John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

3 In those days ^(B)John the Baptist came preaching ^(C)in the wilderness of Judea, ² and saying, “Repent, for ^(D)the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” ³ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

⁴ Now ^(G)John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(H)locusts and ^(I)wild honey. ^5 (J)Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him ^6 (K)and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ^(L)“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(M)the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, ⁹ and do not think to say to yourselves, ^(N)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. ^(O)Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ^11 (P)I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. ^(Q)He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit ^[a]and fire. ^12 (R)His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will ^(S)burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

John Baptizes Jesus^(T)

^13 (U)Then Jesus came ^(V)from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. ¹⁴ And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

¹⁵ But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

^16 (W)When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and ^[b]He saw ^(X)the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. ^17 (Y)And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ^(Z)“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Do Not Judge^(A)

7 “Judge^{[a] (B)}not, that you be not judged. ² For with what ^[b]judgment you judge, you will be judged; ^(C)and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. ^3 (D)And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

^6 (E)“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking^(F)

^7 (G)“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For ^(H)everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ^9 (I)Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? ¹¹ If you then, ^(J)being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! ¹² Therefore, ^(K)whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for ^(L)this is the Law and the Prophets.

The Narrow Way^(M)

^13 (N)“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ^14 [c]Because narrow is the gate and ^[d]difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits^(O)

^15 (P)“Beware of false prophets, ^(Q)who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ^16 (R)You will know them by their fruits. ^(S)Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, ^(T)every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ^19 (U)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

I Never Knew You^(V)

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ^(W)‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who ^(X)does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we ^(Y)not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And ^(Z)then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; ^(AA)depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Build on the Rock^(AB)

²⁴ “Therefore ^(AC)whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: ²⁵ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

²⁶ “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: ²⁷ and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

²⁸ And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that ^(AD)the people were astonished at His teaching, ^29 (AE)for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(A)

12 At that time ^(B)Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to ^(C)pluck heads of grain and to eat. ² And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

³ But He said to them, “Have you not read ^(D)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and ate ^(E)the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, ^(F)but only for the priests? ⁵ Or have you not read in the ^(G)law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple ^[a]profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? ⁶ Yet I say to you that in this place there is ^(H)One greater than the temple. ⁷ But if you had known what this means, ^(I)‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord ^[b]even of the Sabbath.”

Healing on the Sabbath^(J)

^9 (K)Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, ^(L)“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.

¹¹ Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? ¹² Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” ¹³ Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. ¹⁴ Then ^(M)the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

Behold, My Servant

¹⁵ But when Jesus knew it, ^(N)He withdrew from there. ^(O)And great ^[c]multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all. ¹⁶ Yet He ^(P)warned them not to make Him known, ¹⁷ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

A House Divided Cannot Stand^(S)

^22 (T)Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the ^[d]blind and mute man both spoke and saw. ²³ And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the ^(U)Son of David?”

^24 (V)Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by ^[e]Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

²⁵ But Jesus ^(W)knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. ²⁶ If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. ²⁸ But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, ^(X)surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. ^29 (Y)Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. ³⁰ He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.

The Unpardonable Sin^(Z)

³¹ “Therefore I say to you, ^(AA)every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, ^(AB)but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. ³² Anyone who ^(AC)speaks a word against the Son of Man, ^(AD)it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

A Tree Known by Its Fruit^(AE)

³³ “Either make the tree good and ^(AF)its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ^34 (AG)Brood^[f] of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? ^(AH)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ A good man out of the good treasure ^[g]of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. ³⁶ But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. ³⁷ For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Scribes and Pharisees Ask for a Sign^(AI)

^38 (AJ)Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

³⁹ But He answered and said to them, “An evil and ^(AK)adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ^40 (AL)For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ^41 (AM)The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and ^(AN)condemn it, ^(AO)because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. ^42 (AP)The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.

An Unclean Spirit Returns^(AQ)

^43 (AR)“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, ^(AS)he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. ⁴⁴ Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; ^(AT)and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers Send for Him^(AU)

⁴⁶ While He was still talking to the multitudes, ^(AV)behold, His mother and ^(AW)brothers stood outside, seeking to speak with Him. ⁴⁷ Then one said to Him, “Look, ^(AX)Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.”

⁴⁸ But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹ And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My ^(AY)brothers! ⁵⁰ For ^(AZ)whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, ^(B)Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ^2 [a]while ^(C)Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to ^(D)John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. ^3 (E)And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance ^(F)for the remission of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

John Preaches to the People^(I)

⁷ Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, ^(J)“Brood^[b] of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Therefore bear fruits ^(K)worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. ⁹ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore ^(L)every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ So the people asked him, saying, ^(M)“What shall we do then?”

¹¹ He answered and said to them, ^(N)“He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, ^(O)let him do likewise.”

¹² Then ^(P)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

¹³ And he said to them, ^(Q)“Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”

¹⁴ Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?”

So he said to them, “Do not ^[c]intimidate anyone ^(R)or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”

¹⁵ Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, ¹⁶ John answered, saying to all, ^(S)“I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will ^(T)baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and ^(U)gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. ^19 (V)But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his ^[d]brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, ²⁰ also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.

John Baptizes Jesus^(W)

²¹ When all the people were baptized, ^(X)it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. ²² And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am ^(Y)well pleased.”

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ^(Z)

²³ Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at ^(AA)about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) ^(AB)the son of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Janna, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathiah, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathiah, the son of Semei, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah, ²⁷ the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of ^(AC)Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ²⁸ the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ³⁰ the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of ^(AD)Nathan, ^(AE)the son of David, ^32 (AF)the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ³⁴ the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, ^(AG)the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ³⁵ the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ^36 (AH)the son of Cainan, the son of ^(AI)Arphaxad, ^(AJ)the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ³⁷ the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, ^(AK)the son of God.

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(A)

6 Now ^(B)it happened ^[a]on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. ² And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing ^(C)what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”

³ But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, ^(D)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him, ^(E)which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?” ⁵ And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Healing on the Sabbath^(F)

^6 (G)Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would ^(H)heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an ^(I)accusation against Him. ⁸ But He ^(J)knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, “Arise and stand here.” And he arose and stood. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one thing: ^(K)Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or ^[b]to destroy?” ¹⁰ And when He had looked around at them all, He said to ^[c]the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored ^[d]as whole as the other. ¹¹ But they were filled with rage, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles^(L)

¹² Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in ^(M)prayer to God. ¹³ And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; ^(N)and from them He chose ^(O)twelve whom He also named apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, ^(P)whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judas ^(Q)the son of James, and ^(R)Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.

Jesus Heals a Great Multitude^(S)

¹⁷ And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples ^(T)and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, ¹⁸ as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. ¹⁹ And the whole multitude ^(U)sought to ^(V)touch Him, for ^(W)power went out from Him and healed them all.

The Beatitudes^(X)

²⁰ Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said:

Jesus Pronounces Woes

Love Your Enemies^(AO)

^27 (AP)“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ^28 (AQ)bless those who curse you, and ^(AR)pray for those who spitefully use you. ^29 (AS)To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. ^(AT)And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. ^30 (AU)Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. ^31 (AV)And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

^32 (AW)“But if you love those who love you, what credit 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 credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ^34 (AX)And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. ³⁵ But ^(AY)love your enemies, ^(AZ)do good, and ^(BA)lend, ^[h]hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and ^(BB)you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. ^36 (BC)Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

Do Not Judge^(BD)

^37 (BE)“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. ^(BF)Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ^38 (BG)Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your ^(BH)bosom. For ^(BI)with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

³⁹ And He spoke a parable to them: ^(BJ)“Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? ^40 (BK)A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. ^41 (BL)And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit^(BM)

^43 (BN)“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴ For ^(BO)every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. ^45 (BP)A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil ^[i]treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out ^(BQ)of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Build on the Rock^(BR)

^46 (BS)“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? ^47 (BT)Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: ⁴⁸ He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was ^[j]founded on the rock. ⁴⁹ But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it ^[k]fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”