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Knights of Columbus, Beaver Valley Chapter Beaver Valley Chapter

Knights of Columbus
Beaver Valley Chapter
Electronic Books

The New Jerusalem Bible with Apocrypha
The Gospel According to Matthew

Mt is the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. This points to three principal emphases: (i) While Mk concentrates on the gradual unfolding of the disciples' understanding of Jesus, Mt stresses from the first that Jesus is a king; he is a noble and dignified figure who deserves and receives homage from all around him; already in his earthly life he is seen as the exalted Christ. (ii) The Kingdom of Heaven, still to be completed, but already strongly associated with the community which Jesus founded, is the fulfilment of God's plan for Israel. So the Church is the true Israel, the recipient of God's promises, which goes out to all nations in the power of Christ. (iii) Mt is the most Semitic of the gospels, constantly touching on Jewish and rabbinic customs and ways of thought and argument, stressing that Jesus fulfils the hopes of the OT both in general and in minute detail. There is a strong and typically Jewish interest in the final retribution, about which Mt is full of warnings. The main part of the gospel, apart from the infancy stories and the passion narrative, is divided into five sections (each with a narrative and a teaching section) by analogy with the five books of the Jewish Law. Mt is more interested than Mk in Jesus' teaching, which he assembles in five great discourses, each with its own subject: the Sermon on the Mount (5-7), the Missionary Discourse (10-11), Parables (13), the Community (18) and the Last Discourse (24-25). So this Jewish-Christian scribe shows that Jesus is not only the Davidic Messiah but also the Lawgiver or second Moses.

Chapter 1

THE BIRTH AND INFANCY OF JESUS
The ancestry of Jesus

^1:1Roll of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham: ²Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, ³Judah fathered Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, ⁴Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, ⁵Salmon fathered Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse; ⁶and Jesse fathered King David. David fathered Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife, ⁷Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, Abijah fathered Asa, ⁸Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah, ⁹Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, ¹⁰Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah; ¹¹and Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers. Then the deportation to Babylon took place. ¹²After the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah fathered Shealtiel, Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel, ¹³Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor, ¹⁴Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud, ¹⁵Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Jacob; ¹⁶and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ. ¹⁷The sum of generations is therefore: fourteen from Abraham to David; fourteen from David to the Babylonian deportation; and fourteen from the Babylonian deportation to Christ.
Joseph adopts Jesus as his son

¹⁸This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹Her husband Joseph, being an upright man and wanting to spare her disgrace, decided to divorce her informally. ²⁰He had made up his mind to do this when suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. ²¹She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.' ²²Now all this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: ²³Look! the virgin is with child and will give birth to a son whom they will call Immanuel, ^{*[Is 7:14]}a name which means 'God-is-with-us'. ²⁴When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home; ²⁵he had not had intercourse with her when she gave birth to a son; and he named him Jesus.
Chapter 2

The visit of the Magi

^2:1After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of King Herod, suddenly some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east ²asking, 'Where is the infant king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.' ³When King Herod heard this he was perturbed, and so was the whole of Jerusalem. ⁴He called together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵They told him, 'At Bethlehem in Judaea, for this is what the prophet wrote: ⁶And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the leaders of Judah, for from you will come a leader who will shepherd my people Israel.'^{*[Mi 5:1]} ⁷Then Herod summoned the wise men to see him privately. He asked them the exact date on which the star had appeared ⁸and sent them on to Bethlehem with the words, 'Go and find out all about the child, and when you have found him, let me know, so that I too may go and do him homage.' ⁹Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And suddenly the star they had seen rising went forward and halted over the place where the child was. ¹⁰The sight of the star filled them with delight, ¹¹and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. ¹²But they were given a warning in a dream not to go back to Herod, and returned to their own country by a different way.
The flight into Egypt
The massacre of the Innocents

¹³After they had left, suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him.' ¹⁴So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, ¹⁵where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I called my son out of Egypt.^{*[Nb 23:22]} ¹⁶Herod was furious on realising that he had been fooled by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or less, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. ¹⁷Then were fulfilled the words spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ¹⁸A voice is heard in Ramah, lamenting and weeping bitterly: it is Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they are no more. ^{*[In Jr 31:15 she weeps for the northern tribes. But traditionally she was buried near Bethlehem.]}
From Egypt to Nazareth

¹⁹After Herod's death, suddenly the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰and said, ^{*[cf. Ex. 4:19-20. There are several parallels with the stories of Moses' infancy.]} 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead.' ²¹So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel. ²²But when he learnt that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the region of Galilee. ²³There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.
Chapter 3

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS ANNOUNCED
NARRATIVE SECTION

The proclamation of John the Baptist

^3:1In due course John the Baptist appeared; he proclaimed this message in the desert of Judaea, ²'Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.' ³This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said: A voice of one that cries in the desert, 'Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.' ^{*[Is 40:3]} ⁴This man John wore a garment made of camel-hair with a leather loin-cloth round his waist, ^{*[As Elijah, 2 K 1:8]} and his food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵Then Jerusalem and all Judaea and the whole Jordan district made their way to him, ⁶and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. ⁷But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them, 'Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming retribution? ⁸Produce fruit in keeping with repentance, ⁹and do not presume to tell yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father," because, I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones. ¹⁰Even now the axe is being laid to the root of the trees, so that any tree failing to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire. ¹¹I baptise you in water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹²His winnowing-fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.'
Jesus is baptised

¹³Then Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. ¹⁴John tried to dissuade him, with the words, 'It is I who need baptism from you, and yet you come to me!' ¹⁵But Jesus replied, 'Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that uprightness demands.' Then John gave in to him. ¹⁶And when Jesus had been baptised he at once came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. ¹⁷And suddenly there was a voice from heaven, 'This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him.' ^{*[cf. Is 42:1]}
Chapter 4

Testing in the desert

⁴Then Jesus was led by the Spirit out into the desert to be put to the test by the devil. ²He fasted for forty days and forty nights, after which he was hungry, ³and the tester came and said to him, 'If you are Son of God, tell these stones to turn into loaves.' ⁴But he replied, 'Scripture says: Human beings live not on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' ^{*[Dt 8:3]} ⁵The devil then took him to the holy city and set him on the parapet of the Temple. ⁶'If you are Son of God,' he said, 'throw yourself down; for scripture says: He has given his angels orders about you, and they will carry you in their arms in case you trip over a stone.' ^{*[Ps 91:10-12]} ⁷Jesus said to him, 'Scripture also says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' ^{*[Dt 6:16.]} ⁸Next, taking him to a very high mountain, the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. ⁹And he said to him, 'I will give you all these, if you fall at my feet and do me homage.' ¹⁰Then Jesus replied, 'Away with you, Satan! For scripture says: The Lord your God is the one to whom you must do homage, him alone you must serve.' ^{*[Dt 6:13]} ¹¹Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels appeared and looked after him.
Return to Galilee

¹²Hearing that John had been arrested he withdrew to Galilee, ¹³and leaving Nazara he went and settled in Capernaum, beside the lake, on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. ¹⁴This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ¹⁵Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea beyond Jordan. Galilee of the nations! ¹⁶The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who lived in a country of shadow dark as death a light has dawned. ^{*[Is 8:23-9:1]} ¹⁷From then onwards Jesus began his proclamation with the message, 'Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.'
The first four disciples are called

¹⁸As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹And he said to them, 'Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.' ²⁰And at once they left their nets and followed him. ²¹Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²²And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.
Jesus proclaims the message and heals the sick

²³He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and illness among the people. ²⁴His fame spread throughout Syria, and those who were suffering from diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed, were all brought to him, and he cured them. ²⁵Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordan.
Chapter 5

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
The Beatitudes
^{*[Lk 6:20-23]}

^5:1Seeing the crowds, he went onto the mountain. And when he was seated his disciples came to him. ²Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them: ³How blessed are the poor in spirit: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs. ⁴Blessed are the gentle: ^{*[Ps 37:11]} they shall have the earth as inheritance. ^{*[Gn 13:15]} ⁵Blessed are those who mourn: they shall be comforted. ⁶Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for uprightness: they shall have their fill. ⁷Blessed are the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them. ⁸Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God. ⁹Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognised as children of God. ¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs. ¹¹'Blessed are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you falsely on my account. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.
Salt for the earth and light for the world

¹³'You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people's feet. ¹⁴'You are light for the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. ¹⁵No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way your light must shine in people's sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.
The fulfilment of the Law

¹⁷'Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. ¹⁸In truth I tell you, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, is to disappear from the Law until all its purpose is achieved. ¹⁹Therefore, anyone who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of Heaven.
The new standard higher than the old

²⁰'For I tell you, if your uprightness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven. ²¹'You have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You shall not kill; ^{*[Ex 20:13.]} and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. ²²But I say this to you, anyone who is angry with a brother will answer for it before the court; anyone who calls a brother "Fool" will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and anyone who calls him "Traitor" will answer for it in hell fire. ²³So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. ²⁵Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶In truth I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny. ²⁷'You have heard how it was said, You shall not commit adultery. ^{*[Ex 20:14]} ²⁸But I say this to you, if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye should be your downfall, tear it out and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body thrown into hell. ³⁰And if your right hand should be your downfall, cut it off and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body go to hell. ³¹'It has also been said, Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of dismissal. ^{*[Dt 24:1.]} ³²But I say this to you, everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of an illicit marriage, ^{*[Marriage within the
Jewish forbidden degrees, allowed by the Romans but not in Christianity.]} makes her an adulteress; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. ³³'Again, you have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord. ^{*[Ex 20:7]} ³⁴But I say this to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God's throne; ³⁵or by earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great King. ^{*[Ps 48:2]} ³⁶Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. ³⁷All you need say is "Yes" if you mean yes, "No" if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the Evil One. ³⁸'You have heard how it was said: Eye for eye and tooth for tooth. ^{*[Ex 21:24]} ³⁹But I say this to you: offer no resistance to the wicked. On the contrary, if anyone hits you on the right cheek, offer him the other as well; ⁴⁰if someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him. ⁴²Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away. ⁴³'You have heard how it was said, You will love your neighbour ^{*[Lv 19:18. The rest of the sentence is not from the OT.]} and hate your enemy. ⁴⁴But I say this to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; ⁴⁵so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on the bad as well as the good, and sends down rain to fall on the upright and the wicked alike. ⁴⁶For if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even the tax collectors do as much? ⁴⁷And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? ⁴⁸Do not even the gentiles do as much? You must therefore be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.'
Chapter 6

Almsgiving in secret

^6:1'Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention; otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. ²So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win human admiration. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. ³But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; ⁴your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
Prayer in secret

⁵'And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. ⁶But when you pray, go to your private room, shut yourself in, and so pray ^{*[Is 26:20]} to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
How to pray. The Lord's Prayer

⁷'In your prayers do not babble as the gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. ⁸Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹So you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy, ¹⁰your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. ¹¹Give us today our daily bread. ¹²And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us. ¹³And do not put us to the test, but save us from the Evil One. ^{*[Lk 11:2-4]} ¹⁴'Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; ¹⁵but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.
Fasting in secret

¹⁶'When you are fasting, do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they go about looking unsightly to let people know they are fasting. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. ¹⁷But when you fast, put scent on your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
True treasures

¹⁹'Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal. ²⁰But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal. ²¹For wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be too.
The eye, the lamp of the body

²²'The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is clear, your whole body will be filled with light. ²³But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkened, what darkness that will be!
God and money

²⁴'No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.
Trust in Providence

²⁵'That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and what you are to wear. Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing! ²⁶Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? ²⁷Can any of you, however much you worry, add one single cubit to your span of life? ²⁸And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin; ²⁹yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these. ³⁰Now if that is how God clothes the wild flowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you who have so little faith? ³¹So do not worry; do not say, "What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What are we to wear?" ³²It is the gentiles who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. ³³Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on God's saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well. ³⁴So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.'
Chapter 7

Do not judge

^7:1'Do not judge, and you will not be judged; ²because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and the standard you use will be the standard used for you. ³Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the great log in your own? ⁴And how dare you say to your brother, "Let me take that splinter out of your eye," when, look, there is a great log in your own? ⁵Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother's eye.
Do not profane sacred things

⁶'Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces.
Effective prayer

⁷'Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened. ⁹Is there anyone among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? ¹⁰Or would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish? ¹¹If you, then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
The golden rule

¹²'So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the Law and the Prophets.
The two ways

¹³'Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it; ¹⁴but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
False prophets

¹⁵'Beware of false prophets who come to you disguised as sheep but underneath are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶You will be able to tell them by their fruits. Can people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷In the same way, a sound tree produces good fruit but a rotten tree bad fruit. ¹⁸A sound tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a rotten tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown on the fire. ²⁰I repeat, you will be able to tell them by their fruits.
The true disciple

²¹'It is not anyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. ²²When the day comes many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?" ²³Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, all evil doers!^{*[Ps 6:8]} ²⁴'Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. ²⁵Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. ²⁶But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. ²⁷Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!'
The amazement of the crowds

²⁸Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and his teaching made a deep impression on the people ²⁹because he taught them with authority, unlike their own scribes.
Chapter 8

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS PREACHED
NARRATIVE SECTION: TEN MIRACLES

Cure of a man with skin-disease

^8:1After he had come down from the mountain large crowds followed him. ²Suddenly a man with a virulent skin-disease came up and bowed low in front of him, saying, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can cleanse me.' ³Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, 'I am willing. Be cleansed.' And his skin-disease was cleansed at once. ⁴Then Jesus said to him, 'Mind you tell no one, but go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering prescribed by Moses, ^{*[Lv 14:1-32]} as evidence to them.'
Cure of the centurion's servant

⁵When he went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him. ⁶'Sir,' he said, 'my servant is lying at home paralysed and in great pain.' ⁷Jesus said to him, 'I will come myself and cure him.' ⁸The centurion replied, 'Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. ⁹For I am under authority myself and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man, "Go," and he goes; to another, "Come here," and he comes; to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.' ¹⁰When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, 'In truth I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this. ¹¹And I tell you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of Heaven; ¹²but the children of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.' ¹³And to the centurion Jesus said, 'Go back, then; let this be done for you, as your faith demands.' And the servant was cured at that moment.
Cure of Peter's mother-in-law

¹⁴And going into Peter's house Jesus found Peter's mother-in-law in bed and feverish. ¹⁵He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.
A number of cures

¹⁶That evening they brought him many who were possessed by devils. He drove out the spirits with a command and cured all who were sick. ¹⁷This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: He himself bore our sicknesses away and carried our diseases. ^{*[Is 53:4]}
Unconditional commitment

¹⁸When Jesus saw the crowd all about him he gave orders to leave for the other side. ¹⁹One of the scribes then came up and said to him, 'Master, I will follow you wherever you go.' ²⁰Jesus said, 'Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.' ²¹Another man, one of the disciples, said to him, 'Lord, let me go and bury my father first.' ²²But Jesus said, 'Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their dead.'
The calming of the storm

²³Then he got into the boat followed by his disciples. ²⁴Suddenly a storm broke over the lake, so violent that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But he was asleep. ²⁵So they went to him and woke him saying, 'Save us, Lord, we are lost!' ²⁶And he said to them, 'Why are you so frightened, you who have so little faith?' And then he stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. ²⁷They were astounded and said, 'Whatever kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?'
The demoniacs of Gadara

²⁸When he reached the territory of the Gadarenes on the other side, two demoniacs came towards him out of the tombs-they were so dangerously violent that nobody could use that path. ²⁹Suddenly they shouted, 'What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the time?' ³⁰Now some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding, ³¹and the devils pleaded with Jesus, 'If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.' ³²And he said to them, 'Go then,' and they came out and made for the pigs; and at that the whole herd charged down the cliff into the lake and perished in the water. ³³The herdsmen ran off and made for the city, where they told the whole story, including what had happened to the demoniacs. ³⁴Suddenly the whole city set out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw him they implored him to leave their neighbourhood.
Chapter 9

Cure of a paralytic

^9:1He got back in the boat, crossed the water and came to his home town. ²And suddenly some people brought him a paralytic stretched out on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, 'Take comfort, my child, your sins are forgiven.' ³And now some scribes said to themselves, 'This man is being blasphemous.' ⁴Knowing what was in their minds Jesus said, 'Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts? ⁵Now, which of these is easier: to say, "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "Get up and walk"? ⁶But to prove to you that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins,'-then he said to the paralytic-'get up, pick up your bed and go off home.' ⁷And the man got up and went home. ⁸A feeling of awe came over the crowd when they saw this, and they praised God for having given such authority to human beings.
The call of Matthew

⁹As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he got up and followed him.
Eating with sinners

¹⁰Now while he was at table in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, 'Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?' ¹²When he heard this he replied, 'It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. ¹³Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice. ^{*[Ho 6:6]} And indeed I came to call not the upright, but sinners.'
A discussion on fasting

¹⁴Then John's disciples came to him and said, 'Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?' ¹⁵Jesus replied, 'Surely the bridegroom's attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. ¹⁶No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth onto an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. ¹⁷Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine in fresh skins and both are preserved.'
Cure of the woman with a haemorrhage
The official's daughter raised to life

¹⁸While he was speaking to them, suddenly one of the officials came up, who bowed low in front of him and said, 'My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and her life will be saved.' ¹⁹Jesus rose and, with his disciples, followed him. ²⁰Then suddenly from behind him came a woman, who had been suffering from a haemorrhage for twelve years, and she touched the fringe of his cloak, ²¹for she was thinking, 'If only I can touch his cloak I shall be saved.' ²²Jesus turned round and saw her; and he said to her, 'Courage, my daughter, your faith has saved you.' And from that moment the woman was saved. ²³When Jesus reached the official's house and saw the flute-players, with the crowd making a commotion, he said, ²⁴'Get out of here; the little girl is not dead; she is asleep.' And they ridiculed him. ²⁵But when the people had been turned out he went inside and took her by the hand; and she stood up. ²⁶And the news of this spread all round the countryside.
Cure of two blind men

²⁷As Jesus went on his way two blind men followed him shouting, 'Take pity on us, son of David.' ²⁸And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up to him and he said to them, 'Do you believe I can do this?' They said, 'Lord, we do.' ²⁹Then he touched their eyes saying, 'According to your faith, let it be done to you.' ³⁰And their sight returned. Then Jesus sternly warned them, 'Take care that no one learns about this.' ³¹But when they had gone away, they talked about him all over the countryside.
Cure of a dumb demoniac

³²They had only just left when suddenly a man was brought to him, a dumb demoniac. ³³And when the devil was driven out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed and said, 'Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.' ³⁴But the Pharisees said, 'It is through the prince of devils that he drives out devils.'
The distress of the crowds

³⁵Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness. ³⁶And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to his harvest.'
Chapter 10

INSTRUCTION FOR APOSTLES
The mission of the Twelve

^{*[Mk 3:14-19; Lk 6:13-16; the order and even some of the names vary in the different lists.]}
^10:1He summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to drive them out and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness. ²These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who was also his betrayer. ⁵These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: 'Do not make your way to gentile territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town; ⁶go instead to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. ⁷And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand. ⁸Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those suffering from virulent skin-diseases, drive out devils. You received without charge, give without charge. ⁹Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with coppers for your purses, ¹⁰with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the labourer deserves his keep. ¹¹'Whatever town or village you go into, seek out someone worthy and stay with him until you leave. ¹²As you enter his house, salute it, ¹³and if the house deserves it, may your peace come upon it; if it does not, may your peace come back to you. ¹⁴And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet. ¹⁵In truth I tell you, on the Day of Judgement it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. ¹⁶Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as snakes and yet innocent as doves.
Missionaries will be persecuted

¹⁷'Be prepared for people to hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. ¹⁸You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as evidence to them and to the gentiles. ¹⁹But when you are handed over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes, ²⁰because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. ²¹'Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will come forward against their parents and have them put to death. ²²You will be universally hated on account of my name; but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved. ²³If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. In truth I tell you, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of man comes. ²⁴'Disciple is not superior to teacher, nor slave to master. ²⁵It is enough for disciple to grow to be like teacher, and slave like master. If they have called the master of the house "Beelzebul", how much more the members of his household?
Open and fearless speech

²⁶'So do not be afraid of them. Everything now covered up will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. ²⁷What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops. ²⁸'Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. ²⁹Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. ³⁰Why, every hair on your head has been counted. ³¹So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. ³²'So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of human beings, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. ³³But the one who disowns me in the presence of human beings, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.
Jesus, the cause of dissension

³⁴'Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword. ³⁵For I have come to set son against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law; ³⁶a person's enemies will be the members of his own household. ^{*[Mi 7:6]}
Renouncing self to follow Jesus

³⁷'No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of me. No one who prefers son or daughter to me is worthy of me. ³⁸Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. ³⁹Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
Conclusion of the Instruction

⁴⁰'Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ⁴¹'Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet's reward; and anyone who welcomes an upright person because he is upright will have the reward of an upright person. ⁴²'If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without his reward.'
Chapter 11

THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
NARRATIVE SECTION

^11:1When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns.
The Baptist's question
Jesus commends him

²Now John had heard in prison what Christ was doing and he sent his disciples to ask him, ³'Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?' ⁴Jesus answered, 'Go back and tell John what you hear and see; ⁵the blind see again, and the lame walk, those suffering from virulent skin-diseases are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the good news is proclaimed to the poor; ^{*[cf. Is 35:5; 61:1]} ⁶and blessed is anyone who does not find me a cause of falling.' ⁷As the men were leaving, Jesus began to talk to the people about John, 'What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swaying in the breeze? No? ⁸Then what did you go out to see? A man wearing fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothes are to be found in palaces. ⁹Then what did you go out for? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet: ¹⁰he is the one of whom scripture says: Look, I am going to send my messenger in front of you to prepare your way before you. ^{*[Ml 3:1]} ¹¹'In truth I tell you, of all the children born to women, there has never been anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. ¹²Since John the Baptist came, up to this present time, the kingdom of Heaven has been subjected to violence and the violent are taking it by storm. ¹³Because it was towards John that all the prophecies of the prophets and of the Law were leading; ¹⁴and he, if you will believe me, is the Elijah who was to return. ¹⁵Anyone who has ears should listen!
Jesus condemns his contemporaries

¹⁶'What comparison can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place: ¹⁷We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn't dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn't be mourners. ¹⁸'For John came, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, "He is possessed." ¹⁹The Son of man came, eating and drinking, and they say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners." Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.'
Lament over the lake-towns

²⁰Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent. ²¹'Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²²Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgement Day than for you. ²³And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised as high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. ^{*[Is 14:13,
15]} For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet. ²⁴Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on Judgement Day than for you.'
The good news revealed to the simple
The Father and the Son

²⁵At that time Jesus exclaimed, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children. ²⁶Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. ²⁷Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
The gentle mastery of Christ

²⁸'Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ^*[Jr
6:16] ³⁰Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.'
Chapter 12

Picking corn on the Sabbath

^12:1At that time Jesus went through the cornfields one Sabbath day. His disciples were hungry and began to pick ears of corn and eat them. ²The Pharisees noticed it and said to him, 'Look, your disciples are doing something that is forbidden on the Sabbath.' ³But he said to them, 'Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry- ⁴how he went into the house of God and they ate the loaves of the offering although neither he nor his followers were permitted to eat them, but only the priests? ⁵Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath day the Temple priests break the Sabbath without committing any fault? ⁶Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. ⁷And if you had understood the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice, ^{*[Ho 6:6]} you would not have condemned the blameless. ⁸For the Son of man is master of the Sabbath.'
Cure of the man with a withered hand

⁹He moved on from there and went to their synagogue; ¹⁰now a man was there with a withered hand. They asked him, 'Is it permitted to cure somebody on the Sabbath day?' hoping for something to charge him with. ¹¹But he said to them, 'If any one of you here had only one sheep and it fell down a hole on the Sabbath day, would he not get hold of it and lift it out? ¹²Now a man is far more important than a sheep, so it follows that it is permitted on the Sabbath day to do good.' ¹³Then he said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He stretched it out and his hand was restored, as sound as the other one. ¹⁴At this the Pharisees went out and began to plot against him, discussing how to destroy him.
Jesus the 'servant of Yahweh'

¹⁵Jesus knew this and withdrew from the district. Many followed him and he cured them all ¹⁶but warned them not to make him known. ¹⁷This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ¹⁸Look! My servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul delights, I will send my Spirit upon him, and he will present judgement to the nations; ¹⁹he will not brawl or cry out, his voice is not heard in the streets, ²⁰he will not break the crushed reed, or snuff the faltering wick, ²¹until he has made judgement victorious; in him the nations will put their hope. ^{*[Is 42:1-4]}
Jesus and Beelzebul

²²Then they brought to him a blind and dumb demoniac; and he cured him, so that the dumb man could speak and see. ²³All the people were astounded and said, 'Can this be the son of David?' ²⁴But when the Pharisees heard this they said, 'The man drives out devils only through Beelzebul, the chief of the devils.' ²⁵Knowing what was in their minds he said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin; and no town, no household divided against itself can last. ²⁶Now if Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself; so how can his kingdom last? ²⁷And if it is through Beelzebul that I drive devils out, through whom do your own experts drive them out? They shall be your judges, then. ²⁸But if it is through the Spirit of God that I drive out devils, then be sure that the kingdom of God has caught you unawares. ²⁹'Or again, how can anyone make his way into a strong man's house and plunder his property unless he has first tied up the strong man? Only then can he plunder his house. ³⁰'Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not gather in with me throws away. ³¹And so I tell you, every human sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. ³²And anyone who says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but no one who speaks against the Holy Spirit will be forgiven either in this world or in the next.
Words betray the heart

³³'Make a tree sound and its fruit will be sound; make a tree rotten and its fruit will be rotten. For the tree can be told by its fruit. ³⁴You brood of vipers, how can your speech be good when you are evil? For words flow out of what fills the heart. ³⁵Good people draw good things from their store of goodness; bad people draw bad things from their store of badness. ³⁶So I tell you this, that for every unfounded word people utter they will answer on Judgement Day, ³⁷since it is by your words you will be justified, and by your words condemned.'
The sign of Jonah

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke up. 'Master,' they said, 'we should like to see a sign from you.' ³⁹He replied, 'It is an evil and unfaithful generation that asks for a sign! The only sign it will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰For as Jonah remained in the belly of the sea-monster for three days and three nights, ^{*[Jon 2:1]} so will the Son of man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. ⁴¹On Judgement Day the men of Nineveh will appear against this generation and they will be its condemnation, because when Jonah preached they repented; and look, there is something greater than Jonah here. ⁴²On Judgement Day the Queen of the South will appear against this generation and be its condemnation, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look, there is something greater than Solomon here.
The return of the unclean spirit

⁴³'When an unclean spirit goes out of someone it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and cannot find one. ⁴⁴Then it says, "I will return to the home I came from." But on arrival, finding it unoccupied, swept and tidied, ⁴⁵it then goes off and collects seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and set up house there, and so that person ends up worse off than before. That is what will happen to this wicked generation.'
The true kinsfolk of Jesus

⁴⁶He was still speaking to the crowds when suddenly his mother and his brothers ^{*[Not necessarily Mary's children. The Hebr. and Aram. word includes cousins and close relations.]} were standing outside and were anxious to have a word with him. [47] ^{*[v. 47 ('Someone said to him: Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to
speak to you') is omitted by some important textual witnesses. It is probably a restatement of v. 46 modelled on Mk and Lk.]} ⁴⁸But to the man who told him this Jesus replied, 'Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?' ⁴⁹And stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. ⁵⁰Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.'
Chapter 13

DISCOURSE OF PARABLES
Introduction

^13:1That same day, Jesus left the house and sat by the lakeside, ²but such large crowds gathered round him that he got into a boat and sat there. The people all stood on the shore, ³and he told them many things in parables.
Parable of the sower

He said, 'Listen, a sower went out to sow. ⁴As he sowed, some seeds fell on the edge of the path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵Others fell on patches of rock where they found little soil and sprang up at once, because there was no depth of earth; ⁶but as soon as the sun came up they were scorched and, not having any roots, they withered away. ⁷Others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸Others fell on rich soil and produced their crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹Anyone who has ears should listen!'
Why Jesus speaks in parables

¹⁰Then the disciples went up to him and asked, 'Why do you talk to them in parables?' ¹¹In answer, he said, 'Because to you is granted to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not granted. ¹²Anyone who has will be given more and will have more than enough; but anyone who has not will be deprived even of what he has. ¹³The reason I talk to them in parables is that they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. ¹⁴So in their case what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah is being fulfilled: Listen and listen, but never understand! Look and look, but never perceive! ¹⁵This people's heart has grown coarse, their ears dulled, they have shut their eyes tight to avoid using their eyes to see, their ears to hear, their heart to understand, changing their ways and being healed by me. ^{*[Is 6:9-10]} ¹⁶'But blessed are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! ¹⁷In truth I tell you, many prophets and upright people longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.
The parable of the sower explained

¹⁸'So pay attention to the parable of the sower. ¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the Evil One comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the seed sown on the edge of the path. ²⁰The seed sown on patches of rock is someone who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. ²¹But such a person has no root deep down and does not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, at once he falls away. ²²The seed sown in thorns is someone who hears the word, but the worry of the world and the lure of riches choke the word and so it produces nothing. ²³And the seed sown in rich soil is someone who hears the word and understands it; this is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.'
Parable of the darnel

²⁴He put another parable before them, 'The kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵While everybody was asleep his enemy came, sowed darnel all among the wheat, and made off. ²⁶When the new wheat sprouted and ripened, then the darnel appeared as well. ²⁷The owner's labourers went to him and said, "Sir, was it not good seed that you sowed in your field? If so, where does the darnel come from?" ²⁸He said to them, "Some enemy has done this." And the labourers said, "Do you want us to go and weed it out?" ²⁹But he said, "No, because when you weed out the darnel you might pull up the wheat with it. ³⁰Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn." '
Parable of the mustard seed

³¹He put another parable before them, 'The kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. ³²It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air can come and shelter in its branches.'
Parable of the yeast

³³He told them another parable, 'The kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.'
The people are taught only in parables

³⁴In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables. ³⁵This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: I will speak to you in parables, unfold what has been hidden since the foundation of the world. ^{*[Ps 78:2]}
The parable of the darnel explained

³⁶Then, leaving the crowds, he went to the house; and his disciples came to him and said, 'Explain to us the parable about the darnel in the field.' ³⁷He said in reply, 'The sower of the good seed is the Son of man. ³⁸The field is the world; the good seed is the subjects of the kingdom; the darnel, the subjects of the Evil One; ³⁹the enemy who sowed it, the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; the reapers are the angels. ⁴⁰Well then, just as the darnel is gathered up and burnt in the fire, so it will be at the end of time. ⁴¹The Son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of falling and all who do evil, ⁴²and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth. ⁴³Then the upright will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Anyone who has ears should listen!
Parables of the treasure and of the pearl

⁴⁴'The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off in his joy, sells everything he owns and buys the field. ⁴⁵'Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls; ⁴⁶when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.
Parable of the dragnet

⁴⁷'Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet that is cast in the sea and brings in a haul of all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸When it is full, the fishermen bring it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in baskets and throw away those that are no use. ⁴⁹This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the upright, ⁵⁰to throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
Conclusion

⁵¹'Have you understood all these?' They said, 'Yes.' ⁵²And he said to them, 'Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom new things as well as old.'
THE CHURCH, FIRST-FRUITS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
NARRATIVE SECTION

A visit to Nazareth

⁵³When Jesus had finished these parables he left the district; ⁵⁴and, coming to his home town, he taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished and said, 'Where did the man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? ⁵⁵This is the carpenter's son, surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? ⁵⁶His sisters, too, are they not all here with us? So where did the man get it all?' ⁵⁷And they would not accept him. But Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is despised only in his own country and in his own house,' ⁵⁸and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Chapter 14

Herod and Jesus

^14:1At that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the reputation of Jesus ²and said to his court, 'This is John the Baptist himself; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.'
John the Baptist beheaded

³Now it was Herod who had arrested John, chained him up and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. ⁴For John had told him, 'It is against the Law for you to have her.' ⁵He had wanted to kill him but was afraid of the people, who regarded John as a prophet. ⁶Then, during the celebrations for Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and so delighted Herod ⁷that he promised on oath to give her anything she asked. ⁸Prompted by her mother she said, 'Give me John the Baptist's head, here, on a dish.' ⁹The king was distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he ordered it to be given her, ¹⁰and sent and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹The head was brought in on a dish and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. ¹²John's disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went off to tell Jesus.
First miracle of the loaves
^{*[This and 15:32-39 are probably varying accounts of the same incident. This one echoes 2 K 4:42]}

¹³When Jesus received this news he withdrew by boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But the crowds heard of this and, leaving the towns, went after him on foot. ¹⁴So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sick. ¹⁵When evening came, the disciples went to him and said, 'This is a lonely place, and time has slipped by; so send the people away, and they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food.' ¹⁶Jesus replied, 'There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves.' ¹⁷But they answered, 'All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.' ¹⁸So he said, 'Bring them here to me.' ¹⁹He gave orders that the people were to sit down on the grass; then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing. And breaking the loaves he handed them to his disciples, who gave them to the crowds. ²⁰They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected the scraps left over, twelve baskets full. ²¹Now about five thousand men had eaten, to say nothing of women and children.
Jesus walks on the water and, with him, Peter

²²And at once he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he sent the crowds away. ²³After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴while the boat, by now some furlongs from land, was hard pressed by rough waves, for there was a head-wind. ²⁵In the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the sea, ²⁶and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. 'It is a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear. ²⁷But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, 'Courage! It's me! Don't be afraid.' ²⁸It was Peter who answered. 'Lord,' he said, 'if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.' ²⁹Jesus said, 'Come.' Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, ³⁰but then noticing the wind, he took fright and began to sink. 'Lord,' he cried, 'save me!' ³¹Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. 'You have so little faith,' he said, 'why did you doubt?' ³²And as they got into the boat the wind dropped. ³³The men in the boat bowed down before him and said, 'Truly, you are the Son of God.'
Cures at Gennesaret

³⁴Having made the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret. ³⁵When the local people recognised him they spread the news through the whole neighbourhood and took all that were sick to him, ³⁶begging him just to let them touch the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched it were saved.
Chapter 15

The traditions of the Pharisees

^15:1Then Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said, ²'Why do your disciples break away from the tradition of the elders? They eat without washing their hands.' ³He answered, 'And why do you break away from the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴For God said, "Honour your father and your mother" and "Anyone who curses his father or mother will be put to death." ^{*[Ex
20:12 and 21:17]} ⁵But you say, "If anyone says to his father or mother: Anything I might have used to help you is dedicated to God, ⁶he is rid of his duty to father or mother." In this way you have made God's word ineffective by means of your tradition. ⁷Hypocrites! How rightly Isaiah prophesied about you when he said: ⁸This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. ⁹Their reverence of me is worthless; the lessons they teach are nothing but human commandments.' ^{*[Is 29:13]}
On clean and unclean

¹⁰He called the people to him and said, 'Listen, and understand. ¹¹What goes into the mouth does not make anyone unclean; it is what comes out of the mouth that makes someone unclean.' ¹²Then the disciples came to him and said, 'Do you know that the Pharisees were shocked when they heard what you said?' ¹³He replied, 'Any plant my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴Leave them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind; and if one blind person leads another, both will fall into a pit.' ¹⁵At this, Peter said to him, 'Explain the parable for us.' ¹⁶Jesus replied, 'Even you-don't you yet understand? ¹⁷Can't you see that whatever goes into the mouth passes through the stomach and is discharged into the sewer? ¹⁸But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and it is this that makes someone unclean. ¹⁹For from the heart come evil intentions: murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury, slander. ²⁰These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands does not make anyone unclean.'
The daughter of the Canaanite woman healed

²¹Jesus left that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²²And suddenly out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, 'Lord, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.' ²³But he said not a word in answer to her. And his disciples went and pleaded with him, saying, 'Give her what she wants, because she keeps shouting after us.' ²⁴He said in reply, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.' ²⁵But the woman had come up and was bowing low before him. 'Lord,' she said, 'help me.' ²⁶He replied, 'It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to little dogs.' ²⁷She retorted, 'Ah yes, Lord; but even little dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters' table.' ²⁸Then Jesus answered her, 'Woman, you have great faith. Let your desire be granted.' And from that moment her daughter was well again.
Cures near the lake

²⁹Jesus went on from there and reached the shores of the Lake of Galilee, and he went up onto the mountain. He took his seat, ³⁰and large crowds came to him bringing the lame, the crippled, the blind, the dumb and many others; these they put down at his feet, and he cured them. ³¹The crowds were astonished to see the dumb speaking, the cripples whole again, the lame walking and the blind with their sight, and they praised the God of Israel.
Second miracle of the loaves

³²But Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them off hungry, or they might collapse on the way.' ³³The disciples said to him, 'Where in a deserted place could we get sufficient bread for such a large crowd to have enough to eat?' ³⁴Jesus said to them, 'How many loaves have you?' They said, 'Seven, and a few small fish.' ³⁵Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, ³⁶and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks he broke them and began handing them to the disciples, who gave them to the crowds. ³⁷They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected what was left of the scraps, seven baskets full. ³⁸Now four thousand men had eaten, to say nothing of women and children. ³⁹And when he had sent the crowds away he got into the boat and went to the territory of Magadan.
Chapter 16

The Pharisees ask for a sign from heaven

^16:1The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to put him to the test they asked if he would show them a sign from heaven. ²He replied, 'In the evening you say, "It will be fine; there's a red sky," ³and in the morning, "Stormy weather today; the sky is red and overcast." You know how to read the face of the sky, but you cannot read the signs of the times. ⁴It is an evil and unfaithful generation asking for a sign, and the only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah.' And he left them and went off.
The yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

⁵The disciples, having crossed to the other side, had forgotten to take any food. ⁶Jesus said to them, 'Keep your eyes open, and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' ⁷And they said among themselves, 'It is because we have not brought any bread.' ⁸Jesus knew it, and he said, 'You have so little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and the number of baskets you collected? ¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and the number of baskets you collected? ¹¹How could you fail to understand that I was not talking about bread? What I said was: Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.' ¹²Then they understood that he was telling them to be on their guard, not against yeast for making bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Peter's profession of faith; his pre-eminence

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of man is?' ¹⁴And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' ¹⁵'But you,' he said, 'who do you say I am?' ¹⁶Then Simon Peter spoke up and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' ¹⁷Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a blessed man! Because it was no human agency that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. ¹⁸So I now say to you: You are Peter ^{*[The name means 'rock']} and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.' ²⁰Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to say to anyone that he was the Christ.
First prophecy of the Passion

²¹From then onwards Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. ²²Then, taking him aside, Peter started to rebuke him. 'Heaven preserve you, Lord,' he said, 'this must not happen to you.' ²³But he turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because you are thinking not as God thinks but as human beings do.'
The condition of following Christ

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶What, then, will anyone gain by winning the whole world and forfeiting his life? Or what can anyone offer in exchange for his life? ²⁷'For the Son of man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each one according to his behaviour. ²⁸In truth I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming with his kingdom.'
Chapter 17

The transfiguration

^17:1Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ²There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as dazzling as light. ³And suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking with him. ⁴Then Peter spoke to Jesus. 'Lord,' he said, 'it is wonderful for us to be here; if you want me to, I will make three shelters here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.' ⁵He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud ^{*[cf. Ex 13:22]} covered them with shadow, and suddenly from the cloud there came a voice which said, 'This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.' ^{*[Dt 18:15, 19; Is 42:1]} ⁶When they heard this, the disciples fell on their faces, overcome with fear. ⁷But Jesus came up and touched them, saying, 'Stand up, do not be afraid.' ⁸And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but Jesus.
The question about Elijah

⁹As they came down from the mountain Jesus gave them this order, 'Tell no one about this vision until the Son of man has risen from the dead.' ¹⁰And the disciples put this question to him, 'Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?' ¹¹He replied, 'Elijah is indeed coming, and he will set everything right again; ¹²however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of man will suffer similarly at their hands.' ¹³Then the disciples understood that he was speaking of John the Baptist.
The epileptic demoniac

¹⁴As they were rejoining the crowd a man came up to him and went down on his knees before him. ¹⁵'Lord,' he said, 'take pity on my son: he is demented and in a wretched state; he is always falling into fire and into water. ¹⁶I took him to your disciples and they were unable to cure him.' ¹⁷In reply, Jesus said, 'Faithless and perverse generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.' ¹⁸And when Jesus rebuked it the devil came out of the boy, who was cured from that moment. ¹⁹Then the disciples came privately to Jesus. 'Why were we unable to drive it out?' they asked. ²⁰He answered, 'Because you have so little faith. In truth I tell you, if your faith is the size of a mustard seed you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you.' [21] ^{*[Some authorities add v. 21,'As
for this kind, it is cast out only by prayer and fasting.' Cf. Mk 9:29]}
Second prophecy of the Passion

²²When they were together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, 'The Son of man is going to be delivered into the power of men; ²³they will put him to death, and on the third day he will be raised up again.' And a great sadness came over them.
The Temple tax paid by Jesus and Peter

²⁴When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel ^{*[A yearly tax on all Jews for the upkeep of the Temple.]} came to Peter and said, 'Does your master not pay the half-shekel?' ²⁵'Yes,' he replied, and went into the house. But before he could speak, Jesus said, 'Simon, what is your opinion? From whom do earthly kings take toll or tribute? From their sons or from foreigners?' ²⁶And when he replied, 'From foreigners,' Jesus said, 'Well then, the sons are exempt. ²⁷However, so that we shall not be the downfall of others, go to the lake and cast a hook; take the first fish that rises, open its mouth and there you will find a shekel; take it and give it to them for me and for yourself.'
Chapter 18

THE DISCOURSE ON THE CHURCH
Who is the greatest?

^18:1At this time the disciples came to Jesus and said, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?' ²So he called a little child to him whom he set among them. ³Then he said, 'In truth I tell you, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. ⁴And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven.
On leading others astray

⁵'Anyone who welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me. ⁶But anyone who is the downfall of one of these little ones who have faith in me would be better drowned in the depths of the sea with a great millstone round his neck. ⁷Alas for the world that there should be such causes of falling! Causes of falling indeed there must be, but alas for anyone who provides them! ⁸'If your hand or your foot should be your downfall, cut it off and throw it away: it is better for you to enter into life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. ⁹And if your eye should be your downfall, tear it out and throw it away: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the hell of fire. ¹⁰'See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their ¹¹ angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven. ^{*[Some authorities add v. 11, 'For the Son of man
has come to save what was lost.' cf. Lk 19:10.]}
The lost sheep

¹²'Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? ¹³In truth I tell you, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. ¹⁴Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
Brotherly correction

¹⁵'If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. ¹⁶If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: whatever the misdemeanour, the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain the charge. ^{*[Dt 19:15]} ¹⁷But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a gentile or a tax collector. ¹⁸'In truth I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Prayer in common

¹⁹'In truth I tell you once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them.'
Forgiveness of injuries

²¹Then Peter went up to him and said, 'Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?' ²²Jesus answered, 'Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.
Parable of the unforgiving debtor

²³'And so the kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. ²⁴When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; ²⁵he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. ²⁶At this, the servant threw himself down at his master's feet, with the words, "Be patient with me and I will pay the whole sum." ²⁷And the servant's master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt. ²⁸Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow-servant who owed him one hundred denarii; ^{*[About $200,
contrasted with the other debt of over $60 million.]} and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him, saying, "Pay what you owe me." ²⁹His fellow-servant fell at his feet and appealed to him, saying, "Be patient with me and I will pay you." ³⁰But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. ³¹His fellow-servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him. ³²Then the master sent for the man and said to him, "You wicked servant, I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. ³³Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow-servant just as I had pity on you?" ³⁴And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt. ³⁵And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.'
Chapter 19

THE APPROACHING ADVENT OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
NARRATIVE SECTION
The question about divorce

^19:1Jesus had now finished what he wanted to say, and he left Galilee and came into the territory of Judaea on the far side of the Jordan. ²Large crowds followed him and he healed them there. ³Some Pharisees approached him, and to put him to the test they said, 'Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?' ⁴He answered, 'Have you not read that the Creator from the beginning made them male and female ⁵and that he said: This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh? ^{*[Gn 1:17; 2:24]} ⁶They are no longer two, therefore, but one flesh. So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide.' ⁷They said to him, 'Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in cases of divorce?' ^{*[Dt 24:1. On
Mt's exception in v. 9, see 5:32.]} ⁸He said to them, 'It was because you were so hard-hearted, that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning. ⁹Now I say this to you: anyone who divorces his wife-I am not speaking of an illicit marriage-and marries another, is guilty of adultery.'
Continence

¹⁰The disciples said to him, 'If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is advisable not to marry.' ¹¹But he replied, 'It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted. ¹²There are eunuchs born so from their mother's womb, there are eunuchs made so by human agency and there are eunuchs who have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.'
Jesus and the children

¹³Then people brought little children to him, for him to lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples scolded them, ¹⁴but Jesus said, 'Let the little children alone, and do not stop them from coming to me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of Heaven belongs.' ¹⁵Then he laid his hands on them and went on his way.
The rich young man

¹⁶And now a man came to him and asked, 'Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?' ¹⁷Jesus said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.' ¹⁸He said, 'Which ones?' Jesus replied, 'These: You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false witness. ¹⁹Honour your father and your mother. You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' ^{*[Ex 20:12-16]} ²⁰The young man said to him, 'I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?' ²¹Jesus said, 'If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.' ²²But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.
The danger of riches

²³Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'In truth I tell you, it is hard for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven. ²⁴Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven.' ²⁵When the disciples heard this they were astonished. 'Who can be saved, then?' they said. ²⁶Jesus gazed at them. 'By human resources', he told them, 'this is impossible; for God everything is possible.'
The reward of renunciation

²⁷Then Peter answered and said, 'Look, we have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?' ²⁸Jesus said to them, 'In truth I tell you, when everything is made new again and the Son of man is seated on his throne of glory, you yourselves will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times as much, and also inherit eternal life. ³⁰'Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.'
Chapter 20

Parable of the labourers in the vineyard

^20:1'Now the kingdom of Heaven is like a landowner going out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. ²He made an agreement with the workers for one denarius a day and sent them to his vineyard. ³Going out at about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place ⁴and said to them, "You go to my vineyard too and I will give you a fair wage." ⁵So they went. At about the sixth hour and again at about the ninth hour, he went out and did the same. ⁶Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing around, and he said to them, "Why have you been standing here idle all day?" ⁷"Because no one has hired us," they answered. He said to them, "You go into my vineyard too." ⁸In the evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his bailiff, "Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last arrivals and ending with the first." ⁹So those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came forward and received one denarius each. ¹⁰When the first came, they expected to get more, but they too received one denarius each. ¹¹They took it, but grumbled at the landowner saying, ¹²"The men who came last have done only one hour, and you have treated them the same as us, though we have done a heavy day's work in all the heat." ¹³He answered one of them and said, "My friend, I am not being unjust to you; did we not agree on one denarius? ¹⁴Take your earnings and go. I choose to pay the lastcomer as much as I pay you. ¹⁵Have I no right to do what I like with my own? Why should you be envious because I am generous?" ¹⁶Thus the last will be first, and the first, last.'
Third prophecy of the Passion

¹⁷Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and on the road he took the Twelve aside by themselves and said to them, ¹⁸'Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death ¹⁹and will hand him over to the gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised up again.'
The mother of Zebedee's sons makes her request

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came with her sons to make a request of him, and bowed low; ²¹and he said to her, 'What is it you want?' She said to him, 'Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom.' ²²Jesus answered, 'You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?' They replied, 'We can.' ²³He said to them, 'Very well; you shall drink my cup, but as for seats at my right hand and my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted by my Father.'
Leadership with service

²⁴When the other ten heard this they were indignant with the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them to him and said, 'You know that among the gentiles the rulers lord it over them, and great men make their authority felt. ²⁶Among you this is not to happen. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, ²⁸just as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
The two blind men of Jericho

²⁹As they left Jericho a large crowd followed him. ³⁰And now there were two blind men sitting at the side of the road. When they heard that it was Jesus who was passing by, they shouted, 'Lord! Have pity on us, son of David.' ³¹And the crowd scolded them and told them to keep quiet, but they only shouted the louder, 'Lord! Have pity on us, son of David.' ³²Jesus stopped, called them over and said, 'What do you want me to do for you?' ³³They said to him, 'Lord, let us have our sight back.' ³⁴Jesus felt pity for them and touched their eyes, and at once their sight returned and they followed him.
Chapter 21

The Messiah enters Jerusalem

^21:1When they were near Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, ²saying to them, 'Go to the village facing you, and you will at once find a tethered donkey and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, "The Master needs them and will send them back at once." ' ⁴This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet: ⁵Say to the daughter of Zion: Look, your king is approaching, humble and riding on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. ^{*[Zc 9:9]} ⁶So the disciples went and did as Jesus had told them. ⁷They brought the donkey and the colt, then they laid their cloaks on their backs and he took his seat on them. ⁸Great crowds of people spread their cloaks on the road, while others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in his path. ⁹The crowds who went in front of him and those who followed were all shouting: Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord! ^{*[Ps 118:26]} Hosanna in the highest heavens! ¹⁰And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil as people asked, 'Who is this?' ¹¹and the crowds answered, 'This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.'
The expulsion of the dealers from the Temple

¹²Jesus then went into the Temple and drove out all those who were selling and buying there; he upset the tables of the money-changers and the seats of the dove-sellers. ¹³He said to them, 'According to scripture, my house will be called a house of prayer; but you are turning it into a bandits' den.' ^{*[Is 56:7; Jr 7:11]} ¹⁴There were also blind and lame people who came to him in the Temple, and he cured them. ¹⁵At the sight of the wonderful things he did and of the children shouting, 'Hosanna to the son of David' in the Temple, the chief priests and the scribes were indignant and said to him, ¹⁶'Do you hear what they are saying?' Jesus answered, 'Yes. Have you never read this: By the mouths of children, babes in arms, you have made sure of praise?' ^{* [

Ps 8:2.]} ¹⁷With that he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
The barren fig tree withers
Faith and prayer

¹⁸As he was returning to the city in the early morning, he felt hungry. ¹⁹Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it but leaves. And he said to it, 'May you never bear fruit again,' and instantly the fig tree withered. ²⁰The disciples were amazed when they saw it and said, 'How is it that the fig tree withered instantly?'

The New Jerusalem Bible with Apocrypha The Gospel According to Matthew

Chapter 1

THE BIRTH AND INFANCY OF JESUS The ancestry of Jesus

Joseph adopts Jesus as his son

Chapter 2

The visit of the Magi

The flight into Egypt The massacre of the Innocents

From Egypt to Nazareth

Chapter 3

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS ANNOUNCED NARRATIVE SECTION

The proclamation of John the Baptist

Jesus is baptised

Chapter 4

Testing in the desert

Return to Galilee

The first four disciples are called

Jesus proclaims the message and heals the sick

Chapter 5

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT The Beatitudes *[Lk 6:20-23]

Salt for the earth and light for the world

The fulfilment of the Law

The new standard higher than the old

Chapter 6

Almsgiving in secret

Prayer in secret

How to pray. The Lord's Prayer

Fasting in secret

True treasures

The eye, the lamp of the body

God and money

Trust in Providence

Chapter 7

Do not judge

Do not profane sacred things

Effective prayer

The golden rule

The two ways

False prophets

The true disciple

The amazement of the crowds

Chapter 8

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS PREACHED NARRATIVE SECTION: TEN MIRACLES

Cure of a man with skin-disease

Cure of the centurion's servant

Cure of Peter's mother-in-law

A number of cures

Unconditional commitment

The calming of the storm

The demoniacs of Gadara

Chapter 9

Cure of a paralytic

The call of Matthew

Eating with sinners

A discussion on fasting

Cure of the woman with a haemorrhageThe official's daughter raised to life

Cure of two blind men

Cure of a dumb demoniac

The distress of the crowds

Chapter 10

INSTRUCTION FOR APOSTLES The mission of the Twelve

Missionaries will be persecuted

Open and fearless speech

Jesus, the cause of dissension

Renouncing self to follow Jesus

Conclusion of the Instruction

Chapter 11

THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN NARRATIVE SECTION

The Baptist's questionJesus commends him

Jesus condemns his contemporaries

Lament over the lake-towns

The good news revealed to the simpleThe Father and the Son

The gentle mastery of Christ

Chapter 12

Picking corn on the Sabbath

Cure of the man with a withered hand

Jesus the 'servant of Yahweh'

Jesus and Beelzebul

Words betray the heart

The sign of Jonah

The return of the unclean spirit

The New Jerusalem Bible with Apocrypha
The Gospel According to Matthew

THE BIRTH AND INFANCY OF JESUS
The ancestry of Jesus

The flight into Egypt
The massacre of the Innocents

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS ANNOUNCED
NARRATIVE SECTION

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
The Beatitudes
^{*[Lk 6:20-23]}

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS PREACHED
NARRATIVE SECTION: TEN MIRACLES

Cure of the woman with a haemorrhage
The official's daughter raised to life

INSTRUCTION FOR APOSTLES
The mission of the Twelve

THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
NARRATIVE SECTION

The Baptist's question
Jesus commends him

The good news revealed to the simple
The Father and the Son

DISCOURSE OF PARABLES
Introduction

THE CHURCH, FIRST-FRUITS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
NARRATIVE SECTION

First miracle of the loaves
^{*[This and 15:32-39 are probably varying accounts of the same incident. This one echoes 2 K 4:42]}

THE DISCOURSE ON THE CHURCH
Who is the greatest?

THE APPROACHING ADVENT OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
NARRATIVE SECTION
The question about divorce

The barren fig tree withers
Faith and prayer