Luke

¹ Since many have put their hand to composing a narrative about the actions that have been carried out among us ² (just as the people who were eyewitnesses and agents of the story at the beginning passed it on to us), ³ it also seemed good to me to write a methodical account since I have followed everything carefully from the beginning, most excellent Theophilus. ⁴ That way you’ll thoroughly know the truth about the stories you were taught.

⁵ In the days of Herod, king of the Judeans, there was a priest named Zechariah from the priestly division of Abijah, and the woman married to him was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ Both of them were aligned with the Path in God’s eyes, flawlessly walking in all the directives and acts of restorative justice prescribed by The-One-Who-Is. ⁷ They had no child because Elizabeth was unable to become pregnant, and both of them were getting along in age.

⁸ During his priestly division’s shift, while he was engaged in priestly duties in God’s presence, ⁹ he was chosen by casting lots (as was the custom of the priesthood) for the task of entering the temple of The-One-Who-Is to burn incense. ¹⁰ The entire assembly of the people was there, praying outside, at the time of the incense offering. ¹¹ Then, a messenger of The-One-Who-Is appeared to him, stationed at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw this, he was shaken and panic seized him.

¹³ The messenger said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah, because your request has been heard, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you will name him John. ¹⁴ There will be joy and celebration for you, and many people will revel at his birth. ¹⁵ He will be significant in the eyes of The-One-Who-Is and should never drink wine or other alcohol. He will be filled with the Sacred Life-breath from the moment he comes out of his mother’s belly. ¹⁶ He will turn many of the children of Israel back toward The-One-Who-Is their God. ¹⁷ He will lead the way to God with the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of parents back toward the children and turning the unpersuaded with a way of thinking aligned with the Path, preparing a people who have been made ready for The-One-Who-Is.”

¹⁸ Zechariah said to the messenger, “How can I know this is true? After all, I’m an old man, and my wife is in her old age too.”

¹⁹ The messenger answered, “I am Gabriel, the one who is stationed in God’s presence and sent to speak with you and bring this triumphant news to you. ²⁰ Take note! You will be silent and unable to speak until the day these things happen because you did not trust my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

²¹ The people were there waiting for Zechariah and wondering about his delay in the temple. ²² When he came out, he was not able to speak to them, and they realized he had seen a vision in the temple. He began gesturing to them and remained unable to speak. ²³ When the period of his serving as a representative was completed, he left for his home.

²⁴ After some time his wife, Elizabeth, became pregnant and secluded herself for five months, saying, ²⁵ “In the moment The-One-Who-Is truly saw me, this is what was done to remove my shame among the people.”

²⁶ In the sixth month, the messenger Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷ to an unmarried girl who had been promised in marriage to a man named Joseph, from the house of David, and the name of the girl was Miriam.

²⁸ After coming to her, the messenger said, “Hello, you who are appreciated, The-One-Who-Is is with you.” ²⁹ She was deeply shaken by the message and tried to understand what sort of greeting it was.

³⁰ The messenger said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Miriam. You see, you’ve found appreciation with God. ³¹ Look, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³² He will be significant and will be called the Son of the Highest One, and The-One-Who-Is God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³ He will reign over the house of Jacob throughout the ages, and there will be no end to his reign.”

³⁴ Miriam said to the messenger, “How will this happen, since I’m not intimate with a man?”

³⁵ The messenger answered her, “The Sacred Life-breath will arrive upon you, and the power of the Highest One will cast a shadow over you. Because of that, the one who is born will be sacred, called ‘Son of God.’ ³⁶ And look, your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age, and he is in his sixth month within her who was called ‘infertile.’ ³⁷ After all, nothing that flows from the mouth of God will lack power.”

³⁸ So Miriam said, “Here I am. I am enslaved to my Sovereign; may it happen for me in line with what you say.” Then the messenger left her.

³⁹ During that time, Miriam got up and traveled quickly to the hill country, to a town in Judea. ⁴⁰ She went inside Zechariah’s house and embraced Elizabeth. ⁴¹ As Elizabeth heard Miriam’s greeting, the baby within her womb leapt, and Elizabeth was filled with the Sacred Life-breath. ⁴² She proclaimed in a loud voice, “Praised are you among women, and praised is the fruit of your womb. ⁴³ Who am I that the mother of my Sovereign comes to me? ⁴⁴ Look! When the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby within my womb leapt in celebration. ⁴⁵ She who trusted that what The-One-Who-Is declared to her would be brought to completion has reason for gratitude.”

⁴⁶ And Miriam said:

⁴⁷⁠My life-breath celebrates God, my Liberator,

⁴⁸⁠Because God gave attention

To the abject condition of she who is enslaved to God.

Take notice! From now on,

All generations will give me reason for gratitude

⁴⁹⁠Because the Powerful One has done impressive things for me.

May God’s name be sacred!

⁵⁰⁠God’s committed compassion is for generation after generation,

For those who respect God.

⁵¹⁠God has acted in strength with extended arm;

And scattered those who elevate themselves

In the motives of their hearts.

⁵²⁠God has brought down the powerful from thrones

And lifted up the abject;

⁵³⁠God has filled up the hungry with good things

And sent the rich away empty.

⁵⁴⁠God has helped Israel, God’s child,

Remembering committed compassion,

⁵⁵⁠Just as God promised our ancestors,

To Abraham and his descendants throughout the Age.

⁵⁶ Miriam stayed with Elizabeth about three months, then returned to her home.

⁵⁷ Then the time of Elizabeth’s pregnancy was complete, and she gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that The-One-Who-Is had shown the vastness of God’s committed compassion with her, and they celebrated with her.

⁵⁹ On the eighth day, they came to the circumcision of the child, and they began calling him by the name of his father, Zechariah.

⁶⁰ “No, he’ll be called John instead,” his mother responded.

⁶¹ “There’s no one from your family who has that name,” they said to her, ⁶² and they began gesturing to his father about what he wanted to call him.

⁶³ Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John,” and they were all shocked. ⁶⁴ Instantly, his mouth and tongue were opened, and he began to speak, praising God.

⁶⁵ Fear came upon all their neighbors, and everything that had been said was discussed throughout the whole hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ Everyone who heard it held it in their hearts, saying, “What, then, is this child destined to be?” and the hand of The-One-Who-Is, in fact, was with him.

⁶⁷ His father, Zechariah, was filled with the Sacred Life-breath and spoke what she inspired him to say:

⁶⁸⁠May The-One-Who-Is the God of Israel be praised,

Because God looked in on the people

And purchased them from enslavement.

⁶⁹⁠God raised up a horn of liberation for us

Within the house of David, God’s child.

⁷⁰⁠Just as, through the mouths of the sacred prophets long ago,

God declared

⁷¹⁠Liberation from those who are hostile to us

And from the hand of all who hate us.

⁷²⁠God has done this to act on committed compassion for our ancestors

And to remember the sacred covenant,

⁷³⁠The oath which was sworn to our ancestor Abraham.

That oath provides us

⁷⁴⁠Rescue from the hand of those who are hostile to us

So we can serve as God’s representatives without fear,

⁷⁵⁠With sacred action

And alignment with the Path

In God’s presence for all our days.

⁷⁶⁠You, child, will also be called a prophet of the Highest One

Since you will go ahead, in the presence of The-One-Who-Is,

To prepare God’s paths,

⁷⁷⁠To provide knowledge of liberation to the people

By releasing their deviations.

⁷⁸⁠That’s because of our God’s motherly, committed compassion

By which the dawn will look in on us from the heights

⁷⁹⁠To shine on those who are in darkness

And are settled in the shadow of Death,

To direct our feet to the path of well-being.

⁸⁰ The child began to grow and was strengthened in connection with the Life-breath, and he lived in the Wilderness until the day he was publicly introduced to Israel.

¹ In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the empire for taxes. ² This first registration happened while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ Everyone began traveling to their own town to be registered.

⁴ Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David, which was called Bethlehem, because he was from the house and lineage of David. ⁵ He went to be registered with Miriam, who had been promised to him in marriage and was pregnant.

⁶ The time came for the birth of her child while they were there, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She swaddled him and laid him down in a feeding trough because there was no space for them in the guest room.

⁸ Shepherds were staying in the surrounding fields, watching over their flock at night. ⁹ A messenger of The-One-Who-Is stood before them and the radiance of The-One-Who-Is shone around them, and they were terrified.

¹⁰ The messenger said to them, “Don’t be afraid. You see, I’m bringing news of triumph to you. It’s reason for great joy for all the people ¹¹ because, today, a liberator who is the anointed sovereign has been born in the city of David. ¹² This is the sign for you: You will find a baby swaddled and lying in a feeding trough.” ¹³ Suddenly, there was a vast heavenly multitude celebrating God, saying, ¹⁴ “Praise be to God in the highest places, and well-being be on earth among people of goodwill.”

¹⁵ When the messengers left them and went to the heavens, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem right away and see this thing that was said to have happened, as The-One-Who-Is has made known to us.” ¹⁶ Hurrying, they found Miriam and Joseph as well as the baby lying in the feeding trough. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they made known what had been said to them about the child. ¹⁸ Everyone who heard it was amazed by what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ Miriam carefully kept in mind all these things that were said, contemplating them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, praising and celebrating God for everything they heard and saw, which was just as it had been told to them.

²¹ When the period of eight days for his circumcision was complete, he was named Jesus, the name he was given by the messenger before he was conceived in the womb.

²² When it was time for their cleansing ceremony according to Moses’ Torah, Miriam and Joseph brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to The-One-Who-Is ²³ (just as it is written in the Torah of The-One-Who-Is, “Every male who is the first to come from the womb will be called sacred for The-One-Who-Is”) ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what had been stated in the Torah of The-One-Who-Is, “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

²⁵ Significantly, there was a person in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this person was aligned with the Path and mindful, looking out for the answer to Israel’s plea to arrive, and the Sacred Life-breath was on him. ²⁶ It had been impressed upon him by the Sacred Life-breath that he was not to see Death before he saw the one anointed by The-One-Who-Is.

²⁷ Prompted by the Life-breath, Simeon went to the sacred grounds. When the parents brought the child, Jesus, inside to carry out the custom of Torah for him, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹⁠Sovereign, now release your slave in well-being,

In accordance with what you said,

³⁰⁠Because my eyes have seen your liberation,

³¹⁠Which you prepared in the presence of all peoples,

³²⁠A light for the revealing of other people groups

And for the radiant renown of your people Israel.

³³ Jesus’ father and mother were amazed at what was said about him. ³⁴ Simeon spoke well-being over them, and said to his mother, Miriam, “Look, this child is set to cause the downfall and rising up of many in Israel and to be a controversial sign, ³⁵ so that the calculations of many hearts will be revealed, but also, a large sword will run through your very being.”

³⁶ There was a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was greatly advanced in age. After she had lived with a husband for seven years from the time she left her unmarried status behind, ³⁷ she was bereaved for 84 years. She never left the sacred grounds, serving as a representative before God with fasting and requests night and day.

³⁸ At that very moment, appearing beside them, she responded to Simeon’s words with thanks to God and spoke about Jesus to all who were looking out for the purchase from enslavement for Jerusalem.

³⁹ When Miriam and Joseph had completed all that was in line with the Torah of The-One-Who-Is, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ The child began to grow and was strengthened, filled with wisdom, and God’s appreciation was upon him.

⁴¹ Jesus’ parents traveled to Jerusalem every year for the Feast of Passover. ⁴² When he was 12 years old, they went up to the feast according to the custom. ⁴³ After the time was over, while they were returning, the child, Jesus, stayed in Jerusalem, and his parents didn’t know it. ⁴⁴ Having assumed he was with the group on the road together, they went along the road for a day before they began searching for him among their relatives and others they knew. ⁴⁵ After they failed to find him, they went back to Jerusalem and continued looking for him.

⁴⁶ After three days, they found him in the sacred grounds, sitting in the middle of the teachers, listening to them and questioning them. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was stunned at his understanding and his responses. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were incredulous.

⁴⁸ “Child, why did you do this to us?” his mother said to him. “Look, your father and I have been in anguish while we looked for you!”

⁴⁹ “Why were you looking for me?” he said to them. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ They didn’t understand what he was saying to them. ⁵¹ Then he went down with them and arrived in Nazareth, and he was cooperative with them. His mother kept in her heart everything that was said. ⁵² Jesus began to advance in wisdom, age, and appreciation with God and people.

¹ In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was the tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, ² and during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, what flowed from the mouth of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the Wilderness. ³ He went throughout all the regions surrounding the Jordan River, announcing immersion for the reorienting of minds, for the release of deviations, ⁴ as it is written in the scroll of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

The voice of someone shouting,

In the wilderness,

‘Prepare the road of The-One-Who-Is.

Make straight the path of God.

⁵⁠Every ravine will be filled up,

And every mountain and hill will be brought down,

And the crooked routes will be straightened,

And the rocky ground transformed into smooth roads,

⁶⁠and all humanity will see the liberation of God.

⁷ Therefore, John said to the crowds who traveled out to be immersed by him, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to escape the impending anger! ⁸ Well then, produce fruit that corresponds to reorienting your mind and don’t start saying among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor.’ You see, I’m telling you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones. ⁹ Right now, the ax is laid by the root of the trees. Soon, every tree that doesn’t produce excellent fruit is going to be cut down and tossed in the fire.”

¹⁰ “Then what should we do?” the crowds kept asking him.

¹¹ He answered, “Whoever has two tunics must share with whoever doesn’t have any, and whoever has food must do the same.”

¹² Some tax collectors had come to be immersed, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?”

¹³ “Don’t collect anything more than what you’ve been ordered to collect,” he told them.

¹⁴ Some soldiers began to ask him, “And us? What should we do?”

¹⁴ “Don’t take from people by intimidation or by accusations, and be satisfied with your pay,” he told them.

¹⁵ While all the people were watching for, and reasoning in their hearts about, whether or not John might be the Christ, ¹⁶ John answered them all, “Though I immerse you in water, someone else is coming who is stronger than me, and I’m not strong enough to untie the strap of his sandals. He will immerse you in the Sacred Life-breath and fire. ¹⁷ The winnowing fork is already in his hand; he will clear the sorting ground to gather the grain into his storehouse, but the husks will burn up in a fire that won’t burn out until the clearing is complete.”

¹⁸ Then, while urging them on with many other words, he kept announcing a message of triumph to the people.

¹⁹ When he exposed Herod the tetrarch about his brother’s wife Herodias and about all the oppressive things he did, ²⁰ Herod also added this one to them all: he locked John in prison.

²¹ It had happened that when the entire people was immersed, Jesus was also immersed, and as he prayed, the heavens were opened, ²² and the Sacred Life-breath descended on him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from the heavens: “You are my beloved son; I delight in you.”

²³ When Jesus began, he was about 30 years old. He was the son (following custom) of Joseph, the son of Heli, ²⁴ the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ²⁵ the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ²⁶ the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ²⁷ the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of 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 Elmadam, the son of Er, ²⁹ the son of Joshua, 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 Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ³¹ the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ³² the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, ³³ the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, 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, 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 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, 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 Kenan, ³⁸ the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

¹ Jesus turned away from the Jordan River full of the Sacred Life-breath, and he was led by the Life-breath throughout the Wilderness, ² being tested by the False Accuser for forty days. He didn’t eat anything during those days, and when they were completed, he was hungry.

³ The False Accuser said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴ “It is written,” Jesus answered, “Humanity does not live by bread alone.”

⁵ Leading him up, the False Accuser showed him all the regimes throughout the empire in a moment of time ⁶ and said to him, “I will give you all this authority and glory, since it has been handed over to me, and I grant it to whomever I want. ⁷ Therefore, if you bow down before me, it will all be yours.”

⁸ “It is written,” answered Jesus, “You will bow to The-One-Who-Is your God, and you will serve as representative for them alone.”

⁹ The False Accuser led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the corner of the temple and told him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ since it is written, ‘God will direct messengers around you to protect you,’ ¹¹ and ‘They will lift you up with their hands, so that your foot will not crash upon a stone.’”

¹² “It is said,” Jesus answered, “‘Don’t put The-One-Who-Is your God to the test.’”

¹³ After bringing all the testing to an end, the False Accuser left him until another opportunity.

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee with the power of the Life-breath, and news about him went out to the whole surrounding area. ¹⁵ He began teaching in their synagogues, being praised by all.

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he was brought up, and entered the synagogue on Shabbat, according to custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. After opening the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

¹⁸⁠“The Life-breath of The-One-Who-Is Sovereign is upon me

For the sake of whom she anointed me

To bring news of triumph for people in poverty,

And she sent me to announce release for people who are imprisoned,

And recover sight for those who cannot see,

To send out in freedom those who have been crushed,

¹⁹⁠To announce the coming arrival of the year filled with what is acceptable to the Sovereign One.”

²⁰ After closing the scroll, he gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were focused on him.

²¹ “Today, this scripture has been lived out as you heard it,” he began telling them.

²² They were all telling others about him and were shocked at the gracious words coming out of his mouth, and they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

²³ “Without doubt, you will recite to me this cliché: ‘Heal yourself, Doctor!’” he told them. “And you’ll say, ‘Do all the things we heard were happening in Capernaum here in your hometown too.’”

²⁴ Then he said, “Truly, I’m telling you that no prophet is acceptable in their hometown. ²⁵ Speaking of truth, I tell you, there were many bereaved women in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut tight for three years and six months, as a severe famine happened throughout all the land. ²⁶ Elijah was sent to none of them but only to a woman who was bereaved in Zarephath of Sidon. ²⁷ There were also many people with skin diseases in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸ Everyone in the synagogue was filled with rage when they heard these things. ²⁹ They stood up, drove him out of the town, and brought him to the ridge of the hill on which their town was built so that they could throw him down. ³⁰ However, after slipping through the middle of the crowd, he continued his travels.

³¹ He went down to Capernaum, a city in Galilee. He began teaching the people there each Shabbat, ³² and they were amazed at his teaching because his message was spoken with complete autonomy.

³³ There was a person in the synagogue who had a spirit, an unclean demon, and he called out with a loud voice, ³⁴ “Ah! What is there between you and us, Jesus the Nazarene! Did you come to destroy us? I’ve understood who you are: The one designated for sacred purposes by God!”

³⁵ “Silence!” Jesus commanded it sharply, “Get out of him!” After the demon threw him to the ground in the middle of the crowd, it left him without injuring him.

³⁶ Everyone was stunned, and they began to say to each other, “What does this mean? Because he gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!” ³⁷ News about him traveled everywhere throughout the region.

³⁸ After standing up and leaving the synagogue, Jesus went into Simeon’s house. Simeon’s mother-in-law was there suffering from a severe fever, and they made a request to Jesus for her. ³⁹ So, standing over her, he sharply commanded the fever, and it left her. Standing up right away, she began to show them hospitality.

⁴⁰ As the sun was setting, everyone with people who were sick with various diseases brought them to him. Placing his hands on each one of them, he healed them. ⁴¹ Demons were coming out of many, calling out, “You are the Son of God!” He confronted them sharply and didn’t allow them to speak because they perceived him to be the Christ.

⁴² At daybreak, Jesus went out and traveled to a solitary place, but the crowds were searching for him. They reached him and kept preventing him from leaving them.

⁴³ “I have to bring the news of the triumph of God’s reign to other towns too,” he told them, “because that’s why I was sent.” ⁴⁴ And he continued announcing it in the synagogues of Galilee.

¹ There was a time when the crowd was pressing in on him, listening to God’s message, and he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, ² he saw two boats placed by the lake. The fishers who had gotten out of them were washing the nets. ³ Getting into one of the boats, which was Simeon’s, he asked Simeon to put out a little from the shore. After sitting down, he began teaching the crowds from the boat.

⁴ When he stopped speaking, he told Simeon, “Put out into the deep and lower your nets for a catch.”

⁵ “Sir,” Simeon answered, “We worked hard all night and caught nothing, but if you say so, I’ll lower the nets.”

⁶ When they did it, they hauled in a massive catch of fish, and their nets started to tear. ⁷ They gestured to their comrades in the other boat to come help them bring it in. They came and filled both boats to the point of sinking them.

⁸ When he saw it, Simeon Peter threw himself at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Get away from me, sir, because I am a man who deviates!” ⁹ He and everyone with him were stunned because of the catch of fish that they had taken in together. ¹⁰ Jacob and John the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simeon, were equally stunned.

“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus to Simeon, “From now on, you’ll be catching people.” ¹¹ After bringing the boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

¹² While Jesus was in one of the towns—shockingly—a man covered with a skin disease was there. When he saw Jesus, he got down with his face to the ground and begged him, saying, “Sir, if you are willing, you can cleanse me.”

¹³ Stretching out his hand, Jesus held onto the man and said, “I’m willing. Be cleansed.” Immediately, the skin disease left him. ¹⁴ He urged the man not to tell anyone, “But go show yourself to the priest and bring the offering as Moses assigned as your report to them.”

¹⁵ Word of Jesus spread further, and large crowds were gathering to hear him and be healed of their illnesses. ¹⁶ Jesus himself would often withdraw to solitary places and pray.

¹⁷ On one of the days he was teaching, Pharisees and Torah teachers were sitting nearby, having come from Jerusalem and every village in Galilee and Judea, and the power of The-One-Who-Is was on him for restoring well-being.

¹⁸ Unexpectedly, people came carrying someone who was paralyzed on a stretcher, and they were looking to bring him inside and place him in front of Jesus. ¹⁹ After failing to find a way to carry him inside through the crowd and going up to the roof, they lowered him on the stretcher down through the clay into the middle of the room in front of Jesus.

²⁰ At seeing their faithfulness, he said, “Friend, your deviations have been dismissed for you.”

²¹ The scripture scholars and Pharisees began to scrutinize him, saying, “Who is this person who speaks disrespectful things? Who can dismiss deviations except God alone?”

²² When Jesus recognized their scrutiny, he responded to them, “What are you scrutinizing in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your deviations have been forgiven for you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴ Now, so that you’ll understand that the Son of Humanity has the right to dismiss deviations in the land….”

He said to the person who had been paralyzed, “I tell you: Rise up, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”

²⁵ Immediately, he stood up right in front of them, picking up the stretcher, and he went away to his house praising God. ²⁶ Everyone there was beside themselves, and they praised God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen incredible things today!”

²⁷ Afterward, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth.

“Follow me,” he told him. ²⁸ Standing up and leaving everything behind, he followed Jesus.

²⁹ Levi held a large banquet for Jesus at his house, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were sitting with them. ³⁰ The Pharisees and their scripture scholars complained to his students, saying, “Why is he eating and drinking with tax collectors and deviators?”

³¹ “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but people suffering from illness do,” Jesus responded to them. ³² “I haven’t come to call people who are aligned but people who deviate.”

³³ Then they said to him, “John’s students frequently fast and make requests, and the students of the Pharisees do the same, but yours go on eating and drinking.”

³⁴ “You can’t make the groomsmen fast while the groom is with them, can you?” Jesus said to them. ³⁵ “But the time will come when the groom will be carried off, away from them. Then, that’s when they will fast.”

³⁶ He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and attaches it to an old garment. If they do, both the new one will be torn and the patch from the new one will also not match the old one. ³⁷ Also, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the new wine will burst the wineskins, and both the wine will be spilled out and the wineskin will also be ruined. ³⁸ Instead, new wine should be put in new wineskins. ³⁹ No one who drinks old wine wants new wine. They say, ‘The old one is good!’”

¹ There was a time when Jesus was traveling through fields on Shabbat, and his students were picking the grains, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them.

² Some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what isn’t supposed to be done during Shabbat?”

³ “Haven’t you read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry?” Jesus answered. ⁴ “How they went into the house of God, and taking the Bread of the Presence which no one is supposed to eat except the priests, he ate it and gave it to the people with him?” ⁵ Then he said, “When it comes to Shabbat, The Son of Humanity is sovereign.”

⁶ On another Shabbat, Jesus went into the synagogue and was teaching. Someone was there whose right hand was atrophied. ⁷ The scripture scholars and Pharisees were watching intently to see if he would heal on Shabbat, so they could secure an accusation against him.

⁸ He had noticed their scrutiny, so he told the man who had the atrophied hand, “Rise up and stand in the middle.”

After rising up, he stood there.

⁹ Jesus said to the scripture scholars and Pharisees, “Let me ask you, is someone supposed to act in ways that promote well-being for people or to act in ways that promote hardship for people on Shabbat, to provide recovery for a living being or to be responsible for their destruction?”

¹⁰ After looking around at them all, he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.”

He did it, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ However, the scripture scholars and Pharisees lost their minds in rage and began conspiring with each other about what they would do to Jesus.

¹² There was a time in those days when Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he was there through the night in prayer to God. ¹³ When daylight came, he called his students over, and he chose twelve of them and named them as “commissioned ones”:

¹⁴ Simeon (whom he also named Peter) and his brother Andrew, Jacob, John, Philip, Bar-Talmai, ¹⁵ Matthew, Thomas, Jacob son of Alphaeus, Simeon who was called Zealous, ¹⁶ Judah son of Jacob, and Judah “Man of Kirioth,” who became a traitor.

¹⁷ After he came down with them, Jesus stood in a level area, and there was a large crowd of his students along with a huge mass of the people from all throughout Judea and Jerusalem and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon. ¹⁸ They came to hear him and to be healed from their illnesses, and those who were harassed by unclean spirits were restored. ¹⁹ The whole crowd was trying to touch him because power was coming out from him and restoring them all to well-being.

²⁰ Then, after looking up at his students, he said:

²⁰⁠Those living in poverty have reason for gratitude

because God’s reign is yours.

²¹⁠Those who now go hungry have reason for gratitude

because you will have your fill.

Those who now are mourning have reason for gratitude

because you will laugh.

²² “When people hate you and when they exclude you, verbally abuse you, and on account of the Son of Humanity, refuse even to speak your name as if you’re a cause of hardship, you have reason for gratitude. ²³ Celebrate on that day and jump for joy because—hear this—your compensation in the heavens is large. After all, their ancestors did the same things to the prophets.

²⁴⁠“However, there are dire warnings for those who are wealthy

because you have already received your comfort.

²⁵⁠There are dire warnings for those who have already been full

because you will go hungry.

There are dire warnings for those who already laugh

because you will weep and mourn.

²⁶⁠There are dire warnings for you when people all speak highly of you

because their ancestors did the same things toward the false prophets.”

²⁷ Instead, I’m telling you who are listening:

²⁷⁠Love those who are hostile toward you.

Act for the well-being of those who hate you.

²⁸⁠Speak well-wishes toward those who wish you harm.

Pray for those who mistreat you.

²⁹⁠When someone hits you on one cheek,

offer them the other one as well.

When someone takes your clothing from you,

don’t refuse them your undergarment.

³⁰⁠Give to everyone who requires you,

and don’t demand back your things from those who take from you.

³¹⁠However you want people to treat you,

treat them the same way.

³² “If you love the people who love you, how is that generosity on your part? After all, people who are deviating also love those who love them. ³³ And if you do things to benefit the people who do things to benefit you, how is that generosity on your part? People who are deviating also do the same. ³⁴ If you give a loan to someone expecting to receive it back, how is that generosity on your part? People who deviate also give loans to others who deviate, so they can receive back the same amount. ³⁵ In contrast, love those who are hostile to you, and do things to benefit others and make loans without expecting anything from them. Your compensation will be large, and you will be children of the Highest One because God is active in kindness toward people who are ungenerous and cause hardship. ³⁶ Be compassionate just like your Father is compassionate.

³⁷ “Don’t judge others, and you won’t be judged. Don’t condemn others, and you won’t be condemned. Acquit others, and you will be acquitted. ³⁸ Give to others, and a generous measure that’s been shaken, tamped down, and overflowing will be given to you, deposited right into hollow of your clothing like a pouch. You see, whatever measurement you use for others will be the measurement used right back for you.”

³⁹ Then he also told them a parable: “Someone who can’t see isn’t able to show the way to someone else who can’t see, can they? Won’t they both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰ A student is no further along than the teacher, but everyone who has been fully trained will be like their teacher. ⁴¹ Why do you see the speck of something in your Family member’s eye but you don’t notice the wooden beam in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your Family member, ‘Family member, let me get the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself don’t see the beam in your own eye? Pretenders! First, get the beam out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to get the speck out of your Family member’s eye.

⁴³ “You see, no healthy tree produces rotten fruit, and likewise, no rotten tree produces healthy fruit. ⁴⁴ Each tree is known by its own fruit. After all, figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, and grapes are not harvested from brambles. ⁴⁵ Whoever does things for the well-being of others brings that out from the storeroom of their heart where they store up goodwill. Whoever causes hardship for others brings out hardship from the storeroom where they store up hardship. You see, their mouth speaks what overflows from their heart.

⁴⁶ “Why do you keep calling me your leader, yet you don’t do these things I’m saying? ⁴⁷ Here’s what everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them is like. ⁴⁸ They are like a person building a house, who dug and went deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood comes and the river beats against that house, it’s not strong enough to shake it loose since it is well-built. ⁴⁹ On the other hand, whoever hears my words and does not act on them is like a person building a house on the ground without a foundation, which the river beats against, and it collapses immediately, and the damage to that house is extensive.”

¹ After Jesus fully shared everything he had to say in the hearing of the people, he went into Capernaum. ² Someone enslaved to a centurion was suffering from illness and about to die, and he was very dear to the centurion. ³ After hearing about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to ask him to come save his slave’s life.

⁴ The ones who went to Jesus pleaded with him urgently, “He is worth granting this for him ⁵ because he loves our people, and he even built our synagogue for us.” ⁶ Then, Jesus went with them.

When he came close to the house, the centurion sent friends who told Jesus, “Sir, don’t trouble yourself. After all, I’m not fit to have you come under my roof. ⁷ That’s why I didn’t think it appropriate to come to you. Instead, say the word, and my servant should be restored. ⁸ You see, even though I have soldiers assigned under me, and I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it, I also am a person under authority.”

⁹ When Jesus hear these things, he was amazed, and turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I’m telling you, I haven’t even encountered faithfulness like this in Israel.” ¹⁰ When the people who had been sent to Jesus went back to the house, they found the one who was enslaved completely healthy.

¹¹ Next, Jesus traveled to a town called Nain, and his students and a numerous crowd went with him. ¹² As he approached the town gate—right then—a mother’s only son (and she was a widow) who had died was being carried out of the town, and a sizeable crowd was with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, he was deeply moved with compassion for her.

“You can stop mourning now,” he told her, ¹⁴ and coming up to it, he touched the bier, and the people carrying it stood still. “Young man,” he said, “I say to you, be raised!” ¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus presented him to his mother.

¹⁶ Awe overtook them all, and they began praising God, “A great prophet has been raised among us!” and, “God has come to look after the people!” ¹⁷ This idea about him went out throughout all of Judea and the surrounding area.

¹⁸ John’s students brought the news of all these things to him.

John called two of his students over, ¹⁹ and he sent them to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is coming or should we expect someone else?”

²⁰ When the men got to Jesus, they said, “John the Immerser sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is coming or should we expect someone else?’”

²¹ Just that very hour, Jesus had healed many of illnesses, tormenting pain, oppressive spirits and granted the ability to see to many people who were blind, ²² so he responded, “Go bring news to John of what you saw and heard here: blind people can see again, people with injured legs can walk, people with skin diseases are cleansed, deaf people can hear, dead people are woken up, and people living in poverty are brought news of triumph. ²³ Whoever is not tripped up by me has reason for gratitude.”

²⁴ After John’s messengers left, Jesus started speaking to the crowds about John: “What did you go out to the Wilderness see? A reed toppled by the wind? ²⁵ No, so what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft clothing? Look, the people who are dressed in fine clothing and spending their existence in luxury are in palaces! ²⁶ So not that, but then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, and I’m telling you, even more than a prophet. ²⁷ He's the one whom this is written about: ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare the road in front of you.’ ²⁸ I’m telling you, no one given birth by women is more important than John, but the least respected person in God’s reign is more important than him.” ²⁹ (All the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, showed that God is aligned with justice by being immersed with John’s immersion. ³⁰ However, the Pharisees and the Torah experts disregarded God’s intention for them since they were not immersed by him.)

³¹ “With what should I compare the people of this group, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other and who say, ‘We played the flute for you, yet you did not dance. We wailed in mourning, yet you did not weep.’ ³³ You see, John the Immerser came not eating any bread or drinking any wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ ³⁴ The Son of Humanity has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look! This person is a glutton and a drunk, a friend to tax collectors and people who deviate.’ ³⁵ Wisdom is shown to be aligned with justice by her children!”

³⁶ One of the Pharisees kept asking Jesus to eat with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and was seated. ³⁷ Unexpectedly, a woman who was someone who deviated in that town learned that Jesus was eating a meal at the Pharisee’s house, and came, bringing an alabaster jar of perfumed oil. ³⁸ While she was standing by his feet weeping, she began to get his feet wet with her tears, and she wiped them off with her hair. She began kissing his feet and rubbing them with the perfumed oil.

³⁹ At seeing that, the Pharisee who had invited him said to himself, “If this person were a prophet, he would know what kind of person the woman who’s touching him is, that she’s someone who deviates.”

⁴⁰ In response, Jesus said to him, “Simeon, I have something to tell you.”

“Say it, teacher,” he said.

⁴¹ “Two people were in debt to a money lender. One owed 500 denarii, and the other owed 50. ⁴² Since they didn’t have the money to pay it back, he generously forgave both their debts. So then, which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ “I assume it would be the one for whom he was generous with the larger debt,” answered Simeon.

“You chose correctly,” said Jesus.

⁴⁴ After turning toward the woman, he said to Simeon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house, and you didn’t give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You didn’t greet me with a kiss; but she has not stopped kissing my feet again and again since she came in. ⁴⁶ You didn’t apply olive oil to my head, but she rubbed my feet with perfumed oil. ⁴⁷ So, I’ll tell you about generosity: since she showed much love, her many deviations have already been let go. But, for the one who showed little love, little has been let go.”

⁴⁸ Then he said to her, “Your deviations have been let go.”

⁴⁹ The people who were reclining for the meal with him began saying to each other, “Who does he even think he is to let go of deviations?”

⁵⁰ He said to the woman, “Your faithfulness has liberated you. Go in wholeness.”

¹ After that, Jesus traveled through various towns and villages, announcing and bringing the news of the triumph of God’s reign. The Twelve were with him, ² along with some women who had been healed from oppressive spirits and debilitating conditions: Miriam (the one called “The Tower”) from whom seven demons had come out, ³ Joanna who was married to Chuza (Herod’s household manager), Susanna, and many other women who provided for them from what they had with them.

⁴ A lot of people were gathering and traveling to Jesus from various towns, and he told them a parable:

⁵ “Someone went out to plant his seed, and as he was scattering it, some of it landed on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the heavens devoured it. ⁶ Other seeds landed in the rocky ground where they had only a thin layer of soil, and after sprouting, it withered because it didn’t have enough water. ⁷ Other seeds landed among the thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes grew and choked the seedlings. ⁸ Finally, other seeds landed in fertile soil and when they grew, they produced 100 times as many grains as had been planted.” As he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears, listen!”

⁹ His students asked him what this parable was about.

¹⁰ “You’ve been initiated into the mysteries of God’s reign,” he said, “but for everyone else, I say things in parables so that ‘Though they see it, they won’t see it, and though they hear it, they won’t understand.’

¹¹ “This is what the parable is about: The seed is God’s message. ¹² The seeds along the path are those who hear it, but then the False Accuser comes and snatches the message away their heart, so they won’t trust it and, therefore, won’t be liberated. ¹³ The seeds on the rocky ground are when those who hear it receive the message with joy, but they have no root. They trust it for a moment, but when a time of testing comes, they run away from it. ¹⁴ As for the one that landed among the thornbushes, they are the ones who hear the message, but as they keep going, they are choked by the concerns of wealth and pleasures in life, and they never mature. ¹⁵ But as for the seeds that landed in the rich soil, they are the ones who, after hearing it, cling to the message in a rich and fertile heart and produce a crop by enduring.

¹⁶ “No one lights a lamp and covers it with a container or puts it under a couch; they put it on a lampstand so that those who go inside can see the light. ¹⁷ You see, what is out of sight will become clearly visible, and what is kept in reserve will be made known and brought into view. ¹⁸ So, watch out that you hear it because whoever’s got it will be given more, and what they think they have will be taken away from whoever doesn’t get it.”

¹⁹ Jesus’ mother and siblings tried to get to him, but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. ²⁰ Someone notified him, “Your mother and siblings are outside wanting to see you!”

²¹ “My mother and siblings are whoever hears and acts on God’s message,” he said in response to them.

²² One day, Jesus and his students boarded a boat, and he said to them, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake,” so they set out. ²³ As they sailed, Jesus fell asleep. A raging windstorm descended on the lake, the boat began filling with water, and they were in danger of sinking. ²⁴ His students came and woke him up.

“Sir! Sir!” they hollered, “We’re going to die!”

After waking up, he firmly corrected the wind and the surging waves. They stopped, and everything calmed.

²⁵ Then he said to the students, “Where is your trust?”

After their terror faded, they were amazed, saying to each other, “What does it mean about him that he even commands the winds and the water, and they listen to him!”

²⁶ They sailed into the region of the Gerasenes, which is the shore opposite Galilee. ²⁷ After he got out and onto the land, a man from the town who had demons rushed up to him. For a long time, he had not worn clothes or stayed in a house but lived among the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out, threw himself at Jesus’ feet, and shouted, “What is there between you and me, Jesus, Son of the Highest God! I beg you: don’t torture me!” ²⁹ You see, Jesus directed the unclean spirit to come out from the person. (After all, it had seized control of him many times, and repeatedly he would be bound with chains and fetters, kept under guard, break the restraints, and then be driven by the demon into the wilderness.)

³⁰ “What is your name?” Jesus asked him.

“Legion,” he said, because many demons had entered him, ³¹ and they pleaded with him not to direct them to go away into the Deep.

³² There was a large herd of pigs being fed there on the hill, and the demons pleaded with Jesus to give them permission to enter them. ³³ After coming out of the person, the demons went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep hillside and were drowned in the lake. ³⁴ Having seen what happened, the people feeding them fled, and they brought the news to the town and nearby farmland.

³⁵ The people went out to see what happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the person the demons had left, sitting by Jesus’ feet, clothed, and in a healthy state of mind, and they were left shaken. ³⁶ The people who had seen the person haunted by demons be liberated told them the story. ³⁷ Then the whole assembly of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region begged him to leave them because they were possessed by immense fear.

He got into the boat and turned back to Galilee. ³⁸ The man the demons had left begged to go with him, but he sent him home, saying, ³⁹ “Go back to your house and describe what God did for you.” So, he went, announcing throughout the whole town what Jesus did for him.

⁴⁰ As Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him because they were all waiting for him. ⁴¹ Suddenly, a man named Jair, who was a leader of the synagogue, came and threw himself at Jesus’ feet. He began pleading with him to come to his house ⁴² because his only daughter, who was about twelve years old, was dying.

As Jesus was leaving, the crowd was crushing in around him. ⁴³ A woman was there who had been vaginally bleeding continuously for twelve years. She had used up all she had to live on with healers, but she didn’t have the means to be healed by anyone. ⁴⁴ Coming up behind Jesus, she clung to the tassel on his clothing, and instantly, her bleeding stopped.

⁴⁵ “Who clung onto me?” Jesus called out.

While everyone was denying it, Peter said, “Sir, the whole crowd is pressing in from all sides and holding onto you!”

⁴⁶ “Someone clung onto me,” said Jesus, “because I felt power go out from me.”

⁴⁷ When the woman realized that she didn’t go unnoticed, she came trembling and threw herself at his feet. In front of all the people, she explained why she had clung to him and how she was restored to well-being instantly.

⁴⁸ “Daughter,” he said to her, “Your faithfulness has liberated you. Go with wholeness.”

⁴⁹ While he was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue leader’s house and said, “Your daughter has died. Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”

⁵⁰ But Jesus heard and responded, “Don’t be afraid; just stay faithful, and she’ll be liberated.”

⁵¹ When he got to the house, he didn’t let anyone go inside with him except Peter, John, Jacob, and the child’s mother and father. ⁵² Everyone was wailing and mourning for her, but Jesus said, “You can stop mourning now. After all, she didn’t die; she’s just sleeping.” ⁵³ They started laughing at him because they knew she died.

⁵⁴ Taking hold of her hand, he called, “Child, wake up!”

⁵⁵ Instantly, her life-breath returned, and she got up, and he arranged for her to be given something to eat. ⁵⁶ Her parents were ecstatic, but he instructed them not to tell anyone what happened.

¹ Having called the Twelve together, he entrusted them with power and authority over all demons and to heal illnesses. ² He sent them to announce God’s reign and to restore well-being for the sick. ³ He told them, “Don’t bring anything for the road. Don’t carry a staff or bag or bread or money or a second tunic. ⁴ Stay in whatever house you enter until you leave that town. ⁵ Whichever places don’t welcome you, shake the dust from your feet as you leave that town as evidence against them.” ⁶ As they left, they traveled throughout the villages, bringing the triumphant message and healing people everywhere.

⁷ Herod the tetrarch heard about all the things that were happening, and he was perplexed because some people were claiming that John was woken up from among the dead, ⁸ but some claimed that Elijah had appeared, and still others claimed that one of the ancient prophets had risen up.

⁹ Herod said, “I beheaded John, so who is it that I’m hearing these things about?” and he sought to learn about him.

¹⁰ After returning, the people who had been commissioned described to Jesus everything they had done. Taking them with him, he withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹ However, when the crowds learned of it, they followed him there. He welcomed them, began speaking to them about God’s reign, and restored well-being for those who needed healing.

¹² The daylight began to fade, so the Twelve went up to Jesus and told him, “Since we’re in this remote place, send the crowd away so that they can go into nearby villages and farms and find places to stay and get supplies.”

¹³ “You give them something to eat,” he told them.

“We have five loaves of bread and two fish at the most,” they said. “Unless you expect us to go buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ (There were about 5,000 men, plus women and children.)

“Seat them in groups of about 50 each,” he told his students. ¹⁵ They did so, and the people were all seated.

¹⁶ After taking the five loaves of bread and two fish, he looked up to the heavens, spoke praise over them, and broke them up. He gave them to the students to serve them to the crowd. ¹⁷ Everyone ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the extra: twelve baskets of leftovers.

¹⁸ There was a time when Jesus was praying privately and the students were with him, and he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹ “John the Immerser,” they answered. “But others say Elijah, and still others say that you’re one of the ancient prophets risen up.”

²⁰ “So who do you say that I am?” he asked them.

“God’s Anointed,” answered Peter the Rock.

²¹ Warning them seriously, Jesus instructed them not to say that to anyone, ²² telling them, “It’s inevitable for the Son of Humanity to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the lead priests, and scripture scholars and to be killed and woken up on the third day.”

²³ Then he said to everyone, “If anyone wants to come after me, they must reject self-preservation, carry their cross each day, and follow me. ²⁴ You see, whoever wants to secure their own life will surrender it, and whoever surrenders their own life because they’re aligned with me is the one who will secure it. ²⁵ After all, how does it benefit a person to gain the whole world but injure or destroy their very self? ²⁶ Whoever is ashamed to be associated with me and my words, the Son of Humanity will also be ashamed to be associated with them when he arrives with his renown and with the renown of the Father and of the sacred messengers. ²⁷ Truly, I’m telling you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see God’s reign.”

²⁸ Around eight days after saying these things, Jesus brought Peter, John, and Jacob and went up the mountain to pray. ²⁹ While he was praying, the appearance of his face was changed, and his clothes gleamed bright like lightning. ³⁰ Two men were speaking with him, and—incredibly—they were Moses and Elijah. ³¹ After appearing within the radiance, they spoke about Jesus’ exodus that he was about to carry out in Jerusalem.

³² Peter the Rock and the others with him had been overcome with sleep, but when they woke all the way up, they saw his radiance and the two men standing with him. ³³ When the two were about to go away, Peter said to Jesus, “Sir, it’s wonderful for us to be here. Let’s set up three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah,” not knowing what he was saying. ³⁴ As he was saying these things, a cloud formed and blanketed them in shadow, and they were afraid as they were enveloped in the cloud.

³⁵ A voice came from the cloud and said, “This is my son, my chosen one. Listen to him.” ³⁶ After the voice spoke, they found Jesus alone. They kept it quiet and didn’t tell anyone at that time about what they had seen.

³⁷ The next day, after they came down from the mountain, he was met by a large crowd. ³⁸ Suddenly, a man from the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to take a look at my son. He’s my only son, ³⁹ and—come see—a spirit takes hold of him, and he cries out suddenly. Then it throws him into a seizure with foaming at the mouth. It’s very hard to get it to leave him, and it’s crushing him. ⁴⁰ I begged your students to drive it out, but they couldn’t do it.”

⁴¹ “What a faithless and misguided group!” Jesus responded. “How much longer will I be with you? How long will I be here to carry you through things like this? Bring your son here.”

⁴² As the child was approaching, the demon tore through him and threw his whole body into a seizure. Jesus sternly corrected the unclean spirit, restored the child to well-being, and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ Everyone was awestruck at the impressiveness of God.

While everyone was marveling at everything he was doing for them, Jesus said to his students, ⁴⁴ “Listen carefully to these words: The son of Humanity is about to be handed over into human hands.” ⁴⁵ They didn’t understand that statement; it was veiled from them so that they couldn’t make sense of it. Still, they were afraid to ask him about that statement.

⁴⁶ A debate arose among them about who would be the most impressive among them. ⁴⁷ Jesus, sensing the debate arising from their hearts, brought a child over to stand beside him.

⁴⁸ “Whoever welcomes this child because of what I stand for welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. You see, the one who is treated as least significant among you is the one who becomes most important.

⁴⁹ “Sir,” John responded, “We saw someone driving out demons in your name and we were telling them to stop because they don’t follow you with us.”

⁵⁰ “Don’t stop them,” said Jesus, “because whoever isn’t against you is with you.”

⁵¹ In the final days leading up to him being taken up, he set his intention on going to Jerusalem. ⁵² He sent messengers ahead of him, and they went and entered a Samaritan village to get everything ready for him. ⁵³ The people there didn’t welcome Jesus because he was intending to go to Jerusalem.

⁵⁴ When the students realized, Jacob and John said, “Sir, do you want us to call fire down from the heavens to consume them?”

⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and sternly corrected them, ⁵⁶ and they went to another village.

⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road, someone said Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁸ “Foxes have dens and the birds in the heavens have nests, but the Son of Humanity has nowhere to rest his head,” Jesus told them.

⁵⁹ He told someone else, “Follow me.”

But that person said, “Sir, let me to go bury my father first.”

⁶⁰ “Let the dead bury their own dead,” he said, “but as for you, go spread the message of God’s reign.”

⁶¹ Still another person said, “I will follow you, sir, but first let me renounce the people in my household.”

⁶² “No one who grasps hold of the plow but then looks back is appropriate for God’s reign,” said Jesus.

¹ After all that, the Lord appointed 72 more people and sent them two-by-two ahead of him to all the towns and places he was about to go.

² He told them, “Though the harvest is abundant, the workers are scarce. Therefore, ask The-One-Who-Is Sovereign over the harvest to send workers out into God’s harvest. ³ Go on! Look, I’m sending you as lambs surrounded by wolves. ⁴ Don’t carry a money pouch, a bag, or sandals, and don’t stop to talk to anyone along the road. ⁵ In whichever house you enter, say right away, “May there be well-being for this household!” ⁶ If a child of well-being is there, your wish for their well-being will settle on them. However, even if not, it will come back on you. ⁷ Stay in the same house, eating and drinking whatever you receive from them. After all, the worker deserves their pay. Don’t move from house to house. ⁸ In any town you enter where they welcome you, eat whatever is set in front of you. ⁹ In that town, heal the sick and tell them, ‘God’s reign has invaded on your behalf!’ ¹⁰ But, in any town you enter where they don’t welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘We wipe off the dust from your town that’s stuck to our feet as a sign against you.’ ¹² I’m telling you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”

¹³ “Oh, Chorazin, this won’t end well for you! Oh, Bethsaida, this won’t end well for you! Because if the powerful things that are happening in you had happened in them, they would have reoriented their mind long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. ¹⁴ Moreover, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon than it will be for you when justice comes. ¹⁵ And you, Capernaum, ‘will you be lifted up as high as the heavens? No, you’ll be cast down as low as the underworld.’

¹⁶ “Whoever listens to you is listening to me, and whoever tosses you aside is tossing me aside, and whoever tosses me aside is tossing aside the one who sent me.”

¹⁷ The 72 returned with joy, saying, “Sir, even the demons cooperated with us as your representatives!”

¹⁸ “I saw the Adversary falling from the heavens like lightning. ¹⁹ Look, I have given you freedom to walk right over snakes and scorpions, over all the power of the Enemy, and absolutely no one will cause you harm by their injustice. ²⁰ However, don’t celebrate that the spirits cooperate with you; instead, celebrate that your names have been written in the heavens.”

²¹ Within that same hour, Jesus bubbled over with joy in the Sacred Life-breath and said, “I praise you publicly, Father, The-One-Who-Is Sovereign over the heavens and the earth, because you’ve kept these things in reserve from the supposedly wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because that’s what brought you delight. ²² Everything I have has been given to me by my Father. Unless the Father understands who the Son is, no one does. Unless the Son—and anyone to whom he chooses to reveal the Father—understands who the Father is, no one does.”

²³ Then, turning to his students privately, he said, “Eyes that see what you see have reason for gratitude! ²⁴ I’m telling you, many prophets and kings came to see what you see but did not see it and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

²⁵ At that moment, a Torah expert stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what should I do to inherit agelong life?”

²⁶ “What is written in the Torah?” he asked. “How do you interpret it?”

²⁷ “‘Love The-One-Who-Is—your God—from your whole heart, with your whole being, your whole strength, and your whole way of thinking,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself,’” he answered.

²⁸ “You answered correctly,” he said. “Do that, and you will live.”

²⁹ But, wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ Welcoming the question, Jesus said, “Someone was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and was ambushed by robbers. They stripped him and beat him severely and then went off and left him half dead. ³¹ As luck would have it, a priest was going down that road. However, when he saw him, he went right on by on the other side. ³² Then, it happened again when a Levite came to that place, saw him, and went by on the other side. ³³ Then, a Samaritan who was traveling came to where he was, and when he saw him, he was deeply moved with compassion. ³⁴ Going to him, he bandaged his wounds, pouring olive oil and wine over them. Lifting him onto his own animal, he brought him to an inn and cared for him. ³⁵ The next day, he emptied two denarii from his money pouch, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend, I’ll repay you for anything extra when I come back.’ ³⁶ Which of these three do you think came to be a neighbor for the person who was ambushed by robbers?”

³⁷ “The one who acted with committed compassion for him,” said the Torah expert.

Jesus told him, “Go, and you do the same.”

³⁸ As they were traveling, Jesus went into one village where a woman named Martha welcomed him in as a guest. ³⁹ She had a sister named Miriam who sat right at Jesus’ feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was pulled in every direction by the many responsibilities of hosting.

She stood over them and said, “Sir, doesn’t it matter to you that my sister has left me to do the work of hosting alone? Tell her to join me in the work!”

⁴¹ The Lord responded with compassion, “Martha, you’re anxious and stressed about serving many dishes, ⁴² but only a few dishes are needed—really, just one. Miriam selected the choice portion, which won’t be taken away from her.”

¹ When he was somewhere praying, as he finished, one of his students said to him, “Sir, teach us to pray, like John taught his students.”

² He told them, “When you pray, say,

‘Father, may your name be held sacred.

May your reign come.

³⁠Give us our bread that we rely on each day.

⁴⁠and release our deviations for us,

Since we ourselves also release our claim against everyone who owes us.

And don’t bring us into times of testing.’”

⁵ And he said to them, “If one of you has a friend and goes to them at midnight to say to them, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶ because a friend of mine has come to me off the road, and I don’t have anything to offer them.’ ⁷ Then that person responds, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already shut, and my children are in bed with me. I can’t get up to give it to you.’ ⁸ I’m telling you, even if they won’t get up and give anything because they are friends, they will in fact rouse themself to give whatever they need because of their shameless persistence.

⁹ “Moreover, I’m telling you: Make a request and it will be granted to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you. ¹⁰ You see, every requester receives and seeker finds and knocker has the door opened. ¹¹ What father among you whose son asks for a fish would give him a snake instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg would give him a scorpion? ¹³ Therefore, if you, though you are burdened, understand giving beneficial gifts to your children, how much more does the heavenly Father give the Sacred Life-breath to those who ask.”

¹⁴ One time, he was driving out a demon that could not speak. After the demon came out, the person who could not speak began to speak, and the crowds were shocked.

¹⁵ Some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the leader of demons!”

¹⁶ Others were testing him and tried to get proof from the heavens from him.

¹⁷ Jesus, sensing what they were thinking, said to them, “Every regime divided against itself will be wiped out, and every dynasty divided against itself falls. ¹⁸ Even the Adversary, if he’s divided against himself, how would his regime remain standing? I ask this because you are saying that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹ If I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? That’s why they will be your judges. ²⁰ But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then God’s reign has burst in on you. ²¹ When a strong man is fully armed and guards his own compound, his possessions are secure. ²² But when someone stronger invades and defeats him, they strip off the full set of weapons and armor he had relied on and redistribute the plunder. ²³ Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever doesn’t gather people with me scatters them.

²⁴ “When an unclean spirit goes out from a person, it goes through waterless places, looking for rest but not finding it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my home where I came from,’ ²⁵ and when it arrives, it finds it swept clean and ready. ²⁶ Then it goes and joins up with seven other spirits more harmful than itself, and after they enter, it settles there. So, things end up worse than they started for that person.”

²⁷ As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “The womb that carried you and the breasts that nursed you have reason for gratitude!”

²⁸ “Actually, it’s those who listen to God’s message and observe it who have reason for gratitude,” Jesus responded.

²⁹ As the crowds were growing, Jesus continued what he was saying.

“What a harmful group this is! It looks for proof, but no proof will be given to it except the evidence of Jonah. ³⁰ You see, just as Jonah became evidence for the Ninevites, similarly, the Son of Humanity will also be evidence for this group. ³¹ When justice is determined, the queen of the South will be raised up with the men of this group and render a verdict against them because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and—pay attention—something more impressive than Solomon is here! ³² When justice is determined, the men of Nineveh will stand up with this group and render a verdict against them because they reoriented their minds during Jonah’s announcement, and—pay attention—something more impressive than Jonah is here!

³³ “No one lights a lamp and then puts it hidden away in a storeroom or under a basket but on the lampstand so that whoever comes inside can see the light. ³⁴ Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is well lit. But when your eye is diseased, your whole body is in the dark. ³⁵ So, watch out that the light within you is not darkness. ³⁶ If, then, your whole body is well lit, with no part in the dark, the whole thing will be well lit just like when the lamplight shines on you.”

³⁷ While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to have a meal with him, so he went and took a seat at the table. ³⁸ The Pharisee was shocked when he saw that Jesus was not first washed before the meal.

³⁹ The Lord said to him, “You Pharisees currently cleanse the plate and the outside of the cup, but your inside is full of plunder and corruption. ⁴⁰ How senseless! Didn’t the one who made the outside also make the inside? ⁴¹ Instead, turn what is within you into a gift of committed compassion, and then everything really will be clean for you.

⁴² “Oh, Pharisees, this won’t end well for you! You give a tenth of your mint, rue, and each herb, yet you neglect God’s justice and love. It’s essential to do these things without disregarding the others.

⁴³ “Oh, Pharisees, this won’t end well for you! You love the seat of honor in the synagogues and elaborate greetings of respect in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴ This won’t end well for you! You are like unmarked graves, and the people who walk over you don’t even know.”

⁴⁵ One of the Torah experts responded and said to him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you humiliate us too.”

⁴⁶ “Oh, Torah experts, this won’t end well for you either!” said Jesus. “You load crushing burdens on people, yet you yourselves avoid touching the burdens with a single finger. ⁴⁷ This won’t end well for you! You build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. ⁴⁸ So then, you are the ones who provide evidence that you agree with your ancestors’ actions: though they killed them, you still build their tombs. ⁴⁹ In fact, that’s why the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send prophets and commissioned ones to them, and they will hunt down and kill some of them,’ ⁵⁰ resulting in reparations being sought from this group for the blood of all the prophets that was shed since the beginning of the world system, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel until the blood of Zechariah who was killed between the altar and the temple. Yes, I’m telling you, reparations will be sought from this group.

⁵² “Oh, Torah experts, this won’t end well for you! You removed the key to understanding. You yourselves didn’t enter, and you prevented others from entering.”

⁵³ After Jesus went out from there, the scripture scholars and Pharisees began to hound him relentlessly and interrogate him about many things, ⁵⁴ waiting to ambush him and trap him with something from his own mouth.

¹ When tens of thousands of people had gathered, trampling over each other, Jesus began to speak to his students first:

“Watch yourselves, that you avoid the yeast of the Pharisees, which is pretense. ² Nothing is covered up that will not be exposed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known. ³ Without exception, whatever you say in the dark will be heard in the light, and how you spoke to people behind closed doors will be announced from the rooftops.

⁴ “I’m telling you, my friends, don’t be afraid of the people who kill the body and then have nothing more they can do. ⁵ I’ll tell you whom you should fear instead: Fear the one who after killing you then has the right to toss you into the Hinnom Valley! Yes, I tell you. Be afraid of that one! ⁶ Aren’t five sparrows sold for two assaria? And not one of them is overlooked by God. ⁷ In fact, even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid, you matter more than many sparrows.

⁸ “I’m telling you, anyone who openly acknowledges connection with me in front of people, the Son of Humanity will also openly acknowledge connection with them in front of God’s messengers. ⁹ But the one who denies connection with me in front of people will be denied in front of God’s messengers. ¹⁰ Anything anyone says against the Son of Humanity will be let go, but for anyone who speaks disrespectfully against the Sacred Life-breath, it will not be let go. ¹¹ When they bring you in front of synagogues, and the leaders, and the authorities, don’t worry you’ll make your defense or what you’ll say. ¹² After all, the Sacred Life-breath will teach you what you need to say at that time.”

¹³ Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to split the inheritance with me.”

¹⁴ “Man, who appointed me judge between you?” Jesus said to him. ¹⁵ Then he said to the crowd, “Watch yourselves, that you avoid every form of greed because a person’s life doesn’t come from the abundance of their possessions.”

¹⁶ He told them a parable: “One wealthy person’s land produced a surplus crop, ¹⁷ so he considered, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops.’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my storehouse and build bigger ones, and I’ll store all my grain and resources there. ¹⁹ I’ll say to my very being, “Self, you have many resources set aside for many years. Relax, eat, drink, and be happy!”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘How senseless! On this night your very being will be demanded back from you. Who will everything you’ve prepared be for?’ ²¹ That’s how it is for whoever accumulates wealth for themselves, not being rich in God.”

²² Then he said to his students, “For that reason, I tell you, don’t worry about your very life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ After all, to be a living being is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. ²⁴ Think about the ravens, how they don’t plant or harvest, how they have no storeroom or storehouse, yet God provides food for them. You are so much more valuable than birds!

²⁵ “Who among you is able to add an hour to the length of your life by worrying? ²⁶ So, since you can’t add even the shortest bit of time, why do you worry about anything at all? ²⁷ Think about how flowers grow. They don’t labor or spin, but I’m telling you, not even Solomon in all his grandeur was dressed like one of them. ²⁸ Yet if this is how God clothes the grass in the countryside, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven as fuel, how much more for you, you who have a little trust. ²⁹ Also, don’t fixate on what you’ll eat or what you’ll drink, and don’t be swept up in panic. ³⁰ After all, all the peoples of the world are fully fixated on getting these things, and your Father knows you need them. ³¹ Instead, fixate on God’s Reign, and these things will be included for you.

³² “Don’t be afraid, young flock, because your Father thinks it good to give you the Reign. ³³ Sell your property and give a compassionate donation. Make your purses ones that don’t wear out, an unlimited treasury in the heavens, where no thief comes close and no moth ruins it. ³⁴ You see, where your treasury is, your heart will be there too.

³⁵ “Be ready to go: dressed to move and lamps burning. ³⁶ Be like people waiting for their slave holder to return from the wedding feast, so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him right away. ³⁷ Those enslaved workers, whom the slave holder finds keeping watch, have reason for gratitude. Honestly, I’m telling you he will dress himself for work, have them recline at the table, and come serve them. ³⁸ Even if he comes and finds them this way in the second or third watch, they still have reason for gratitude. ³⁹ And know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ Be ready, because the Son of Humanity is coming at an hour you don’t expect.”

⁴¹ “Sir,” said Peter, “Are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?”

⁴² The Lord said, “Well, who is the faithful and thoughtful household manager, whom the slave holder will appoint over his household caretakers to dispense their food allowance at the scheduled time? ⁴³ That enslaved worker, whose slave holder arrives to find them ready for him, has reason for gratitude. ⁴⁴ Honestly, I’m telling you that the slave holder will appoint him over all his possessions.

⁴⁵ “However, if that enslaved worker says in their heart, “My enslaver is delaying his arrival,” and they begin to beat the other enslaved attendants, male and female, and to eat, drink, and get drunk, ⁴⁶ the slave holder will come on a day when that enslaved worker does not expect and at an hour that they don’t know, and he will tear him apart with a whip and assign them a place with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷ That enslaved worker, who knows what their enslaver wants and doesn’t prepare for it or do it, will be beaten severely. ⁴⁸ However, the one who doesn’t know and does what the slave holder counts as deserving blows will receive a mild beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be expected, and to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be asked.

⁴⁹ “I came to set a fire in the land, and how I wish it were already lit! ⁵⁰ I have an immersion to receive, and how constrained I am until it is done! ⁵¹ Do you think I came to bring unity in the land? Not unity, I’m telling you, but a split. ⁵² You see, from now on five people in one house will be split, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be split father 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 mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ Then to the crowds he said, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say right away, ‘A rainstorm is coming,’ and it happens that way. ⁵⁵ And when you notice a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It’ll be blazing hot,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶ Pretenders! You know how to assess the appearance of the land and sky, but you don’t know how to assess this moment?

⁵⁷ “Now, why don’t you also judge for yourselves what is just? ⁵⁸ As you are on the way with your accuser to the magistrate, make every effort to be released by them, so that they might not drag you in front of the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you in prison. ⁵⁹ I’m telling you, you will certainly not get out of there until you pay back the very last lepton.”

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This page is still in progress. All books except Acts and Revelation are currently available. Check back soon!

This page is still in progress. All books except Acts and Revelation are currently available. Check back soon!

This page is still in progress. All books except Acts and Revelation are currently available. Check back soon!

This page is still in progress. All books except Acts and Revelation are currently available. Check back soon!

This page is still in progress. All books except Acts and Revelation are currently available. Check back soon!

This page is still in progress. All books except Acts and Revelation are currently available. Check back soon!

This page is still in progress. All books except Acts and Revelation are currently available. Check back soon!

This page is still in progress. All books except Acts and Revelation are currently available. Check back soon!

This page is still in progress. All books except Acts and Revelation are currently available. Check back soon!

This page is still in progress. All books except Acts and Revelation are currently available. Check back soon!