Mark 7 Cross References - ISV

¹ Jesus Challenges the Tradition of the Elders
The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. ² They noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. ³ (The Pharisees—and indeed all the Jewish people—don’t eat unless they wash their hands properly, following the tradition of their elders. ⁴ They don’t eat anything from the marketplace unless they dip it in water. They also observe many other traditions, such as the proper washing of washing cups, jars, brass pots, and dinner tables.) ⁵ So the Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with unclean hands.”
⁶ He told them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. As it is written, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. ⁷ Their worship of me is worthless, because they teach human rules as doctrines.’
⁸ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
⁹ Then he told them, “You have such a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your own tradition! ¹⁰ Because Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.’ ¹¹ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me is Corban,”’ (that is, an offering to God) ¹² ‘you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.’ ¹³ You are destroying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other things like that.”
¹⁴ Then he called to the crowd again and told them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand! ¹⁵ Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean. It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean. ¹⁶ If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!”
¹⁷ When he had left the crowd and gone home, his disciples began asking him about the parable. ¹⁸ He asked them, “Are you so ignorant? Don’t you know that nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean? ¹⁹ Because it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then into the sewer, thereby expelling all foods.” ²⁰ Then he continued, “It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean, ²¹ because it’s from within, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come, as well as sexual immorality, stealing, murder, ²² adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. ²³ All these things come from inside and make a person unclean.”
²⁴ A Canaanite Woman’s Faith
Jesus left that place and went to the territory of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house, not wanting anyone to know he was there. However, it couldn’t be kept a secret. ²⁵ In fact, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him and came and fell down at his feet. ²⁶ Now the woman happened to be a Greek, born in Phoenicia in Syria. She kept asking him to drive the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ But he kept telling her, “First let the children be filled. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
²⁸ But she answered him, “Yes, Lord. Yet even the puppies under the table eat some of the children’s crumbs.”
²⁹ Then he told her, “Because you have said this, go! The demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ So she went home and found her child lying in bed, and the demon was gone.
³¹ Jesus Heals a Deaf Man with a Speech ImpedimentThen Jesus left the territory of Tyre and passed through Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the territory of the Decapolis. ³² Some people brought him a deaf man who also had a speech impediment. They begged him to lay his hand on him. ³³ Jesus took him away from the crowd to be alone with him. Putting his fingers into the man’s ears, he touched the man’s tongue with saliva.
³⁴ Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and told him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened!” ³⁵ The man’s hearing and speech were restored at once, and he began to talk normally. ³⁶ Jesus ordered the people not to tell anyone, but the more he kept ordering them, the more they kept spreading the news.
³⁷ Amazed beyond measure, they kept on saying, “He does everything well! He even makes deaf people hear and mute people talk!”

¹ Jesus Challenges the Tradition of the Elders
Then some Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked, ² “Why do your disciples disregard the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands when they eat.”
³ But he answered them, “Why do you also disregard the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴ Because God said, ‘You are to honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever curses father or mother must certainly be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or his mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me has been given to God,” ⁶ does not have to honor his father.’ Because of your tradition, then, you have disregarded the authority of God’s word. ⁷ You hypocrites! How well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, ⁸ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. ⁹ Their worship of me is empty, because they teach human rules as doctrines.’”
¹⁰ Then calling out to the crowd, he addressed them, “Listen and understand! ¹¹ It is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.”
¹² Then the disciples came and asked him, “Do you realize that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”
¹³ He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If one blind person leads another blind person, both will fall into a ditch.”
¹⁵ Then Peter told him, “Explain to us this parable.”
¹⁶ Jesus said, “Are you still so ignorant? ¹⁷ Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is expelled as waste? ¹⁸ But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and it is those things that make a person unclean. ¹⁹ It is out of the heart that evil thoughts come, as well as murder, adultery, sexual immorality, stealing, false testimony, and slander. ²⁰ These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands doesn’t make a person unclean.”

²² The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem kept repeating, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “He drives out demons by the ruler of demons.”

¹⁷ Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
One day, as Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law happened to be sitting nearby. The people had come from every village in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present to heal them.

⁵³ As Jesus was leaving, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely, interrogating him about many things. ⁵⁴ They watched him closely in an effort to trap him in something he might say.

⁴ A Plot to Destroy DanielBecause of this, the administrators and regional authorities tried to bring allegations of dereliction of duty in government affairs against Daniel, but they were unable to find any charges of corruption. Daniel was trustworthy, and no evidence of negligence or corruption could be found against him. ⁵ So these men said, “We’ll never find any basis for complaint against Daniel unless we build it on the requirements of his God.”

³ “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when the beam is in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

²³ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your mint, dill, and cummin, but have neglected the more important matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides! You filter out a gnat, yet swallow a camel!
²⁵ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but on the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

¹⁴ But Peter said, “Absolutely not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean!”
¹⁵ Again the voice came to him a second time, “You must stop calling unclean what God has made clean.”

²⁸ He told them, “You understand how wrong it is for a Jew to associate or visit with unbelievers. But God has shown me that I should stop calling anyone common or unclean,

⁸ But I replied, ‘Absolutely not, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth!’

¹⁴ I know—and have been persuaded by the Lord Jesus—that nothing is unclean in and of itself, but it is unclean to a person who thinks it is unclean.

² “Why do your disciples disregard the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands when they eat.”
³ But he answered them, “Why do you also disregard the commandment of God because of your tradition? ⁴ Because God said, ‘You are to honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever curses father or mother must certainly be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or his mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me has been given to God,” ⁶ does not have to honor his father.’ Because of your tradition, then, you have disregarded the authority of God’s word.

⁵ So the Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with unclean hands.”

⁷ Their worship of me is worthless, because they teach human rules as doctrines.’
⁸ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”
⁹ Then he told them, “You have such a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your own tradition! ¹⁰ Because Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.’

¹³ You are destroying the word of God through your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other things like that.”

¹⁴ I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries, because I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.

⁸ See to it that no one enslaves you through philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to the Messiah,

²¹ “Don’t handle this! Don’t taste or touch that!” ²² All of these things will be destroyed as they are used, because they are based on human commands and teachings. ²³ These things have the appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion, humility, and harsh treatment of the body, but they have no value against self-indulgence.

¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things like silver or gold that you have been ransomed from the worthless way of life handed down to you by your ancestors,

³⁰ “If I wash myself with water from snow, and cleanse my hands with lye, ³¹ you’ll still drop me into the Pit, and my own clothes will despise me.

⁶ I wash my hands innocently. I go around your altar, LORD,

¹⁶ An Invitation to Reconciliation“Wash yourselves, and make yourselves clean; remove your evil behavior from my presence; stop practicing what is evil.

¹⁴ Jerusalem, wash your evil from your heart so that you may be delivered. How long will you harbor evil schemes within you?

²⁵ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but on the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

²⁴ Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that a riot was about to break out instead. So he took some water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Attend to that yourselves.”

³⁸ The Pharisee was surprised to see that he didn’t first wash before the meal. ³⁹ But the Lord told him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but on the inside you are full of greed and evil.

⁶ Now standing there were six stone water jars used for the Jewish rites of purification, each one holding from two to three measures.

²⁵ Then a controversy about ritual purification sprang up between a certain Jew and John’s disciples,

¹⁰ since they deal only with food, drink, and various washings, which are required for the body until the time when things would be set right.

⁸ Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

⁷ But if we keep living in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

² “Why do your disciples disregard the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands when they eat.”

¹⁶ When the scribes and the Pharisees saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
¹⁷ When Jesus heard that, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a physician, but sick ones do. I did not come to call righteous people, but sinners.”
¹⁸ A Question about Fasting
Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees would fast regularly. Some people came and asked Jesus, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”

² They noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. ³ (The Pharisees—and indeed all the Jewish people—don’t eat unless they wash their hands properly, following the tradition of their elders.

²¹ But they have been told about you—that you teach all the Jews living among the gentiles to forsake the Law of Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs.

²⁴ Take these men, go through the purification ceremony with them, and pay their expenses to shave their heads. Then everyone will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you are carefully observing and keeping the Law.

¹² He is also the ancestor of the circumcised—those who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

⁶ In the name of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is living in idleness and not living according to the tradition that they received from us.

¹¹ We hear that some of you are living in idleness. You are not busy working—you are busy interfering in other people’s lives!

¹³ A Rebuke of Hypocritical WorshipThen the Lord said: “Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, worship of me has become merely like rules taught by human beings.

³¹ Then they come to you as a group, sit down right in front of you as if they were my people, hear your words—and then they don’t do what you say— because they’re seeking only their own desires, they pursue ill-gotten profits, and they keep following their own self-interests.

² They cry out to me, ‘God, we of Israel acknowledge you.’ ³ “Israel has discarded what is good. The enemy will pursue them.

⁷ You hypocrites! How well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, ⁸ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. ⁹ Their worship of me is empty, because they teach human rules as doctrines.’”

¹³ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom from heaven in people’s faces. You don’t go in yourselves, and you don’t allow those who are trying to enter to go in.
¹⁴ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and say long prayers to cover it up. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation!
¹⁵ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when this happens you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.

³⁹ But the Lord told him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but on the inside you are full of greed and evil. ⁴⁰ You fools! The one who made the outside made the inside, too, didn’t he? ⁴¹ So give what is inside to the poor, and then everything will be clean for you.
⁴² “How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give a tenth of your mint, spices, and every kind of herb, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others.
⁴³ How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You love to have the places of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplaces.
⁴⁴ How terrible it will be for you! You are like unmarked graves—people walk on them without realizing it.”

⁴² I know that you do not have the love of God in you.

⁴¹ You are doing your father’s actions.”
They told him, “We’re not illegitimate children. We have one Father, God himself.”
⁴² Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would’ve loved me, because I came from God and am here. I haven’t come on my own accord, but he sent me.

⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I were trying to glorify myself, my glory would mean nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ ⁵⁵ You don’t know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and keep his word.

²⁴ If I hadn’t done among them the actions that no one else did, they wouldn’t have any sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father.

²⁵ They disagreed with one another as they were leaving, so Paul added this statement: “The Holy Spirit was so right when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah!

⁵ They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people.

¹⁶ They claim to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified to do anything good.

¹⁴ Faith is Shown by ActionsWhat good does it do, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but does not prove it with actions? This kind of faith cannot save him, can it? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or sister does not have any clothes or daily food ¹⁶ and one of you tells them, “Go in peace! Stay warm and eat heartily.” If you do not provide for their bodily needs, what good does it do? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it does not prove itself with actions, is dead.

³² Now as to everything I’m commanding you, you must be careful to observe it. Don’t add to or subtract from it.”

²¹ Don’t turn aside after useless things that cannot profit or deliver because they’re useless.

¹⁴ You said, ‘It is futile to serve God,’ and, ‘What did we get out of it when we carried out his requirements and went about like mourners in the presence of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies?’

⁷ “When you are praying, don’t say meaningless things like the unbelievers do, because they think they will be heard by being so wordy.

⁹ Their worship of me is empty, because they teach human rules as doctrines.’”

¹⁴ and if the Messiah has not been raised, then our message means nothing and your faith means nothing.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that the work that you do for the Lord isn’t wasted.

²² All of these things will be destroyed as they are used, because they are based on human commands and teachings.

¹ A Prophecy about the FutureNow the Spirit says clearly that in the last times some people will abandon the faith by following deceitful spirits, the teachings of demons, ² and the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences have been burned by a hot iron. ³ They will try to stop people from marrying and from eating certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

⁹ But avoid foolish controversies, arguments about genealogies, quarrels, and fights about the Law. These things are useless and worthless.

²⁶ If anyone thinks that he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but instead deceives himself, his religion is worthless.

²⁰ Do you want proof, you foolish person, that faith without actions is worthless?

¹¹ The smoke from their torture goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
¹² A Call for EnduranceHere is a call for the endurance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to their faithfulness in Jesus:

¹⁸ Concluding WarningI warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy in this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will strike him with the plagues that are written in this book.

¹² “When you come to present yourselves in my presence, who has required you to trample on my courts?

³ (The Pharisees—and indeed all the Jewish people—don’t eat unless they wash their hands properly, following the tradition of their elders. ⁴ They don’t eat anything from the marketplace unless they dip it in water. They also observe many other traditions, such as the proper washing of washing cups, jars, brass pots, and dinner tables.)

¹⁰ King Ahaz Constructs a Pagan Altar
King Ahaz traveled to Damascus and met with King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, where he observed the altar at Damascus. So King Ahaz sent a set of construction patterns of this altar to Uriah the priest. ¹¹ Uriah the priest built an altar, following the plans that King Ahaz had sent him from Damascus and finishing the altar before King Ahaz returned from Damascus. ¹² When the king returned from Damascus, as soon as he saw the altar, he approached it and offered sacrifices on it. ¹³ He presented a burnt offering, a meat offering, poured out a drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of a peace offering on his altar. ¹⁴ Then he took the bronze altar that stood in the LORD’s presence from in front of the Temple, moved it to the north side of his altar, ¹⁵ and issued these orders to Uriah the priest: “Burn the morning burnt offering, the evening grain offering, the king’s burnt offering and grain offering, the whole burnt offering, the grain offering, and the drink offering on behalf of all the people of the land on the large altar. And sprinkle all the blood from the burnt offering and from the sacrifice. But I will use the bronze altar to ask God questions.”
¹⁶ So Uriah the priest did precisely what King Ahaz ordered.

¹²⁶ It is time for the LORD to act, since they have violated your instruction.

⁵ The earth lies defiled beneath its inhabitants; because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.

¹⁶ “As for the message that you reported to us in the name of the LORD, we won’t listen to you! ¹⁷ Rather, we will keep doing everything that we said we would by offering sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and by pouring out liquid offerings to her just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. Then we had plenty of bread, things went well for us, and we didn’t experience disaster.

²⁵ He’ll speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One. He’ll attempt to alter times and laws, and they’ll be given into his control for a time, times, and half a time.

³⁶ The King Who Calls Himself God“‘The king will do as he pleases. He’ll exalt and magnify himself above every god, speaking amazing things against the God of Gods. He’ll succeed until the indignation is completed, because what has been determined must be carried out.

³ (The Pharisees—and indeed all the Jewish people—don’t eat unless they wash their hands properly, following the tradition of their elders.

³¹ Do we, then, abolish the Law by this faith? Of course not! Instead, we uphold the Law.

²¹ I do not misapply God’s grace, for if righteousness comes about by doing what the Law requires, then the Messiah died for nothing.

⁴ He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god and object of worship. As a result, he seats himself in the sanctuary of God and himself declares that he is God.

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.ו

¹⁷ “Whoever curses his father or his mother is certainly to be put to death.

⁹ Honoring Parents“Anyone who curses his father or mother is certainly to be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother, so his guilt will remain his responsibility.”

¹⁶ “‘You are to honor your father and your mother, just as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your life will be long and things will go well for you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.ו

¹⁶ “Cursed is the one who treats his father and mother with dishonor.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’

²⁰ Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in the deepest darkness.

¹⁷ The eye that mocks a father and looks with a disobedient attitude at a mother— the valley ravens will pluck it out; and vultures will eat it.

⁴ Because God said, ‘You are to honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever curses father or mother must certainly be put to death.’

¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘Never murder.’ ‘Never commit adultery.’ ‘Never steal.’ ‘Never give false testimony.’ ‘Never cheat.’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’”

⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or his mother, “Whatever support you might have received from me has been given to God,”

¹⁸ Again you say, ‘Whoever swears an oath by the altar is excused, but whoever swears by the gift that is on it must keep his oath.’

⁴ But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to respect their own family by repaying their parents, for this is pleasing in God’s sight. ⁵ A woman who has no other family members to care for her and who is left all alone has placed her hope in God and devotes herself to petitions and prayers night and day. ⁶ But the self-indulgent widow is just as good as dead.
⁷ Continue to give these instructions, so that they may be blameless. ⁸ If anyone does not take care of his own relatives, especially his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

²⁰ for instruction and for testimony? Surely they are speaking like this because the truth hasn’t dawned on them.

⁸ How can you say, ‘We’re wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when, in fact, the deceitful pen of the scribe has made it into something that deceives. ⁹ The wise men will be put to shame. They’ll be dismayed and taken captive. Look, they have rejected the message from the LORD! So what kind of wisdom do they have?

¹⁴ Personal Accountability for Sin“Now suppose that he produced a son who practiced all of his father’s sins, but then that son began to fear me and stopped doing all of these things.

¹² I prescribed great things from my Law for them, but they considered them profane.

¹⁷ Jesus Fulfills the Law and the Prophets“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I didn’t come to destroy them, but to fulfill them, ¹⁸ because I tell all of you with certainty that until heaven and earth disappear, not one letter or one stroke of a letter will disappear from the Law until everything has been accomplished. ¹⁹ So whoever sets aside one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom from heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom from heaven ²⁰ because I tell you, unless your righteousness greatly exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom from heaven!”

⁶ does not have to honor his father.’ Because of your tradition, then, you have disregarded the authority of God’s word.

⁹ Then he told them, “You have such a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your own tradition!

²¹ envy, murder, drunkenness, wild partying, and things like that. I am telling you now, as I have told you in the past, that people who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

¹⁴ and not pay attention to Jewish myths or commands given by people who reject the truth.

²¹ where Elijah approached all the people and asked them, “How long will you keep hesitating between both sides? If the LORD is God, go after him. If Baal, go after him.”
But the people didn’t say a word.

²⁸ “If you return alive,” Micaiah responded, “then the LORD has not spoken by me.” Then he added, “Listen, all you people!”

¹ To the Director: A song by the Sons of Korah.
The Destiny of the Wicked and the Upright Listen to this, all you people! Pay attention, all you who live in the world, ² both average people and those of means, the rich and the poor together.

⁸ Pay attention, you dull ones among the crowds! You fools! Will you ever become wise?

⁵ Understand prudence, you naïve people; and gain an understanding heart, you foolish ones.

⁹ “Go!” he responded. “Tell this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

¹⁰ Then calling out to the crowd, he addressed them, “Listen and understand!

¹ A Warning against HypocrisyMeanwhile, the people had gathered by the thousands and were trampling on one another. Jesus began to speak first to his disciples. “Watch out for the yeast—that is, the hypocrisy—of the Pharisees!

⁵⁴ Interpreting the Time
Then Jesus told the crowds, “When you see a cloud coming in from the west, you immediately say, ‘There’s going to be a storm,’ and that’s what happens. ⁵⁵ When you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and so it is. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, yet you don’t know how to interpret the present time?”
⁵⁷ Settling with Your Opponent
“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?

⁴⁵ Jesus Denounces the Scribes
While all the people were listening, he told his disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes! They like to walk around in long robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. ⁴⁷ They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers to cover it up. They will receive greater condemnation!”

³⁰ So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah out loud.
Philip asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

⁴² You are not to eat anything that crawls on its belly, anything that walks on four legs, anything that has many legs, or any of the swarming creatures that swarm the land, because they’re detestable. ⁴³ You are not to make yourselves detestable on account of any swarming creature that swarms the land, and you are not to defile yourselves and become unclean due to them, ⁴⁴ because I, the LORD, am your God. Set yourselves apart and be holy, because I am holy. You are not to defile yourselves with any of the swarming creatures that swarm the earth. ⁴⁵ I am the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You are to be holy, because I am holy. ⁴⁶ This is the law concerning animals, every living creature that moves on the waters or swarms on land. ⁴⁷ You are to differentiate between the clean and unclean, between the living creature that can be eaten and the living creature that is not to be eaten.”

²³ Above everything else guard your heart, because from it flow the springs of life.

³⁴ You children of serpents! How can you say anything good when you are evil? The mouth speaks about what overflows from the heart.

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Are you still so ignorant?

¹⁸ He asked them, “Are you so ignorant? Don’t you know that nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean? ¹⁹ Because it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then into the sewer, thereby expelling all foods.” ²⁰ Then he continued, “It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean, ²¹ because it’s from within, from the human heart, that evil thoughts come, as well as sexual immorality, stealing, murder, ²² adultery, greed, wickedness, cheating, shameless lust, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness. ²³ All these things come from inside and make a person unclean.”

¹⁴ But Peter said, “Absolutely not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean!”
¹⁵ Again the voice came to him a second time, “You must stop calling unclean what God has made clean.” ¹⁶ This happened three times. Then the sheet was quickly taken back into heaven.

⁸ But I replied, ‘Absolutely not, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth!’ ⁹ Then the voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘You must stop calling common what God has made clean!’ ¹⁰ This happened three times. Then everything was pulled back up to heaven.

²⁰ Instead, we should write to them to keep away from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from anything strangled, and from blood. ²¹ After all, Moses has had people to proclaim him in every city for generations, and on every Sabbath his books are read aloud in the synagogues.”

¹⁷ For God’s kingdom does not consist of food and drink, but of righteousness, peace, and joy produced by the Holy Spirit.

²⁵ Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without raising any question about it on the grounds of conscience,

³ They will try to stop people from marrying and from eating certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For everything God created is good, and nothing should be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, ⁵ because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

¹⁵ Everything is clean to those who are clean, but nothing is clean to those who are corrupt and unbelieving. Indeed, their very way of thinking and their consciences have been corrupted.

⁹ Stop being carried away by all kinds of unusual teachings, for it is good that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by food laws that have never helped those who follow them.

¹⁵ Let the person who has ears listen!

⁹ He added, “Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!”

²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen!

⁷ ‘Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life that is in God’s paradise.’”

¹¹ ‘Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be hurt by the second death.’”

¹⁷ ‘Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone. On the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the person who receives it.’”

²⁹ ‘Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

⁶ ‘Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

¹³ ‘Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

²² ‘Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

¹⁰ The Purpose of the Parables
Then the disciples came and asked Jesus, “Why do you speak to people in parables?”

³⁶ Jesus Explains the Parable about the WeedsThen Jesus left the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to him and asked, “Explain to us the parable about the weeds in the field.”

¹⁵ Then Peter told him, “Explain to us this parable.”

¹⁰ The Purpose of the Parables
When he was alone with the Twelve and those around him, they began to ask him about the parables.

³⁴ He did not tell them anything without using a parable, though he explained everything to his disciples in private.

²⁸ When Jesus came home, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive the spirit out?”

⁹ Misuse of God’s WordTo whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? To children just weaned from milk? To those just taken from the breast? ¹⁰ For it is: “Do this and do that, do this and do that, Line upon line, line upon line, a little here, a little there.”

⁴ Then I said, “These are only the poor, they’re foolish, for they don’t know the LORD’s way, the requirement of their God. ⁵ Let me go to the leaders and speak to them. For they know the LORD’s way, the requirement of their God.”
The LORD Answers “But they, all together, have broken the yoke and torn off the restraints.

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Are you still so ignorant? ¹⁷ Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is expelled as waste?

¹¹ How can you fail to understand that I wasn’t talking to you about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

¹³ Jesus Explains the Parable about the Farmer
Then he told them, “You don’t understand this parable, so how can you understand any of the parables?

²⁵ Then Jesus told them, “O, how foolish you are! How slow you are to believe everything the prophets said!

¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “You’re the teacher of Israel, and you can’t understand this?

² I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you weren’t ready for it. And you’re still not ready!

¹¹ You Still Need Someone to Teach YouWe have much to say about this, but it is difficult to explain because you have become too lazy to understand.

¹⁷ Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is expelled as waste?

⁴¹ So give what is inside to the poor, and then everything will be clean for you.

¹⁵ Again the voice came to him a second time, “You must stop calling unclean what God has made clean.”

⁹ Then the voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘You must stop calling common what God has made clean!’

¹ How to Treat Weak BelieversAccept anyone who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of arguing over differences of opinion. ² One person believes that he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. ³ The person who eats any kind of food must not ridicule the person who does not eat them, and the person who does not eat certain foods must not criticize the person who eats them, for God has accepted him. ⁴ Who are you to criticize someone else’s servant? He stands or falls before his own Lord—and stand he will, because the Lord makes him stand.
⁵ One person decides in favor of one day over another, while another person decides that all days are the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind: ⁶ The one who observes a special day, observes it to honor the Lord. The one who eats, eats to honor the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. And the one who does not eat, refrains from eating to honor the Lord; yet he, too, gives thanks to God.
⁷ For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. ⁸ If we live, we live to honor the Lord; and if we die, we die to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹ For this reason the Messiah died and returned to life, so that he might become the Lord of both the dead and the living.
¹⁰ Why, then, do you criticize your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For all of us will stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹ For it is written, “As certainly as I live, declares the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will praise God.”
¹² Consequently, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

¹³ Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food, but God will make them both unnecessary. The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

¹⁶ Therefore, let no one judge you in matters of food and drink or with respect to a festival, a New Moon, or Sabbath days.

²¹ “Don’t handle this! Don’t taste or touch that!” ²² All of these things will be destroyed as they are used, because they are based on human commands and teachings.

⁶ The one who comes to visit me speaks lies; in his heart he thinks slanderous things about me and goes around spreading them.

¹ God’s Warning to His People “Woe to those who are crafting iniquity, planning evil well into the night! When morning’s light comes, they carry out their plans because they have the power to do so.

³⁴ You children of serpents! How can you say anything good when you are evil? The mouth speaks about what overflows from the heart. ³⁵ A good person brings good things out of a good treasure house, and an evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure house. ³⁶ I tell you, on Judgment Day people will give an account for every thoughtless word they have uttered, ³⁷ because by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

¹⁵ Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean. It’s what comes out of a person that makes a person unclean.

⁶ But this man, whose descent is not traced from them, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the man who had received the promises.

¹⁴ Instead, each person is tempted by his own desire, being lured and trapped by it. ¹⁵ When that desire becomes pregnant, it gives birth to sin; and when that sin grows up, it gives birth to death.

⁶ The tongue is a fire, a world of evil. Placed among the parts of our bodies, the tongue contaminates the whole body and sets on fire the course of life, and is itself set on fire by hell.

¹ Stop Fighting with Each OtherWhere do those fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your selfish desires that are at war in your bodies, don’t they?

⁵ God Decides to Destroy the WorldThe LORD saw that human evil was growing more and more throughout the earth, with every inclination of people’s thoughts becoming only evil on a continuous basis.

²¹ When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, he told himself, “I will never again curse the land because of human beings—even though human inclinations remain evil from youth—nor will I destroy every living being ever again, as I’ve done.

⁴ Who can produce a clean thing from an unclean thing? No one!

¹⁴ “What is mankind, that he can be blameless? Or does being born of a woman mean he’ll be in the right? ¹⁵ Look, if God doesn’t trust his holy ones, if even the heavens aren’t pure as he looks at them, ¹⁶ then how much less is one who is abhorred and corrupted, such as a man who drinks injustice like water?”

⁴ How can a human being become right with God? How can a human being be pure?

¹ To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
The Fool and God’s Response Fools say to themselves, “There is no God.” They are corrupt and commit evil deeds; not one of them practices what is good.

³ All have turned away, together they have become corrupt; no one practices what is good, not even one.

¹ To the Director: Upon machalath. A Davidic instruction.
The Fool and God’s Response Fools say to themselves “There is no God.” They are corrupt and commit iniquity; not one of them practices what is good.

³ All of them have fallen away; together they have become corrupt; no one does what is good, not even one.

² As a matter of fact, in your heart you plan iniquities! In the land your hands are violent! ³ The wicked go astray from the womb; they go astray, telling lies even from birth.

²⁵ The house of the proud the LORD will demolish, but he will protect the widow’s boundary line.

⁷ Their feet rush to evil, and they are quick to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; ruin, destruction, and violence are in their paths.

⁹ The Deceitfulness of the Human Heart“The heart is more deceitful than anything. It is incurable— who can know it?

¹⁰ The Invasion Strategy“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘This is what’s going to happen on the very day that you begin your invasion: You’ll be thinking, making evil plans,

⁴ But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking, replied, “Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?

¹⁹ It is out of the heart that evil thoughts come, as well as murder, adultery, sexual immorality, stealing, false testimony, and slander.

²⁵ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but on the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that its outside may also be clean.
²⁷ “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and every kind of impurity. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

¹⁵ So he told them, “You try to justify yourselves in front of people, but God knows your hearts, because what is highly valued by people is detestable to God.

⁴ As long as it remained unsold, wasn’t it your own? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? So how could you have thought of doing what you did? You didn’t lie only to men, but also to God!”

²² So repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart’s intent may be forgiven you.

⁵ For while we were living according to our human nature, sinful passions were at work in our bodies by means of the Law, to bear fruit resulting in death.

⁸ But sin seized the opportunity provided by this commandment and produced in me all kinds of sinful desires, since apart from the Law, sin is dead.

⁷ That is why the mind that focuses on human nature is hostile toward God. It refuses to submit to the authority of God’s Law because it is powerless to do so. ⁸ Indeed, those who are under the control of human nature cannot please God.

¹⁹ Now the actions of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, promiscuity, ²⁰ idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, rivalry, jealously, outbursts of anger, quarrels, conflicts, factions, ²¹ envy, murder, drunkenness, wild partying, and things like that. I am telling you now, as I have told you in the past, that people who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

³ After all, we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and misled. We were slaves to many kinds of lusts and pleasures, spending our days in malice and jealousy. We were despised, and we hated one another.

⁴ then you will have made false distinctions among yourselves and will have judged from evil motives, will you not?

¹ Stop Fighting with Each OtherWhere do those fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your selfish desires that are at war in your bodies, don’t they? ² You want something but do not get it, so you commit murder. You covet something but cannot obtain it, so you quarrel and fight. You do not get things because you do not ask for them! ³ You ask for something but do not get it because you ask for it for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.

² so that he can live the rest of his mortal life guided, not by human desires, but by the will of God. ³ For you spent enough time in the past doing what the gentiles like to do, living in sensuality, sinful desires, drunkenness, wild celebrations, drinking parties, and detestable idolatry.

⁹ Be careful not to think this wicked thought to yourselves: ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is drawing near,’ and you show ill will toward your poor relative and not give to him. He may then call to the LORD on account of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

⁵⁴ Even the compassionate man among you—the very sensitive one—will look with evil in his eyes toward his brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving sons, whom he spared.

⁵⁶ The most tender and sensitive lady among you, who doesn’t venture to touch the soles of her feet to the ground on account of her daintiness, will look with hostility in her eyes against her beloved husband, her sons, and her daughters.

⁸ Saul was very angry and he did not like what the women sang. He told himself, “They have attributed tens of thousands to David, but to me they have attributed thousands. What else can he have but the kingdom?” ⁹ From then on Saul kept his eye on David.

²⁵ But Hezekiah’s response wasn’t commensurate with what had been done for him because he was arrogant in heart, so wrath came upon him, upon Judah, and upon Jerusalem. ²⁶ But Hezekiah humbled himself while he was arrogant in heart, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem joined him in this. As a result, the LORD’s wrath did not come upon them during Hezekiah’s lifetime.

³¹ Hezekiah’s Heart is Tested by GodLater on, envoys came from the princes of Babylon to inquire about the miracle that had happened in the land. God left Hezekiah to himself, so that he might make known what was really in Hezekiah’s heart.

⁴ With haughty arrogance, the wicked thinks, “God will not seek justice.” He always presumes “There is no God.”

²³ A prudent man keeps what he knows to himself, but the hearts of fools shout forth their foolishness.

¹⁵ A child’s heart has a tendency to do wrong, but the rod of discipline removes it far away from him.

⁶ Don’t consume food provided by a miserly person, and don’t desire his delicacies,

⁹ To devise folly is sin, and people detest a scoffer.

²² Though you crush a fool in a mortar and pestle as someone might crush grain, his stupidity still won’t leave him.

²² The miser is in a hurry to get wealthy, but he isn’t aware that poverty will catch up with him.

²⁵ I committed myself to understand, to learn, to search for wisdom and explanations, and to understand both the evil that is foolishness and the stupidity that is delusion.

³ The arrogance in your heart has deceived you, who inhabit hidden places on rocky cliffs, whose dwelling is in the heights, who say continuously to yourself, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ ⁴ Though you soar high like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, I will bring you down even from there,” declares the LORD.
The Harvest from Edom’s Arrogance

²³ But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. Therefore, if the light within you has turned into darkness, how great is that darkness!”

¹⁵ I am allowed to do what I want with my own money, am I not? Or are you envious because I’m generous?’

⁵ and every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive in order to obey the Messiah.

¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.

⁵ Be Humble and AlertIn a similar way, you young people must submit to the elders. All of you must clothe yourselves with humility for the sake of each other, because: “God opposes the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble.”

¹⁸ He asked them, “Are you so ignorant? Don’t you know that nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean?

¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him, for God’s sanctuary is holy. And you are that sanctuary!

⁸ In a similar way, these dreamers also defile their flesh, reject the Lord’s authority, and slander his glorious beings.

¹⁵ Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn, along with the Hittites,

¹⁹ The Canaanite border extended south from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and east toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

¹³ On the Future of Zebulun“Zebulun will settle down near the sea shore and become a safe haven for shipping, bordering Sidon.”

²⁸ Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah as far as Great Sidon. ²⁹ There the boundary turned toward Ramah, reaching to the fortress city of Tyre and turned to Hosah, where it terminated at the Mediterranean Sea. Also included were Mahalab, Achzib,

¹ Tyre is RebukedA message concerning Tyre. “Wail, you ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is destroyed and is without house or harbor! From the land of Cyprus it was revealed to them. ² “Be silent, you inhabitants of the coast, you merchants of Sidon, whose messengers crossed over the sea, ³ and were on mighty waters. Her revenue was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile; and she became the marketplace of nations. ⁴ Be ashamed, Sidon, because the sea has spoken, the fortress of the sea: I have neither been in labor nor given birth, I have neither reared young men nor brought up young women.”

¹² And he said: ‘You will revel no longer, you virgin daughter of Sidon, now crushed. Get up, cross over to Cyprus— but even there you will find no rest.’”

² He won’t shout, or raise his voice, or make it heard in the street.

² “Son of Man, tell Tyre’s Commander-in-Chief, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Because your heart is arrogant, and because you keep saying, ‘I have taken my seat, I am a god, seated in God’s seat right in the middle of the sea,’ and because you’re a man, and not a god, even though you pretend that you have a god-like heart…

²¹ “Son of Man, turn your attention to Sidon and prophesy against her. ²² Tell her: ‘Pay attention to me, Sidon! I’m against you, and I’m going to glorify myself right in your midst.’ They’ll learn that I am the LORD when I carry out these punishments and manifest my holiness in her midst.

²⁸ When he had gone into the house, the blind men came to him.
Jesus asked them, “Do you believe I can do this?”
They told him, “Yes, Lord!”

²¹ “How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! Because if the miracles that happened in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

²¹ A Canaanite Woman’s Faith
Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. ²² Suddenly, a Canaanite woman from that territory came near and began to shout, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed!” ²³ But he didn’t answer her at all.
Then his disciples came up and kept urging him, “Send her away, because she keeps on screaming as she follows us.”
²⁴ But he replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”
²⁵ Then she came and fell down before him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
²⁶ He replied, “It’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord. But even the puppies eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ tables.”
²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “Lady, your faith is great! What you want is granted.” That very hour her daughter was healed.

¹ Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
Several days later, Jesus returned to Capernaum and it was reported that he was at home.

⁷ Jesus Encounters a Large CrowdSo Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea. A large crowd from Galilee, Judea, ⁸ Jerusalem, Idumea, from across the Jordan, and from the region around Tyre and Sidon followed him. They came to him because they kept hearing about everything he was doing.

³¹ He told them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while,” because so many people were coming and going that they didn’t even have time to eat. ³² So they went away in a boat to a deserted place by themselves.

²⁵ In the same way, good actions are obvious, and those that are not cannot remain hidden.

²² Suddenly, a Canaanite woman from that territory came near and began to shout, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed!”

⁴⁰ Jesus Cleanses a Leper
Then a leper came to Jesus and began pleading with him. He fell on his knees and told him, “If you want to, you can make me clean.”

²² Then a synagogue leader named Jairus arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet ²³ and begged him urgently, saying, “My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may get well and live.”

³³ So the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came forward fearfully, fell down trembling in front of him, and told him the whole truth.

¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has a spirit that won’t let him talk. ¹⁸ Whenever it brings on a seizure, it throws him to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes stiff. So I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they didn’t have the power.”
¹⁹ Jesus told them, “You unbelieving generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!”
²⁰ So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell on the ground and kept rolling around and foaming at the mouth. ²¹ Then Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” He said, “Since he was a child. ²² The spirit has often thrown him into fire and into water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us!”
²³ Jesus told him, “‘If you are able?’ Everything is possible for the person who believes!”

¹⁶ He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. Now that man was a Samaritan.

²⁵ When Peter was about to enter, Cornelius met him, bowed down at his feet, and began to worship him. ²⁶ But Peter made him get up, saying, “Stand up! I, too, am only a man.”

⁸ The Vision of an Exhortation to Worship GodI, John, heard and saw these things. When I had heard and seen them, I bowed down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing me these things. ⁹ But he told me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words in this book. Worship God!”

¹² “Watch! They’ll come from far away— some from the north and from the west, and others from the Aswan region.”

²⁸ Because all of you are one in the Messiah Jesus, a person is no longer a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a male or a female.

¹¹ In him there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free person. Instead, the Messiah is all and in all.

⁶ Despising the Holy“Never give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs. Otherwise, they will trample them with their feet and then turn around and attack you.”

⁵ Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples
These were the Twelve whom Jesus sent out after he had given them these instructions: “Don’t turn on to the road that leads to the unbelievers, and don’t enter Samaritan towns.

²¹ “Then he told me, ‘Go, because I’ll send you far away to the gentiles.’”

⁸ For I tell you that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors,

¹² At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from citizenship in Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise. You had no hope and were in the world without God.

¹⁶ You open your hand and keep on satisfying the desire of every living thing.

²² Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.

⁶ he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Israel and bring back those of Jacob I have preserved. I’ll also make you as a light to the nations, to be my salvation to the ends of the earth.

⁴⁵ so that you will become children of your Father in heaven, because he makes his sun rise on both evil and good people, and he lets rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous.

⁶ So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to tell Jesus, “Sir, stop troubling yourself, because I’m not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷ That’s why I didn’t presume to come to you. But just say the word, and let my servant be healed, ⁸ because I, too, am a man under authority and have soldiers under me. I say to one ‘Go’ and he goes, to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my servant ‘Do this’ and he does it.”

³⁰ But this son of yours spent your money on prostitutes, and when he came back, you killed the fattened calf for him!’
³¹ “His father told him, ‘My child, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and has been found.’”

¹⁷ Now if God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, who was I to try to stop God?”
¹⁸ When they heard this, they calmed down, and praised God by saying, “So God has given repentance that leads to life even to gentiles.”

²⁹ Is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the gentiles, too? Yes, of the gentiles, too,

¹² There is no difference between Jew and Greek, because they all have the same Lord, who gives richly to all who call on him.

⁸ For I tell you that the Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth in order to confirm the promises given to our ancestors, ⁹ so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “That is why I will praise you among the gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.”

¹² At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from citizenship in Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise. You had no hope and were in the world without God. ¹³ But now, in union with the Messiah Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah.
¹⁴ For it is he who is our peace. Through his mortality he made both groups one by tearing down the wall of hostility that divided them.

⁸ To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given so that I might proclaim to the gentiles the immeasurable wealth of the Messiah

¹⁵ “For this is what the high and lofty One says, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “He lives in the height and in holiness, and also with the one who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. ¹⁶ For I won’t accuse forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the human spirit would grow faint before me— even the souls that I have created.

² All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But this is the one to whom I will look favorably: to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at my message.

³ The Blessed Attitudes
“How blessed are those who are destitute in spirit, because the kingdom from heaven belongs to them!

⁹ because I, too, am a man under authority and I have soldiers under me. I say to one of them ‘Go’ and he goes, to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my servant ‘Do this’ and he does it.”
¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and told those who were following him, “I tell all of you with certainty, not even in Israel have I found this kind of faith! ¹¹ I tell all of you, many will come from east and west and will feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom from heaven. ¹² But the unfaithful heirs of that kingdom will be thrown into the darkness outside. In that place there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
¹³ “Go,” Jesus told the centurion, “and it will be done for you, just as you have believed.” And his servant was healed that very hour.

⁸ The person who practices sin belongs to the evil one, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason that the Son of God was revealed was to destroy what the devil has been doing.

⁵⁰ Jesus told him, “Go home. Your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus told him and started back home.
⁵¹ While he was on his way, his servants met him and told him that his child was alive. ⁵² So he asked them at what hour he had begun to recover, and they told him, “The fever left him yesterday at one o’clock in the afternoon.”

¹⁸ Jesus Calls Four Fishermen
While Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon (also called Peter) and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, because they were fishermen.

²⁵ Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from across the Jordan followed him.

²⁹ Jesus Heals Many PeopleJesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a hillside and sat down. ³⁰ Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those unable to talk, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he healed them. ³¹ As a result, the crowd was amazed to see those who were unable to talk speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel.

²⁰ So the man left and began proclaiming in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was utterly amazed.

²⁴ A Canaanite Woman’s Faith
Jesus left that place and went to the territory of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house, not wanting anyone to know he was there. However, it couldn’t be kept a secret.

³² Jesus Heals a Man who Couldn’t TalkAs the men were going out, a man who couldn’t talk because he was demon-possessed was brought to him. ³³ As soon as the demon had been driven out, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!”

²³ and begged him urgently, saying, “My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on her so that she may get well and live.”

¹⁴ Jesus is Accused of Working with Beelzebul
Jesus was driving a demon out of a man who was unable to talk. When the demon had gone out, the man began to speak, and the crowds were amazed.

¹⁹ “Give me your son,” he replied. Then he took him from her lap, carried him upstairs to the room where he lived, and laid him on his bed. ²⁰ Then he called out to the LORD and asked him, “LORD my God, have you also brought evil to this dear widow with whom I am living as her guest? Have you caused the death of her son?” ²¹ Then he stretched himself three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, please cause the soul of this little boy to return to him.”
²² The LORD listened to Elijah, and the soul of the little boy returned to him, and he revived.

⁴ Then go in and shut the door behind you, taking only your children, and pour oil into all of the pots. As each one is filled, set it aside.”
⁵ So she left Elisha, shut the door behind her and her children, and while they kept on bringing vessels to her, she kept on pouring oil. ⁶ When the last of the vessels had been filled, she told her son, “Bring me another pot!”
But he replied, “There isn’t even one pot left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

³³ So he entered, shut the door behind them both, and prayed to the LORD. ³⁴ Then he approached the child and lay down with his mouth near the child’s, with his eyes near those of the child, and taking the child’s hands in his. As Elisha stretched himself on the child, the child’s flesh began to grow warm.

⁴⁰ They laughed and laughed at him. But when he had driven all of them outside, he took the child’s father and mother, along with the men who were with him, and went into the room where the child was.

²³ Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. He spit into his eyes, placed his hands on him, and asked him, “Do you see anything?”

⁶ After saying this, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he spread the mud on the man’s eyes ⁷ and told him, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated “Sent One”). So he went off, washed, and came back seeing.

³ “He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, intimately familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces; and we despised him and did not value him.

⁶ “And now, Son of Man, you are to start groaning until you’re sick to your stomach. You are to groan bitterly right in front of them. ⁷ When they’ll ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that just arrived. Every heart will melt with fear, every hand will grow limp, every spirit will grow faint, and every knee will glisten with sweat.’ Look! It has come and it will be fulfilled,” declares the Lord GOD.

⁴¹ Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand, touched him, and told him, “I do want to. Be made clean!”

⁴¹ He took her by the hand and told her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Young lady, I tell you, get up!”

⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

¹² He sighed deeply in his spirit and remarked, “Why do those living today demand a sign? I tell all of you with certainty, no sign will be given to this generation.”

³⁴ At three o’clock, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)

¹⁴ Then he went up and touched the bier, and the men who were carrying it stopped. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”

⁴² So Jesus told him, “See again! Your faith has made you well.”

⁴¹ When he came closer and saw the city, he began to grieve over it:

³³ When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was greatly troubled in spirit and deeply moved.

³⁵ Jesus burst into tears.

³⁸ Jesus Brings Lazarus Back to LifeGroaning deeply again, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying in front of it.

⁴¹ So they removed the stone.
Then Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me.

⁴³ After saying this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

¹ Jesus Prays for Himself, His Disciples, and His Future FollowersAfter Jesus had said this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you.

³⁴ Peter told him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Messiah is healing you. Get up and put away your mat!” At once he got up,

⁴⁰ Peter made them all go outside. After kneeling down, he prayed, turned to the body, and said, “Tabitha, get up!” She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up.

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. Instead, we have one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet he never sinned.

⁹ because he spoke and it came to be, because he commanded, it stood firm.

³ Then the eyes of those who can see won’t turn away, and the ears of those who can hear will listen. ⁴ The hearts of reckless people will understand sound judgment, and the tongues of those who stammer will be ready to speak clearly.

⁵ “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unblocked; ⁶ then the lame will leap like deer, and the tongues of speechless people will sing for joy. Yes, waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will run through the desert;

⁵ the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the destitute hear the good news.

¹² So the man got up, immediately picked up his mat, and went out in front of all of them.
As a result, all of the people were amazed and began to glorify God as they kept on saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

⁴ Then Jesus told him, “See to it that you don’t speak to anyone. Instead, go and show yourself to the priest, and then offer the sacrifice that Moses commanded as proof to the authorities.”

⁴⁴ He told the man, “Be sure that you don’t tell anyone. Instead, go and show yourself to the priest, and then offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded as proof to the authorities.” ⁴⁵ But when the man left, he began to proclaim it freely. He spread the news so widely that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly, but had to stay out in deserted places. Still, people kept coming to him from everywhere.

¹² But he sternly ordered them again and again not to tell people who he was.

⁴³ But Jesus strictly ordered them not to let anyone know about this. He also told them to give her something to eat.

²⁶ Then Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t go into the village or tell anyone in the village.”

³¹ Now God saw all that he had made, and indeed, it was very good! The twilight and the dawn were the sixth day.

¹⁰ Then Moses told the LORD, “Please, LORD, I’m not eloquent. I never was in the past nor am I now since you spoke to your servant. In fact, I talk too slowly and I have a speech impediment.”
¹¹ Then God asked him, “Who gives a person a mouth? Who makes him unable to speak, or deaf, or able to see, or blind, or lame? Is it not I, the LORD?

¹⁴ I praise you, because you are fearful and wondrous! Your work is wonderful, and I am fully aware of it.

²⁷ All the people were so stunned that they kept saying to each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He tells even the unclean spirits what to do, and they obey him!”

⁴¹ Overcome with fear, they kept saying to one another, “Who is this man? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

⁴² The young lady got up at once and started to walk. She was twelve years old. Instantly they were overcome with astonishment.

⁵¹ Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped blowing. The disciples were utterly astounded,

⁴¹ We have been condemned justly, because we are getting what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong.”

⁷ Stunned and amazed, they asked, “All of these people who are speaking are Galileans, aren’t they? ⁸ So how is it that each one of us hears them speaking in his own native language: ⁹ Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the district of Libya near Cyrene, Jewish and proselyte visitors from Rome, ¹¹ Cretans, and Arabs, listening to them talk in our own languages about the great deeds of God?”
¹² All of them continued to be stunned and puzzled, and they kept asking one another, “What can this mean?”

¹⁰ they knew that he was the man who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
¹¹ Peter Speaks to the OnlookersWhile he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people came running to them in what was called “Solomon’s Colonnade”. They were dumbfounded. ¹² When Peter saw this, he told the people: “Fellow Israelis, why are you wondering about this, and why are you staring at us as if by our own power or godliness we made him walk? ¹³ The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of our ancestors—has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you betrayed and rejected in the presence of Pilate, even though he had decided to let him go.

¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us!”