored. ¹¹But they were filled with ifury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles

¹²In these days jhe went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. ¹³And when day came, khe called his disciples land mchose from them twelve, whom he named napostles: ¹⁴Simon, owhom he named Peter, and pAndrew his brother, and pJames and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, ¹⁵and qMatthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called rthe Zealot, ¹⁶and sJudas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

¹⁷And the came down with them and stood on a level place, with ua great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of vTyre and Sidon, ¹⁸who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. wAnd those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. ¹⁹And all the crowd xsought to touch him, for ypower came out from him and healed them all.

The Beatitudes

²⁰And zhe lifted up his eyes on his disciples, aand said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for byours is the kingdom of God.

²¹c“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

d“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

²²“Blessed are you when epeople hate you and when they fexclude you and revile you and gspurn your name as evil, hon account of the Son of Man! ²³iRejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for jso their fathers did to the prophets.

Jesus Pronounces Woes

²⁴k“But woe to you who are rich, lfor you mhave received your consolation.

²⁵“Woe to you who are full now, for nyou shall be hungry.

“Woe to oyou who laugh now, ofor you shall mourn and weep.

²⁶“Woe to you, pwhen all people speak well of you, for qso their fathers did to rthe false prophets.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷“But I say to you who hear, sLove your enemies, tdo good to those who hate you, ²⁸ubless those who curse you, spray for those who abuse you. ²⁹vTo one who wstrikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic2 either. ³⁰xGive to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹And yas you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

³²z“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴And aif you blend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵But clove your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and dyou will be sons of ethe Most High, for fhe is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ³⁶gBe merciful, even as hyour Father is merciful.

Judging Others

³⁷ij“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; jforgive, and you will be forgiven; ³⁸kgive, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put linto your lap. For mwith the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

³⁹He also told them a parable: n“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰oA disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is pfully trained will be like his teacher. ⁴¹iWhy do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but qdo not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴²How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³“For rno good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, ⁴⁴for seach tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ⁴⁵tThe good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces uevil, vfor out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Build Your House on the Rock

⁴⁶w“Why xdo you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? ⁴⁷yEveryone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: ⁴⁸he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.3 ⁴⁹zBut the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and athe ruin of that house was great.”

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Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant

¹After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, bhe entered Capernaum. ²Now a centurion had a servant1 who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. ³When the centurion2 heard about Jesus, che sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, d“He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us eour synagogue.” ⁶And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, fdo not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But gsay the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹When Jesus heard these things, hhe marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such ifaith.” ¹⁰And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Jesus Raises a Widow's Son

¹¹Soon afterward3 he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹²As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, jthe only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³And when the Lord saw her, khe had compassion on her and lsaid to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴Then he came up and touched mthe bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, narise.” ¹⁵And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus4 ogave him to his mother. ¹⁶Fear seized them all, and pthey glorified God, saying, q“A great prophet has arisen among us!” and r“God has visited his people!” ¹⁷And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

¹⁸stThe disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one uwho is to come, or vshall we look for another?” ²⁰And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one uwho is to come, or vshall we look for another?’” ²¹In that hour whe healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and xon many who were blind he bestowed sight. ²²And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: ythe blind receive their sight, the lame walk, zlepers5 are cleansed, and athe deaf hear, bthe dead are raised up, cthe poor have good news preached to them. ²³And blessed is the one who is dnot offended by me.”

²⁴When John's messengers had gone, Jesus6 began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out einto the wilderness to see? fA reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. ²⁶What then did you go out to see? gA prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷This is he of whom it is written,

h“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way before you.’

²⁸I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹(iWhen all the people heard this, and jthe tax collectors too, they declared God just,7 jhaving been baptized with kthe baptism of John, ³⁰lbut the Pharisees and mthe lawyers nrejected othe purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

³¹“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

³³For John the Baptist has come peating no bread and qdrinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴The Son of Man has come reating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, sa friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵Yet twisdom is justified by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

³⁶uOne of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table.

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