Book of Luke
Chapter 1
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest
named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife
Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the
sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations
blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and
they were both well along in years.
Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was
serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of
the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And
when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers
were praying outside.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at
the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was
startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do
not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will
bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy
and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he
will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other
fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.
Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he
will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the
hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of
this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."
The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the
presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good
news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this
happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their
proper time."
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and
wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could
not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he
kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
When his time of service was completed, he returned
home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months
remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she said.
"In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the
people."
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to
Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named
Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went
to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with
you."
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered
what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do
not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child
and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will
be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give
him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob
forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel,
"since I am a virgin?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one
to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is
going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in
her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."
"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered.
"May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in
the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted
Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her
womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she
exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will
bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to
me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my
womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord
has said to her will be accomplished!"
And Mary said:
"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me--
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost
thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
even as he said to our fathers."
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and
then returned home.
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she
gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had
shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child,
and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother
spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John."
They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives
who has that name."
Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he
would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to
everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." 64 Immediately
his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising
God. 65 The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country
of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this
wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For
the Lord's hand was with him.
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit
and prophesied:
"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come and has redeemed his people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us--
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for
him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace."
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he
lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Chapter 2
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be
taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took
place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town
to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in
Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the
house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged
to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the
time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a
son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no
room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields
nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord
appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you
good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town
of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will
be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a
manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared
with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing
that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the
baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the
word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who
heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up
all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which
were just as they had been told.
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him,
he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been
conceived.
When the time of their purification according to the
Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to
present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every
firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord" ), and to offer a
sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of
doves or two young pigeons."
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was
righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the
Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that
he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the
Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child
Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him
in his arms and praised God, saying:
"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel."
The child's father and mother marveled at what was said
about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This
child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be
a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts
will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of
Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her
husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was
eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and
praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and
spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of
Jerusalem.
When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by
the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of
Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom,
and the grace of God was upon him.
Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast
of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast,
according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were
returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware
of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then
they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they
did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three
days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening
to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at
his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were
astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like
this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
"Why were you searching for me?" he asked.
"Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" But they did
not understand what he was saying to them.
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was
obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her
heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and
men.
Chapter 3
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar--when Pontius
Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip
tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of
Abilene-- during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of
God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. He went into all the
country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the
prophet:
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
`Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
And all mankind will see God's salvation.' "
John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by
him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to
yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these
stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of
the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and
thrown into the fire."
"What should we do then?" the crowd asked.
John answered, "The man with two tunics should
share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."
Tax collectors also came to be baptized.
"Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"
"Don't collect any more than you are required
to," he told them.
Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we
do?"
He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people
falsely--be content with your pay."
The people were waiting expectantly and were all
wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. John answered
them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will
come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you
with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to
clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will
burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." And with many other words
John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.
But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of
Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the other evil things he had done, Herod
added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was
baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit
descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven:
"You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he
began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph,
the son of Heli, the son of Matthat,
the son of Levi, the son of Melki,
the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,
the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos,
the son of Nahum, the son of Esli,
the son of Naggai, the son of Maath,
the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein,
the son of Josech, the son of Joda,
the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa,
the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel,
the son of Neri, the son of Melki,
the son of Addi, the son of Cosam,
the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,
the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer,
the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat,
the son of Levi, the son of Simeon,
the son of Judah, the son of Joseph,
the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,
the son of Melea, the son of Menna,
the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan,
the son of David, the son of Jesse,
the son of Obed, the son of Boaz,
the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,
the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram,
the son of Hezron, the son of Perez,
the son of Judah, the son of Jacob,
the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham,
the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,
the son of Serug, the son of Reu,
the son of Peleg, the son of Eber,
the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan,
the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,
the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch,
the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel,
the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh,
the son of Seth, the son of Adam,
the son of God.
Chapter 4
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by
the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He
ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God,
tell this stone to become bread."
Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live
on bread alone.' "
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in
an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give
you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can
give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
Jesus answered, "It is written: `Worship the Lord your
God and serve him only.' "
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the
highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said,
"throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
" `He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'
"
Jesus answered, "It says: `Do not put the Lord
your God to the test.' "
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left
him until an opportune time.
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their
synagogues, and everyone praised him.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and
on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood
up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling
it, he found the place where it is written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the
attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on
him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in
your hearing."
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious
words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked.
Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this
proverb to me: `Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have
heard that you did in Capernaum.' "
"I tell you the truth," he continued,
"no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were
many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a
half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was
not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.
And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet,
yet not one of them was cleansed--only Naaman the Syrian."
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they
heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the
brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the
cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and
on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at his
teaching, because his message had authority.
In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon,
an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, "Ha! What do you
want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you
are--the Holy One of God!"
"Be quiet!" Jesus said sternly. "Come
out of him!" Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came
out without injuring him.
All the people were amazed and said to each other,
"What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil
spirits and they come out!" And the news about him spread throughout the
surrounding area.
Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon.
Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus
to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up at once and began to wait on them.
When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus
all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he
healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, "You
are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them and would not allow them to
speak, because they knew he was the Christ.
At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The
people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to
keep him from leaving them. But he said, "I must preach the good news
of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was
sent." And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Chapter 5
One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people
crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's
edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He
got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out
a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
"Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."
Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all
night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the
nets."
When they had done so, they caught such a large number
of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the
other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full
that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and
said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his
companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so
were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on
you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left
everything and followed him.
While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along
who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the
ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I
am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy
left him.
Then Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but
go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded
for your cleansing, as a testimony to them."
Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that
crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But
Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of
the law, who had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and
Jerusalem, were sitting there. And the power of the Lord was present for him to
heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to
take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find
a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him
on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of
Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your
sins are forgiven."
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began
thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can
forgive sins but God alone?"
Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, "Why
are you thinking these things in your hearts? 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. . . ." He said to
the paralyzed man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."
Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and
went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were
filled with awe and said, "We have seen remarkable things today."
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by
the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to
him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house,
and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained
to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and
`sinners'?"
Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who
need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance."
They said to him, "John's disciples often fast and
pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and
drinking."
Jesus answered, "Can you make the guests of the
bridegroom fast while he is with them? But the time will come when the
bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast."
He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch
from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the
new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no one
pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the
skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new
wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine
wants the new, for he says, `The old is better.' "
Chapter 6
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples
began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels.
Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the
Sabbath?"
Jesus answered them, "Have you never read what
David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of
God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests
to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." Then Jesus said to
them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was
teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The
Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse
Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But
Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand,
"Get up and stand in front of everyone." So he got up and stood
there.
Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is
lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy
it?"
He looked around at them all, and then said to the man,
"Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely
restored. But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they
might do to Jesus.
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to
pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his
disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated
apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John,
Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was
called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a
traitor.
He went down with them and stood on a level place. A
large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all
over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come
to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by evil spirits
were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was
coming from him and healing them all.
Looking at his disciples, he said:
"Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil,
because of the Son of Man.
"Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because
great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the
prophets.
"But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do
good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who
mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other
also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give
to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not
demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
"If you love those who love you, what credit is
that to you? Even `sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to
those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' do that.
And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to
you? Even `sinners' lend to `sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love
your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get
anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most
High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just
as your Father is merciful.
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not
condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be
forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the
measure you use, it will be measured to you."
He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man
lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above
his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your
brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can
you say to your brother, `Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when
you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take
the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck
from your brother's eye.
"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree
bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick
figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good
things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil
things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his
heart his mouth speaks.
"Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do
what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and
puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down
deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck
that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one
who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built
a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that
house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."
Chapter 7
When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he
entered Capernaum. There a centurion's servant, whom his master valued highly,
was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some
elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When
they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to
have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our
synagogue." So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent
friends to say to him: "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve
to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself
worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be
healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell
this one, `Go,' and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my
servant, `Do this,' and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and
turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found
such great faith even in Israel." Then the men who had been sent
returned to the house and found the servant well.
Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and
his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the
town gate, a dead person was being carried out--the only son of his mother, and
she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord
saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry."
Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those
carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get
up!" The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back
to his mother.
They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A
great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to
help his people." This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and
the surrounding country.
John's disciples told him about all these things.
Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the
one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the
Baptist sent us to you to ask, `Are you the one who was to come, or should we
expect someone else?' "
At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases,
sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he
replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen
and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are
cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the
poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
After John's messengers left, Jesus began to speak to
the crowd about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed
swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in
fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in
palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and
more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:
" `I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.'
I tell you, among those born of women there is no
one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is
greater than he."
(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they
heard Jesus' words, acknowledged that God's way was right, because they had
been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected
God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)
"To what, then, can I compare the people of this
generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the
marketplace and calling out to each other:
" `We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.'
For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say,
`He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say,
`Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and
"sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by all her
children."
Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner
with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the
table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that
Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of
perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet
his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and
poured perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said
to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him
and what kind of woman she is--that she is a sinner."
Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to
tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.
"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One
owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the
money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will
love him more?"
Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the
bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon,
"Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any
water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her
hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered,
has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she
has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have
been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves
little."
Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are
forgiven."
The other guests began to say among themselves,
"Who is this who even forgives sins?"
Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved
you; go in peace."
Chapter 8
After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another,
proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with
him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases:
Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the
wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod's household; Susanna; and many others. These
women were helping to support them out of their own means.
While a large crowd was gathering and people were
coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: "A farmer
went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the
path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock,
and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other
seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still
other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times
more than was sown."
When he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to
hear, let him hear."
His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He
said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given
to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
" `though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.'
"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is
the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil
comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe
and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy
when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the
time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for
those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries,
riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands
for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by
persevering produce a crop.
"No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or
puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in
can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed,
and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the
open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be
given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken
from him."
Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they
were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him,
"Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you."
He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who
hear God's word and put it into practice."
One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go
over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out.
As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the
boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master,
Master, we're going to drown!"
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the
storm subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his
disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is
this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."
They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is
across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a
demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn
clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. When he saw
Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice,
"What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you,
don't torture me!" For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of
the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot
and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon
into solitary places.
Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
"Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone
into him. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the
Abyss.
A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside.
The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them
permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs,
and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they
ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out
to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom
the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind;
and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the
demon-possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of the region of the
Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So
he got into the boat and left.
The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go
with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return home and tell how much
God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how
much Jesus had done for him.
Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they
were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue,
came and fell at Jesus' feet, pleading with him to come to his
house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed
him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve
years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the
edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
"Who touched me?" Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the
people are crowding and pressing against you."
But Jesus said, "Someone touched me; I know that
power has gone out from me."
Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed,
came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she
told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then
he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace."
While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the
house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," he
said. "Don't bother the teacher any more."
Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, "Don't be
afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."
When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let
anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child's father and
mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. "Stop
wailing," Jesus said. "She is not dead but asleep."
They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But
he took her by the hand and said, "My child, get up!" Her spirit
returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something
to eat. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell
anyone what had happened.
Chapter 9
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and
authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to
preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: "Take
nothing for the journey--no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.
Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people
do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as
a testimony against them." So they set out and went from village to
village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.
Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going
on. And he was perplexed, because some were saying that John had been raised
from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one
of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. But Herod said, "I
beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?" And he tried
to see him.
When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what
they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a
town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He
welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who
needed healing.
Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said,
"Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and
countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place
here."
He replied, "You give them something to eat."
They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and
two fish--unless we go and buy food for all this crowd." (About five
thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in
groups of about fifty each." The disciples did so, and everybody sat
down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he
gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before
the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up
twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
Once when Jesus was praying in private and his
disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others
say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come
back to life."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do
you say I am?"
Peter answered, "The Christ of God."
Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to
anyone. And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected
by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and
on the third day be raised to life."
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come
after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow
me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole
world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me
and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory
and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the
truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the
kingdom of God."
About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter,
John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. As he was
praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright
as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious
splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was
about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were
very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two
men standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him,
"Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one
for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he was
saying.)
While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped
them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the
cloud, saying, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to
him." When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The
disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at that time what they had
seen.
The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a
large crowd met him. A man in the crowd called out, "Teacher, I beg
you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him and he
suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth.
It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. I begged your disciples to
drive it out, but they could not."
"O unbelieving and perverse generation,"
Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring
your son here."
Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to
the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy
and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the greatness of
God.
While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said
to his disciples, "Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you:
The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men." But
they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they
did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
An argument started among the disciples as to which of
them would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child
and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this
little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one
who sent me. For he who is least among you all--he is the greatest."
"Master," said John, "we saw a man
driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one
of us."
"Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for
whoever is not against you is for you."
As the time approached for him to be taken up to
heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on
ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the
people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for
Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked,
"Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?"
But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village.
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the
air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my
father."
Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own
dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but
first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the
plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Chapter 10
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by
two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told
them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of
the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am
sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals;
and do not greet anyone on the road.
"When you enter a house, first say, `Peace to this
house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it
will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they
give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to
house.
"When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what
is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, `The kingdom
of God is near you.' But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go
into its streets and say, `Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet
we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is
near.' I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for
that town.
"Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For
if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and
Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and
ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment
than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you
will go down to the depths.
"He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects
you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord,
even the demons submit to us in your name."
He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from
heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to
overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do
not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are
written in heaven."
At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy
Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you
have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little
children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
"All things have been committed to me by my
Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the
Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
Then he turned to his disciples and said privately,
"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many
prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear
what you hear but did not hear it."
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test
Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal
life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied.
"How do you read it?"
He answered: " `Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your
mind' ; and, `Love your neighbor as yourself.' "
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied.
"Do this and you will live."
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?"
In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from
Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him
of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest
happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by
on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw
him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where
the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and
bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own
donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out
two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. `Look after him,' he said,
`and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'
"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor
to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
The expert in the law replied, "The one who had
mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came
to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a
sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But
Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to
him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the
work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered,
"you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is
needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from
her."
Chapter 11
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of
his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught
his disciples."
He said to them, "When you pray, say:
" `Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation. ' "
Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a
friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, `Friend, lend me three loaves
of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have
nothing to set before him.'
"Then the one inside answers, `Don't bother me.
The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up
and give you anything.' I tell you, though he will not get up and give him
the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will
get up and give him as much as he needs.
"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone
who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be
opened.
"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a
fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give
him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good
gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy
Spirit to those who ask him!"
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the
demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But
some of them said, "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out
demons." Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: "Any
kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against
itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom
stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now
if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out?
So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger
of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own
house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and
overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up
the spoils.
"He who is not with me is against me, and he who
does not gather with me, scatters.
"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes
through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, `I will
return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept
clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more
wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of
that man is worse than the first."
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd
called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed
you."
He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the
word of God and obey it."
As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a
wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it
except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so
also will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will
rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she
came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one
greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the
judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the
preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.
"No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where
it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that
those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body.
When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they
are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the
light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of
light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light
of a lamp shines on you."
When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited
him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the
Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was
surprised.
Then the Lord said to him, "Now then, you
Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of
greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the
outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the
poor, and everything will be clean for you.
"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a
tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect
justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without
leaving the former undone.
"Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most
important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.
"Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves,
which men walk over without knowing it."
One of the experts in the law answered him,
"Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also."
Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to
you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you
yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.
"Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets,
and it was your forefathers who killed them. So you testify that you
approve of what your forefathers did; they killed the prophets, and you build
their tombs. Because of this, God in his wisdom said, `I will send them
prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will
persecute.' Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the
blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the
world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed
between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be
held responsible for it all.
"Woe to you experts in the law, because you have
taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have
hindered those who were entering."
When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers
of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions,
waiting to catch him in something he might say.
Chapter 12
Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they
were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples,
saying: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is
hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or
hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be
heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner
rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.
"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those
who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom
you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to
throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold
for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very
hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than
many sparrows.
"I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men,
the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he
who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And
everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone
who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
"When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and
authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will
say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should
say."
Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell
my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or
an arbiter between you?" Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on
your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the
abundance of his possessions."
And he told them this parable: "The ground of a
certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, `What shall
I do? I have no place to store my crops.'
"Then he said, `This is what I'll do. I will tear
down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my
goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid
up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '
"But God said to him, `You fool! This very night
your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared
for yourself?'
"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up
things for himself but is not rich toward God."
Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I
tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body,
what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than
clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no
storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than
birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you
cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor
or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like
one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is
here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe
you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat
or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such
things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom,
and these things will be given to you as well.
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has
been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to
the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in
heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth
destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps
burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding
banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door
for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them
watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve,
will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It
will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes
in the second or third watch of the night. But understand this: If the
owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not
have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son
of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."
Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable
to us, or to everyone?"
The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and
wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their
food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom
the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will
put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to
himself, `My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to
beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get
drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not
expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and
assign him a place with the unbelievers.
"That servant who knows his master's will and does
not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many
blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment
will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will
be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will
be asked.
"I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I
wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how
distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace
on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in
one family divided against each other, three against two and two against
three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father,
mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against
daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."
He said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising
in the west, immediately you say, `It's going to rain,' and it does. And
when the south wind blows, you say, `It's going to be hot,' and it is.
Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky.
How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?
"Why don't you judge for yourselves what is
right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to
be reconciled to him on the way, or he may drag you off to the judge, and the
judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I
tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. "
Chapter 13
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the
Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus
answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all
the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But
unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died
when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than
all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you
too will all perish."
Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree,
planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find
any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, `For three years
now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any.
Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
" `Sir,' the man replied, `leave it alone for one
more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next
year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "
On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the
synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for
eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When
Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set
free from your infirmity." Then he put his hands on her, and
immediately she straightened up and praised God.
Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the
synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come
and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath."
The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't
each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it
out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham,
whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath
day from what bound her?"
When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated,
but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
Then Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God
like? What shall I compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man
took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the
air perched in its branches."
Again he asked, "What shall I compare the kingdom
of God to? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large
amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."
Then Jesus went through the towns and villages,
teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord,
are only a few people going to be saved?"
He said to them, "Make every effort to enter
through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will
not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door,
you will stand outside knocking and pleading, `Sir, open the door for us.'
"But he will answer, `I don't know you or where you
come from.'
"Then you will say, `We ate and drank with you, and
you taught in our streets.'
"But he will reply, `I don't know you or where you
come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'
"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of
teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the
kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east
and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the
kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and
first who will be last."
At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to
him, "Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill
you."
He replied, "Go tell that fox, `I will drive out
demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my
goal.' In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next
day--for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets
and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children
together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not
willing! Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will
not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the
Lord.' "
Chapter 14
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent
Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man
suffering from dropsy. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law,
"Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" But they remained
silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away.
Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an
ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him
out?" And they had nothing to say.
When he noticed how the guests picked the places of
honor at the table, he told them this parable: "When someone invites
you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more
distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited
both of you will come and say to you, `Give this man your seat.' Then,
humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you
are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say
to you, `Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the
presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will
be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon
or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich
neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be
repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the
lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you
will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
When one of those at the table with him heard this, he
said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the
kingdom of God."
Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a
great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his
servant to tell those who had been invited, `Come, for everything is now
ready.'
"But they all alike began to make excuses. The
first said, `I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please
excuse me.'
"Another said, `I have just bought five yoke of
oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
"Still another said, `I just got married, so I
can't come.'
"The servant came back and reported this to his
master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, `Go
out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the
crippled, the blind and the lame.'
" `Sir,' the servant said, `what you ordered has
been done, but there is still room.'
"Then the master told his servant, `Go out to the
roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be
full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste
of my banquet.' "
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to
them he said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and
mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own
life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow
me cannot be my disciple.
"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will
he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to
complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it,
everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and
was not able to finish.'
"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against
another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with
ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty
thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is
still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any
of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how
can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the
manure pile; it is thrown out.
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Chapter 15
Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around
to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered,
"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."
Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose
one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the
ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds
it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and
goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice
with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way
there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over
ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses
one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she
finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors
together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the
same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God
over one sinner who repents."
Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two
sons. The younger one said to his father, `Father, give me my share of the
estate.' So he divided his property between them.
"Not long after that, the younger son got together
all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in
wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in
that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired
himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed
pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were
eating, but no one gave him anything.
"When he came to his senses, he said, `How many of
my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to
death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I
have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called
your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to
his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw
him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms
around him and kissed him.
"The son said to him, `Father, I have sinned
against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
"But the father said to his servants, `Quick!
Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on
his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and
celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When
he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of
the servants and asked him what was going on. `Your brother has come,' he
replied, `and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe
and sound.'
"The older brother became angry and refused to go
in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his
father, `Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed
your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with
my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property
with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
" `My son,' the father said, `you are always with
me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad,
because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is
found.' "
Chapter 16
Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was
accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him,
`What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you
cannot be manager any longer.'
"The manager said to himself, `What shall I do
now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm
ashamed to beg-- I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here,
people will welcome me into their houses.'
"So he called in each one of his master's debtors.
He asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?'
" `Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he
replied.
"The manager told him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly,
and make it four hundred.'
"Then he asked the second, `And how much do you
owe?'
" `A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied.
"He told him, `Take your bill and make it eight
hundred.'
"The master commended the dishonest manager
because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in
dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you,
use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you
will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also
be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be
dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling
worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not
been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of
your own?
"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will
hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were
sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify
yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued
among men is detestable in God's sight.
"The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until
John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached,
and everyone is forcing his way into it. It is easier for heaven and earth
to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
"Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another
woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits
adultery.
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple
and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a
beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from
the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels
carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In
hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with
Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, `Father Abraham, have pity on me
and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
because I am in agony in this fire.'
"But Abraham replied, `Son, remember that in your
lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but
now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this,
between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go
from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
"He answered, `Then I beg you, father, send
Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them,
so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
"Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the Prophets;
let them listen to them.'
" `No, father Abraham,' he said, `but if someone
from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
"He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses
and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the
dead.' "
Chapter 17
Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are
bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be
better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck
than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch
yourselves.
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents,
forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times
comes back to you and says, `I repent,' forgive him."
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
He replied, "If you have faith as small as a
mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, `Be uprooted and planted in the
sea,' and it will obey you.
"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or
looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the
field, `Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, `Prepare
my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that
you may eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he
was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told
to do, should say, `We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'
"
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the
border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten
men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a
loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to
the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back,
praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked
him--and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are
the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except
this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith
has made you well."
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the
kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not
come with your careful observation, nor will people say, `Here it is,' or
`There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming
when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not
see it. Men will tell you, `There he is!' or `Here he is!' Do not go
running off after them. For the Son of Man in his day will be like the
lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the
other. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this
generation.
"Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will
it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking,
marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then
the flood came and destroyed them all.
"It was the same in the days of Lot. People were
eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the
day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them
all.
"It will be just like this on the day the Son of
Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with
his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field
should go back for anything. Remember Lot's wife! Whoever tries to keep
his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. I tell
you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the
other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken
and the other left. "
"Where, Lord?" they asked.
He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the
vultures will gather.
"Chapter 18
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should
always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a
judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in
that town who kept coming to him with the plea, `Grant me justice against my
adversary.'
"For some time he refused. But finally he said to
himself, `Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this
widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't
eventually wear me out with her coming!' "
And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust
judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who
cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you,
he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man
comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
To some who were confident of their own righteousness
and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men
went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax
collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: `God, I thank
you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like
this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He
would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, `God, have
mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other,
went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him
touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called
the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do
not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell
you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little
child will never enter it."
A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what
must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered.
"No one is good--except God alone. You know the commandments: `Do not
commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor
your father and mother.' "
"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he
said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still
lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was
a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is
for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
God."
Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be
saved?"
Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible
with God."
Peter said to him, "We have left all we had to follow
you!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them,
"no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for
the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in
this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."
Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are
going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the
Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They
will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the
third day he will rise again."
The disciples did not understand any of this. Its
meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by
the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was
happening. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."
He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on
me!"
Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be
quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him.
When he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for
you?"
"Lord, I want to see," he replied.
Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith
has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed
Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
Chapter 19
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by
the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He
wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the
crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since
Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to
him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house
today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He
has gone to be the guest of a `sinner.' "
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord,
"Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and
if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the
amount."
Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to
this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man
came to seek and to save what was lost."
While they were listening to this, he went on to tell
them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the
kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: "A man of noble
birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to
return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. `Put
this money to work,' he said, `until I come back.'
"But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation
after him to say, `We don't want this man to be our king.'
"He was made king, however, and returned home.
Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find
out what they had gained with it.
"The first one came and said, `Sir, your mina has
earned ten more.'
" `Well done, my good servant!' his master
replied. `Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge
of ten cities.'
"The second came and said, `Sir, your mina has
earned five more.'
"His master answered, `You take charge of five
cities.'
"Then another servant came and said, `Sir, here is
your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you,
because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what
you did not sow.'
"His master replied, `I will judge you by your own
words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out
what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn't you
put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it
with interest?'
"Then he said to those standing by, `Take his mina away
from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'
" `Sir,' they said, `he already has ten!'
"He replied, `I tell you that to everyone who has,
more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will
be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king
over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me.' "
After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up
to Jerusalem. As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called
the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go
to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied
there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone
asks you, `Why are you untying it?' tell him, `The Lord needs it.' "
Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he
had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them,
"Why are you untying the colt?"
They replied, "The Lord needs it."
They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the
colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on
the road.
When he came near the place where the road goes down
the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God
in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus,
"Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep
quiet, the stones will cry out."
As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept
over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what
would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will
come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and
encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the
ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone
on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to
you."
Then he entered the temple area and began driving out
those who were selling. "It is written," he said to them, "
`My house will be a house of prayer' ; but you have made it `a den of robbers.'
"
Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief
priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying
to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the
people hung on his words.
Chapter 20
One day as he was teaching the people in the temple courts and preaching
the gospel, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the
elders, came up to him. "Tell us by what authority you are doing
these things," they said. "Who gave you this authority?"
He replied, "I will also ask you a question. Tell
me, John's baptism--was it from heaven, or from men?"
They discussed it among themselves and said, "If
we say, `From heaven,' he will ask, `Why didn't you believe him?' But if we
say, `From men,' all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that
John was a prophet."
So they answered, "We don't know where it was
from."
Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority
I am doing these things."
He went on to tell the people this parable: "A man
planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long
time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give
him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him
away empty-handed. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat
and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third,
and they wounded him and threw him out.
"Then the owner of the vineyard said, `What shall
I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.'
"But when the tenants saw him, they talked the
matter over. `This is the heir,' they said. `Let's kill him, and the
inheritance will be ours.' So they threw him out of the vineyard and
killed him.
"What then will the owner of the vineyard do to
them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to
others."
When the people heard this, they said, "May this never
be!"
Jesus looked directly at them and asked, "Then
what is the meaning of that which is written:
" `The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone' ?
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to
pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked
for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this
parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.
Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who
pretended to be honest. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said so that
they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. So
the spies questioned him: "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what
is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in
accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or
not?"
He saw through their duplicity and said to
them, "Show me a denarius. Whose portrait and inscription are on
it?"
"Caesar's," they replied.
He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's,
and to God what is God's."
They were unable to trap him in what he had said there
in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.
Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no
resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. "Teacher," they
said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife
but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his
brother. Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and
died childless. The second and then the third married her, and in the
same way the seven died, leaving no children. Finally, the woman died
too. Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven
were married to her?"
Jesus replied, "The people of this age marry and
are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part
in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be
given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the
angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the
resurrection. But in the account of the bush, even Moses showed that the
dead rise, for he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for
to him all are alive."
Some of the teachers of the law responded, "Well said,
teacher!" And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Then Jesus said to them, "How is it that they say
the Christ is the Son of David? David himself declares in the Book of
Psalms:
" `The Lord said to my Lord:
"Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet." '
David calls him `Lord.' How then can he be his son?"
While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his
disciples, "Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk
around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the
most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at
banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.
Such men will be punished most severely."
Chapter 21
As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple
treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper
coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow
has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out
of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live
on."
Some of his disciples were remarking about how the
temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But
Jesus said, "As for what you see here, the time will come when not
one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down."
"Teacher," they asked, "when will these
things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take
place?"
He replied: "Watch out that you are not deceived.
For many will come in my name, claiming, `I am he,' and, `The time is near.' Do
not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be
frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right
away."
Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes,
famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs
from heaven.
"But before all this, they will lay hands on you
and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you
will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my
name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up
your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I
will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to
resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers,
relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men
will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will
perish. By standing firm you will gain life.
"When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by
armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are
in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in
the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in
fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those
days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in
the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and
will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by
the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars.
On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and
tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is
coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time
they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great
glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your
heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
He told them this parable: "Look at the fig tree
and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and
know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you
know that the kingdom of God is near.
"I tell you the truth, this generation will
certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and
earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down
with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will
close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who
live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that
you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able
to stand before the Son of Man."
Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each
evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of
Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the
temple.
Chapter 22
Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching, and
the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get
rid of Jesus, for they were afraid of the people. Then Satan entered
Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve. And Judas went to the chief priests
and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with them how he might
betray Jesus. They were delighted and agreed to give him money. He
consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no
crowd was present.
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the
Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying,
"Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover."
"Where do you want us to prepare for it?"
they asked.
He replied, "As you enter the city, a man carrying
a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and
say to the owner of the house, `The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room,
where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large
upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there."
They left and found things just as Jesus had told them.
So they prepared the Passover.
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at
the table. And he said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this
Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again
until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God."
After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said,
"Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink
again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave
it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance
of me."
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup,
saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for
you. But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the
table. The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed, but woe to that man
who betrays him." They began to question among themselves which of
them it might be who would do this.
Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was
considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, "The kings of the
Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call
themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the
greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the
one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one
who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one
who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I
confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that
you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel.
"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as
wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And
when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you
to prison and to death."
Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the
rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."
Then Jesus asked them, "When I sent you without
purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?"
"Nothing," they answered.
He said to them, "But now if you have a purse,
take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy
one. It is written: `And he was numbered with the transgressors' ; and I
tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is
reaching its fulfillment."
The disciples said, "See, Lord, here are two
swords."
"That is enough," he replied.
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his
disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, "Pray
that you will not fall into temptation." He withdrew about a stone's
throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, "Father, if you are
willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." An
angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in
anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood
falling to the ground.
When he rose from prayer and went back to the
disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. "Why are you
sleeping?" he asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall
into temptation."
While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the
man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached
Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the
Son of Man with a kiss?"
When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen,
they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" And one of
them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he
touched the man's ear and healed him.
Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of
the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a
rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with
you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your
hour--when darkness reigns."
Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into
the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. But when they
had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together,
Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight.
She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him."
But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him,"
he said.
A little later someone else saw him and said, "You
also are one of them."
"Man, I am not!" Peter replied.
About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly
this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean."
Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're
talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord
turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord
had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me
three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.
The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and
beating him. They blindfolded him and demanded, "Prophesy! Who hit
you?" And they said many other insulting things to him.
At daybreak the council of the elders of the people,
both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led
before them. "If you are the Christ, " they said, "tell
us."
Jesus answered, "If I tell you, you will not believe
me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the
Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God."
They all asked, "Are you then the Son of
God?"
He replied, "You are right in saying I am."
Then they said, "Why do we need any more
testimony? We have heard it from his own lips."
Chapter 23
Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began
to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He
opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king."
So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the
Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.
Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the
crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."
But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all
over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way
here."
On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a
Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent
him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.
When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because
for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about
him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. He plied him with many questions,
but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the
law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. Then Herod and his
soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent
him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became friends--before this
they had been enemies.
Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers
and the people, and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who
was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and
have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for
he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.
Therefore, I will punish him and then release him. "
With one voice they cried out, "Away with this
man! Release Barabbas to us!" (Barabbas had been thrown into prison
for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them
again. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What
crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death
penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."
But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he
be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their
demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for
insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their
will.
As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene,
who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him
carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including
women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them,
"Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for
your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the
barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never
nursed!’ Then “they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the
hills, “Cover us!” ‘
For if men do these things when the tree is green, what
will happen when it is dry?"
Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with
him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, there
they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on
his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know
what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered
at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ
of God, the Chosen One."
The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered
him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save
yourself."
There
was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at
him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you
fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We
are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man
has done nothing wrong."
Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. "
Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today
you will be with me in paradise."
It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over
the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the
curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice,
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this,
he breathed his last.
The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God
and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." When all the people
who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their
breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who
had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the
Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision
and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for
the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then
he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the
rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the
Sabbath was about to begin.
The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed
Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went
home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in
obedience to the commandment.
Chapter 24
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these
things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna,
Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the
apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed
to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending
over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away,
wondering to himself what had happened.
Now that same day two of them were going to a village
called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with
each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed
these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with
them; but they were kept from recognizing him.
He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you
walk along?"
They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named
Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know
the things that have happened there in these days?"
"What things?" he asked.
"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He
was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the
people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced
to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who
was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all
this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to
the tomb early this morning but didn't find his body. They came and told
us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some
of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but
him they did not see."
He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the
Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And
beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said
in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
As they approached the village to which they were
going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him
strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost
over." So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave
thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened
and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked
each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us
on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There
they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying,
"It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." Then
the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them
when he broke the bread.
While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself
stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a
ghost. He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise
in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and
see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and
feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and
amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to
eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and
ate it in their presence.
He said to them, "This is what I told you while I
was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in
the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the
Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will
suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and
forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you
what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed
with power from on high."
When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he
lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left
them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to
Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple,
praising God.