Temptations to Sin

1 And he said to his disciples, ^u“Temptations to sin¹ are ^vsure to come, but ^wwoe to the one through whom they come! 2 ^xIt would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.² 3 Pay attention to yourselves! ^yIf your brother sins, ^zrebuke him, and if he repents, ^aforgive him, 4 and if he sins against you ^bseven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Increase Our Faith

5 ^cThe apostles said to the Lord, ^d“Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, ^e“If you had faith like ^fa grain of mustard seed, you could say to this ^gmulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Unworthy Servants

7 “Will any one of you who has a servant³ plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and ^hdress properly,⁴ and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are ⁱunworthy servants;⁵ we have only done what was our duty.’”

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

11 ^jOn the way to Jerusalem ^khe was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,^{6 l}who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and ^mshow yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, ⁿpraising God with a loud voice; 16 and ^ohe fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was ^pa Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ^qten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and ^rgive praise to God except this ^sforeigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; ^tyour faith has ^tmade you well.”⁷

The Coming of the Kingdom

20 Being asked by the Pharisees ^uwhen the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^vis not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor ^wwill they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”⁸

22 And he said to the disciples, ^x“The days are coming when you will desire ^yto see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 ^zAnd they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 ^aFor as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be ^bin his day.⁹ 25 But first ^che must suffer many things and ^cbe rejected by this generation. 26 ^dJust as it was in the days of ^eNoah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 ^fThey were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of ^gLot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 ^hbut on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be ⁱon the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, ^jlet the one who is on ^kthe housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 ^lRemember Lot’s wife. 33 ^mWhoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ⁿkeep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 ^oThere will be two women ^pgrinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”¹⁰ 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, ^q“Where the corpse¹¹ is, there the vultures¹² will gather.”

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^jTiberius Caesar, ^kPontius Pilate ^lbeing governor of Judea, and ^mHerod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during ⁿthe high priesthood of Annas and ^oCaiaphas, ^pthe word of God came to ^qJohn the son of Zechariah in ^rthe wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^sa baptism of repentance ^tfor the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in ^uthe book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^c“You brood of ^dvipers! Who warned you to flee from ^ethe wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits ^fin keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^g‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^hthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ⁱEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

10 And the crowds asked him, ^j“What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, ^k“Whoever has two tunics² is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 ^lTax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^jwhat shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, ^m“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^jwhat shall we do?” And he said to them, ^m“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ⁿwages.”

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^owhether he might be ^pthe Christ, 16 ^qJohn answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^rhe who is mightier than I is coming, ^sthe strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^twith the Holy Spirit and ^ufire. 17 His ^vwinnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^wgather the wheat into his barn, ^xbut the chaff he will burn with ^yunquenchable fire.”

18 So ^zwith many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But ^aHerod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that ^bhe locked up John in prison.

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when ^cJesus also had been baptized and was praying, ^dthe heavens were opened, 22 and ^ethe Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and ^fa voice came from heaven, ^g“You are my beloved Son;³ with you I am well pleased.”⁴

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

23 Jesus, ^hwhen he began his ministry, was about ⁱthirty years of age, being ^jthe son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, ^kthe son of Zerubbabel, the son ^lof Shealtiel,⁵ the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of ^mNathan, the son of David, 32 ⁿthe son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, the son of Nahshon, 33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34 ^othe son of Jacob, ^pthe son of Isaac, ^qthe son of Abraham, ^rthe son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.