The Temptation of Jesus
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil.
And after fasting forty days and forty nights,
he was hungry
And the tempter came and said to him,
"If you are the Son of God,
command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
But he answered,
"It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city
and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot
against a stone.’”
Jesus said to him, “Again it is written,
‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all
the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
And he said to him,
"All these I will give you, if you will fall down
and worship me.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
Then the devil left him, and behold,
angels came and were ministering to him.
Jesus Begins His Ministry
Now when he heard that John had been arrested,
he withdrew into Galilee.
And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea,
in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali,
so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah
might be fulfilled:
'The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles--
the people dwelling in darkness
have seen a great light,
and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,
on them a light has dawned.”
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them,
"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.2
Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.
And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis,
and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from
beyond the Jordan.
The Pharisees and Sadducees
Demand Signs
And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’
You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky,
but you cannot interpret
the signs of the times.
An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign,
but no sign will be given to it except the
sign of Jonah.”
So he left them and departed.
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
When the disciples
reached the other side,
they had forgotten to bring any bread.
Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” And they began discussing it among themselves, saying,
"We brought no bread.”
But Jesus, aware of this, said,
"O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact
that you have no bread?
Do you not yet perceive?
Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread?
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Then they understood that
he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread,
but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Peter Confesses
Jesus as the Christ
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
And they said,
“Some say John the Baptist,
others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah
or one of the prophets.”
He said to them,
"But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter replied,
You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered him,
"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but my Father who is in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter,
and on this rock
I will build my church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day
be raised.
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying,
"Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
But he turned and said to Peter,
"Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me.
For you are not setting your mind on the things of God,
but on the things of man.”
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
Then Jesus told his disciples,
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life
for my sake will find it.
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and
forfeits his soul?
Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the
glory of his Father, and then he will
repay each person according to what he has done.
Truly, I say to you,
there are some standing here who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Jesus Heals a Paralytic
And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed.
And when Jesus saw their
faith,
he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”
But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said,
“Why do you think evil in your hearts?
For which is easier, to say,
"Your sins are forgiven,’
or to say, ‘
Rise and walk’?
But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic--
"Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”
And he rose and went home
When the crowds saw it, they were afraid,
and they glorified God,
who had given such authority to men.
Jesus Calls Matthew
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the
tax booth,
and he said to him, "Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold,
many tax collectors
and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples,
“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
But when he heard it, he said,
“Those who are well have no need of a physician,
but those who are sick.
Go and learn what this means:
‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’
For I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners.”
A Question About Fasting
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying,
"Why do we and the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”
15 And Jesus said to them,
“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as
the bridegroom is with them?
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast.
No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”
A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed
While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “
"My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her,
and she will live.”
19 And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples.
20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself,
“If I only touch his garment,
I will be made well.”
Jesus turned, and seeing her he said,
“Take heart, daughter;
your faith has made you well.”
And instantly the woman was made well.
And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw
the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,
he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.”
And they laughed at him.
But when the crowd had been put outside,
he went in and took her by the hand,
and the girl arose.
And the report of this went through all that district.
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”
When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then he touched their eyes, saying,
“According to your faith be it done to you.”
And their eyes were opened.
And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.
Jesus Heals a Man Unable to Speak
As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man
who was mute was brought to him.
And when the demon had been cast out,
the mute man spoke.
And the crowds marveled, saying,
“Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”
But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”
The Harvest Is Plentiful,
the Laborers Few.
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages,
teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.
When he saw the crowds,
he had compassion for them,
because they were harassed and helpless,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
therefore pray earnestly to the
Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into
his harvest.”
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