Harmony of the Gospel (Conservative Version) longer form Chapters 8-14
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Contents
Eight
| Chapter 8 | Bible texts |
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| This is John’s testimony, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” he declared, and did not deny, but he declared, “I am not the Christ.”
They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” (They asked this because it is written, Moses said,
They said therefore to him, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” The ones who had been sent were from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why then do you baptize, if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, who is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loosen.” These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’ I did not know him, but for this reason I came baptizing with water: that he would be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. I did not recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending and remaining on him is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his followers, his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour (which is about four o'clock in the afternoon, sixteen hundred hours military time). One of the two who heard John and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ, Anointed). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter, being interpreted Rock: both Cephas in Aramaic and Peter in Greek mean Rock or Stone). On the next day, he was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I told you, ‘I saw you underneath the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these!” And He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you all, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” The third day, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’s mother was there. Jesus also was invited, with his followers, his disciples, to the wedding: Jesus, Peter, John, Andrew, Philip, and Nathanael, six. When the wine ran out, Jesus’s mother said to him, “They have no wine.” (No more wine for the marriage feast would shame and disgrace the bridegroom, the bride, and their families. Remember the word that Isaiah spoke, that his virgin mother would conceive and bear a son, and call him Emmanuel, which means, God with us. She therefore interceded in saying to Jesus, “They have no wine.”) Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with you and me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.” Now there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews’ way of purifying, containing two or three firkins or metretes apiece, each holding twenty or thirty gallons, a total volume of one hundred twenty to one hundred eighty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the water pots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the ruler of the feast.” So they took it. When the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the ruler of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the guests have drunk freely, then that which is worse. You have kept the good wine to now!” This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. After this, he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, his brethren, and his disciples; and they stayed there a few days. |
John 1:19-21 Deuteronomy 18:15-19 John 1:22–2:3 Isaiah 7:14 John 2:4-12 Compare
List of 300 Septuagint Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, by Steve Rudd 2017 (bible.ca) Table of LXX quotes and allusions in the New Testament The Works of Flavius Josephus William Whiston, Translator, 1737 (sacred-texts.com) Sextus Aurelius Victor: Epitome De Caesaribus (roman-emperors.org) Eutropius: Breviarium - Eutropius's Abridgement of Roman History (tertullian.org) Cassius Dio: Roman History Epitome (penelope.uchicago.edu) Early Christian Writings A.D. 30 through 380 (earlychristianwritings.com)
"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
"tenth hour of the day"
"Nathanael"
"On the third day".
"invited to the marriage, with his disciples".
"interceded"
"Woman, what does that have to do with you and me?"
"firkins" and "metretes".
"signs"
"glory"
"and his brethren"
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Compare the Conservative Bible text (conservapedia.com):
And this is the testimony John gave to the priests and Levites, who had been sent by the Jews from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" And John did not deny who he was, but confessed, and told them, he was not Christ. And they asked him, "Then what are you? Elijah?" And he said, "I am not." They asked, "Are you another prophet?" And he answered, "No." So they said to him, "Who are you, what shall we tell the people who sent us. What have you to say for yourself?" He said, "I am the voice crying in the wilderness, 'Straighten out the path of the Lord,' just as the prophet Isaiah said." And so they asked him, "Why do you baptize people, if you are not Christ, nor Elijah, nor another prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water, but there is one among you who you do not know," "and it is he, who is coming after me, who existed prior to me, whose shoe's laces I am not worthy to untie." These things happened in Bethabara, beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.
The next day, John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, which lifts and carries away the sin of the world." This is the man I have spoken of when I said, "After me will come a man who existed prior to me, for he was before me. I did not know who he was, yet I have come to baptize with water so that He could be revealed to Israel." And John testified "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove out of heaven, and it stayed upon Jesus." "I did not recognize him at first, but he who sent me to baptize, he said to me, 'The man whom you will see the Spirit descend upon, and remain on, that man is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'" "I saw these things, and testify that this is the Son of God." The next day, John stood again with two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, "Behold! The Lamb of God!" And the two disciples heard this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned, and saw them following him, and said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to him, "Rabbi, where do you live?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came, and saw where he lived, and stayed with him that day, for it was 10 o'clock. One of these two disciples, who had heard John speak, and followed Jesus, was Andrew, brother of Simon Peter. He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah, the Christ!" Andrew brought Simon Peter to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, "You are Simon, son of Jonah: you shall be called Cephas, the rock (Peter)."
The following day, Jesus went forth into Galilee, and finding Phillip, he said to him, "Follow me." Phillip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Phillip found Nathaniel, and said to him, "We have found him, him of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph." Nathaniel said to Phillip, "Can any good thing come from Nazareth?" Phillip replied, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and said of him, "Look! An Israelite indeed, who is incapable of deceit." Nathaniel said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered, saying "Before that Phillip called upon you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathaniel answered and said, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel." Jesus replied to him, "Because I said to you, 'I saw you under the fig tree,' you believe? You shall see greater things than this." And Jesus continued to Nathaniel, "Truly I tell you, you shall yet see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son, a human being."
Two days later, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus, and his disciples, were invited to the wedding. When they wedding party wanted wine, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." Jesus said to her, "Dear woman, it is not my time yet. How is this any of our concern?" His mother said to the servants, "Do what he tells you to do." So there were placed six large stone pots, used for washing at Jewish feasts, and these could contain about twenty gallons each. And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, "Carry them out now to the host of this feast." And so they did. When the host of the wedding feast tasted the water, it had been made into wine, and he did not know where the wine had come from (though the servants knew), and so the host of the wedding feast called the groom, And said to him, "One usually serves his good wine at the beginning of a feast, and when all have drank their fill, then his cheaper wine. But you have kept your good wine for last!" This was the first of the miracles Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and by doing showed his glory, and so his disciples believed in him.
After this, he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and brothers and disciples. They stayed there for only a few days.
Nine
| Chapter 9 | Bible texts |
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| The Passover of the Jews was at hand, the days of Unleavened Bread, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the Temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. He made a whip of cords, and threw all out of the Temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers’ money and overthrew their tables. To those who sold the doves, he said, “Take these things out of here! Do not make my Father’s house a marketplace!”
His disciples remembered that it was written,
The Jews therefore answered him, “What sign do you show us, seeing that you do these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews therefore said, “It took forty-six years to build this Temple! Will you raise it up in three days?” But he spoke of the Temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his followers, his disciples remembered that he said this, and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in his name, observing his signs which he did. But Jesus did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people everywhere, and because he did not need for anyone to testify concerning mankind; for he himself knew what was in man. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a Teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see God’s Kingdom.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter into God’s Kingdom. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the Teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things? Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we have seen, and you do not receive our witness. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” After these things, Jesus came with his disciples, Peter, John, Andrew, Philip, and Nathanael, into the land of Judea. He stayed there with them and baptized. John also was baptizing in Enon near Salim, because there was much water there. They came, and were baptized; for John was not yet thrown into prison. Therefore a dispute arose on the part of John’s followers with some Jews about purification. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, he baptizes, and everyone is coming to him.” John answered, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This, my joy, therefore is made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.” But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done, added this also to them all, that he shut up John in prison. For Herod himself had sent out and arrested John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. For John said to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her”; for he had married her. For John said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” When he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him, but she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. When he heard him, he did many things, and he heard him gladly. Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more followers, more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples), when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he left Judea and departed into Galilee. He needed to pass through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. As it is written,
Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. It was about the sixth hour of the day, about noon, twelve hundred hours military time. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. So where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his children and his livestock?” Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I do not get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. You worship that which you do not know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes, he who is called Christ. When he has come, he will declare to us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I AM, the one who speaks to you.” At this, his disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, “What are you looking for?” or, “Why do you speak with her?” So the woman left her water pot, went away into the city, and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the city, and were coming to him. In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” The disciples therefore said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months before the harvest?’ Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already. He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.” After the two days he went out from there and went into Galilee. Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. He withdrew into Galilee, for Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went to the feast. Jesus came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water into wine. There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him, and begged him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.” The nobleman said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way. As he was now going down, his servants met him and reported, saying “Your child lives!” So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. They said therefore to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him.” The seventh hour is one o'clock in the afternoon, thirteen hundred hours military time. So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” He believed, as did his whole house. This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judea into Galilee. And news about him spread through all the surrounding area. He Taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. |
John 2:13–3:12 John 3:22-30 Luke 3:19-20 Matthew 14:3 Mark 6:17 Matthew 14:4 Mark 6:18 Matthew 14:5 Mark 6:19-20 John 4:1-2 Matthew 4:12a when Jesus heard that John was delivered up John 4:3-5 Genesis 48:22 John 4:6a, 8, 6b-7, 9-43 Matthew 4:12b he withdrew into Galilee John 4:44-46 Luke 4:14a John 4:47-54 —LXX Wisdom 8:8; 1:2-3; 13:8-9 Luke 4:14b-15 Compare
List of 300 Septuagint Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, by Steve Rudd 2017 (bible.ca) Table of LXX quotes and allusions in the New Testament The Works of Flavius Josephus William Whiston, Translator, 1737 (sacred-texts.com) Sextus Aurelius Victor: Epitome De Caesaribus (roman-emperors.org) Eutropius: Breviarium - Eutropius's Abridgement of Roman History (tertullian.org) Cassius Dio: Roman History Epitome (penelope.uchicago.edu) Early Christian Writings A.D. 30 through 380 (earlychristianwritings.com)
"[born] anew"
John 3:13-21, 31-36
"living water"
"I AM [he], the one who is speaking to you."
"Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe."
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Compare the Conservative Bible text (conservapedia.com):
When the Jews' passover was at hand, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers, all sitting. Jesus made a whip out of small ropes, and drove all these people out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen, and poured out the money changers' money, and knocked over the tables. And said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of business." And his disciples remembered that it was written, "The zeal of your house has eaten me up." The Jews responded to Jesus, "What sign can you show to us, that might justify your actions to us?" Jesus answered, saying, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will rebuild it." Then the Jews said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you would rebuild it in three days?" But He meant the temple of his body. That is why, when He was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them, and they believed the scripture, and the things which Jesus had said. When He was in Jerusalem at passover, on the feast day, many believed in Him superficially, when they saw the miracles which He did. But Jesus himself had no confidence in them, because he understood all people, and did not need anyone to explain to him what people are like. He already knew.
There was a man from the Pharisees by the name of Nicodemus, who was a leader of the Jews: This man came to Jesus at night, and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent from God: for no man could do the miracles that you do, unless God was with him." Jesus answered him, saying "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a person be born when he is old? Can he enter again into his mother's womb, and be reborn?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born from water and from the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born from flesh, is flesh; but that which is born from the Spirit is spirit. So you should not be surprised that I say to you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it likes, and you may hear the sound of it, but you cannot say where it originated nor where it will end up: this is how it is for everyone born from the Spirit." Nicodemus replied, saying to Him, "How can these things be true?" Jesus answered, saying to him, "You are a teacher of Israel and you do not know these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, that we speak of things we know, and speak of things we have seen, and yet you do not believe us. I have told you of earthly things, and you do not believe me. How, then, will you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? No man has gone up to heaven except He that came down from heaven - the Son, a human being. As Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, just in this way must the Son, a human being, be lifted up, That he who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the people of the world that He gave His Only Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son to mankind to condemn it, but to save it. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the condemnation: that light came into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light, because their actions were evil. For all those who do evil things hate the light, and avoid coming to the light, to avoid judgment of their actions. But he who lives the Truth walks within the light, so that his actions may be clearly seen, because they have been done through God." After these things, Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea, and there he met with them, and baptized. And John was also baptizing, in Aenon, near Salim, because there was a good deal of water there, and they came, and were baptized. This was when John had not yet been imprisoned. There arose a question between some of John's disciples, and the rest of the Jews, about purification. So they came to John, and said, "Rabbi, he that was with you beyond Jordan, to whom you bore witness, now he is baptizing, and all the men are going to him." John answered them, saying, "Everything that a person receives is given to him from heaven. You yourselves can verify that I said I was not the Christ, but the one who precedes Him. The one who has the bride is the groom, but the best man, who stands by him and hears him, rejoices because of the grooms voice: this is why I am now joyed. He must continue to increase, and I must continue to decrease. Jesus, who comes from above is above all, while I who am of the Earth am earthly, and my words are not from Heaven. God is above all." And what He has seen and hears He is continuing to testify; but nobody receives His testimony. Whoever who fully accepted His testimony gave a stamp of approval to this: that God is truth. For the One God sent speaks the very words of God, because God did not give Him just a portion of the Spirit. The Father loves the Son, and has given Him authority over everything. He who thoroughly believes in the Son has eternal life, while he who does not believe in the Son will not, but will instead face the full anger of God.
Herod the governor, having been reprimanded by John for his immoral marriage to Herodias, his brother Philip's wife and for all the other evils he had done Added an even greater sin by shutting John up in prison.
Herod Antipas had earlier had John arrested, put under restraint, and put in prison for the sake of Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip,
For it had been Herod who had sent his men to capture and imprison John on account of his brother Philip's wife, Herodias, who he had married.
because John used to tell him, "You may not have her for a wife."
John used to tell Herod, "It is against the law for you to marry your brother's wife."
He wanted to have him executed, but he was afraid of the crowd, because they considered him a prophet.
And so Herodias was hostile to John, and she would have killed him had she been able. Herod actually was afraid of John, realizing that he was a just and holy man, and followed John's preaching closely. Herod couldn't always understand what John said, but he was glad to listen.
As soon as the Lord perceived that the Pharisees had found out that Jesus now had made and baptized more disciples than John, (although Jesus did not do the actual baptizing Himself; His disciples did that), He left Judea, and went back into Galilee,
Now when Jesus had heard that John had been arrested,
He left Judea, and went back into Galilee, but to get there, He had to pass through Samaria. During this trip he stopped at the Samarian city of Sychar, near a plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
"And I have given you the mountain-slope ahead of your brothers, the slope I captured from the Amorites with my sword and my bow."
Jacob's well was there, so at about six o'clock in the evening, as Jesus, who was tired from the journey, was sitting wearily at the well,
(for His disciples had gone into the city to buy food).
a Samaritan woman arrives to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Could you give me something to drink?"
The Samaritan woman answered him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for something to drink? Jews do not associate in any way with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, If you had perceived the gift of God, and who it is that said to you, 'Could you give me something to drink', you would have asked him and he would give you living water. The woman responded to him, "Sir, you do not even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where are you getting the living water?" Are you greater than our forefather Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his cattle? Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks from this well-water will get thirsty again. Not only will whoever drinks from the water that I give him never get thirsty again, but that water will become a fountain gushing up inside of him forever. And the woman says to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will neither thirst nor have to come back here to draw water again. Jesus says to her, "Return to the city, call your husband, and then come back here." The woman answered and said, "I do not have a husband." Jesus responded, "Your response, that you have no husband, was an honest one." "Because you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. In that, you spoke truthfully." The woman responded to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our forefathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. Jesus says to her, "Dear woman, believe me that the hour is coming when you Samaritans will not worship the Father in either this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans do not know what you are worshiping. We Jews know what we are worshiping, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, in fact, it's already here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in both spirit and truth, for these are the kind of worshipers the Father really wants. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. The woman responded, "I know that the Messiah, also called Christ, is coming; when He comes, He will reveal everything to us." Jesus said to her, "I, the one speaking to you, am he." At that very moment his disciples arrived and were astonished that he spoke with a woman, but no one dared ask "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking to her?" The woman just dropped her bucket, rushed back into the city and told the people, "Come and see a man who described to me everything I have ever done. Could this be Christ? Then they went out of the city and were heading toward him. While this was going on, His disciples were begging Him, saying, "Rabbi, you must eat." But He responded to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is dedicating my life to doing the will of the one who sent me and completing His work. Don't you say, 'there are still four more months until the coming harvest?' Well, I say to you, 'open your eyes and look around, for the fields are ready for harvest now.' And the one harvesting receives wages as well as gathering fruit into eternal life so that both the one planting and the one harvesting may rejoice together. 'One plants and another harvests' is an accurate saying in this situation. I sent you to harvest a crop from a field you did not work; others have worked those fields, and you are benefiting from their hard work. And many of the Samaritans from that city believed in Him because of the account of the woman, who testified that, "He told me every single thing I did." So when the Samaritans came to Him, they begged Him to be their guest for a while, and so He stayed there for two days. Many more believed because of His preaching, and they said to the woman, "Our faith is no longer because of what you were saying, but because we have heard Him for ourselves, and we now know that this man is truly the Christ, the Savior of the world." After spending two days there, He left and went on to Galilee.
he went away into Galilee;
All of this was because of what Jesus Himself confirmed, that a prophet is not valued in his own town. In contrast to Judea, when He went into Galilee, the Galileans accepted Him, because they had gone to the feast and had seen for themselves all the things He did in Jerusalem during the feast.
Jesus then returned with the power of God to Galilee,
So Jesus arrived once again in Cana of Galilee, the place where He made the water wine. There was, at this time, a government official in Capernaum whose son was sick. When the official heard that Jesus was arriving from Judea to Galilee, he sought Him out and begged Him to come to Capernaum and heal his son, because he was close to death. Then Jesus snapped at him, "Unless you people see miracles and signs, you will never believe." The nobleman responded to Him, "Sir, please come before my child dies." Jesus said to him, "Go home. Your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and started for home. Not long after this, as he was traveling, his servants ran into him and reported, saying, "Your son lives." So he asked them the precise moment when he began to feel better, and they told him, "His fever broke yesterday, at 1 pm." Then the father realized that this was the same moment when Jesus said to him, "your son lives," so both he and his entire house believed. Now this was the second miracle Jesus did after returning from Judea to Galilee.
and his reputation spread throughout the region. Jesus taught in the synagogues, with the unique glory of God.
Ten
| Chapter 10 | Bible texts |
|---|---|
| Now after John was taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of God’s Kingdom, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.”
He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered, as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened the book, and found the place where it was written,
He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” All testified about him, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” He said to them, “Doubtless you will tell me this parable, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.’ ” He said, “Most certainly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But truly I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land. Elijah was sent to none of them, except to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed, except Naaman, the Syrian.” They were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things. They rose up, threw him out of the city, and led him up to the brow of the hill that their city was built on, that they might throw him off the cliff. But he, passing through the middle of them, went his way—the greatest among them could not grasp him, they could not hold him. Leaving Nazareth, he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, “Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” He was Teaching them on the Sabbath day, and they were astonished at his Teaching, for his word was with authority. Passing along by the sea of Galilee, walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon, two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. He, Jesus, said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you into fishers for men.” Immediately they left their nets, they immediately left their nets and followed him. Going on a little farther from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Immediately he called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father; they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him, and followed him. They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and Taught. They were astonished at his Teaching, for he Taught them as having authority, and not as the scribes. Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon, according to what is written, “To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work”; and he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Ah! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” When the demon had thrown him down in the middle of them, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, he, the unclean spirit, came out of him, having done him no harm. They were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new Teaching? For with authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” Amazement came on all, and they spoke together, one with another, saying, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” The report of him went out immediately everywhere. News about him went out into every place of the surrounding region, into all the region of Galilee and its surrounding area. Immediately, he rose up from the synagogue, and when they had come out of the synagogue, they came and entered into Simon's house, the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. (The house was next door to the synagogue.) Now Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him about her: Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a great fever, and they begged him for her. He came and stood over her and rebuked the fever, and took her by the hand, and raised her up; and it left her, the fever left her. Immediately she rose up, and she served them. When the sun was setting, at evening, when the sun had set, all those who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him; they brought to him all who were sick, and those who were possessed by demons. All the city was gathered together at the door. He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons, and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. Demons also came out of many, crying out, and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Rebuking them, he did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew him. He did not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ, the Anointed One of God. Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up; and when it was day, he departed and went out into an uninhabited place, a deserted place, and prayed there. Simon and those who were with him searched for him. They found him and told him, “Everyone is looking for you.” He said to them, “Let us go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because I came out for this reason.” And the multitudes looked for him, and came to him, and held on to him, so that he would not go away from them. But he said to them, “I must preach the good news of God’s Kingdom to the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent.” He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out demons. |
Mark 1:14-15 Luke 4:16-31a —LXX Isaiah 61:1 Matthew 4:13 Luke 4:31b Matthew 4:14-17 Luke 4:32 Matthew 4:18 Mark 1:16-17 Matthew 4:19 Mark 1:18 Matthew 4:20 Mark 1:19 Matthew 4:21 Mark 1:20 Matthew 4:22 Mark 1:21-24 Luke 4:33a Titus 1:15-16 Luke 4:33b-34 Mark 1:25 Luke 4:35 Mark 1:26-27 Luke 4:36-37 Mark 1:28-30 Luke 4:38-39 Mark 1:31 Luke 4:40 Mark 1:32-34a Luke 4:41 Mark 1:34b-35 Luke 4:42a Mark 1:36-38 Luke 4:42b-43 Mark 1:39 Compare
List of 300 Septuagint Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, by Steve Rudd 2017 (bible.ca) Table of LXX quotes and allusions in the New Testament The Works of Flavius Josephus William Whiston, Translator, 1737 (sacred-texts.com) Sextus Aurelius Victor: Epitome De Caesaribus (roman-emperors.org) Eutropius: Breviarium - Eutropius's Abridgement of Roman History (tertullian.org) Cassius Dio: Roman History Epitome (penelope.uchicago.edu) Early Christian Writings A.D. 30 through 380 (earlychristianwritings.com)
"what we have heard you did at Capernaum".
"the greatest among them could not grasp him, they could not hold him—(or, alternatively) the strongest among them were not able to hold him".
"have you come to destroy us?"
"(The house was next door to the synagogue.)"
|
Compare the Conservative Bible text (conservapedia.com):
He returned to his hometown of Nazareth and customarily went to the synagogue on the Sabbath. He rose to recite the reading. Jesus was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus opened it to the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is with me, because he has chosen me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the sorrowful and to preach freedom for the captives, and restore sight to the blind, to free those who have been subjugated, to preach in the Lord's favored year. Jesus closed the book and returned it to the minister, and sat down. But everyone in the synagogue was staring at Him. Jesus then declared, "This scripture was fulfilled by my reading it to you." The congregation marveled at His eloquent words. But then they murmured, "Isn't He merely Joseph's son?" Jesus replied, "You will surely surely this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself, and perform the works here that we heard you did in Capernaum.'" Jesus continued, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is believed in his hometown. To tell the truth, there were many widows in Israel during Elijah's era, when there was a drought for three and a half years and a terrible famine swept the land, yet God sent Elijah to none of the widows, except a woman in the city of Sarepta in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel during Elijah's time, yet none of them was cured, except Naaman the Syrian. But the congregation in the synagogue became furious at hearing this and they rose to expel him from the city, and took him to the edge of the city cliff in order to throw him off face down. But Jesus slipped through the crowd to continue his work. He arrived at Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught on the Sabbath days.
And leaving Nazareth, he came and settled in Capernaum, which is on the seacoast, near the border between the tribal lands of Zebulun and Naphthali, in order that the words might be fulfilled that were spoken by Isaiah the prophet, who said, "The land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphthali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan River, Galilee of the Gentiles; "The people that sat in darkness saw a great light; and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." From that moment Jesus began to preach, and to say, "Change your hearts, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
People marveled at His preaching, for His logic was compelling.
Now Jesus, as He walked by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew, as they were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
As He was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen, And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
And he told them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of people."
Dropping their nets at once, they followed him.
And immediately they left their fishing nets behind and followed Him.
When He had traveled a little further, He saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were also in their boat, mending their nets.
And going on from that place, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets; and He called them.
He called to them, and they left their father Zebedee and his crew aboard the boat, and went with Jesus.
And immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.
They went into Capernaum and as soon as He arrived He entered the synagogue on the holy day to teach. There, the listeners were astonished by his doctrine, for He taught as a man of great authority, not as a scribe. A man with an evil spirit was in the synagogue.
In the synagogue a man possessed with the devil
To the pure, all things are pure; but to them who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure: even their mind and their conscience are defiled. They claim they know God, but in their deeds they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and against every good thing.
shouted out in a loud voice, "Leave us alone! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy Son of God.
He shouted, "Leave us alone, Jesus of Nazareth, for we're none of your business. Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God."
Jesus then scolded the spirit, and said, "Stop moaning and pull out of him."
But Jesus reprimanded him, "Shut up and leave him." The devil then tossed the possessed man and left him, without hurting him.
The evil spirit was then ripped away from the possessed man, cried out in a loud voice, and left him. The bystanders were all amazed, and asked each other, "What is happening? Is this a new doctrine? He acted with authority in ordering the evil spirits, and they obeyed him!"
The crowd was completely amazed, and clamored, "What a message is this! With power and authority He ordered the spirits of the devil to leave, and they did. Jesus quickly became famous throughout the countryside.
The news about Jesus spread immediately throughout Galilee.
Next Jesus left the synagogue, and entered Simon's house.
As soon as Jesus's group left the synagogue, they entered the home of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
But Simon's mother-in-law was in bed sick with a fever, and Jesus was told.
Simon's mother-in-law had a high fever, and they sought Jesus for her.
Jesus stood over her, and ordered the fever to leave, and it did. Immediately she got up and waited on them.
So he came and, taking her by her hand, helped her stand up; and when she did the fever immediately passed, and she served the others.
By sunset, all the sick with a variety of diseases were brought to Him, and He cured all of them in laying His hands on each one.
At sundown the people brought to Jesus many sick people, and many demon-oppressed people, And all the city's people gathered at His door.
Jesus healed many who were diseased, and He threw out many demons; he commanded the demons to be silent, and they obeyed because they knew Jesus as God.
Meanwhile demons rushed out of many people, screaming, "You are Christ the Son of God!" But Jesus ordered them to shut up, because they knew He was Christ.
In the early morning, long before dawn, He left to pray by himself.
At the end of the day, Jesus left for a deserted place,
Simon and the others followed Him, And upon finding him they said, "Everyone is looking for You." Jesus replied, "Let us travel to the other towns, so I may preach in them too, for that is the reason I came."
but the people came after Him to be with Him, and kept Him from leaving them. So Jesus said to them, "I must preach the gospel to other towns too; this is my mission.
And he preached in the synagogues and threw out demons throughout Galilee.
Eleven
| Chapter 11 | Bible texts |
|---|---|
| He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. Jesus went about in all Galilee, Teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them.
While he was in one of the cities a leper came to him, begging him, kneeling down to him, and saying to him, “If you want to, you can make me clean.” Being moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him, “I want to. Be made clean.” When he had said this, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean. He strictly warned him, and immediately sent him out, and said to him, “See you say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.” But he went out, and began to proclaim it much, and to spread about the matter, so that Jesus could no more openly enter into a city, but was outside in desert places. People came to him from everywhere. Great multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and from beyond the Jordan followed him. Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his followers, his disciples came to him. He opened his mouth and Taught them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For most certainly, I tell you, before heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, before all things are accomplished. Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and Teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and Teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. “You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones,
"and
"But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna. “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are with him on the way; lest perhaps the prosecutor deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison. Most certainly I tell you, you shall by no means get out of there, before you have paid the last penny. “You have heard that it was said,
"but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna. If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna. “It was also said,
"but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery. “Again you have heard that it was said to the ancient ones,
"but I tell you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one. “You have heard that it was said,
"But I tell you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and do not turn away him who desires to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said,
"But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. “Be careful that you do not do your charitable alms-giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Therefore when you do merciful deeds, do not sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may get glory from men. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you do merciful deeds, do not let your left hand know what your right hand does, so that your merciful deeds may be in secret, then your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. “When you pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Most certainly, I tell you, they have received their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. In praying, do not use vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what things you need, before you ask him. Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Amen.’ “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. “Moreover when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces, that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. “It is more blessed to give than to receive. Do not lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves do not break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? See the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of much more value than they? “Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan? Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not toil, neither do they spin, yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient. “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the wooden beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye;’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye. “Do not give that which is holy to the dogs, neither throw your pearls before the pigs, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. Or who is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets. “Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it. How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree produces good fruit; but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit. A good tree cannot produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not grow good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’ Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’ “Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the multitudes were astonished at his Teaching, for he Taught them with authority, and not like the scribes. When he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. Behold, a leper came to him and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” |
Luke 4:44 Luke 5:12-15 Matthew 4:23-24 Mark 1:40-45 Matthew 4:25–6:18 Acts 20:35b Matthew 6:19–8:4 —LXX Sirach 29:11-12 Compare
List of 300 Septuagint Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, by Steve Rudd 2017 (bible.ca) Table of LXX quotes and allusions in the New Testament The Works of Flavius Josephus William Whiston, Translator, 1737 (sacred-texts.com) Sextus Aurelius Victor: Epitome De Caesaribus (roman-emperors.org) Eutropius: Breviarium - Eutropius's Abridgement of Roman History (tertullian.org) Cassius Dio: Roman History Epitome (penelope.uchicago.edu) Early Christian Writings A.D. 30 through 380 (earlychristianwritings.com)
"You are the light of the world"
"not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, before all things are accomplished."
"Raca / Raqa"
"You fool!"
"and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles".
"You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’"
"Give us today our daily bread."
Omission of the words "For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever."
"Do not lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth ... but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven"
"Mammon"
"Are you not of much more value than they?"
"Judge not"
"Therefore whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them ... Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
"When he came down from the mountain...a leper came to him"
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Compare the Conservative Bible text (conservapedia.com):
He then preached in the Galilean synagogues. (Luke 4:44 Conservative Bible. Compare RSVCE text of Luke 4:44: "And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.")
And Jesus traveled throughout the whole of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every kind of chronic illness and every kind of germ among the people. And the news of him spread throughout the whole of Syria (Province), and people brought to him the sick people having various diseases and torments, all demon-oppressed people, and mentally disturbed people, and paralyzed people, and He healed them. And great crowds of people followed Him from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea and from the far side of the Jordan River.
A leper came to him, kneeling and imploring him, saying, "If you wish it, please cure my illness." Jesus was moved by compassion, and putting out his hand to touch him, replied, "I will. Be cured." Immediately after Jesus had spoken, the leprosy departed the man, and he was cured. Jesus gave him strict orders to leave at once; And said to him, "Tell no one, but be on your way and show yourself to the priest, offering in thanks for your healing what Moses commanded. This will serve as testimony to others." But the cured man immediately announced to all what had happened, and the publicity made it impossible for Jesus to enter any city openly. He withdrew to the desert, but the people still came to him from everywhere.
After seeing the masses before Him, he ascended the Mountain, then He sat down. Those who were learning from Him, came to Him. He began His Torah to them, then, and said: Blessed are those who are not full of the themselves, for the Kingdom of heaven is theirs. Blessed are those who are grief-stricken, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the clean in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they that are persecuted for the sake of justice, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you, when men shall denounce you, and persecute you, and say everything evil against you (falsely), for My sake. Rejoice, and be very glad, because your reward is great in heaven: because they persecuted the prophets that came before you in the same manner. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has become bland, what shall it be salted with? It is then good for nothing, and fit only to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city cannot be hidden if it stands on a hill. And men do not light a candle and put it under a bushel basket, but on a candlestick; and it shines on everyone in the house. Let your light shine in this manner in front of people, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Do not think that I have come to tear down the law or the prophets. I have not come to tear these things down, but rather to fulfil them. For I tell you truly: Until heaven and earth, not one jot or tittle shall pass from the law, in any way, shape or form, until everything is fulfilled.
And so if any person breaks even one of the least of these commandments, and shall so instruct others, that person shall be called the least in the Kingdom of heaven: but any person who does and teaches the commandments, shall be called great in the Kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your justification exceeds the justification of the scribes and the Pharisees, you cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven under any circumstances. You have heard that it was said in ancient times, "You shall not commit murder," and anyone guilty of committing murder would be liable for trial. But I tell you that any person who is angry with his brother shall be liable for trial, and anyone who says to his brother, "Airhead!" shall be liable to be brought before the council, but whoever says, "Moron!" shall be liable for the fire of hell. So if you are bringing your gift to the altar, that your brought has something against you, leave your gift in front of the alter, go away, reconcile yourself to your brother first, and then come and offer your gift. Be on good terms with your adversary quickly, while you are with him on the road; otherwise he might sometime deliver you to the judge, who will deliver you to the bailiff, and you find yourself thrown into prison. I tell you truly: you shall not come out of that prison until you have paid back the last cent.
You have heard that they said, "Do not commit adultery." But I tell you that any man who looks at a woman with desire has already committed adultery with her in his heart. But if your right eye causes you to stumble, take it out and throw it away from you: for it is better for you to have one of your body parts perish than that the whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away from you: for it is better for you to have one of your body parts perish than that the whole body be thrown into hell. It has been said, "Any man who divorces his wife should give her a bill of divorcement." But I say to you that any man who divorces his wife, or fails to marry his betrothed for any reason other than improper conduct on her part, causes her to commit adultery; and any person who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Again you have heard that it was said in ancient times, "Do not swear falsely, but keep before the Lord any oath that you do swear." But I tell you: don't swear at all, neither by heaven, the throne of God; nor by the earth, His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, the city of the great King, nor by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your word be a simple "Yes" or "No." Anything more than that comes from evil. You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." But I tell you: Don't resist evil. To whomever hits you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek to him also. And if any person sues you in a court of law, and takes your coat from you, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone compels you to go a mile with him, go with him two miles. Give to anyone who asks, and don't turn away from anyone who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor, and disregard your enemy." But I tell you: Love your enemies, bless them who curse you, do good to those who disregard you, and pray for those who treat you spitefully and persecute you, so that you may be the children of your Father in heaven. He makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Because if you love them who love you, what reward do you have? Don't even tax collectors do the same thing? And if you exchange polite greetings only with your brothers, what are you doing, any more than others do? Don't even tax-collectors behave this way? You should therefore be perfect, even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect.
Be careful not to perform your acts of charity in front of men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you do your duty, do not sound a trumpet before you, the way the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. I tell you truly: they will get what's coming to them. But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your acts of charity may be hidden, and your Father, who sees in a hidden way Himself, will reward you openly. And when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites. They love to pray when standing in the synagogues and in the street corners, so that they may be seen by men. I tell you truly: They will get what's coming to them. But you, when you pray, go into your private room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father Who is hidden, and your Father, who sees in a hidden manner, will reward you openly. And when you do pray, don't use vain repetitions, the way those of other nations do. They think that they'll be heard if they use many words. So don't be like them. Your Father knows what things you need, before you ask Him. Therefore, pray this way: "Our Father, who is in heaven, let your Name be Holy. Let Your kingdom come. Let Your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Give us our daily bread today. And forgive us of all our sins, just as we forgive those who sin against us. And do not lead us into testing, but keep us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. Because if you forgive men the wrongs they do, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you do not forgive men their wrongdoings, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoings either. Furthermore, when you fast, do not be gloomy, like the hypocrites. They like to disfigure their faces so that they appear to other people to be fasting. I tell you truly: they will get what's coming to them. But you, when you fast, rub your head with oil, and wash your face, so that you do not look like a man fasting to other men, but to your Father Who is hidden, and your Father, who sees in a hidden manner, will reward you openly.
'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' (Acts 20:35b From last phrase of Acts 20:35 "I have showed you all things, how that, working in this way, you should support the weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'")
Don't store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust make things unsightly and thieves break through and steal. But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust can disfigure and no thief can break in or steal. For where your treasure is, your heart will also be. The lamp of the body is the eye. So if your eye is single, then your whole body will be bright. But if your eye is evil, then your whole body will be dark. So if the light that is in you is dark, it is very dark indeed. No one can serve two masters. He will either hate the one and love the other, or else hold to the one and treat the other with contempt. You cannot at the same time be a slave to God and wealth. For this reason I tell you: stop worrying about your life, and what you will eat [or drink], or for your body, or what you will wear. Isn't life more than about food, and the body more than about clothes? Look at the birds in the sky. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you much better than they are? Who among you, by worrying about it, can add one foot to his height? And why do you worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies of the field, and how they grow. They don't work or spin. And yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was never clothed like one of these. So if God can thus clothe the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not clothe you so much more, you who have so little faith? So stop worrying, and saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the Gentiles seek after all these things, but your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But first seek after the Kingdom of God, and His justice, and every one of these things will be added to you. So stop worrying about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. The bad things that happen today are enough to worry about today.
Stop judging others, if you do not want to be judged. For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with whatever measure you measure out to others, it will be measured to you. And why do you behold the mote in your brother's eye, and not consider the beam in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me take the mote out of your eye", while a beam is in your own eye? Hypocrite! Throw the beam out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly to throw out the mote in your brother's eye. Stop giving holy things to the dogs, and throwing your pearls in front of pigs, if you don't want them to trample them underfoot, and turn against you and tear you apart. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it is opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him? So however you would want men to treat you, treat them the same way. The law and the prophets require this. Enter in at the narrow gate. The gate is wide, and the road broad, that leads to destruction, and many people go in that way, because the gate and the road that lead to life are narrow, and few people find it. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? In fact every good tree makes good fruit, but a corrupt tree makes bad fruit. A good tree cannot make bad fruit, nor a corrupt tree make good fruit. Every tree that does not make good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to me, "Lord! Lord!" will enter into the Kingdom of heaven, but rather the one who does the will of My Father in heaven (will so enter). Many people will say to me in that day, "Lord! Lord! Haven't we told of the future in Your Name? Haven't we thrown demons out of people in Your Name? Haven't we done wonderful works in Your Name?" And then I will tell them plainly: "I never knew you. Get away from me, you who work lawlessness." So everyone who hears these things that I say, and does them, I will compare to a wise man, who built his house on a rock, and the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it did not fall, because it was founded on rock. And everyone who hears these things that I say, and does not do them, will be compared to a foolish man, who built his house on sand, and the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it fell, and fell with a great crash. And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished talking, that the crowds were amazed at His teaching, because when He taught them He spoke with and from authority, and not in the way the scribes commonly taught them.
When He had come down from the mountain, great crowds of people followed Him. And then a leper came and fell down at His feet, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." And He put out his hand, and touched him, and said, "I am willing. Be clean." And immediately the man's leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus told him, "Don't breathe a word of this to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the sacrifice that Moses commanded as a testimony to them."
Twelve
| Chapter 12 | Bible texts |
|---|---|
| When he entered again into Capernaum after some days, when he came into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking him, and saying, “Lord, my servant lies in the house paralyzed, grievously tormented.”
Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and tell another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and tell my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, “Most certainly I tell you, I have not found so great a faith, not even in Israel. I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven, but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way. Let it be done for you as you have believed.” His servant was healed in that hour. When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her. She got up and served him. When evening came, they brought to him many possessed with demons. He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
Now while the multitude pressed on him and heard the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, the lake of Galilee. He saw two boats standing by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. He sat down and Taught the multitudes from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered him, “Master, we worked all night, and took nothing; but at your word I will let down the net.” When they had done this, they caught a great multitude of fish, and their net was breaking. They beckoned to their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. They came, and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.” For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching people alive.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything, and followed him. A scribe came, and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of his followers said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” When he got into a boat, his disciples followed him. Behold, a violent storm came up on the sea, so much that the boat was covered with the waves, but he was asleep. They came to him, and woke him up, saying, “Save us, Lord! We are dying!” He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. The men marveled, saying, “What kind of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding far away from them. The demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs.” He said to them, “Go!” They came out, and went into the herd of pigs: and behold, the whole herd of pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea, and died in the water. Those who fed them fled, and went away into the city, and told everything, including what happened to those who were possessed with demons. Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders. He entered into a boat, and crossed over, and came into his own city. Behold, they brought to him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a bed. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven you.” Behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man blasphemes.” Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins—” (then he said to the paralytic), “Get up, and take up your mat, and go to your house.” He arose and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such authority to men. As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection post, the tax station. He said to him, “Follow me.” He got up and followed him. As he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his followers. When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his followers, his disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. But you go and learn what this means:
"for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” It was heard that he was in the house. Immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even around the door; and he spoke the word to them. Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him. When they could not come near to him for the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you reason these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven;’ or to say, ‘Arise, and take up your bed, and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I tell you, arise, take up your mat, and go to your house.” He arose, and immediately took up the mat, and went out in front of them all; so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” On one of those days, he was Teaching; and there were Pharisees and Teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every village of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was with him to heal them. Behold, men brought a paralyzed man on a cot, and they sought to bring him in to lay before Jesus. Not finding a way to bring him in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop, and let him down through the tiles with his cot into the middle before Jesus. Seeing their faith, he said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this that speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, answered them, “Why are you reasoning so in your hearts? Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you;’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk?’ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (he said to the paralyzed man), “I tell you, arise, take up your cot, and go to your house.” Immediately he rose up before them, and took up that which he was laying on, and departed to his house, glorifying God. Amazement took hold on all, and they glorified God. They were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today.” After these things, He went out again by the seaside. All the multitude came to him, and he Taught them. And as he passed by, he saw a tax collector named Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax post, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he arose and followed him. He left everything, and rose up and followed him. Levi made a great feast for him in his house. There was a great crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining with them. Their scribes and the Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” They said to him, “Why do John’s disciples often fast and pray, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink?” He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast in those days.” He also told a parable to them. “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old garment, or else he will tear the new, and also the piece from the new will not match the old. No one puts new wine into old wine skins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved. No man having drunk old wine immediately desires new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ” John’s followers and the Pharisees were fasting, and they came and asked him, “Why do John’s followers and the followers of the Pharisees fast, but your followers do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, or else the patch shrinks and the new tears away from the old, and a worse hole is made. No one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine pours out, and the skins will be destroyed; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins.” Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch would tear away from the garment, and a worse hole is made. Neither do people put new wine into old wine skins, or else the skins would burst, and the wine be spilled, and the skins ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved.” While he told these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and followed him, as did his disciples. Behold, a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years came behind him, and touched the fringe of his garment; for she said within herself, “If I just touch his garment, I will be made well.” But Jesus, turning around and seeing her, said, “Daughter, cheer up! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour. When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players, and the crowd in noisy disorder, he said to them, “Make room, because the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” They were ridiculing him. But when the crowd was put out, he entered in, took her by the hand, and the girl arose. The report of this went out into all that land. As Jesus passed by from there, two blind men followed him, calling out and saying, “Have mercy on us, son of David!” When he had come into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They told him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” Their eyes were opened. Jesus strictly commanded them, saying, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread abroad his fame in all that land. As they went out, behold, a mute man who was demon possessed was brought to him. When the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke. The multitudes marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!” But the Pharisees said, “By the prince of the demons, he casts out demons.” Jesus went about all the cities and the villages, Teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his followers, “The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest.” |
Mark 2:1a Matthew 8:5-17 Luke 5:1-11 Matthew 8:18–9:13 —LXX Hosea 6:6 Mark 2:1b-12 Luke 5:17-27a Mark 2:13 Luke 5:27b-28 Mark 2:14 Luke 5:29-32 Mark 2:15-17 Luke 5:33-39 Mark 2:18-22 Matthew 9:14-38 —LXX Judith 11:19 Compare
List of 300 Septuagint Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, by Steve Rudd 2017 (bible.ca) Table of LXX quotes and allusions in the New Testament The Works of Flavius Josephus William Whiston, Translator, 1737 (sacred-texts.com) Sextus Aurelius Victor: Epitome De Caesaribus (roman-emperors.org) Eutropius: Breviarium - Eutropius's Abridgement of Roman History (tertullian.org) Cassius Dio: Roman History Epitome (penelope.uchicago.edu) Early Christian Writings A.D. 30 through 380 (earlychristianwritings.com)
"mother-in-law lying sick with a fever"
"henceforth you will be catching men"
Three separate accounts of healing a paralytic in three distinctly separate settings:
"Matthew" and "Levi".
"I desire mercy, and not sacrifice."
"Fast", "Fasting"
"new wine"
"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd."
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Compare the Conservative Bible text (conservapedia.com):
He returned to Capernaum after several days,
And when Jesus had gone into Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, begging Him, and saying, "Lord, my servant is bedridden in my house, paralyzed and in great pain." And Jesus told him, "I will come and heal him." In answer, the centurion said, "Lord, I don't deserve to have you come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. "For I am part of a chain of command, and I have soldiers under my command. I tell this man, "Go" and he goes, and another, "Come" and he comes, and my servant, "Do this," and he does it." When Jesus heard that, he was amazed, and said to those that were following him, "I tell you truly, I have not found such great faith, even in Israel. "And I tell you that many will come from east and west, and will sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the Kingdom of heaven. "But the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into outer darkness; there will be weeping and grinding of teeth." And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go, and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed in that very hour. And when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother, bedridden and ill with fever. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and waited on them. That evening, they brought to Him many that were demon-oppressed, and He threw out the spirits with His word, and healed all the sick people, so that this might be fulfilled that was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, who said, "He Himself took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses."
Subsequently, as the crowd pressed against Him to hear God's word, Jesus stood on the shore of Gennesaret's lake, Jesus noticed two boats at the seaside, but their fishermen had left them to wash their nets. Jesus boarded one of the boats, which was Simon's, and urged him to drift away a bit from the shore. Jesus was then seated, and taught the crowd from the boat. Upon finishing preaching, Jesus said to Simon, "Head out where it is deep, and lower your nets for a catch." Simon responded, "Boss, we worked all night, and caught nothing; but your wish is my command." Whereupon they caught an enormous surplus of fish, causing their net to break. They wave over their partners, who were in the other boat, for them to join and help. Those came and filled both boats with the fish, so much so they began to sink. When Simon Peter observed this, he knelt before Jesus, saying "Leave me Lord, for I am a sinful man. Simon was overcome, as were his colleagues, at their catch of the fish. And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. Jesus told Simon, "Be not afraid, from here on you shall catch men." They landed their boats, and gave up everything to follow Him.
Now when Jesus saw great crowds of people around him, He gave orders to leave for the other side. And a certain scribe came, and told Him, "Master, I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus told him, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of man has no place to rest His head." And another of His pupils said to him, "Lord, first permit me to go to bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own." And when He had gone into a boat, His pupils followed Him. And behold, a great storm arose on the lake, so much that the boat was swamped with the waves. But He was asleep. And His pupils came to Him, and woke Him up, saying, "Lord, save us; we're dying!" And He said to them, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and a great calm fell. But the men were amazed, saying, "What kind of Man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey Him!" And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met Him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no man dared pass by that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What business do we have with You, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" And a herd of many pigs was feeding a fair distance from them. So the demons begged Him, saying, "If you're going to throw us out, let us go away into the herd of pigs." And He said to them, "Go." And when they came out of the two men, they went into the herd of pigs. And the entire herd of pigs ran pell-mell down a steep bank into the sea, and drowned in the waters. And those who had been keeping the pigs ran away, and went back into the city, and told about everything that had happened, and what had happened to the formerly demon-possessed men. And then the entire city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw Him, they begged Him to go away from their coasts.
And He boarded a boat, and crossed the lake, and came into His own city. And they brought to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a pallet. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, "Son, cheer up; your sins are forgiven you." And some of the scribes said among themselves, "This man is speaking blasphemy." And Jesus, Who knew what they were thinking, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? "For which would be easier to say: 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or 'Get up and walk'? "But so that you may know that the Son of man has the authority on earth to forgive sins..." Then He said to the paralyzed man, "Get up, take up your pallet, and go to your house." And he got up and went away to his house. But when the crowds saw it, they were very much afraid, and gave glory to God, Who had given power like that to men. And as Jesus walked away from that place, He saw a man, Matthew by name, sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, "Follow Me." And he got up and followed Him. And it came to pass, as He reclined to dine in the house, many tax-gatherers and sinners came and reclined with Him and His pupils. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His pupils, "Why is your Master eating with tax-gatherers and sinners?" But when Jesus heard that, He told them, "The well do not need to see the doctor, but the sick do. "But you go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I haven't come here to call the just, but sinners to change their hearts."
and the news spread that He was at home. A large crowd immediately filled the room to capacity, so many that the door was blocked to access by others, as He was speaking the Truth to them. They brought him a paralyzed man, carried by four men. Finding they could not reach Him, because the crowd was so thick, they removed the roof above Him and, when they had done so, lowered the paralytic in his bed. Seeing their faith in Him, He told the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven." Some scribes were sitting in the crowd. They thought to themselves, "Why is this Man speaking such blasphemy? Who can forgive our sins but God Himself?"
Jesus immediately perceived in His spirit what they were thinking, and he asked them, "Why are you so hostile to this? "Is it easier to tell a paralyzed man that his sins are forgiven, or to pick up his bed and walk? "But to remove any doubt about the power on earth of the Son, a man, to forgive sins," he next said to the paralyzed man, "Get up, carry your bed, and go home!" And he got up, carried his bed, and left, in plain sight of the crowd. Amazed, they all praised God, saying, "We've never seen such a thing before."
One day while Jesus was teaching, as Pharisees and legal scholars observed from every Galilean Judaean town and from Jerusalem, the Lord's power of healing was there to see. And suddenly men carried a stretcher with a paralyzed man, and they looked for a way to bring and lay him before Jesus. When they could not access Jesus through the crowd, they climbed up on the roof, and lowered the stretcher to Jesus through an opening. Upon seeing their faith, Jesus declared, "Sir, your sins are forgiven." The intellectuals began to murmur, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins other than God alone? Jesus, perceiving their close-mindedness, answered them, "What doubt is your hearts? Which is easier: to say "your sins are forgiven," or to say, "stand up and walk?" So that you may know the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, I say to you (the paralyzed man), 'Get up, and take your bed, and go home.'" Immediately he rose before the crowd, and picked up his bed, and began walking home, to the glory of God. Everyone was overcome with rapture, and they gave glory to God yet with fear said, "We have seen it all today!"
Jesus continued along the seaside, and all the crowds thronged around Him, and He taught them.
Jesus continued onward and saw a tax collector, named Levi, sitting at his collection booth. Jesus said to him, "Follow me." Levi dropped everything, got up, and followed Jesus.
He passed Levi, son of Alphaeus, at a tax office and told him, "Follow me." Levi arose and followed.
Levi threw a magnificent party in his own home, and the guests included many tax collectors. So intellectuals spread gossip against His disciples in saying, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus rebutted the criticism, "People who are well do not need a physician; those who are sick do. I came not for the holy, but to call sinners to repent."
As it happened, Jesus then dined at His house with a great many tax collectors and sinners who chose to follow Him. Seeing him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, the Pharisees and scribes demanded of His students, "Why does he eat and drink with these tax collectors and sinners?" Hearing this, Jesus replied, "It is not the healthy but the sick that need a doctor. I did not come to call the just to change their hearts, but instead the sinners."
They replied, "Why do John's disciples frequently fast and pray, as do the Pharisees' disciples, but yours eat and drink?" Jesus responded, "Do you force people to fast at wedding, while the groom is still there? But the time will come when the groom is taken away, then they shall fast." Jesus taught this parable: "No man rips a piece of a new garment to patch an old, because that ruins the new one and the patch does not match the old. Likewise, no man puts new grape juice into used containers, or else the new juice splits the containers and spills, and ruins them. Rather, new grape juice is poured into new bottles, and both are preserved. No man desires new grape juice after drinking old, because he says, "The old is better."
Then some followers of John the Baptist came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your students do not fast?" And Jesus told them, "Can the members of the wedding party mourn, so long as the groom is with them? But a time will come when the groom will be taken from them, and then they will fast. "No man puts a piece of new cloth onto an old garment. What is put in to fill the tear takes something from the old garment, and the hole is torn even wider. Neither do men put freshly-squeezed grape juice into old skins; otherwise the skins break, the juice runs out, and the skins are ruined. Instead they put fresh juice into new skins, and both are preserved. While He was speaking these things to them, behold, a certain ruler came to Him, and fell down at His feet, saying, "My daughter is dead even now. But come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live." And Jesus got up and followed him, and so did His students. And behold, a woman, who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years, came behind Him, and touched the hem of His robe. For she said to herself, "If I could just touch His robe, I will be made well." But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her, He said, "Daughter, take heart; your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well from that hour. And when Jesus came to the ruler's house, and saw the musicians and the crowds making a scene, He told them, "Give Me room. This young woman is not dead; she is asleep." And they laughed at Him scornfully. But when the crowds were put outside, He went in, and took her by the hand, and the young woman got up. And the news of this event went out into that entire land. And when Jesus went away from that place, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" And when he had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I can do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord." Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith, let it work out for you." And their eyes were opened, and Jesus gave them strict orders, saying, "Don't let any man know anything about this." But they, when they had left, spread the news of him in that entire country. As they went out, some people brought to him a mute demon-possessed man. And when the demon was thrown out, the mute spoke. The crowds said, "Wow! Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!" But the Pharisees said, "He throws out demons by calling upon the leader of demons." And Jesus went around to all the cities and towns, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were worried, and were scattered about like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His students, "The harvest is truly bountiful, but the harvesters are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest, that He will send out workmen to gather in His harvest. Σωτήρ
Thirteen
| Chapter 13 | Bible texts |
|---|---|
| He was going on the Sabbath day through the grain fields, and his followers, his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the Sabbath day?”
He said to them, “Did you never read what David did, when he had need, and was hungry—he, and those who were with him? How he entered into God’s house at the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the show bread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?” He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had his hand withered. They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him. He said to the man who had his hand withered, “Stand up.” He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?” But they were silent. When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other. The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. (The Pharisees and the Herodians previously had no dealings with each other; the Pharisees hated the Herodians, and the Herodians despised the Pharisees.) Now on the second Sabbath after the first, he was going through the grain fields. His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why do you do that which is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day?” Jesus, answering them, said, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he, and those who were with him; how he entered into God’s house, and took and ate the show bread, and gave also to those who were with him, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests alone?” He said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” It also happened on another Sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and Taught. There was a man there, and his right hand was withered. The scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts; and he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Rise up, and stand in the middle.” He arose and stood. Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you something: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?” He looked around at them all, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did, and his hand was restored as sound as the other. But they were filled with rage, and talked with one another about what they might do to Jesus. For he was exposing their lack of compassion. Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples, and a great multitude followed him from Galilee, from Judea, from Jerusalem, from Idumaea, beyond the Jordan, and those from around Tyre and Sidon. A great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came to him. He spoke to his followers that a little boat should stay near him because of the crowd, so that they would not press on him. For he had healed many, so that as many as had diseases pressed on him that they might touch him. The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, “You are the Son of God!” He sternly warned them that they should not make him known. After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, “Bethesda”, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water; for an angel went down at certain times into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had. A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.” Immediately, the man was made well, and took up his mat and walked. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. So the Jews said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat.” (They said this according to their interpretation of what is written in the law of Moses,
The Pharisees had added to this word by declaring that healing is work.) He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’” Then they asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your mat and walk’?” But he who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the Temple, and said to him, “Behold, you are made well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, so I am working, too.” For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise. For the Father has affection for the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does. He will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires. For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. “Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Most certainly I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous; because I do not seek my own will, but the will of my Father who sent me. “If I testify about myself, my witness is not valid. It is another who testifies about me. I know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man. However, I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John, for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me. The Father himself, who sent me, has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. You do not have his word living in you; because you do not believe him whom he sent. “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men. But I know you, that you do not have God’s love in yourselves. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A great multitude followed him, because they saw his signs which he did on those who were sick. |
Mark 2:23–3:6 Luke 6:1-11 Mark 3:7-12 John 5:1-10 Exodus 20:8-11 John 5:11-6:2 —LXX Wisdom 2:16 Compare
List of 300 Septuagint Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, by Steve Rudd 2017 (bible.ca) Table of LXX quotes and allusions in the New Testament The Works of Flavius Josephus William Whiston, Translator, 1737 (sacred-texts.com) Sextus Aurelius Victor: Epitome De Caesaribus (roman-emperors.org) Eutropius: Breviarium - Eutropius's Abridgement of Roman History (tertullian.org) Cassius Dio: Roman History Epitome (penelope.uchicago.edu) Early Christian Writings A.D. 30 through 380 (earlychristianwritings.com)
"on the second Sabbath after the first":
"It also happened on another Sabbath"
"blind, lame, paralyzed"
"Sin no more"
"the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father"
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Compare the Conservative Bible text (conservapedia.com):
On one Sabbath day, He traveled through the corn fields, and His students started to pluck the ears of corn as they passed. The Pharisees cried, "Look! You're breaking Sabbath regulations!" To this Jesus replied, "Haven't you read what David and his allies did, when he was hungry and in need? How he went into God's temple, in the times of the High Priest Abiathar, and ate the blessed bread - the bread which only priests are allowed to eat - and fed his allies with it?" Jesus told them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, and therefore the Son, a man, is also Lord of the Sabbath."
Jesus returned to the synagogue, and noticed man with a crippled hand. They were watching Jesus to see if they might catch and accuse him of healing on the Sabbath. Jesus told the man with the crippled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone." Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: doing good or evil? Saving a life, or killing one?" And they didn't answer. Jesus looked around at them, feeling anger and pity for the hardness of their hearts, and said to the injured man, "Open your hand." He then opened and held out his hand, and it was as good as new. The Pharisees then fled from the scene to plot with the Herodians against Jesus, and plan how they might destroy him.
On the Sabbath after Passover Jesus walked through a grain field, where His students picked heads of grain for themselves, rubbing off the chaff and eating them. Several Pharisees complained, "Why do You violate the Sabbath like that?" Jesus replied, "Haven't you read what David did when he was hungry, and what others did with him? How he entered the sanctuary, took and ate the bread, and shared it with others, which priests alone were allowed to eat?" Jesus told them, "The Son of man is also Lord of the Sabbath!" On another Sabbath, He entered the synagogue and taught, when he was approached by a man with a crippled right hand. The intellectuals watched Jesus to see if He would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him of something. But Jesus, aware of the trap, said to the man with the crippled hand, "Get up, and present yourself to the people." He stood up and stepped forward. Jesus then announced, "I ask you this: is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or evil? To be pro-life, or pro-death?" After scanning the audience, Jesus told the man, "Hold out your hand!" When he did, his hand worked perfectly. The intellectuals were furious, and plotted how to harm Jesus.
Jesus then departed for the quiet of a lake, but crowds from Galilee and Judea followed him, And crowds went to Jesus from Jerusalem, Idumea, Tyre and Sidon, and from beyond the Jordan River, after hearing of his great deeds for the sick. Jesus asked His students for a small boat that would enable him to keep a distance from pressing crowds. Jesus had healed many people, so that many diseased persons pressed on Him trying to touch Him. Upon seeing Jesus, evil spirits fell down before him crying, "You are the Son of God!" But Jesus strictly commanded them not to tell others who he was.
After this Jesus went up into Jerusalem for a festival of the Jews. In Jerusalem there is, by the Sheep Gate, a pool with five porticos, which is called Bethesda in Hebrew. In these porticos lay a great many people who were sick, blind, crippled and withered, [waiting for the stirring of the water]. [For an angel would periodically go down into the pool and agitate the water; whoever was the first to step into the water after it became agitated would be healed of whatever affliction he had.] There was one particular man there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him lying there and knowing that he had already been there a long time, He said to him, "Would you like to be well?" The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no one to push me into the pool when the water is agitated; instead, while I am trying to get there, someone else always makes it in before me." Jesus said to him, "Stand up, pick up your bed, and walk." Immediately the man was healed, and he picked up his bed, and he walked, but the day upon which this happened was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the one who was healed, "it is the Sabbath day; it is illegal for you to carry your bed today."
"Remember the Sabbath day, and set it apart. For six days you will serve and do all your work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you will not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, your maidservant, your livestock, or the sojourner within your gates. In six days the LORD made the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and everything in them, and stopped work on the seventh day. And so the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it special."
He responded to them, "That man who healed me, He said to me, 'pick up your bed, and walk.'" So they asked him, "Which man told you to pick up your bed and walk?" But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the huge crowd that surrounded them there. Later, Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "Look! You have been healed. Do not sin any more, so that something even worse does not happen to you." The man left, and reported back to the Jews that Jesus was the one who healed him. Because of this, the Jews persecuted Jesus, and plotted to murder Him, simply because He did these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus told them, "My Father is active everyday, so I do His work everyday." Therefore, because of this, the Jews plotted even more to murder Him, because not only did He break the Sabbath, but He also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal to God. Therefore Jesus responded to them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son is able to do nothing on His own, but only that which He sees the Father doing; For whatever the Father does, the Son does exactly the same thing." Because the Father deeply loves the Son, and shows Him everything that He Himself does, and He will show Him even greater works than these, so that you may be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead, and gives them life, in the exact same way the Son gives life to whomever He wants. Because the Father does not judge even one person, but rather, He has given the judgment of all people to the Son. So that all people should honor the Son exactly as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, that the one who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has eternal life, and is not going into damnation; rather, he has moved from death into life. Truly, truly I say to you, that the hour is coming, in fact, it is already here, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those hearing it shall live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted to the Son to have life in Himself. And He has also granted Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son, a human being. Do not be amazed by this, because the hour is coming when all those buried in graves will hear His voice. Those who have done good will be resurrected, and come out of the grave to receive life, but those who have done evil will be resurrected, and come out of the grave to receive damnation. I am able to do nothing by my own power; I judge based on what I hear, and my judgment is completely just, because I am not plotting to do my own will, but rather, I do the will of the Father who sent me. If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. Another is testifying about me, and I know that the testimony about me that He gives is true. You sent representatives to John, and he testified to the truth. But I myself am not receiving testimony from any man; Instead, I say all these things so that you can be saved. This same John was a brightly burning lamp, and for a little while you danced joyfully in his light. But I have a greater testimony than John, because the works that the Father has given to me to complete, the very works that I am doing here for you, prove that the Father has sent me. Not only that, but this same Father who sent me has also testified about me. Yet you have never, not even one time, heard His voice, you have not perceived His form, nor do you have His word residing in you, because you do not believe in the one He sent. You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you find eternal life, and yet these same scriptures testify about me. And still you refuse to come to me, where you really would find life. But I know all about you, how you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me, yet if some other man came in his own name, you would accept him. But how could you believe in me, you who accept praise from each other and do not seek the kind of praise that comes from God alone? Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. Moses, whom you claim to trust, will be the first in line to accuse you. Frankly, if you believed Moses, you would have believed in me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his scriptures, how could you possibly believe anything I say?
After these things Jesus crossed the sea of Galilee, also called the sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd followed him around, because they saw the miracles which He performed upon the sick.
Fourteen
| Chapter 14 | Bible texts |
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| In these days he went out into the hills to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. When it was day, he called his followers.
Jesus went up into the mountain. He went up into the mountain, and called to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him, and he sat there with his disciples. And from them he chose twelve, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he also named Peter, Rock; Andrew, his brother; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Simon, who was called the Zealot; Judas the son of James; and Judas Iscariot, who also became a traitor. He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach, and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter, Rock); James the son of Zebedee; and John, the brother of James, (whom he called Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder); Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. He came down with them, and stood on a level place, with a crowd of his followers, his disciples, and a great number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; as well as those who were troubled by unclean spirits, and they were being healed. All the multitude sought to touch him, for power came out of him and healed them all. He lifted up his eyes to his disciples, and said, “Blessed are you who are poor, God’s Kingdom is yours. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude and mock you, and throw out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven, for their fathers did the same thing to the prophets. “But woe to you who are rich! For you have received your consolation. Woe to you, you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe, when men speak well of you, for their fathers did the same thing to the false prophets. “But I tell you who hear: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your coat also. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask him who takes away your goods to give them back again. It is more blessed to give than to receive. “As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive back as much. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. “Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Set free, and you will be set free. “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.” He spoke a parable to them. “Can the blind guide the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his Teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his Teacher. Why do you see the speck of chaff that is in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the wooden beam that is in your own eye? Or how can you tell your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck of chaff that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck of chaff that is in your brother’s eye. For there is no good tree that produces rotten fruit; nor again a rotten tree that produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings out that which is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say? Everyone who comes to me, and hears my words, and does them, I will show you who he is like. He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock. When a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it was founded on the rock. But he who hears, and does not do, is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” After he had finished speaking in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum. Then he came into a house. A certain centurion’s servant, who was dear to him, was sick and at the point of death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and save his servant. When they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy for you to do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he built our synagogue for us.” Jesus went with them. When he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy for you to come under my roof. Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to you; but say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man placed under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude who followed him, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel.” Those who were sent, returning to the house, found that the servant who had been sick was well. Soon afterward, he went to a city called Nain. Many of his disciples, along with a great multitude, went with him. Now when he came near to the gate of the city, behold, one who was dead was carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. Many people of the city were with her. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her, “Do not cry.” He came near and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” He who was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. Fear took hold of all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited his people!” This report went out concerning him in the whole of Judea, and in all the surrounding region. The followers of John told him about all these things. John, calling to himself two of his followers, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we look for another?” When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptizer has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?’ ” In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits; and to many who were blind he gave sight. Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.” When John’s messengers had departed, he began to tell the multitudes about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously dressed, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,
"For I tell you, among those who are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptizer, yet he who is least in God’s Kingdom is greater than he.” When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptized with John’s baptism. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God, not being baptized by him themselves. “To what then should I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace, and call to one another, saying, ‘We piped to you, and you did not dance. We mourned, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard; a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet Wisdom is justified by all her children.” One of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered into the Pharisee’s house, and sat at the table. Behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that he was reclining in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner.” Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” He said, “Teacher, say on.” “A certain lender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most?” Simon answered, “He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most.” He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Soon afterward, he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of God’s Kingdom. With him were the twelve, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out; and Joanna, the wife of Chuzas, Herod’s steward; Susanna; and many others; who served them from their possessions. When a great multitude came together, and people from every city were coming to him, he spoke by a parable. “The farmer went out to sow his seed. As he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled under foot, and the birds of the sky devoured it. Other seed fell on the rock, and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture. Other fell amid the thorns, and the thorns grew with it, and choked it. Other fell into the good ground, and grew, and produced one hundred times as much fruit.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Then his disciples asked him, “What does this parable mean?” He said, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of God’s Kingdom, but to the rest in parables; that
"Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those along the road are those who hear, then the devil comes, and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; but these have no root, who believe for a while, then fall away in time of temptation. That which fell among the thorns, these are those who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. Those in the good ground, these are those who with an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it tightly, and produce fruit with perseverance. “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a container, or puts it under a bed; but puts it on a stand, that those who enter in may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed; nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Be careful therefore how you hear. For whoever has, to him will be given; and whoever does not have, from him will be taken away even that which he thinks he has.” His mother and brothers came to him, and they could not come near him for the crowd. Some people told him, “Your mother and your brothers stand outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God, and do it.” The multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him; for they said, “He is insane.” The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons he casts out the demons.” He summoned them, and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. If Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. But no one can enter into the house of the strong man to plunder unless he first binds the strong man; then he will plunder his house. Most certainly I tell you, all sins of the descendants of man will be forgiven, including their blasphemies with which they may blaspheme; but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.” —because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.” His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him, calling him. A multitude was sitting around him, and they told him, “Behold, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside looking for you.” He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Looking around at those who sat around him, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister, and mother.” Now on one of those days, again he began to Teach by the seaside. A great multitude was gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat in the sea, and sat down. All the multitude were on the land by the sea. He Taught them many things in parables, and told them in his Teaching, “Listen! Behold, the farmer went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and devoured it. Others fell on the rocky ground, where it had little soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. Others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing. Some produced thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times as much.” He said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.” When he was alone, those who were around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. He said to them, “To you is given the mystery of God’s Kingdom, but to those who are outside, all things are done in parables, that
He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all of the parables? The farmer sows the word. The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan comes, and takes away the word which has been sown in them. These in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy. They have no root in themselves, but are short-lived. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble. Others are those who are sown among the thorns. These are those who have heard the word, and the cares of this age, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Those which were sown on the good ground are those who hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, some thirty times, some sixty times, and some one hundred times.” He said to them, “Is the lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not put on a stand? For there is nothing hidden, except that it should be made known; neither was anything made secret, but that it should come to light. If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.” He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you who hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he who does not have, even that which he has will be taken away from him.” He said, “God’s Kingdom is as if a man should cast seed on the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, though he does not know how. For the earth bears fruit: first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” He said, “How will we liken God’s Kingdom? Or with what parable will we illustrate it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less important than all the seeds that are on the earth, yet when it is sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow.” With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. Without a parable he did not speak to them; but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. Now on that day, when evening had come, he entered into a boat, himself and his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” Leaving the multitude, they took him with them, even as he was, in the boat. Other small boats were also with him. So they launched out. But as they sailed, he fell asleep. A big wind storm arose. A wind storm came down on the lake, and the waves beat into the boat, and they were taking on dangerous amounts of water, so much that the boat was already filled. He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. They came to him, and awoke him, saying, “Master, master, we are dying!” They woke him up, and told him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are dying?” He awoke, and rebuked the wind, and the raging of the water, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” and they ceased, The wind ceased, and there was a great calm; it was calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” And he said to them, “Where is your faith?” Being afraid they marveled, saying to one another, “Who is this then, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?” They were greatly afraid, and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” They came to the other side of the sea. They arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, when he had come out of the boat, into the country of the Gadarenes, immediately a certain man out of the city with an unclean spirit who had demons for a long time met him out of the tombs. He wore no clothes, and did not live in a house, but he lived in the tombs. Nobody could bind him any more, not even with chains, because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. Nobody had the strength to tame him. Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones. For the unclean spirit had often seized the man. He was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters. Breaking the bonds apart, he was driven by the demon into the desert. When he saw Jesus from afar he cried out! And the man immediately began running toward him. He ran toward him and Jesus said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” He immediately bowed down to him, for Jesus was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man, for he said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out. And he fell down before him, and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, I beg you, do not torment me, do not torment me!” Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He asked him, “What is your name?” He said to him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered into him. He begged him much that he would not send them away out of the country. They begged him that he would not command them to go into the abyss. Now on the mountainside there was there a great herd of many pigs feeding on the mountain, and they begged him that he would allow them to enter into those. All the demons begged him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, that we may enter into them.” Then at once he allowed them, Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out. The demons came out of the man, and entered into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake, the sea of Galilee. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea. When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled. Those who fed them fled, and told it in the city and in the country. People went out to see what had happened. The people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, and saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting at Jesus's feet, clothed, and in his right mind, even him who had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who saw it declared to them what happened to him who was possessed by demons, told them how he who had been possessed by demons was healed, and about the pigs. All the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked him to depart from them. They began to beg him to depart from their region, for they were very much afraid. As he was entering into the boat, he who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. He did not allow him, but said to him, “Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.” Then he entered into the boat. But the man from whom the demons had gone out begged him that he might go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you.” He went his way, and began to proclaim in Decapolis how Jesus had done great things for him, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. When Jesus had crossed back over in the boat to the other side and returned, a great multitude was gathered to him; the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him; and he was by the sea. Behold, a man named Jairus came. He was a ruler of the synagogue. One of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, came; and seeing him, he fell down at Jesus’s feet. He fell at his feet, and begged him to come into his house, and begged him much, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made healthy, and live.” For he had an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. He went with him, and a great multitude followed him. But as he went, the multitudes pressed against him, and they pressed upon him on all sides. A certain woman, who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things by many physicians, who had spent all her living on physicians and could not be healed by any, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse, having heard the things concerning Jesus, came up behind him in the crowd, and touched his clothes, the fringe of his cloak. For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately the flow of her blood stopped, was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Jesus said, “Who touched me?” Jesus, immediately perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd, and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” This he said to test her, for he himself knew who had touched him. His disciples said to him, “You see the multitude pressing against you, and you say, ‘Who touched me’?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes press and jostle you, and you say, ‘Who touched me’?” But Jesus said, “Someone did touch me, for I perceived that power has gone out of me.” He looked around to see her who had done this thing. But when the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. Falling down before him she declared to him in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. He said to her, “Daughter, cheer up. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease.” While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue ruler’s house saying, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?” While he still spoke, one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house came, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.” But Jesus hearing it, answered him, “Do not be afraid. Only believe, and she will be healed.” Jesus, when he heard the message spoken, immediately said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid, only believe.” He allowed no one to follow him, except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. He came to the synagogue ruler’s house, and he saw an uproar, weeping, and great wailing. When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter in, except Peter, John, James, the father of the child, and her mother. All were weeping and mourning her, but he said, “Do not weep. She is not dead, but sleeping.” They ridiculed him. When he had entered in, he said to them, “Why do you make an uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but is asleep.” They were ridiculing him, knowing that she was dead. But he put them all outside; he, having put them all out, took the father of the child, her mother, and those who were with him, and went in where the child was lying. Taking the child by the hand, he said to her, “Talitha cumi!” which means, being interpreted, “Girl, I tell you, get up!” And taking her by the hand, he called, saying, “Child, arise!” Her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately. Immediately the girl rose up and walked, for she was twelve years old. They were amazed with great amazement. Her parents were amazed, but he commanded them to tell no one what had been done. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and commanded that something should be given to her to eat. He called to himself his twelve disciples. He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over unclean spirits, over all demons, to cast them out, and to cure diseases, to heal every disease and every sickness. He sent them out to preach God’s Kingdom and to heal the sick. He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey—no staffs, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money. Do not have two coats each. Into whatever house you enter, stay there, and depart from there. As many as do not receive you, when you depart from that city, shake off even the dust from your feet for a testimony against them.” Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter; Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John, his brother; Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, who was also called Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Do not go among the Gentiles, and do not enter into any city of the Samaritans. Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give. Do not take any gold, silver, or brass in your money belts. Take no bag for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food. Into whatever city or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy; and stay there, before you go on. As you enter into the household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. Whoever does not receive you, nor hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Most certainly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you. Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations. But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most certainly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man has come. “A disciple is not above his Teacher, nor a servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be like his Teacher, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! Therefore do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed; and hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim on the housetops. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. “Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion coin? Not one of them falls on the ground apart from your Father’s will, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows. Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven. “Do not think that I came to send peace on the earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man at odds against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s foes will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. He who does not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me. He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you he will in no way lose his reward.” When Jesus had finished directing his twelve disciples, he departed from there to Teach and preach in their cities. They departed and went throughout the villages, preaching the Good News and healing everywhere. Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.” As these went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written,
"Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptizer to now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied up to John. If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call to their companions and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. We mourned for you, and you did not lament.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” Then he began to denounce the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will go down to Hades. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, on the day of judgment, than for you.” At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight. All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him. “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the grain fields. His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, “Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” But he said to them, “Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him; how he entered into God’s house, and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the law, that on the Sabbath day, the priests in the Temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? But I tell you that One greater than the Temple is here. But if you had known what this means,
"you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” He departed from there, and went into their synagogue. And behold there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?” that they might accuse him. He said to them, “What man is there among you, who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not grab on to it, and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day.” Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other. But the Pharisees went out, and conspired against him, how they might destroy him. Jesus, perceiving that, withdrew from there. Great multitudes followed him; and he healed them all, and commanded them that they should not make him known: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. All the multitudes were amazed, and said, “Can this be the son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then God’s Kingdom has come upon you. Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and plunder his goods, unless he first bind the strong man? Then he will plunder his house. “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is to come. “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things. I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, someone greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, someone greater than Solomon is here. “When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not find it. Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came out,’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.” While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him. One said to him, “Behold, your mother and your brethren stand outside, seeking to speak to you.” But he answered him who spoke to him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brethren?” He stretched out his hand toward his disciples, and said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.” On that day Jesus went out of the house, and sat by the seaside. The twelve were away, preaching the Good News throughout the villages and healing everywhere. Great multitudes gathered to him, so that he entered into a boat, and sat, and all the multitude stood on the beach. He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow. As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them. Others fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth. When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them. Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them. For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever does not have, from him will be taken away even that which he has. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear, neither do they understand. In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says,
“But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and did not see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them. “Hear, then, the parable of the farmer. When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside. What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.” He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while people slept, his enemy came and sowed darnel seeds also among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprang up and produced fruit, then the darnel weeds appeared also. The servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where did these darnel weeds come from?’ “He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them up?’ “But he said, ‘No, lest perhaps while you gather up the darnel weeds, you root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together to the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ” He set another parable before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.” He spoke another parable to them. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, not stopping before it was all leavened.” Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the multitudes; and without a parable, he did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field.” He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel seeds are the children of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls, who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet, that was cast into the sea, and gathered some fish of every kind, which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach. They sat down, and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw away. So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked from among the righteous, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.” Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They answered him, “Yes, Lord.” He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things.” When Jesus had finished these parables, he departed and went out from there. He came into his own country, and his disciples followed him. Coming into his own country, he Taught them in their synagogue. When the Sabbath had come, he began to Teach in the synagogue, so that they were astonished; and many hearing him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things?” and, “What is the wisdom that is given to this man, that such mighty works come about by his hands? Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judah, and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us?” They were offended at him, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren, James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? Are not all of his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all of these things?” They were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own house.” He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people, and healed them. He marveled because of their unbelief. He went around the villages Teaching. He called to himself the twelve, and began to send them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a staff only: no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse, but to wear sandals, and not put on two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter into a house, stay there to the day you depart from there. Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, as you depart from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them. Assuredly, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!” They went out and preached that people should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed many with oil who were sick, and healed them. |
This chapter is an illustrative example of how particular details in the narratives of the Evangelists can help the student of the scriptures resolve apparent difficulties perceived in comparative parallel readings of the Gospels, and more certainly determine the redacted chronological sequence of episodes in a Harmony of the Gospel. This is not always an easy task.
Luke 6:12-13a Luke 8:22-40 and Mark 4:35–5:21
Mark 5:22-43 and Luke 8:41–9:5
Luke 9:1 and Matthew 10:1
Luke 9:2-5 Compare
List of 300 Septuagint Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, by Steve Rudd 2017 (bible.ca) Table of LXX quotes and allusions in the New Testament The Works of Flavius Josephus William Whiston, Translator, 1737 (sacred-texts.com) Sextus Aurelius Victor: Epitome De Caesaribus (roman-emperors.org) Eutropius: Breviarium - Eutropius's Abridgement of Roman History (tertullian.org) Cassius Dio: Roman History Epitome (penelope.uchicago.edu) Early Christian Writings A.D. 30 through 380 (earlychristianwritings.com)
"He came down with them, and stood on a level place, with a crowd of his disciples"
"touched the bier"
"Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" RSV
"You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet."
"His mother and brothers came to him, and they could not come near him for the crowd. Some people told him, “Your mother and your brothers stand outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are these who hear the word of God, and do it.”
"Now on one of those days"
"some seeds fell by the roadside ... This is what was sown by the roadside."
"with him were the twelve" and "those who were around him with the twelve".
"Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' He asked him, 'What is your name?' "
"a discharge of blood for twelve years"
"This he said to test her, for he himself knew who had touched him."
"He called to himself his twelve disciples. He called the twelve together"
"Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion coin?"
"Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?" RSV
"I desire mercy, and not sacrifice"
"Behold, my servant whom I have chosen ... In his name, the nations will hope." WEB
"whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness"
"she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon"
"because seeing they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear, neither do they understand. ... else they might perceive with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again; and I would heal them."
"having found one pearl of great price"
"two by two"—"except a staff"—"wear sandals"—"anointed with oil"
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Compare the Conservative Bible text (conservapedia.com):
As was His habit, Jesus left for the mountain to pray, and continuing praying all night to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples:
So Jesus went up onto a hill,
He then walked up a mountain, calling whomever He wanted to follow him, and they did.
and there He sat down with His disciples.
The next day, He gathered his disciples, and chose twelve of them whom he called apostles. Simon (whom Jesus named Peter) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was known as the Zealot, Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who later was to betray Jesus.
He appointed twelve men as Apostles, to be with him, so he could send them to preach to the world, and to have the authority to throw demons out of people. Jesus gave the surname of Peter to Simon. He also appointed James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee, and called them "Boanerges," which means "The Sons of Thunder": His other appointees were Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who was to betray Jesus:
He descended the mountain and reached a plateau with them and many others from Judaea and Jerusalem, and Tyre and Sidon along the coast, who came to learn and be cured by Him. Those who were possessed were freed from the Devil. Crowds sought merely to touch Him in order to receive His healing power.
Focusing on his disciples, Jesus said, "Blessed are the powerless, for yours is the paradise of God. Blessed are you who earnestly try, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who mourn, for you shall rejoice. Blessed are you when men hate you, ostracize you, humiliate you, and smear your name, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice all day and jump for joy because you will have great reward in heaven; people mistreated the prophets the same way.
But grief to the idle rich! You've enjoyed all there is for you. Grief to you who are content! You shall be unsatisfied. Grief to you who party now! You shall mourn and weep. Grief to you, when all men praise you now! Their fathers did likewise for the false prophets.
I tell all who hear, Love your enemies, and be kind to those who hate you, bless those who call you names, and pray for those who insult you. He who slaps you on one cheek, offer him also your other; he who takes your coat, do not deny him your shirt too. Give to every man who asks of you; and of he who takes your things, do not ask for them back.
It is more blessed to give than to receive.
As you hope others do to you, do likewise to them. For if you love those who love you, where is the good? Sinners also love those who love them. And if you merely help those who help you, where is the good in that? For sinners do likewise. If you share with others merely to obtain something back, where's the charity? Sinners also lend to sinners to obtain profits. Instead love the outcasts, do God's work, and be charitable, and you shall obtain a great reward, and become sons of God, because He is kind even to the ungrateful and the downtrodden. Thus you should be merciful, as your Father is merciful.
Judge not, and you shall not be judged; blame not, and you shall not be blamed; forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and such shall be given you, in full measure, combined, and shaken together, overflowing, shall pour out for your possession. With the same standard that you use shall it be measured for you.
He told them a parable: "Can the blind lead the blind? Will not both fall into a pit? No student ranks above his teacher, but with training can become like his teacher. Why do you focus on the triviality about your brother's approach, while overlooking the serious flaw in your own? How can you tell your friend, 'Sir, let me correct your trivial flaw, when you do not focus on your bigger problem? You deceiver, fix your own problem and then you'll be able to focus better on correcting your friend.
A good tree does not yield bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree is known by its own fruit. Men do not gather figs from thorns, or obtain grapes from a bramble bush.
A good man brings forth out of the treasure of his heart what is good; an evil man brings forth from his evil treasure what is evil, because his mouth speaks from the overflowing of his heart. Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord, yet not do as I say?' Whoever comes to me, hears my words, and takes them to heart, I will tell you whom he is like: He is like a man who built a house by digging deep and laying its foundation on a rock. When the floods came, the waters beat violently against that house, but could not shake it, because it was grounded in rock. But he who hears, and does not take to hear, is like a man who built a house without in soil without a foundation, against which the flood waters beat violently and knocked it down, to the great ruin of the house."
After Jesus completed his sermon to the people, He entered Capernaum.
and they all entered a house
A Roman army captain's beloved aide-de-camp was sick and near death. Upon hearing of Jesus, the soldier sent Jewish leaders to beg Him to come and heal his servant. They reached Jesus and pleaded with Him urgently, "This man deserves Your help. For he loves our people, and built a synagogue for us."
Jesus complied. When He approached the home, the captain sent friends out to Him to say, "Lord, don't bother yourself, for I am not worthy for You to enter my home. I am not even worthy to greet You. But issue the command, and my assistant shall be healed. I also have power, over my soldiers, and can tell one, 'Go,' and he goes; and tell another, 'Come', and he comes; and order my soldier, 'Do this,' and he does it."
Upon hearing this, Jesus was amazed, and turned around to tell those following Him, "Let me say this, I have not found such great faith not even in Israel!"
And when the captain's soldiers returned to the home, they found the ill servant cured. Before long Jesus reached the town of Nain, with his disciples and others tagging along. But upon reaching the city gate He encountered a funeral procession for the only son of a widow, and many townsmen accompanied her. The Lord was stuck with pity upon seeing her, and exclaimed, "Weep no more!"
Jesus approached and touched the coffin, and the pall-bearers stopped in their tracks. Jesus said, "Young man, I order you, Get up!" With that he sat up, and began speaking. Jesus then turned him over to his mother. The crowd was overwhelmed with reverence, and glorified God by saying, "A great prophet is among us" and "God looks after His people."
Publicity about Jesus spread throughout Judaea and its surrounding region.
Meanwhile, John's disciples reported these wonders to him. John told two of his disciples to find and ask Jesus, "Are You the awaited One? Or should we seek another?"
When they reached Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are You the Promised One? Or should we keep looking for another?'"
At the same time Jesus cured many of handicaps and diseases, and exorcised the devil; He also restored sight to many who were blind. Jesus replied to them, "Carry on, and tell John what you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead rise to life, and the gospel is taught to the powerless. Blessed is anyone who does not interfere with my word."
When John's messengers left, Jesus taught the people about him, "What did you go into the desert to see? A staff broken by the elements? But what did you see when you got there? A man with fine clothes? Those who wear fine cloths and live delicately are in the courts of kings. So what did you see then? A prophet? Yes, but you saw more than a prophet. This is the man about whom it was written, 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare the way before you.' I say to you, 'No child of a woman is a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but the least man in the kingdom of God is greater than he.'"
All the people that heard him, even the tax collectors, realized the justice of God and were baptized by John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the purpose God had set for them, and were not baptized. The Lord said, "What shall I compare the men of this generation to, what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, saying to each other, "I played happy music for you and you didn't dance; we played sad music for you, and you didn't weep. For John the Baptist came, neither eating bread or drinking wine, and you said, 'He is possessed.' But now the Son of man has come, eating and drinking, and you say, 'He is a gluttonous man, and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' The fruits of wisdom are enough to prove it is right."
One of the Pharisees desired that Jesus should eat with him. So he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat meat. A prostitute from the city heard Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, and so brought an alabaster box of ointment, and kneeled before him, weeping, and began to wash his feet with her tears, and wiping them with her hair, and kissed his feet, and anointet them with the ointment. When the Pharisee saw this, he thought to himself, "If this man were a prophet, surely he would have known what kind of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner."
Jesus knew what he was thinking, and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."
And he said, "Say it, then."
Jesus said, "There was a creditor who had to debtors: one who owed five hundred dollars, and the other only fifty. But neither of them could pay, and so he forgave both their debts. So tell me, who will love the creditor more?"
Simon answered, "I suppose the man who had the larger debt, which was forgiven, will love him more."
And Jesus said to him, "That's right."
Jesus turned to the woman, and said to Simon, "See this woman? I came to your house, and you didn't give me any water for my feet; but she washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but this woman hasn't stopped kissing my feet since I came in. You didn't anoint my head with oil, but this woman anointed my feet with ointment. Which is why I say now, her many sins are forgiven, for she loves me a great deal; but as you have loved me only a little, you have only been forgiven a little."
He then told her, "Your sins are forgiven."
Those with Him wondered to each other, "Who is this who forgives sins also?"
He told the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go with peace of mind."
And Jesus then traveled through many cities and villages with His twelve best students, preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God. Also with Him were several women He had sent The Devil out of and healed: Mary Magdalene, from whom He had expelled seven devils, and Joanna, who was the wife of Chuza (a man who managed Herod’s affairs), and Susanna, and several others.
And when a crowd of many people from the cities came to hear Him, He told them this parable: "A man went out to plant his crops, and he threw the seeds onto the field. Some of the seeds fell on the edge of the field: this was stepped on and eaten by birds. Some seeds landed on rocks, and so the shoots withered from lack of water. Some seeds landed in patches of weeds, which grew with the crops until the weeds choked the plants. But the rest of the seeds landed on fertile ground, and grew well, providing a harvest of one hundred times more than the farmer had planted. And when Jesus said this, He said: If you have ears, listen!"
The students of Jesus asked Him to explain the parable to them.
"You disciples already know all about the Kingdom of God, but to these other people I tell parables so they might understand better.
”The parable means this: The seed is the Truth of The Lord. The seeds on the edge of the field are the people who hear the Truth, but The Devil comes and stops them believing, to stop them from being saved. The seeds on the rock represent those people who, having heard the Truth, are happy, but do not let the faith become established. And so they only believe for a little while, and when they are tested they lose faith. The seeds that tried to grow in the weeds are the people who heard the Truth, but were distracted by the everyday trivia of life and self-indulgence. But the seeds that fell on the fertile ground are the honest and moral people who hear and constantly remember the Truth, and so these people persevere, and achieve their potential. No man lights a candle and hides the flame by covering it with a pot or putting it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a candlestick, so that people can see the light. For there is nothing secret that will not be revealed, and nothing hidden that will not be seen. Therefore, listen carefully to me: whoever has this will have it given to him, and whoever does not will have whatever he seems to have taken away."
Then the mother of Jesus, and His brothers, came looking for Him, but they could not get through the crowd.
And someone told Him, “Your mother and brothers are outside, waiting to see you”
And He answered, saying, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the Truth of the Lord, and obey”
But the crowd pressed upon them so much that they could not even eat. When Jesus's own family heard of this, they went to rescue him, saying, "He is out of his mind."
Some scribes from Jerusalem came also, smearing Jesus by saying "He has Beelzebub and throws out demons by calling on the leader of demons!"
But Jesus called them together and taught in parables, and asked "How can Satan cast out Satan? A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. Nor can a house divided against itself stand. So if Satan were divided against himself, he could not stand, and would perish. No one can break into a well-armed man's house to destroy his property, unless he first tie the man down. Only then can he damage his home. I tell you: all the sons of men will be forgiven their sins and their blasphemies, whatever they might be: but any man who blasphemes against the Divine Guide will never be forgiven, but risks eternal damnation."
This Jesus told them because they lied, "He has an evil spirit."
His mother and his brothers, who were standing outside, asked to see him. The crowd around Jesus said to him, "Your mother and brothers are outside, looking for you."
To which he responded, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"
Then, looking around at the gathered crowed, he said, "You are My mother and My brothers! Whoever does what God wants, qualifies as My brother, sister or mother."
Jesus returned to teaching again on the seashore, but the crowd was so overwhelming that he turned a boat into a makeshift pulpit while the people pressed to the shoreline. He taught them many things, using parables.
During one of His lessons, He said, "Listen. A farmer went out to sow a crop. As he sowed, some seed was scattered on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on stony ground, which lacked deep soil. It grew quickly, but once the sun was out, it was scorched and withered away, as its roots were too shallow. Some was scattered among weeds, which choked it, and it didn't produce fruit. But some seed fell upon good soil and produced a great deal of fruit, thirty, sixty, even one-hundred times the original investment."
Then Jesus said to them, "let any man who has ears hear."
Privately a few along with the twelve Apostles asked Jesus about the parable.
He said to them, "You have been granted insight into the secrets of the Kingdom of God, but to others these things are done in parables, that they may see but not perceive and hear but not understand; otherwise they might convert, and then their sins would be forgiven."
Then He asked them, "Don't you understand this parable? If not, how will you understand any other parables?
"The farmer plants the Truth. As for the people who are on the roadside, where the seeds are scattered, Satan comes as soon they have heard the truth, and takes it from their hearts. Likewise with those planted on the stony ground: when they hear the Truth, they receive It with joy, but they have little deep-down understanding of It, so they endure in the Truth only briefly. Afterward, when they must face oppression persecution for the sake of the Truth, all at once they have doubts about It. Then there are those planted among the thorns. They hear the word, but because of worldly concerns, the deceit of wealth, and other desires, the Truth is suffocated and cannot bear fruit. Finally are those planted in good ground. They hear the Truth, accept It, and produce good fruit in their turn, sometimes thirty, sixty, or even one hundred times more."
Then he asked them, "Do we light candles only to hide them under a bushel basket or a bed, rather than to place them on candlesticks? Nothing is hidden which will not be brought to light. Likewise any secret kept will soon become known. If a man is willing to listen, let him hear the Truth."
Then he said to them, "Be careful of what you listen to. Whichever measure you apply, you shall be measured accordingly, and those of you who listen will be given more. He who has will be given, while he doesn't will see that little which he has taken from him. The kingdom of God is the same way. If someone sows seed on the ground, and goes to sleep and waits several days, plants will spring from the seeds, though he doesn't know how. Because it is the earth that brings forth the fruit: first a blade, then an ear of corn, then the corn itself. And when the fruit has been produced, he brings out the sickle and harvests his produce."
Then he said, "What will we say God's kingdom is like? What sort of metaphor will we use? It's like a single mustard seed, which is smaller than all other seeds on earth when placed in the ground, but once planted, it grows larger than all the other herbs and grows large branches, so the birds can shelter under its shadow."
He used many parables like this one to preach God's word in a way that they could understand. But He never used parables when speaking to His own men. He explained everything to His own students.
Now one day, Jesus and his best students got into a boat, and He said, “Let us sail to the other side of this lake.”
Later that day, around sunset, He said to them: "Let's cross over to the opposite shore."
They dismissed the crowd, and then cast off in the boat where Jesus had been preaching, with Jesus still on board.
So they launched the boat and set sail.
Some other boats also went with them.
But as they sailed, Jesus fell asleep, and a gale blew up,
Suddenly a fierce storm came, with strong winds. Waves started to break over the boat, so that it began to fill with water.
which filled the boat with water, putting it in danger of sinking.
Jesus was sleeping on a cushion in the stern of the boat. They woke him saying, "Master, don't you care that we'll capsize and drown?"
And His students awoke Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we will drown”. Then He stood up and rebuked the wind and the waves, so that the wind stopped blowing and the waves calmed.
He got up and chided the wind, and said to the sea: "Silence, be still!" The wind then stopped, and there was complete calm. He asked them, "Why are you so afraid? Why haven't you any faith?"
And Jesus said to his students, “Where is your faith?”
Filled with awe, they asked each other: "What kind of Man is He, such that even the wind and sea obey Him?
And they were in awe of this, and said to each other, “What kind of man is this? When He commands the winds and the waves, they obey!”
They reached the other side of the lake, which was in the region where the Gadarenes lived.
And so they arrived in the country of the Gadarenes, which borders on Galilee.
As Jesus disembarked the boat, he was immediately confronted by a possessed man,
And when Jesus stepped onto the land, He was met by a man from the city, who had been possessed by devils for a long time, and had no clothes, and lived in the graveyard rather than in a house.
who was homeless and slept in a cemetery; no man had the strength to restrain him, not even with chains: Many times, he had been restrained by leg irons and chains, but he had thrown off the chains and broken the leg irons to pieces. No man could control him.
because the man had been possessed so often that he was kept restrained with chains, but when possessed, he would break the chains, and The Devil would drive him out into the wilderness.)
Day and night he roamed the mountains and tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. But when he glimpsed Jesus at a distance,
When he saw Jesus,
he ran up to Him and fell down at His feet.
(For Jesus had ordered The Devil to come out of the man,
Because Jesus had proclaimed, "Get out of that man, evil spirit."
he fell down in front of him,
He cried out loudly, "What business do I have with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in God's name not to torment me."
crying in a loud voice, “What have I go to do with you, Jesus the Son of God? I beg you not to hurt me.”
Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He answered, "My name is 'Legion', because we are many."
And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion” because he was possessed by many devils.
He begged Jesus not to expel him from the region.
And the devils begged Him not to send them to Hell.
Near the mountains where they were, a large herd of pigs was feeding.
And there was a herd of pigs feeding on the mountain, and the devils begged Jesus to permit them to enter the pigs,
The demons all begged Jesus, "Send us to the pigs, so that we may possess them."
and He gave them permission to do so.
Jesus then granted the demons the permission they sought. The demons left the man and possessed the pigs, and the herd ran violently down a steep embankment to drown in the sea, all two thousand of them.
Then all of the devils left the man and possessed the pigs, and the herd of pigs jumped off a cliff, falling into the lake and drowning. When the pig farmers saw what Jesus had done, they ran away, and went and told the story in the city, and throughout the country.
Those in charge of the pigs fled and told everyone in the town and countryside. People then went to see for themselves what had happened.
So then the inhabitants of the city went out to see what had happened, and when they found Jesus, the man from whom He had expelled the devils was sitting at His feet, properly dressed and sane, and the people were afraid.
They saw Jesus and the man formerly possessed, who was in his right mind and sitting peacefully, fully dressed; the people became afraid upon seeing him.
The eyewitnesses told the people how Jesus had healed the possessed man.
Witnesses to the episode described for the people what had happened to the possessed man, and about the pigs. The terrified people began to plead that Jesus leave their area.
Then the crowd gathered from the region nearby begged Jesus to leave, because they were afraid of Him, so He got back into the ship and
The man from whom Jesus had expelled the devils asked if he could follow Him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ”Return to your own house and show the amazing things the Lord has done to you.” And the man went away and reported to the whole city what Jesus had done to him.
When Jesus got back aboard His boat, the man who had been possessed begged Jesus to let him join His company. Instead, Jesus told him, "Return home to your friends, and tell them how the Lord has done wonders for you with compassion."
So the man left and began speaking publicly in Decapolis about Jesus's great works for him, and everyone who heard the story was very much amazed.
Now when Jesus returned,
returned across the lake.
the people were waiting for him, and welcomed him.
A huge crowd was awaiting Jesus on the opposite coast as he crossed by boat, so He stayed on the seashore.
One of the leaders of the synagogue, named Jairus, joined the crowd.
Then a man called Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, came and knelt before Jesus,
When he saw Jesus, he threw himself at His feet,
and asked Him to come to his house because his only daughter, about twelve years old, was dying.
and begged Him urgently, saying "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put Your hands on her, so that she will be healed; and then she will live."
Jesus accompanied him; many people followed Jesus, pressing Him on all sides.
But as Jesus went with him, the crowds of people impeded his progress. And a women in the crowd had been suffering from a blood disorder for twelve years, and had spent all her money on doctors, but they could not heal her,
One woman who had suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years, and had suffered further from mistreatments by doctors, having spent all she had on them without any improvement; her condition even worsened. When she heard about Jesus she crowded behind Him and touched his clothes,
came up behind Him, and touched the hem of His coat,
Because as she had said, "If I can just touch His clothes, I will be made well."
and immediately was healed.
Instantly the hemorrhages ceased, and she felt cured of her illness. Jesus immediately realized that power had discharged from him, and turned to the pressing crowd to say, "Who touched my clothes?"
His students replied, "You see the huge crowd pressing against you, and yet you ask, 'Who touched me'"?
And Jesus said, “Who touched me?”
Everyone denied it, and Peter said “Teacher, the crowd is thick, and presses against you, and you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”
And Jesus replied, “Someone has touched me, because I have noticed that virtue has gone out of me.
Jesus turned and scanned the crowd to find her. But the terrified, trembling woman, aware of the miracle,
And when the women saw Jesus had noticed, she
came and bowed at Jesus's feet,
fell down at His feet, trembling, and said in front of the whole crowd that she had touched Him and had been healed.
and told him the entire truth. Jesus said to her: "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go with peace of mind, and live a life free from that terrible disease."
And Jesus said to her, “Daughter, do not be afraid, your faith has healed you, go in peace.”
While Jesus was speaking, people told the synagogue leader, "Your daughter has died. Why bother this teacher any more?"
And while he spoke, someone came from the house of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, saying, “Your daughter is dead, don’t bother the Teacher.”
But Jesus heard, and answered, “Do not worry, have faith, and she will be healed”
But as soon as Jesus heard about this, he said to the father, "Don't be afraid; only believe."
Jesus then allowed no one to follow Him, except Peter, James, and James' brother John.
He came to the synagogue leader's home, and saw the mourning, and all those who wept and cried enormously.
And when He arrived at the house, he did not allow anyone to enter, except Peter, James, John and the parents of the girl. Outside, the crowd were mourning for the girl, but Jesus said, “She is not dead, but sleeping.”
And they mocked Him, knowing that the girl had died.
When Jesus entered the house, he said to them, "What is the reason for all this uproar and crying? The girl is not dead - she's just asleep!"
They laughed and ridiculed him. But after he evicted them all, he took the girl's mother and father with Him and His three students to where she was lying,
But He took the girl by her hand, and said, “Girl, get up.”
and taking her by the hand, said, "talitha cumi", which means "girl, I tell you to rise."
And her soul re-entered her, and she got up immediately,
Immediately the 12-year-old girl got up and walked. The onlookers were positively astounded.
and Jesus ordered them to give her meat to eat.
Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then commanded that the girl should be given something to eat.
And her parents were amazed, but Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what He had done.
Then Jesus called his Apostles together,
And when He had summoned His twelve students,
and gave them the power and authority
He gave them authority over unclean spirits,
over demons
so that they could throw them out of a person, and to cure diseases.
to heal every kind of chronic illness and every kind of germ.
He sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, “Take nothing on your travels, not a staff, no bag, no food, no money or a spare coat. And whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If the people will not let you stay, when you leave the city, shake the dust off your feet as evidence.”
Now the names of the twelve Apostles are as follows:
1. Simon, called Peter
2. Andrew, his brother
3. James son of Zebedee
4. John, his brother
5. Philip
6. Bartholomew
7. Thomas
8. Matthew the tax gatherer
9. James son of Alpheus
10. Thaddeus
11. Simon the Canaanite
12. Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him later on.
Jesus sent these Twelve out with this instruction: "Do not take the road leading to the Gentiles, nor enter into any Samaritan town. Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, 'The Kingdom of heaven is near.'
"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, throw out demons. You have received freely, so give freely.
"Do not provide either gold, silver, or bronze in your money belts, nor paper money for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor even walking sticks. The workman earns his wages.
"Into any city or village that you enter, inquire who in it is deserving, and stay with that person until you leave that place.
"When you come into a house, greet it properly. And if the house is a deserving house, let your peace come on it, but if it doesn't deserve it, then let your peace come back to you. And whoever refuses to receive you or hear your words, when you walk out of that house or city, shake the dust off your feet. I tell you truly: it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of the Trial, than for that city.
"I am sending you out like sheep in the middle of a pack of wolves. So be as cunning as snakes and as innocent as doves.
"And watch out for the people. They are likely to hand you over to the Sanhedrin and have you scourged in their synagogues; and you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and against the Gentiles. But when they so arraign you, don't worry about how or what to say. In that very moment it will be given you what to say. Because it won't be you doing the speaking, but the Guide (Spirit) from your Father speaking from within you.
"Brother shall turn in brother for execution, and father will turn in child, and children will rise up against their parents and have them executed. And you will be hated by all men on account of My Name. But whoever endures to the end will be saved.
"But when people persecute you in one city, flee to another city. I tell you truly: you will not have finished visiting all the cities in Israel until the Son, a human being, has come.
"The student is not above his teacher, nor the slave above his lord. It is enough that the student be like his teacher, and the slave like his lord. If they have called the master of the house the Lord of the Flies, how much more will they call the members of the household? So don't be afraid of them. Nothing is covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light, and what you hear in the ear, shout from the housetops. And don't be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One Who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? And neither one will fall to the ground without your Father knowing about it. In fact the very hairs on your head are all counted. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
"So every person who speaks out about Me in front of men, I will also speak out about in front of My Father in heaven. But if anyone denies me before men, I will deny him before My Father in heaven.
"Don't think that I came to send peace on earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword. I came to set 'man against father, and daughter against mother, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. 'And a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'
"A man who loves father or mother more than Me doesn't deserve Me, and a man who loves son or daughter more than Me doesn't deserve Me. And whoever will not take his cross, and follow after Me, doesn't deserve Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
"The one that receives you, receives Me, and the one who receives Me, receives Him Who sent Me.
"One who receives a prophet in a prophet's name will receive a prophet's reward, and one who receives a just man in a just man's name will receive a just man's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones a cup of cold water to drink, even if only in the name of a student (of Mine), I tell you truly: he will not lose his reward under any circumstances."
And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished giving His orders to His twelve prize students, He left that place in order to teach and preach in their cities.
So they departed, going through all the towns, spreading the good news and healing everywhere.
Now when John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about the works of Christ, he sent a message to Christ, carried by his own students. The message asked: "Are you the one we were led to expect to come, or shall we wait for someone else?"
In answer, Jesus told John's messengers, "Go and show John again what you can hear and see: The blind see again, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Good News preached to them. And anyone who does not have doubts about Me will be blessed."
And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? And as they were leaving, Jesus began to say to the crowds about John, "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed shaken in the wind?
"And what did you go out to see? A man wearing soft clothes? You'll find people wearing soft clothes in kings' houses.
"And what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one of whom Scripture says, 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, and he will prepare Your road before You.' I tell you truly: Among those who are born from women, there has never been a greater man than John the Baptist, even though the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers from violence, and the violent people snatch it by force. Because all the prophets and the law used to prophesy until John came. And if you are willing to take it, this is Elijah, who said he'd come back.
"Let anyone hear if he has ears to hear.
"But to what shall I compare this generation? It's like several children sitting in the public squares, and calling to their fellows, and saying, 'We have blown the pipes for you, and you did not dance, and we have mourned to you, and you have not lamented.' Because John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He's demon-possessed.' The Son, a human being, came eating and drinking, and they say, 'He's a glutton and a wine drinker, and a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners.' But wisdom is justified by her works."
Then He started denouncing the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because the people in those cities never changed their hearts and minds: "It will go horribly for you, Chorazin! And you, Bethsaida! If the mighty works that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have changed their hearts long ago and put on sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you that it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the Day of Trial, than for you.
"And you, Capernaum, that are exalted to the sky, will be brought down to the underworld! If the mighty works that have been done in you had been done in Sodom, that city would still be standing. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the Day of Trial than for you."
In that time Jesus said in answer, "Father, I thank You, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the sophisticated and clever, and have revealed them to the uneducated. Yes, Father, because it seemed good in Your estimation.
"All things are delivered to Me by My Father, and no man knows the Son except the Father, and neither does any man know the Father, except the Son, and the one to whom the Son will reveal Him.
"Come to Me, all of you who work hard and carry a heavy load. I will give you rest. Take My yoke on yourself, and learn from Me. I am gentle and humble in heart. And you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy to carry, and My load is light."
At that time Jesus went through a cornfield on a Sabbath day. His students were hungry and started to pull out ears of corn from the stalks and eat them. And when the Pharisees saw them doing this, they told him, "Stop! Your students are doing things that are against Sabbath regulations!"
But He told them, "Haven't you read what David did, when he was hungry, and so were those who were with him, how he went into the Tabernacle and ate showbread, which was not proper for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or haven't you read in the law, that on Sabbath days the priests in the Temple usually do things that desecrate the Sabbath and are held harmless for it? But I am telling you that right here you have Someone greater than the Temple. But if you had known what 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice' means, you wouldn't have condemned someone who had done nothing wrong. Because the Son, a human being, is Lord even of the Sabbath."
And when He had left that place, He went into their synagogue. A man was present who had a withered hand. And they asked Him a question, "Is it lawful to heal on Sabbath days?" so that they might accuse him.
And He told them, "Is there anyone among you who, if he has one sheep, and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, will not take hold of it and lift it out? So how much better is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to behave well on Sabbath days."
Then He told the man, "Hold out your hand."
And he held it out, and it was restored and made well, like the other hand.
Then the Pharisees left, and held a council against Him, to determine how to destroy Him. And when Jesus knew about that, He left that place, and great crowds followed Him, and He healed them all, and gave them orders not to make Him famous in any way, so that this might be fulfilled, spoken by Isaiah, who said, "Look at My Servant, Whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in Whom My Soul is well pleased. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will show judgment to the nations. He will not struggle, nor cry, and neither will any man hear His voice in the streets. He will not break even a bruised reed, and will not quench smoking flax, until He causes justice to triumph, and the nations will trust in His Name."
Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. He healed him, so that this blind and mute man could see and speak. Everyone in the crowds were amazed, and said, "Isn't this Man the Son of David?"
But when the Pharisees heard about it, they said, "This Man throws out demons by calling on Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."
But Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is made desolate like a desert, and every city or house divided against itself cannot stand. So if Satan throws out Satan, he is divided against himself. So how can his kingdom stand? And if I throw out demons by calling on Beelzebub, by whom do your children throw them out? They will be your judges on this account. But if I throw out demons by using the Divine Guide of God, then the Kingdom of God has come to you. Or else how can anyone walk into a strong man's house, and steal his goods, without first restraining the strong man? Then he can ransack his house.
"Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me, scatters about. For this reason I am telling you: All sorts of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men. But blasphemy against the Divine Guide will not be forgiven to men. Any person who speaks a word against the Son, a human being, will have that word forgiven him. But any person who speaks against the Divine Guide will not have that speech forgiven him, not in this world, and not in the world to come. Either make the tree good, and its fruit will be good, or else make the tree rotten, and its fruit will be rotten. The tree is known by its fruit.
"You jerks, how can you, being evil, say anything good? The mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart. A good man, out of a good (heart) treasure, produces good things; a bad man, out of a bad (heart) treasure, produces bad things. And I am telling you: Every idle word that men speak, they will have to explain in the Day of Trial. Because you will be justified by your words, and condemned by your words."
Then some of the scribes and the Pharisees said in answer, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you."
And He in answer told them, "A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, and they're not going to get one, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Just as 'Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of a sea-monster,' so also the Son, a human being, will spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
"The men of Nineveh will rise at the Trial along with this generation, and will condemn it, because they changed their hearts at the preaching of Jonah, and a greater man than Jonah is now present.
"The queen of the south will rise up at the trial along with this generation, and will condemn it, because she came from the furthest reaches of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. A much greater man than Solomon is now present."
"When the unclean spirit has left a man, he walks through dry places, looking for rest, and does not find it. Then he says, 'I will go back to the house from which I came.' And when he comes back, he finds the house unoccupied, swept clean, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than he, and they come in and settle there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. And that's how it's going to be as well for this wicked generation."
While He was still talking to the people, His mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak with Him. And someone told him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, and want to speak with You."
But in answer He said back to the person who told Him, "Who is my mother? And who are my brothers?"
And He held out His hand toward His students, and said, "They are My mother and brothers! Because any person who does what My Father in Heaven wants, that person is My brother, and sister, and mother."
On that day Jesus left the house and sat by the lake. Great crowds gathered for Him. So he boarded a boat and sat there, while the entire crowd stood on the shore. He taught much to them in parables, saying, "Consider this: A sower went out to sow seed. And when he sowed, some of the seeds fell on the roadside, and birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rock, where there was little soil. They sprouted immediately, because the soil was not deep, and by midday the sun scorched them, and because they lacked roots, they withered.
"Others fell among thorns. The thorns sprang up, and choked them.
"But still others fell on good ground, and produced fruit, some a hundred times as much, some sixty times as much, and some thirty times as much.
"Anyone having ears to hear, let him hear."
And His students came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"
In answer He told them, "I speak in parables because it is granted to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven, but it is not granted to them. For whoever has, it will be given to him even more abundantly. But whoever has not, even what he has will be taken away from him.
"That's why I talk to them in parables: because they see without seeing, and hear without hearing, and don't understand, either. In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled. That prophecy says: 'By hearing you will hear, and not understand, and seeing you will see, and not perceive. Because the heart of this people has grown fat, and their ears are dull of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might at any time see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and would be converted, and I would heal them.'
"But your eyes are blessed, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For I tell you truly: Many prophets and just men have strongly desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them.
"So listen to the parable of the sower:
"When anyone hears the Truth about the Kingdom, and fails to understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away whatever was sown in his heart. This is the one who receives the seed that fell by the roadside.
"And he who receives the seed in rocky places, is the one who hears the Truth, and receives it with joy, but has no root in himself. He will last a little while, and then when oppression or persecution arises on account of the Truth, he finally stumbles and falls away.
"Also, he who receives the seed among the thorns is one who hears the Truth, and the worries of this world, and the deception that comes with wealth, choke the Truth, and he he becomes unfruitful. But he who receives seed on good ground is the one who hears the Truth, understands it, and also bears fruit, and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times as much as he received."
He told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds in the middle of the wheat, and then left. And when the blades of wheat sprouted, and produced their grain, the weeds appeared as well. So the household slaves came and told him, 'Lord, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where did these weeds come from?' He told them, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' And he said, 'No. If you pull the weeds, you might pull up the wheat along with them. Let them both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I will tell the harvesters, "Gather the weeds together first, and tie them in bundles to burn them, and gather the wheat into my barn."'"
He told them another parable: "The Kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, that a man took and sowed in his field. Mustard is the smallest of all seeds. But when it grows, it is the largest among herbs, and grows into a tree, so that birds of the sky can come and nest in its branches."
He spoke another parable to them: "The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast, that a woman took and hid in three sata of meal, until the entire loaf was filled with it."
Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables, and did not speak to them other than in parables, so that the prophecy (by Isaiah) might be fulfilled. That prophecy states: "I will open My mouth in parables. I will talk about things that have been kept hidden from the foundation of the world."
Then Jesus sent the crowd away, and went into the house. His students came to him, saying, "Explain the parable of the weeds in the field to us."
In answer He told them, "The one sowing the good seed is the Son, a human being. The field is the world. The good seed are the recognized children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One. The enemy who sowed them is the Slanderer. The harvest is the end of the world, and the harvesters are the Messengers of God. So just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, that's how it will be at the end of this world. The Son, a human being, will send out His Messengers, and they will gather out of His Kingdom all stumbling blocks, and all those who do lawlessness, and will throw them into a furnace of fire. There will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the just will shine out like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Anyone having ears to hear, let him hear."
"The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man has found it, he hides it, and he is so happy to have found it that he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that field.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant, looking for valuable pearls. When he finds one very valuable pearl, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys it.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered every kind of fish. When it was full, they drew it ashore, and sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, and threw the bad fish back. That's how it will be at the end of the world: the Messengers will come out, and separate the wicked from among the just, and will throw them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Have you understood all this?" They told them, "Yes, Lord."
Then He told them, "For this reason every writer who his taught the things of the Kingdom of heaven is like a householder, who brings out of his treasure-house both new and old things."
It happened that when Jesus had finished telling these parables, He left.
He traveled around the villages in that area, teaching the people who lived there.
Jesus then traveled home, followed by his students.
He came into His own country, and taught them in their synagogue.
On the next Sabbath, Jesus began teaching in the synagogue.
They were amazed, and said, "Where did this Man get such wisdom, and such mighty works?
Many were amazed, and declared, "How does this Man know so much? What kind of wisdom has been given to Him, enabling Him to perform such wonderful deeds? Isn't this the carpenter we know, the son of Mary, the brother of James, Joseph, Judah and Simon? Don't we also know his sisters here?" So the public rejected Him.
"This is the carpenter's Son, isn't He? His mother is called Mary, isn't she? And His brothers are James, Simon, and Judas? And aren't His sisters all with us? So where did this Man get all these things?"
And they rejected Him. So Jesus told them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own house."
Jesus replied to their complaints, "A prophet lacks honor only in his own hometown, among his neighbors and in his own home."
Jesus was unable to perform any marvelous works in that area, except for healing a few sick people by laying His hands on them. He was in fact shocked at their lack of faith.
And he didn't perform many wonderful deeds there, on account of their unbelief.
He gathered the Twelve, and began to send them out in pairs, giving them the power to cast out evil spirits. He instructed them to take only a walking stick, and to bring nothing else: no bag, no bread, and no money in their belts, and to wear only sandals, and not to wear two coats.
He told them, "Whichever house you stay in while in a town, stay there until you leave that town. And if anyone will not take you in or listen to you, when leaving them, shake the dust from under your feet as an indictment against their conduct. I tell you truly, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will fare better on the day of judgment than that city."
Thus they went among the towns, preaching repentance. There they cast out many demons, anointed the ill with oil, and healed them of their afflictions.
Fully realized and dedicated 22 November 2018 Thanksgiving Day—developed by Michael Paul Heart and the editors of Conservapedia.
