The Temptation of Jesus

1 ^yThen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the ^zwilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after ^afasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the ^bSon of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

and

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ^g‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a ^hvery high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you ⁱwill fall down and ^jworship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, ^langels came and were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

12 ^mNow when he heard that John had been ⁿarrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in ^oCapernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be ^pfulfilled:

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ^s“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is ^tat hand.”¹

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

18 ^uWhile walking by the ^vSea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, ^w“Follow me, and I will make you ^xfishers of men.”² 20 Immediately they ^yleft their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

23 ^zAnd he went throughout all Galilee, ^ateaching in their synagogues and ^bproclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his ^cfame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having ^dseizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Messengers from John the Baptist

1 ^bWhen Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2 Now when John heard in ^cprison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you ^dthe one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John ^ewhat you hear and see: 5 ^fthe blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers¹ are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and ^gthe poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^hinto the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man² dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? A ⁱprophet?³ Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,

11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is ^kleast in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 ^lFrom the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,⁴ and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, ^mhe is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear,⁵ let him hear.

16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

18 For John came neither ⁿeating nor ^odrinking, and they say, ^p‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a ^qfriend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ^rYet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”⁶

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

20 ^sThen he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be ^tmore bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be ^uexalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in ^vSodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest

25 ^wAt that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the ^xwise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.⁷ 27 ^yAll things have been handed over to me by my Father, and ^zno one knows the Son except the Father, and ^ano one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to ^breveal him. 28 ^cCome ^dto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and ^eI will give you rest. 29 Take my ^fyoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will ^gfind rest for your souls. 30 For ^hmy yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The Triumphal Entry

1 ^zNow when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The ^aLord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place ^bto fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd ^espread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ^f“Hosanna to the ^gSon of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is the ^hprophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

12 ⁱAnd Jesus entered the temple² and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the ^jmoney-changers and the seats of those who sold ^kpigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ^l‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a ^mden of robbers.”

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,

17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

18 ^oIn the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. 19 And seeing a ^pfig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

20 ^qWhen the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And ^rwhatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23 ^sAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what ^tauthority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you ^unot believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a ^vprophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the ^wtax collectors and the prostitutes ^xgo into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For ^yJohn came to you in the ^zway of ^arighteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

33 ^b“Hear another parable. ^cThere was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and ^dwent into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants³ to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, ^ekilled another, and stoned another. 36 ^fAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 ^gFinally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the ^hheir. Come, let us ⁱkill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^jlet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be ^mtaken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who ⁿfalls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”⁵

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a ^oprophet.