Assurance of God’s Victory over Enemies^(A)

A Song. A Psalm of David.

Beware of Hypocrisy^(A)

12 In ^(B)the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, ^(C)“Beware of the ^[a]leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^2 (D)For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. ³ Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Jesus Teaches the Fear of God^(E)

^4 (F)“And I say to you, ^(G)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, ^(H)fear Him!

⁶ “Are not five sparrows sold for two ^[b]copper coins? And ^(I)not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Confess Christ Before Men^(J)

^8 (K)“Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me ^(L)before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. ⁹ But he who ^(M)denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

¹⁰ “And ^(N)anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

^11 (O)“Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. ¹² For the Holy Spirit will ^(P)teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³ Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ But He said to him, ^(Q)“Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ And He said to them, ^(R)“Take heed and beware of ^[c]covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

¹⁶ Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. ¹⁷ And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, ^(S)“Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; ^(T)eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night ^(U)your soul will be required of you; ^(V)then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

²¹ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, ^(W)and is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Worry^(X)

²² Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, ^(Y)do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. ²³ Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and ^(Z)God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ²⁶ If you then are not able to do the least, why ^[d]are you anxious for the rest? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even ^(AA)Solomon in all his glory was not ^[e]arrayed like one of these. ²⁸ If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of ^(AB)little faith?

²⁹ “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. ³⁰ For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father ^(AC)knows that you need these things. ^31 (AD)But seek ^[f]the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

³² “Do not fear, little flock, for ^(AE)it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ^33 (AF)Sell what you have and give ^(AG)alms; ^(AH)provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant^(AI)

^35 (AJ)“Let your waist be girded and ^(AK)your lamps burning; ³⁶ and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. ^37 (AL)Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. ³⁸ And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. ^39 (AM)But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would ^[g]have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ^40 (AN)Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹ Then Peter said to Him, “Lord, do You speak this parable only to us, or to all people?”

⁴² And the Lord said, ^(AO)“Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food ^[h]in due season? ⁴³ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ^44 (AP)Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. ^45 (AQ)But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that servant will come on a ^(AR)day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And ^(AS)that servant who ^(AT)knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. ^48 (AU)But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

Christ Brings Division^(AV)

^49 (AW)“I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But ^(AX)I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is ^(AY)accomplished! ^51 (AZ)Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, ^(BA)but rather division. ^52 (BB)For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. ^53 (BC)Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

Discern the Time^(BD)

⁵⁴ Then He also said to the multitudes, ^(BE)“Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. ⁵⁵ And when you see the ^(BF)south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. ⁵⁶ Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern ^(BG)this time?

Make Peace with Your Adversary

⁵⁷ “Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? ^58 (BH)When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort ^(BI)along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.”

Repent or Perish

13 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had ^[i]mingled with their sacrifices. ² And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? ³ I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

⁶ He also spoke this parable: ^(BJ)“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. ⁷ Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it ^[j]use up the ground?’ ⁸ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ^9 [k]And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can ^(BK)cut it down.’ ”

A Spirit of Infirmity

¹⁰ Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹ And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way ^[l]raise herself up. ¹² But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your ^(BL)infirmity.” ^13 (BM)And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

¹⁴ But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had ^(BN)healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, ^(BO)“There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and ^(BP)not on the Sabbath day.”

¹⁵ The Lord then answered him and said, ^[m]“Hypocrite! ^(BQ)Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? ¹⁶ So ought not this woman, ^(BR)being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” ¹⁷ And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were ^(BS)done by Him.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed^(BT)

^18 (BU)Then He said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? ¹⁹ It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a ^[n]large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

The Parable of the Leaven^(BV)

²⁰ And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? ²¹ It is like ^[o]leaven, which a woman took and hid in three ^(BW)measures^[p] of meal till it was all leavened.”

The Narrow Way^(BX)

^22 (BY)And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. ²³ Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there ^(BZ)few who are saved?”

And He said to them, ^24 (CA)“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for ^(CB)many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ^25 (CC)When once the Master of the house has risen up and ^(CD)shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ^(CE)‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ^(CF)‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ ²⁶ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ ^27 (CG)But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. ^(CH)Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ ^28 (CI)There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, ^(CJ)when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. ²⁹ They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. ^30 (CK)And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

^31 [q]On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.”

³² And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day ^(CL)I shall be ^[r]perfected.’ ³³ Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.

Jesus Laments over Jerusalem^(CM)

^34 (CN)“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! ³⁵ See! ^(CO)Your house is left to you desolate; and ^[s]assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ^(CP)‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”