The Lord of the Sabbath

¹One SabbathJesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.

²But some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

³Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

⁴He entered the house of God, took the consecrated breadand gave it to his companions, and ate what is lawful only for the priests to eat.”

⁵Then Jesus declared, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

⁶On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.

⁷Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.

⁸But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand among us.” So he got up and stood there.

⁹Then 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?”

¹⁰And after looking around at all of them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and it was restored.

¹¹But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles

¹²In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.

¹³When daylight came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated as apostles:

¹⁴Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;

¹⁵Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alphaeus and Simon called the Zealot;

¹⁶Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus Heals the Multitudes

¹⁷Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples was there, along with a great number of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.

¹⁸They had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases, and those troubled by unclean spirits were healed.

¹⁹The entire crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all.

The Beatitudes

²⁰Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said:“Blessed are you who are poor,for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹Blessed are you who hunger now,for you will be filled.Blessed are you who weep now,for you will laugh.

²²Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.

²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.

Woes to the Satisfied

²⁴But woe to you who are rich,for you have already received your comfort.

²⁵Woe to you who are well fed now,for you will hunger.Woe to you who laugh now,for you will mourn and weep.

²⁶Woe to you when all men speak well of you,for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

²⁸bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

²⁹If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.

³⁰Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back.

³¹Do to others as you would have them do to you.

³²If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.

³³If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.

³⁴And 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.

³⁵But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Judging Others

³⁷Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

³⁸Give, 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 back to you.”

³⁹Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

⁴⁰A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

⁴¹Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?

⁴²How can you say, ‘Brother,let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.

⁴⁴For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles.

⁴⁵The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

The House on the Rock

⁴⁶Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say?

⁴⁷I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them:

⁴⁸He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

⁴⁹But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

¹Jesus also said to His disciples, “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.

²So he called him in to ask, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in an account of your management, for you cannot be manager any longer.’

³The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my position? I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg.

⁴I know what I will do so that after my removal from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

⁵And he called in each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first.

⁶‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’he answered.‘Take your bill,’ said the manager, ‘sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

⁷Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’‘A hundred measures of wheat,’he replied.‘Take your bill and write eighty,’ he told him.

⁸The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.

⁹I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.

¹⁰Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

¹¹So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

¹²And if you have not been faithful with the belongings of another, who will give you belongings of your own?

¹³No 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 Law and the Prophets

¹⁴The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.

¹⁵So He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is prized among men is detestable before God.

¹⁶The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

¹⁷But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

¹⁸Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.

²⁰And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores

²¹and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

²²One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.And the rich man also died and was buried.

²³In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

²⁴So he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am in agony in this fire.’

²⁵But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

²⁶And besides all this, a great chasm has been fixed between us and you, so that even those who wish cannot cross from here to you, nor can anyone cross from there to us.’

²⁷‘Then I beg you, father,’ he said, ‘send Lazarus to my father’s house,

²⁸for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also end up in this place of torment.’

²⁹But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let your brothers listen to them.’

³⁰‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent.’

³¹Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

The Feeding of the Four Thousand

¹In those days the crowd once again became very large, and they had nothing to eat. Jesus called the disciples to Him and said,

²“I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat.

³If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a great distance.”

⁴His disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could anyone find enough bread to feed all these people?”

⁵“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.“Seven,” they replied.

⁶And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then He took the seven loaves, gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And they distributed them to the crowd.

⁷They also had a few small fish, and Jesus blessed them and ordered that these be set before them as well.

⁸The people ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

⁹And about four thousand menwere present.And when Jesus had dismissed the crowd,

¹⁰He immediately got into the boat with His disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

The Demand for a Sign

¹¹Then the Pharisees came and began to argue with Jesus, testing Him by demanding from Him a sign from heaven.

¹²Jesus sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

¹³And He left them, got back into the boat, and crossed to the other side.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod

¹⁴Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.

¹⁵“Watch out!” He cautioned them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod.”

¹⁶So they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread.

¹⁷Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts?

¹⁸‘Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear?’And do you not remember?

¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you collect?”“Twelve,” they answered.

²⁰“And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you collect?”“Seven,” they said.

²¹Then He asked them, “Do you still not understand?”

The Blind Man at Bethsaida

²²When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.

²³So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then He spit on the man’s eyes and placed His hands on him. “Can you see anything?” He asked.

²⁴The man looked up and said, “I can see the people, but they look like trees walking around.”

²⁵Once again Jesus placed His hands on the man’s eyes, and when he opened them his sight was restored, and he could see everything clearly.

²⁶Jesus sent him home and said, “Do not go back into the village.”

Peter’s Confession of Christ

²⁷Then Jesus and His disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say I am?”

²⁸They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

²⁹“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”

³⁰And Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about Him.

Christ’s Passion Foretold

³¹Then He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and after three days rise again.

³²He spoke this message quite frankly, and Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

³³But Jesus, turning and looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Take Up Your Cross

³⁴Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.

³⁶What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

³⁷Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

³⁸If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

The Earth Is the LORD’s

¹The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof,the world and all who dwell therein.

²For He has founded it upon the seasand established it upon the waters.

³Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?Who may stand in His holy place?

⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart,who does not lift up his soul to an idolor swear deceitfully.

⁵He will receive blessing from the LORDand vindication from the God of his salvation.

⁶Such is the generation of those who seek Him,who seek Your face, O God of Jacob.Selah

⁷Lift up your heads, O gates!Be lifted up, O ancient doors,that the King of Glory may enter!

⁸Who is this King of Glory?The LORD strong and mighty,the LORD mighty in battle.

⁹Lift up your heads, O gates!Be lifted up, O ancient doors,that the King of Glory may enter!

¹⁰Who is He, this King of Glory?The LORD of Hosts—He is the King of Glory.Selah