Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
1 sOn a Sabbath,1 while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples tplucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, u“Why are you doing vwhat is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, w“Have you not read xwhat David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate ythe bread of the Presence, ywhich is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, z“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
A Man with a Withered Hand
6 On another Sabbath, ahe entered the synagogue band was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees cwatched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, dso that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But ehe knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. 9 And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, fis it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And gafter looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And hhe did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with ifury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.
The Twelve Apostles
12 In these days jhe went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, khe called his disciples land mchose from them twelve, whom he named napostles: 14 Simon, owhom he named Peter, and pAndrew his brother, and pJames and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and qMatthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called rthe Zealot, 16 and sJudas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude
17 And the came down with them and stood on a level place, with ua great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of vTyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. wAnd those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd xsought to touch him, for ypower came out from him and healed them all.
The Beatitudes
20 And zhe lifted up his eyes on his disciples, aand said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for byours is the kingdom of God.
21 c“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.
d“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when epeople hate you and when they fexclude you and revile you and gspurn your name as evil, hon account of the Son of Man! 23 iRejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for jso their fathers did to the prophets.
Jesus Pronounces Woes
24 k“But woe to you who are rich, lfor you mhave received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for nyou shall be hungry.
“Woe to oyou who laugh now, ofor you shall mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you, pwhen all people speak well of you, for qso their fathers did to rthe false prophets.
Love Your Enemies
27 “But I say to you who hear, sLove your enemies, tdo good to those who hate you, 28 ubless those who curse you, spray for those who abuse you. 29 vTo one who wstrikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic2 either. 30 xGive to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And yas you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
32 z“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And aif you blend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But clove your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and dyou will be sons of ethe Most High, for fhe is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 gBe merciful, even as hyour Father is merciful.
Judging Others
37 ij“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; jforgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 kgive, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put linto your lap. For mwith the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
39 He also told them a parable: n“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 oA disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is pfully trained will be like his teacher. 41 iWhy do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but qdo not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “For rno good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for seach tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 tThe good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces uevil, vfor out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Build Your House on the Rock
46 w“Why xdo you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 yEveryone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.3 49 zBut the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and athe ruin of that house was great.”
Daniel’s Vision of the Four Beasts
1 In the first year of pBelshazzar king of Babylon, qDaniel saw a dream and rvisions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. 2 Daniel declared,1 “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, sthe four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. 3 And four great beasts tcame up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. 5 And behold, uanother beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ 6 After this I looked, and behold, another, like a vleopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and wdominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, xterrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; xit devoured and broke in pieces xand stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and yit had ten horns. 8 I considered the horns, and behold, zthere came up among them another horn, a little one, zbefore which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and aa mouth speaking great things.
The Ancient of Days Reigns
9 “As I looked,
bthrones were placed,
and the cAncient of Days took his seat;
dhis clothing was white as snow,
and ethe hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
fits wheels were burning fire.
10 gA stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
ha thousand thousands iserved him,
hand ten thousand times ten thousand jstood before him;
the kcourt sat in judgment,
and lthe books were opened.
11 “I looked then because of the sound of athe great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, mthe beast was killed, and its body destroyed mand given over to be burned with fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, ntheir dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.
The Son of Man Is Given Dominion
13 “I saw in the night visions,
and obehold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the cAncient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 pAnd to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all qpeoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
rhis dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.
Daniel’s Vision Interpreted
15 “As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me2 was anxious, and sthe visions of my head alarmed me. 16 I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. 17 t‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. 18 But uthe saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’
19 “Then I desired to know the truth about vthe fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet, 20 wand about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up and before which three of them fell, the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke great things, and that seemed greater than its companions. 21 As I looked, this horn xmade war with the saints and prevailed over them, 22 until the yAncient of Days came, and ujudgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when uthe saints possessed the kingdom.
23 “Thus he said: ‘As for vthe fourth beast,
there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth,
which shall be different from all the kingdoms,
and it shall devour the whole earth,
and trample it down, and break it to pieces.
24 As for the ten horns,
out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise,
and another shall arise after them;
he shall be different from the former ones,
and shall put down three kings.
25 zHe shall speak words against the Most High,
and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
and shall think to achange the times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
for ba time, times, and half a time.
26 cBut the court shall sit in judgment,
and dhis dominion shall be taken away,
to be consumed and destroyed eto the end.
27 fAnd the kingdom and the dominion
and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven
shall be given to the people of fthe saints of the Most High;
ghis kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom,
and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’3
28 “Here is the end of the matter. hAs for me, Daniel, my ithoughts greatly alarmed me, jand my color changed, but kI kept the matter in my heart.”