1
Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus.
2
They noticed that some of his disciples were eating their food with hands that were ritually unclean---that is, they had not washed them in the way the Pharisees said people should.
3
(For the Pharisees, as well as the rest of the Jews, follow the teaching they received from their ancestors: they do not eat unless they wash their hands in the proper way;
4
nor do they eat anything that comes from the market unless they wash it first. And they follow many other rules which they have received, such as the proper way to wash cups, pots, copper bowls, and beds. )
5
So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Jesus, "Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?"
6
Jesus answered them, "How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you! You are hypocrites, just as he wrote: 'These people, says God, honor me with their words, but their heart is really far away from me.
7
It is no use for them to worship me, because they teach human rules as though they were my laws!'
8
"You put aside God's command and obey human teachings."
9
And Jesus continued, "You have a clever way of rejecting God's law in order to uphold your own teaching.
10
For Moses commanded, 'Respect your father and your mother,' and, 'If you curse your father or your mother, you are to be put to death.'
11
But you teach that if people have something they could use to help their father or mother, but say, 'This is Corban' (which means, it belongs to God),
12
they are excused from helping their father or mother.
13
In this way the teaching you pass on to others cancels out the word of God. And there are many other things like this that you do."
14
Then Jesus called the crowd to him once more and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand.
15
There is nothing that goes into you from the outside which can make you ritually unclean. Rather, it is what comes out of you that makes you unclean."
17
When he left the crowd and went into the house, his disciples asked him to explain this saying.
18
"You are no more intelligent than the others," Jesus said to them. "Don't you understand? Nothing that goes into you from the outside can really make you unclean,
19
because it does not go into your heart but into your stomach and then goes on out of the body." (In saying this, Jesus declared that all foods are fit to be eaten.)
20
And he went on to say, "It is what comes out of you that makes you unclean.
21
For from the inside, from your heart, come the evil ideas which lead you to do immoral things, to rob, kill,
22
commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly---
23
all these evil things come from inside you and make you unclean."
24
Then Jesus left and went away to the territory near the city of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden.
25
A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet.
26
The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27
But Jesus answered, "Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs."
28
"Sir," she answered, "even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers!"
29
So Jesus said to her, "Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!"
30
She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her.
31
Jesus then left the neighborhood of Tyre and went on through Sidon to Lake Galilee, going by way of the territory of the Ten Towns.
32
Some people brought him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged Jesus to place his hands on him.
33
So Jesus took him off alone, away from the crowd, put his fingers in the man's ears, spat, and touched the man's tongue.
34
Then Jesus looked up to heaven, gave a deep groan, and said to the man, "Ephphatha," which means, "Open up!"
35
At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble.
36
Then Jesus ordered the people not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he ordered them not to, the more they told it.
37
And all who heard were completely amazed. "How well he does everything!" they exclaimed. "He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!"
1
Not long afterward another large crowd came together. When the people had nothing left to eat, Jesus called the disciples to him and said,
2
"I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to eat.
3
If I send them home without feeding them, they will faint as they go, because some of them have come a long way."
4
His disciples asked him, "Where in this desert can anyone find enough food to feed all these people?"
5
"How much bread do you have?" Jesus asked. "Seven loaves," they answered.
6
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks to God, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the crowd; and the disciples did so.
7
They also had a few small fish. Jesus gave thanks for these and told the disciples to distribute them too.
8
Everybody ate and had enough---there were about four thousand people. Then the disciples took up seven baskets full of pieces left over. Jesus sent the people away
10
and at once got into a boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
11
Some Pharisees came to Jesus and started to argue with him. They wanted to trap him, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him.
12
But Jesus gave a deep groan and said, "Why do the people of this day ask for a miracle? No, I tell you! No such proof will be given to these people!"
13
He left them, got back into the boat, and started across to the other side of the lake.
14
The disciples had forgotten to bring enough bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat.
15
"Take care," Jesus warned them, "and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod."
16
They started discussing among themselves: "He says this because we don't have any bread."
17
Jesus knew what they were saying, so he asked them, "Why are you discussing about not having any bread? Don't you know or understand yet? Are your minds so dull?
18
You have eyes---can't you see? You have ears---can't you hear? Don't you remember
19
when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand people? How many baskets full of leftover pieces did you take up?" "Twelve," they answered.
20
"And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand people," asked Jesus, "how many baskets full of leftover pieces did you take up?" "Seven," they answered.
21
"And you still don't understand?" he asked them.
22
They came to Bethsaida, where some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him.
23
Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. After spitting on the man's eyes, Jesus placed his hands on him and asked him, "Can you see anything?"
24
The man looked up and said, "Yes, I can see people, but they look like trees walking around."
25
Jesus again placed his hands on the man's eyes. This time the man looked intently, his eyesight returned, and he saw everything clearly.
26
Jesus then sent him home with the order, "Don't go back into the village."
27
Then Jesus and his disciples went away to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Tell me, who do people say I am?"
28
"Some say that you are John the Baptist," they answered; "others say that you are Elijah, while others say that you are one of the prophets."
29
"What about you?" he asked them. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah."
30
Then Jesus ordered them, "Do not tell anyone about me."
31
Then Jesus began to teach his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life."
32
He made this very clear to them. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33
But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter. "Get away from me, Satan," he said. "Your thoughts don't come from God but from human nature!"
34
Then Jesus called the crowd and his disciples to him. "If any of you want to come with me," he told them, "you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me.
35
For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it.
36
Do you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not!
37
There is nothing you can give to regain your life.
38
If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
1
And he went on to say, "I tell you, there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power."
2
Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain, where they were alone. As they looked on, a change came over Jesus,
3
and his clothes became shining white---whiter than anyone in the world could wash them.
4
Then the three disciples saw Elijah and Moses talking with Jesus.
5
Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Teacher, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
6
He and the others were so frightened that he did not know what to say.
7
Then a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow, and a voice came from the cloud, "This is my own dear Son---listen to him!"
8
They took a quick look around but did not see anyone else; only Jesus was with them.
9
As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has risen from death."
10
They obeyed his order, but among themselves they started discussing the matter, "What does this 'rising from death' mean?"
11
And they asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?"
12
His answer was, "Elijah is indeed coming first in order to get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man will suffer much and be rejected?
13
I tell you, however, that Elijah has already come and that people treated him just as they pleased, as the Scriptures say about him."
14
When they joined the rest of the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and some teachers of the Law arguing with them.
15
When the people saw Jesus, they were greatly surprised, and ran to him and greeted him.
16
Jesus asked his disciples, "What are you arguing with them about?"
17
A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought my son to you, because he has an evil spirit in him and cannot talk.
18
Whenever the spirit attacks him, it throws him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth, grits his teeth, and becomes stiff all over. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not."
19
Jesus said to them, "How unbelieving you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy to me!"
20
They brought him to Jesus. As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a fit, so that he fell on the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21
"How long has he been like this?" Jesus asked the father. "Ever since he was a child," he replied.
22
"Many times the evil spirit has tried to kill him by throwing him in the fire and into water. Have pity on us and help us, if you possibly can!"
23
"Yes," said Jesus, "if you yourself can! Everything is possible for the person who has faith."
24
The father at once cried out, "I do have faith, but not enough. Help me have more!"
25
Jesus noticed that the crowd was closing in on them, so he gave a command to the evil spirit. "Deaf and dumb spirit," he said, "I order you to come out of the boy and never go into him again!"
26
The spirit screamed, threw the boy into a bad fit, and came out. The boy looked like a corpse, and everyone said, "He is dead!"
27
But Jesus took the boy by the hand and helped him rise, and he stood up.
28
After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive the spirit out?"
29
"Only prayer can drive this kind out," answered Jesus; "nothing else can."
30
Jesus and his disciples left that place and went on through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was,
31
because he was teaching his disciples: "The Son of Man will be handed over to those who will kill him. Three days later, however, he will rise to life."
32
But they did not understand what this teaching meant, and they were afraid to ask him.
33
They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, "What were you arguing about on the road?"
34
But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest.
35
Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all."
36
Then he took a child and had him stand in front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them,
37
"Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me."
38
John said to him, "Teacher, we saw a man who was driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn't belong to our group."
39
"Do not try to stop him," Jesus told them, "because no one who performs a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say evil things about me.
40
For whoever is not against us is for us.
41
I assure you that anyone who gives you a drink of water because you belong to me will certainly receive a reward.
42
"If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around the neck and be thrown into the sea.
43
So if your hand makes you lose your faith, cut it off ! It is better for you to enter life without a hand than to keep both hands and go off to hell, to the fire that never goes out.
45
And if your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off ! It is better for you to enter life without a foot than to keep both feet and be thrown into hell.
47
And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out! It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell.
48
There 'the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out.'
49
"Everyone will be purified by fire as a sacrifice is purified by salt.
50
"Salt is good; but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? "Have the salt of friendship among yourselves, and live in peace with one another."
