Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

1 ^dOn a Sabbath,¹ while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples ^eplucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing ^fwhat is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” 3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read ^gwhat 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 ^hthe bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The ⁱSon of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

6 ^jOn another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 And the scribes and the Pharisees ^kwatched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. 8 But he 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, ^lis it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” 10 And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored. 11 But they were filled with ^mfury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles

12 ⁿIn these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them ^otwelve, whom he named apostles: 14 ^pSimon, whom he ^qnamed Peter, and ^rAndrew his brother, and ^sJames and John, and ^tPhilip, and ^uBartholomew, 15 and ^vMatthew, and ^wThomas, and ^xJames the son of Alphaeus, and ^ySimon who was called the Zealot, 16 and ^zJudas the son of James, and ^aJudas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

17 ^bAnd he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and ^chealed them all.

The Beatitudes

20 ^dAnd he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you who are ^epoor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be ^fsatisfied.

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

22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and ^gleap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the ^hprophets.

Jesus Pronounces Woes

24 “But ⁱwoe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

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

“Woe to you who ^klaugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for ^lso their fathers did to the false prophets.

Love Your Enemies

27 ^m“But I say to you who hear, ⁿLove your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 ^obless those who curse you, ^ppray for those who abuse you. 29 ^qTo one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic² either. 30 ^rGive to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And ^sas you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

32 “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 if you lend 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 love your enemies, and do good, and lend, ^texpecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is ^umerciful.

Judging Others

37 ^v“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; ^wforgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For ^xwith the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

39 He also told them a parable: “Can a ^yblind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 ^zA disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do 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 ^a“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. ^bFor figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for ^cout of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Build Your House on the Rock

46 ^d“Why do you call me ^e‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47 ^fEveryone who comes to me and ^ghears 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 But 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 the ruin of that house was great.”

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

1 ^hAfter he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a servant⁴ who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion⁵ heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, ⁱnot even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

11 ^jSoon afterward⁶ he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, ^k“Do not weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, ^land Jesus⁷ gave him to his mother. 16 ^mFear seized them all, and they ⁿglorified God, saying, “A great ^oprophet has arisen among us!” and ^p“God has visited his people!” 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

18 ^qThe disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you ^rthe one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John ^swhat you have seen and heard: ^tthe blind receive their sight, the ^ulame walk, lepers⁸ are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the ^vdead are raised up, the ^wpoor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus⁹ began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^xinto the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. 26 What then did you go out to see? A ^yprophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written,

28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just,¹⁰ having been baptized with the baptism of John, 30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers ^arejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

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

33 For John the Baptist has come ^ceating no bread and ^ddrinking no wine, and you say, ^e‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a ^ffriend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 ^gYet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

36 ^hOne of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a ⁱsinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred ^jdenarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he ^kcancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, ^l“Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among¹¹ themselves, ^m“Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, ⁿ“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

To Your Name Give Glory