When Jesus had finished commanding the twelve, He departed to teach and preach in their cities, but John the Baptist, having heard in prison the works of the Anointed One, sent his disciples, and they said to Jesus, “Are you He that comes, or should we look for another?” Jesus said to them, “Go and tell John what things you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the handicap walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Blessed is he that will not be offended at me.”
As they were going away, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind, but what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Beware, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
“Why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet, it is written: ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has not been a greater than John the Baptist, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him.
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven is taken by force, and men of force seize upon it eagerly. All the prophets and the law prophesied until John, and if you will receive it, he is Elijah that was to come.
“He that has ears, let him hear.
“To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the markets who call to the others and say, ‘We sang to you, and you did not dance. We wailed, and you did not cry.’
“John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’
“The Son of man has come eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a man, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of sinners...
Jesus went on the Sabbath through the fields of grain. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pull the ears of grain and eat. The Pharisees, seeing it said to Him, “Behold, your disciples are doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David and those with him did when they were hungry? How they entered the house of God, and ate of the loaves of the presence, which was not lawful for them to eat, but for the priests only?
“Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath days, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless? I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’ means, you would not have condemned the blameless. The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
He departed and came into their synagogue. A man had a withered hand. That they might accuse Jesus, they asked the man, “Is it lawful to cure on the Sabbath?” Jesus said to them, “What man is there of you who has one sheep? If it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not lay hold of it and lift it up? How much better than is a man than a sheep? So, then it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath.”
Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored to soundness. The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Him, that they might destroy Him.
Jesus perceived this and withdrew. Many followed Him, and He cured them all, and charged them that they should not make Him known, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through Isaiah:
Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will declare judgment to the Gentiles. He will not contend nor cry out, neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed will he not break, and a smoking wick will he not extinguish until he sends forth judgment to victory. In his name will nations trust.
Then was brought to Him a demoniac, blind and dumb man. He cured him so that the dumb man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed and said, “Is this the Son of David?”
The Pharisees, hearing it said, “This man does not cast out the demons but by Beelzebub the prince of the demons.” Knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is made desolate. No city or house divided against itself will stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? If I, by Beelzebub, cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason, they will be your judges, but if I by the Spirit of God cast out the demons, then has the kingdom of God already come upon you?
“How can anyone enter the house of the strong man and seize his belongings, unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house?
“He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathers not with me scatters.
“I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever will speak a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him, but whoever will speak against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in that to come.
“Either make the tree godly and its fruit godly or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt. By the fruit, the tree...
Jesus left the house and sat by the sea. Many crowds came to Him, so He entered a ship and sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the shore. He spoke many things to them in parables, “Behold, the Sower went forth to sow. As he sowed, some fell by the way, and the birds came and ate them up.
“Others fell on rocky places where there wasn’t much earth, and they sprung up because they had no depth of earth. When the sun rose, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered.
“Others fell on thorns, and the thorns grew and choked them.
“Others fell on good ground and brought forth fruit, one thirty, one sixty and one a hundredfold.
“He that has ears, let him hear.”
The disciples came and said to Him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” He said, “Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the heavens, but to them it is not given. Whoever has, to him, will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever has not, even that which he has, will be taken.
“For this reason, I speak to them in parables because when seeing they see not, and when hearing, they hear not, neither do they understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: ‘By hearing you will hear, and will not understand, and seeing you will see, and will not perceive.’
“Their hearts have become fat with their ears they hear heavily and their eyes they have closed. Unless perhaps they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart and turn, and I should restore them to health.
“Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and saw not, and to hear what you hear, and heard not.
“Hear you then the parable of the Sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and understands it not, the wicked one comes and snatches away that which is sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way.
“He that was sown on the rocky places is he that hears the word, and with joy receives it. Yet he has no root in himself but endures for a while. When affliction or persecution rises because of the word, he immediately takes offense.
“He that was sown among thorns is he that hears the word, and the care of the age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
“He that was sown on good ground is he that hears the word and understands it, who also bears fruit, and produces, one thirty, one sixty, one a hundredfold.”
Another parable He laid before them, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man that sowed good seed in his field, but while he slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds over the wheat and went away.
“When the blade sprung up and produced fruit, the weeds also appeared. The servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in the field? Why then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy did this.’
“The servants said to him, ‘Will you then have us go and gather them up?’ He said, ‘No, perhaps while gathering the weeds you root up the wheat together with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather first the weeds, and bind them into bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my granary.’”
He laid another parable before them, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard, which a man took and sowed in his field. Indeed, it is less than all the seeds, but when it has grown, it is greater than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and roost in its branches.”
He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole was leavened.”
Jesus only spoke to the crowds in parables that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through Isaiah: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things concealed from the foundation.”
Then, dismissing the crowds, He entered a house, and His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He said, “He that sows the good seed is the Son of man, the field is the world, the good seed are the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the Devil. The harvest is the conclusion of the age, and the reapers are angels. The weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be in the conclusion of the age.
“The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather all things that cause offense, them that do iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth...
At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and for this reason, the powers are active within him.”
Herod had taken, bound and imprisoned John because of Herodias, the wife of Philip, his brother. John had said to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
Intending to kill John, Herod was afraid of the crowd because they held him as a prophet. When Herod's birthday celebration was held, the daughter of Herodias danced, and it pleased Herod. He promised with an oath to give her whatever she would ask. She, having been instigated by her mother, said, “Give me on a dish the head of John the Baptist.”
The king, though grieved because of his oath and the guests, commanded it to be given. John was beheaded in the prison. His head was brought on a dish and given to her. She carried it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took away the corpse, buried it, and told Jesus.
When Jesus heard it, He withdrew to a ship in a desert place apart. The crowds followed Him on foot from the cities. He disembarked the ship, saw them and was moved with pity and cured the sick.
When evening had come, the disciples came to Him, saying, “The place is deserted, and the hour has already passed, send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”
He said to them, “They have no need to go away. What do you give them to eat?” They said to Him, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” He said, “Bring them to me.”
After commanding the crowds to sit in the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish. Looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, then gave the bread to the disciples and they gave it to the crowds.
All ate and were filled. The disciples took up what remained of the broken pieces into twelve traveling baskets full. Those who had eaten were about five thousand men, along with women...
Then came to Jesus, the Pharisees, and scribes from Jerusalem, saying, “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat bread.” He answered, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your traditions? God commanded: ‘Honor your father and your mother. He that curses father or mother, let him surely die.’
“You say, whoever will say to his father or his mother: ‘That whatever you receive in aid from me is a gift.’ He will no longer honor his father or mother in doing this. You have made the law of God of no effect because of your traditions.
“Hypocrites, Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far distant from me, but in vain do they show devotion to me, teaching the commandments of men.’”
Looking over the crowd He said, “Hear and understand, nothing that enters the mouth defiles the man, but that which comes out of the mouth defiles the man.”
Then came the disciples and said to Him, “Know that the Pharisees were offended by what you said?” He said, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone, they are blind leaders of the blind. If a blind man leads a blind man, they both will fall into the pit.”
Peter said to Him, “Explain to us the parable.” He said, “Are you yet without understanding? Do you not perceive that everything that enters the mouth goes into the belly, and is cast out into the sink? The things that come forth from the mouth proceed from the heart. These defile the man. Out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, lewdness, thefts, false testimonies and blasphemies. These are the things that defile the man, but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man.”
Jesus withdrew into the regions of Tyre and Sidon. A woman of Canaan cried out, “Have mercy on me. Lord, Son of David, my daughter is grievously afflicted by a demon.” He said nothing.
His disciples said, “Dismiss...