The Temptation of Jesus

1 ^sThen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness ^tto be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting ^uforty days and forty nights, he ^vwas hungry. 3 And ^wthe tempter came and said to him, “If you are ^xthe Son of God, command ^ythese stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, ^z“It is written,

5 ^bThen the devil took him to ^cthe holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

and

7 Jesus said to him, “Again ^eit is written, ^f‘You shall not ^gput the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 ^hAgain, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, ⁱSatan! For ^jit is written,

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, ^mangels came and were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

12 Now when he heard that ⁿJohn had been arrested, ^ohe withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving ^pNazareth he went and lived in ^qCapernaum by ^rthe sea, in the territory of ^sZebulun and Naphtali, 14 ^tso that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

17 ^xFrom that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ^z“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”¹

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

18 ^aWhile walking by ^bthe Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you ^cfishers of men.”² 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds

23 ^dAnd he went throughout all Galilee, ^eteaching in their synagogues and ^fproclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and ^ghealing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all ^hSyria, and ^gthey brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and ⁱpains, ^jthose oppressed by demons, ^kthose having seizures, and ^lparalytics, and he healed them. 25 ^mAnd great crowds followed him from Galilee and the ⁿDecapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Messengers from John the Baptist

1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2 ^eNow when John heard ^fin prison about the deeds of ^gthe Christ, he sent word by ^hhis disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you ⁱthe one who is to come, or shall we ^jlook for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 ^kthe blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers¹ are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and ^lthe poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who ^mis not offended by me.”

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ⁿinto the wilderness to see? ^oA reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man² dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? ^pA prophet?³ Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,

11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 ^rFrom the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,⁴ and the violent take it by force. 13 ^rFor all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is ^sElijah who is to come. 15 ^tHe who has ears to hear,⁵ let him hear.

16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

18 For John came ^uneither eating ^vnor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came ^weating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, ^xa friend of ^ytax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”⁶

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

20 ^zThen he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 ^a“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in ^bTyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 ^cBut I tell you, it will be more bearable on ^dthe day of judgment for ^bTyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, ^eCapernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to ^fHades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 ^cBut I tell you that ^git will be more tolerable on ^dthe day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest

25 ^hAt that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, ⁱLord of heaven and earth, that ^jyou have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and ^krevealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your ^lgracious will.⁷ 27 ^mAll things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son ⁿexcept the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone ^oto whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 ^pCome to ^qme, all who labor and are ^rheavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and ^slearn from me, for I am ^tgentle and lowly in heart, and ^uyou will find rest for your souls. 30 For ^vmy yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

The Triumphal Entry

1 ^qNow when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to ^rthe Mount of Olives, then Jesus ^ssent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4 This took place ^tto fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8 Most of the crowd ^wspread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ^x“Hosanna to ^ythe Son of David! ^zBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna ^ain the highest!” 10 And ^bwhen he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds said, “This is ^cthe prophet Jesus, ^dfrom Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

12 ^eAnd Jesus entered the temple² and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^fthe money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^gpigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ^h‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but ⁱyou make it a den of robbers.”

14 ^jAnd the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 ^kBut when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, ^x“Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; ^lhave you never read,

17 And ^oleaving them, he ^pwent out of the city to ^qBethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

18 ^rIn the morning, as he was returning to the city, ^she became hungry. 19 ^tAnd seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, ^u“Truly, I say to you, ^vif you have faith and ^wdo not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ^x‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And ^vwhatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, ^yif you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

23 ^zAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ^aas he was teaching, and said, ^b“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, ^cfrom where did it come? ^dFrom heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ^e‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ ^fwe are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ^ga prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

28 ^h“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ⁱthe vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ^jchanged his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^kthe tax collectors and ^lthe prostitutes go into ^mthe kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you ⁿin the way of righteousness, and ^oyou did not believe him, but ^pthe tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward ^jchange your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

33 ^q“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^ra vineyard ^sand put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^tleased it to tenants, and ^uwent into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants³ to the tenants ^tto get his fruit. 35 ^vAnd the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^wstoned another. 36 ^xAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^y‘This is the heir. Come, ^zlet us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and ^athrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 ^bWhen therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, ^c“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^dlet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, ^e“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^gwill be taken away from you and given to a people ^hproducing its fruits. 44 And ⁱthe one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^jwhen it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”⁵

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And ^lalthough they were seeking to arrest him, ^mthey feared the crowds, because they held him to be ⁿa prophet.