Isaiah's Vision of the Lord

6 In the year that ^(A)King Uzziah died I ^(B)saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train^[a] of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had ^(C)six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:

⁴ And ^(F)the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and ^(G)the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! ^(H)For I am lost; ^(I)for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the ^(J)King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he ^(K)touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah's Commission from the Lord

⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for ^(L)us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” ⁹ And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz

7 In the days of ^(V)Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, ^(W)Rezin the king of Syria and ^(X)Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. ² When the house of David was told, ^(Y)“Syria is in league with^{[h] (Z)}Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz^[i] and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

³ And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and ^(AA)Shear-jashub^[j] your son, at the end of ^(AB)the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. ⁴ And say to him, ^(AC)‘Be careful, ^(AD)be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two ^(AE)smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and ^(AF)the son of Remaliah. ⁵ Because Syria, with Ephraim and ^(AG)the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, ⁶ “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it^[k] for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” ⁷ thus says the Lord God:

The Sign of Immanuel

¹⁰ Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: ¹¹ “Ask ^(AL)a sign of the Lord your^[m] God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” ¹² But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” ¹³ And he^[n] said, “Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you ^(AM)weary my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the ^(AN)Lord himself will give you a sign. ^(AO)Behold, the ^(AP)virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name ^(AQ)Immanuel.^{[o] 15} He shall eat ^(AR)curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. ^16 (AS)For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be ^(AT)deserted. ^17 (AU)The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that ^(AV)Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!”

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will ^(AW)whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. ¹⁹ And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and ^(AX)in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thornbushes, and on all the pastures.^[p]

²⁰ In that day ^(AY)the Lord will ^(AZ)shave with a razor that is ^(BA)hired beyond ^(BB)the River^[q]—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard also.

^21 (BC)In that day a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep, ²² and because of the abundance of milk that they give, he will eat curds, for everyone who is left in the land will eat ^(BD)curds and honey.

²³ In that day every place where there used to be a thousand vines, worth a thousand shekels^[r] of silver, will become ^(BE)briers and thorns. ^24 (BF)With bow and arrows a man will come there, for all the land will be briers and thorns. ^25 (BG)And as for all the hills that used to be hoed with a hoe, you will not come there for fear ^(BH)of briers and thorns, but they will become a place where cattle are let loose and where sheep tread.

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

The Temptation of Jesus

4 ^(A)And Jesus, ^(B)full of the Holy Spirit, ^(C)returned from the Jordan and was led ^(D)by the Spirit in the wilderness ² for ^(E)forty days, ^(F)being tempted by the devil. ^(G)And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, ^(H)he was hungry. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are ^(I)the Son of God, command ^(J)this stone to become bread.” ⁴ And Jesus answered him, ^(K)“It is written, ^(L)‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” ^5 (M)And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, ⁶ and said to him, “To you ^(N)I will give all this authority and their glory, ^(O)for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸ And Jesus answered him, ^(P)“It is written,

^9 (S)And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are ^(T)the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written,

¹¹ and

¹² And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ^(W)‘You shall not ^(X)put the Lord your God to the test.’” ¹³ And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him ^(Y)until an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

^14 (Z)And Jesus returned ^(AA)in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and ^(AB)a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵ And ^(AC)he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

^16 (AD)And he came to ^(AE)Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And ^(AF)as was his custom, ^(AG)he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up ^(AH)to read. ¹⁷ And ^(AI)the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

²⁰ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and ^(AQ)sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were ^(AR)fixed on him. ²¹ And he began to say to them, “Today ^(AS)this Scripture ^(AT)has been fulfilled in your hearing.” ²² And all spoke well of him and marveled at ^(AU)the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, ^(AV)“Is not this ^(AW)Joseph's son?” ²³ And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ^(AX)‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did ^(AY)at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” ²⁴ And he said, “Truly, I say to you, ^(AZ)no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. ²⁵ But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when ^(BA)the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, ²⁶ and Elijah was sent to none of them ^(BB)but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. ²⁷ And ^(BC)there were many lepers^[a] in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, ^(BD)but only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹ And they rose up and ^(BE)drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰ But ^(BF)passing through their midst, he went away.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

^31 (BG)And he ^(BH)went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And ^(BI)he was teaching them ^(BJ)on the Sabbath, ³² and ^(BK)they were astonished at his teaching, ^(BL)for his word possessed authority. ³³ And ^(BM)in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Ha!^{[b] (BN)}What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^(BO)I know who you are—^(BP)the Holy One of God.” ³⁵ But Jesus ^(BQ)rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. ³⁶ And ^(BR)they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? ^(BS)For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” ³⁷ And ^(BT)reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus Heals Many

^38 (BU)And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon's house. Now ^(BV)Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. ³⁹ And he stood over her and ^(BW)rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

⁴⁰ Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and ^(BX)he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. ^41 (BY)And demons also came out of many, ^(BZ)crying, “You are ^(CA)the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and ^(CB)would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was ^(CC)the Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Synagogues

^42 (CD)And when it was day, he departed and went ^(CE)into a desolate place. And ^(CF)the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, ⁴³ but he said to them, ^(CG)“I must ^(CH)preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴ And he was preaching ^(CI)in the synagogues of Judea.^[c]

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

5 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by ^(CJ)the lake of Gennesaret, ^2 (CK)and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were ^(CL)washing their nets. ³ Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And ^(CM)he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴ And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ^(CN)“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ And Simon answered, “Master, ^(CO)we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶ And when they had done this, ^(CP)they enclosed a large number of fish, and ^(CQ)their nets were breaking. ⁷ They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. ^(CR)And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, ^(CS)“Depart from me, for ^(CT)I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”^{[d] 11} And when they had brought their boats to land, ^(CU)they left everything and followed him.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

¹² While he was in one of the cities, ^(CV)there came a man full of leprosy.^[e] And when he saw Jesus, he ^(CW)fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, ^(CX)if you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³ And Jesus^[f] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And he charged him ^(CY)to tell no one, but “go and show ^(CZ)yourself to the priest, and ^(DA)make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, ^(DB)for a proof to them.” ^15 (DC)But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶ But ^(DD)he would withdraw to desolate places and ^(DE)pray.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹⁷ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and ^(DF)teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And ^(DG)the power of the Lord was with him to heal.^{[g] 18 (DH)}And behold, some men were bringing ^(DI)on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹ but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on ^(DJ)the roof and let him down with his bed ^(DK)through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰ And ^(DL)when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, ^(DM)your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks ^(DN)blasphemies? ^(DO)Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²² When Jesus ^(DP)perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that ^(DQ)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, ^(DR)glorifying God. ²⁶ And amazement seized them all, and they ^(DS)glorified God and were filled ^(DT)with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Jesus Calls Levi

^27 (DU)After this he went out and saw ^(DV)a tax collector named ^(DW)Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ And ^(DX)leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

²⁹ And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company ^(DY)of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. ³⁰ And the Pharisees and ^(DZ)their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ^(EA)“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^32 (EB)I have not come to call the righteous ^(EC)but sinners ^(ED)to repentance.”

A Question About Fasting

³³ And they said to him, ^(EE)“The disciples of John ^(EF)fast often and ^(EG)offer prayers, ^(EH)and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, ^(EI)“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? ^35 (EJ)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(EK)then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old ^(EL)wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”^[h]

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

6 ^(EM)On a Sabbath,^[i] while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples ^(EN)plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. ² But some of the Pharisees said, ^(EO)“Why are you doing ^(EP)what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” ³ And Jesus answered them, ^(EQ)“Have you not read ^(ER)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and took and ate ^(ES)the bread of the Presence, ^(ET)which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” ⁵ And he said to them, ^(EU)“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

⁶ On another Sabbath, ^(EV)he entered the synagogue ^(EW)and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ And the scribes and the Pharisees ^(EX)watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, ^(EY)so that they might find a reason to accuse him. ⁸ But ^(EZ)he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. ⁹ And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, ^(FA)is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ And ^(FB)after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And ^(FC)he did so, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they were filled with ^(FD)fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles

¹² In these days ^(FE)he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. ¹³ And when day came, ^(FF)he called his disciples ^(FG)and ^(FH)chose from them twelve, whom he named ^(FI)apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, ^(FJ)whom he named Peter, and ^(FK)Andrew his brother, and ^(FL)James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, ¹⁵ and ^(FM)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called ^(FN)the Zealot, ¹⁶ and ^(FO)Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

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

The Beatitudes

²⁰ And ^(FV)he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, ^(FW)and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for ^(FX)yours is the kingdom of God.

^21 (FY)“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

^(FZ)“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

²² “Blessed are you when ^(GA)people hate you and when they ^(GB)exclude you and revile you and ^(GC)spurn your name as evil, ^(GD)on account of the Son of Man! ^23 (GE)Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for ^(GF)so their fathers did to the prophets.

Jesus Pronounces Woes

^24 (GG)“But woe to you who are rich, ^(GH)for you ^(GI)have received your consolation.

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

“Woe to ^(GK)you who laugh now, ^(GL)for you shall mourn and weep.

²⁶ “Woe to you, ^(GM)when all people speak well of you, for ^(GN)so their fathers did to ^(GO)the false prophets.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, ^(GP)Love your enemies, ^(GQ)do good to those who hate you, ^28 (GR)bless those who curse you, ^(GS)pray for those who abuse you. ^29 (GT)To one who ^(GU)strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic^[j] either. ^30 (GV)Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹ And ^(GW)as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

^32 (GX)“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And ^(GY)if you ^(GZ)lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵ But ^(HA)love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and ^(HB)you will be sons of ^(HC)the Most High, for ^(HD)he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ^36 (HE)Be merciful, even as ^(HF)your Father is merciful.

Judging Others

^37 (HG)(HH)“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; ^(HI)forgive, and you will be forgiven; ^38 (HJ)give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put ^(HK)into your lap. For ^(HL)with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

³⁹ He also told them a parable: ^(HM)“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ^40 (HN)A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is ^(HO)fully trained will be like his teacher. ^41 (HP)Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but ^(HQ)do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ “For ^(HR)no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, ⁴⁴ for ^(HS)each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ^45 (HT)The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces ^(HU)evil, ^(HV)for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Build Your House on the Rock

^46 (HW)“Why ^(HX)do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? ^47 (HY)Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.^{[k] 49 (HZ)}But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and ^(IA)the ruin of that house was great.”