1 The beginning of the Good News of Yeshua the Messiah, the Son of God:
2 It is written in the prophet Yesha'yahu, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare the way before you."
3 "The voice of someone crying out: 'In the desert prepare the way for ADONAI! Make straight paths for him!'"
4 So it was that Yochanan the Immerser appeared in the desert, proclaiming an immersion involving turning to God from sin in order to be forgiven.
5 People went out to him from all over Y'hudah, as did all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim. Confessing their sins, they were immersed by him in the Yarden River.
6 Yochanan wore clothes of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 He proclaimed: "After me is coming someone who is more powerful than I- I'm not worthy even to bend down and untie his sandals.
8 I have immersed you in water, but he will immerse you in the Ruach HaKodesh."
9 Shortly thereafter, Yeshua came from Natzeret in the Galil and was immersed in the Yarden by Yochanan.
10 Immediately upon coming up out of the water, he saw heaven torn open and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove;
11 then a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, whom I love; I am well pleased with you."
12 Immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness,
13 and he was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by the Adversary. He was with the wild animals, and the angels took care of him.
14 After Yochanan had been arrested, Yeshua came into the Galil proclaiming the Good News from God:
15 "The time has come, God's Kingdom is near! Turn to God from your sins and believe the Good News!"
16 As he walked beside Lake Kinneret, he saw Shim'on and Andrew, Shim'on's brother, casting a net into the lake; for they were fishermen.
17 Yeshua said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you into fishers for men!"
18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 Going on a little farther, he saw Ya'akov Ben-Zavdai and Yochanan, his brother, in their boat, repairing their nets.
20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zavdai in the boat with the hired men and went after Yeshua.
21 They entered K'far-Nachum, and on Shabbat Yeshua went into the synagogue and began teaching.
22 They were amazed at the way he taught, for he did not instruct them like the Torah-teachers but as one who had authority himself.
23 In their synagogue just then was a man with an unclean spirit in him, who shouted,
24 "What do you want with us, Yeshua from Natzeret? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are- the Holy One of God!"
25 But Yeshua rebuked the unclean spirit, "Be quiet and come out of him!"
26 Throwing the man into a convulsion, it gave a loud shriek and came out of him.
27 They were all so astounded that they began asking each other, "What is this? A new teaching, one with authority behind it! He gives orders even to the unclean spirits, and they obey him!"
28 And the news about him spread quickly through the whole region of the Galil.
29 They left the synagogue and went with Ya'akov and Yochanan to the home of Shim'on and Andrew.
30 Shim'on's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever, and they told Yeshua about her.
31 He came, took her by the hand and lifted her onto her feet. The fever left her, and she began helping them.
32 That evening after sundown, they brought to Yeshua all who were ill or held in the power of demons,
33 and the whole town came crowding around the door.
34 He healed many who were ill with various diseases and expelled many demons, but he did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Yeshua got up, left, went away to a lonely spot and stayed there praying.
36 But Shim'on and those with him went after him;
37 and when they found him, they said, "Everybody is looking for you."
38 He answered, "Let's go somewhere else- to the other villages around here. I have to proclaim the message there too- in fact this is why I came out."
39 So he traveled all through the Galil, preaching in their synagogues and expelling demons.
40 A man afflicted with tzara'at came to Yeshua and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean."
41 Moved with pity, Yeshua reached out his hand, touched him and said to him, "I am willing! Be cleansed!"
42 Instantly the tzara'at left him, and he was cleansed.
43 Yeshua sent him away with this stern warning:
44 "See to it that you tell no one; instead, as a testimony to the people, go and let the cohen examine you, and offer for your cleansing what Moshe commanded."
45 But he went out and began spreading the news, talking freely about it; so that Yeshua could no longer enter a town openly but stayed out in the country, where people continued coming to him from all around.
1 After a while, Yeshua returned to K'far-Nachum. The word spread that he was back,
2 and so many people gathered around the house that there was no longer any room, not even in front of the door. While he was preaching the message to them,
3 four men came to him carrying a paralyzed man.
4 They could not get near Yeshua because of the crowd, so they stripped the roof over the place where he was, made an opening, and lowered the stretcher with the paralytic lying on it.
5 Seeing their trust, Yeshua said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
6 Some Torah-teachers sitting there thought to themselves,
7 "How can this fellow say such a thing? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins except God?"
8 But immediately Yeshua, perceiving in his spirit what they were thinking, said to them, "Why are you thinking these things?
9 Which is easier to say to the paralyzed man? 'Your sins are forgiven'? or 'Get up, pick up your stretcher and walk'?
10 But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." He then said to the paralytic,
11 "I say to you: get up, pick up your stretcher and go home!"
12 In front of everyone the man got up, picked up his stretcher at once and left. They were all utterly amazed and praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
13 Yeshua went out again by the lake. All the crowd came to him, and he began teaching them.
14 As he passed on from there, he saw Levi Ben-Halfai sitting in his tax-collection booth and said to him, "Follow me!" And he got up and followed him.
15 As Yeshua was in Levi's house eating, many tax-collectors and sinners were sitting with Yeshua and his talmidim, for there were many of them among his followers.
16 When the Torah-teachers and the P'rushim saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his talmidim, "Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?"
17 But, hearing the question, Yeshua answered them, "The ones who need a doctor aren't the healthy but the sick. I didn't come to call the 'righteous' but sinners!"
18 Also Yochanan's talmidim and the P'rushim were fasting; and they came and asked Yeshua, "Why is it that Yochanan's talmidim and the talmidim of the P'rushim fast, but your talmidim don't fast?"
19 Yeshua answered them, "Can wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is still with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, fasting is out of the question.
20 But the time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; and when that day comes, they will fast.
21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old coat; if he does, the new patch tears away from the old cloth and leaves a worse hole.
22 And no one puts new wine in old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine is for freshly prepared wineskins."
23 One Shabbat Yeshua was passing through some wheat fields; and as they went along, his talmidim began picking heads of grain.
24 The P'rushim said to him, "Look! Why are they violating Shabbat?"
25 He said to them, "Haven't you ever read what David did when he and those with him were hungry and needed food?
26 He entered the House of God when Evyatar was cohen gadol and ate the Bread of the Presence,"- which is forbidden for anyone to eat but the cohanim- "and even gave some to his companions."
27 Then he said to them, "Shabbat was made for mankind, not mankind for Shabbat;
28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of Shabbat."
1 Yeshua went again into a synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.
2 Looking for a reason to accuse him of something, people watched him carefully to see if he would heal him on Shabbat.
3 He said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Come up where we can see you!"
4 Then to them he said, "What is permitted on Shabbat? Doing good or doing evil? Saving life or killing?" But they said nothing.
5 Then, looking them over and feeling both anger with them and sympathy for them at the stoniness of their hearts, he said to the man, "Hold out your hand." As he held it out, it became restored.
6 The P'rushim went out and immediately began plotting with some members of Herod's party how to do away with him.
7 Yeshua went off with his talmidim to the lake, and great numbers followed him from the Galil.
8 When they heard what he was doing, great numbers also followed him from Y'hudah, Yerushalayim, Idumea, the territory beyond the Yarden, and the Tzor-Tzidon area.
9 He told his talmidim to have a boat ready for him, so that he could escape the crush of the crowd if necessary,
10 for he had healed many people, and all the sick kept pressing forward to touch him.
11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they would fall down in front of him and scream, "You are the Son of God!"
12 But he warned them strictly not to make him known.
13 Then he went up into the hill country and summoned to himself those he wanted, and they came to him.
14 He appointed twelve to be with him, to be sent out to preach
15 and to have authority to expel demons:
16 Shim'on, to whom he gave another name, "Kefa";
17 Ya'akov Ben-Zavdai and Yochanan, Ya'akov's brother- to them he gave the name "B'nei-Regesh" (that is, "Thunderers");
18 Andrew, Philip, Bar-Talmai, Mattityahu, T'oma, Ya'akov Ben-Halfai, Taddai, Shim'on the Zealot,
19 and Y'hudah from K'riot, the one who betrayed him. Then he entered a house;
20 and once more, such a crowd came together that they couldn't even eat.
21 When his family heard about this, they set out to take charge of him; for they said, "He's out of his mind!"
22 The Torah-teachers who came down from Yerushalayim said, "He has Ba'al-Zibbul in him," and "It is by the ruler of the demons that he expels the demons."
23 But he called them and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan expel Satan?
24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom can't survive;
25 and if a household is divided against itself, that household can't survive.
26 So if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he can't survive either; and that's the end of him.
27 Furthermore, no one can break into a strong man's house and make off with his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. After that, he can ransack his house.
28 Yes! I tell you that people will be forgiven all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter;
29 however, someone who blasphemes against the Ruach HaKodesh never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin."
30 For they had been saying, "He has an unclean spirit in him."
31 Then his mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent a message asking for him.
32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you."
33 He replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"
34 Looking at those seated in a circle around him, he said, "See! Here are my mother and my brothers!
35 Whoever does what God wants is my brother, sister and mother!"
1 Again Yeshua began to teach by the lake, but the crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the crowd remained on shore at the water's edge.
2 He taught them many things in parables. In the course of his teaching, he said to them:
3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.
4 As he sowed, some seed fell alongside the path; and the birds came and ate it up.
5 Other seed fell on rocky patches where there was not much soil. It sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow;
6 but when the sun rose, the young plants were scorched; and since their roots were not deep, they dried up.
7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked it; so that it yielded no grain.
8 But other seed fell into rich soil and produced grain; it sprouted, and grew, and yielded a crop- thirty, sixty, even a hundred times what was sown."
9 And he concluded, "Whoever has ears to hear with, let him hear!"
10 When Yeshua was alone, the people around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables.
11 He answered them, "To you the secret of the Kingdom of God has been given; but to those outside, everything is in parables,
12 so that they may be always looking but never seeing; always listening but never understanding. Otherwise, they might turn and be forgiven!"
13 Then Yeshua said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How will you be able to understand any parable?
14 The sower sows the message.
15 Those alongside the path where the message is sown are people who no sooner hear it than the Adversary comes and takes away the message sown in them.
16 Likewise, those receiving seed on rocky patches are people who hear the message and joyfully accept it at once;
17 but they have no root in themselves. So they hold out for a while, but as soon as some trouble or persecution arises on account of the message, they immediately fall away.
18 Others are those sown among thorns- they hear the message;
19 but the worries of the world, the deceitful glamor of wealth and all the other kinds of desires push in and choke the message; so that it produces nothing.
20 But those sown on rich soil hear the message, accept it and bear fruit- thirty, sixty or a hundredfold."
21 He said to them, "A lamp isn't brought in to be put under a bowl or under the bed, is it? Wouldn't you put it on a lampstand?
22 Indeed, nothing is hidden, except to be disclosed; and nothing is covered up, except to come out into the open.
23 Those who have ears to hear with, let them hear!"
24 He also said to them, "Pay attention to what you are hearing! The measure with which you measure out will be used to measure to you- and more besides!
25 For anyone who has something will be given more; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away."
26 And he said, "The Kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground.
27 Nights he sleeps, days he's awake; and meanwhile the seeds sprout and grow- how, he doesn't know.
28 By itself the soil produces a crop- first the stalk, then the head, and finally the full grain in the head.
29 But as soon as the crop is ready, the man comes with his sickle, because it's harvest-time."
30 Yeshua also said, "With what can we compare the Kingdom of God? What illustration should we use to describe it?
31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when planted, is the smallest of all the seeds in the field;
32 but after it has been planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all the plants, with such big branches that the birds flying about can build nests in its shade."
33 With many parables like these he spoke the message to them, to the extent that they were capable of hearing it.
34 He did not say a thing to them without using a parable; when he was alone with his own talmidim he explained everything to them.
35 That day, when evening had come, Yeshua said to them, "Let's cross to the other side of the lake."
36 So, leaving the crowd behind, they took him just as he was, in the boat; and there were other boats with him.
37 A furious windstorm arose, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was close to being swamped.
38 But he was in the stern on a cushion, asleep. They woke him and said to him, "Rabbi, doesn't it matter to you that we're about to be killed?"
39 He awoke, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" The wind subsided, and there was a dead calm.
40 He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no trust even now?"
41 But they were terrified and asked each other, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the waves obey him?"
1 Yeshua and his talmidim arrived at the other side of the lake, in the Gerasenes' territory.
2 As soon as he disembarked, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the burial caves to meet him.
3 He lived in the burial caves; and no one could keep him tied up, not even with a chain.
4 He had often been chained hand and foot, but he would snap the chains and break the irons off his feet, and no one was strong enough to control him.
5 Night and day he wandered among the graves and through the hills, howling and gashing himself with stones.
6 Seeing Yeshua from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him
7 and screamed at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Yeshua, Son of God Ha'Elyon? I implore you in God's name! Don't torture me!"
8 For Yeshua had already begun saying to him, "Unclean spirit, come out of this man!"
9 Yeshua asked him, "What's your name?" "My name is Legion," he answered, "there are so many of us";
10 and he kept begging Yeshua not to send them out of that region.
11 Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding near the hill,
12 and the unclean spirits begged him, "Send us to the pigs, so we can go into them."
13 Yeshua gave them permission. They came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering around two thousand, rushed down the hillside into the lake and were drowned.
14 The swineherds fled and told it in the town and in the surrounding country, and the people went to see what had happened.
15 They came to Yeshua and saw the man who had had the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were frightened.
16 Those who had seen it told what had happened to the man controlled by demons and to the pigs;
17 and the people began begging Yeshua to leave their district.
18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demonized begged him to be allowed to go with him.
19 But Yeshua would not permit it. Instead, he said to him, "Go home to your people, and tell them how much ADONAI in his mercy has done for you."
20 He went off and began proclaiming in the Ten Towns how much Yeshua had done for him, and everyone was amazed.
21 Yeshua crossed in the boat to the other side of the lake, and a great crowd gathered around him.
22 There came to him a synagogue official, Ya'ir by name, who fell at his feet
23 and pleaded desperately with him, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Please! Come and lay your hands on her, so that she will get well and live!"
24 He went with him; and a large crowd followed, pressing all around him.
25 Among them was a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years
26 and had suffered a great deal under many physicians. She had spent her life savings; yet instead of improving, she had grown worse.
27 She had heard about Yeshua, so she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his robe;
28 for she said, "If I touch even his clothes, I will be healed."
29 Instantly the hemorrhaging stopped, and she felt in her body that she had been healed from the disease.
30 At the same time, Yeshua, aware that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"
31 His talmidim responded, "You see the people pressing in on you; and still you ask, 'Who touched me?'"
32 But he kept looking around to see who had done it.
33 The woman, frightened and trembling, because she knew what had happened to her, came and fell down in front of him and told him the whole truth.
34 "Daughter," he said to her, "your trust has healed you. Go in peace, and be healed of your disease."
35 While he was still speaking, people from the synagogue official's house came, saying, "Your daughter has died. Why bother the rabbi any longer?"
36 Ignoring what they had said, Yeshua told the synagogue official, "Don't be afraid, just keep trusting."
37 He let no one follow him except Kefa, Ya'akov and Yochanan, Ya'akov's brother.
38 When they came to the synagogue official's house, he found a great commotion, with people weeping and wailing loudly.
39 On entering, he said to them, "Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn't dead, she's just asleep!"
40 And they jeered at him. But he put them all outside, took the child's father and mother and those with him, and went in where the child was.
41 Taking her by the hand, he said to her, "Talita, kumi!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!").
42 At once the girl got up and began walking around; she was twelve years old. Everybody was utterly amazed.
43 He gave them strict orders to say nothing about this to anyone, and told them to give her something to eat.
1 Then Yeshua left and went to his home town, and his talmidim followed him.
2 On Shabbat he started to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They asked, "Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom he has been given? What are these miracles worked through him?
3 Isn't he just the carpenter? the son of Miryam? the brother of Ya'akov and Yosi and Y'hudah and Shim'on? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
4 But Yeshua said to them. "The only place people don't respect a prophet is in his home town, among his own relatives, and in his own house."
5 So he could do no miracles there, other than lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.
6 He was amazed at their lack of trust. Then he went through the surrounding towns and villages, teaching.
7 Yeshua summoned the Twelve and started sending them out in pairs, giving them authority over the unclean spirits.
8 He instructed them, "Take nothing for your trip except a walking stick- no bread, no pack, no money in your belt.
9 Wear shoes but not an extra shirt.
10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place;
11 and if the people of some place will not welcome you, and they refuse to hear you, then, as you leave, shake the dust off your feet as a warning to them."
12 So they set out and preached that people should turn from sin to God,
13 they expelled many demons, and they anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
14 Meanwhile, King Herod heard about this, for Yeshua's reputation had spread. Some were saying, "Yochanan the Immerser has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him."
15 Others said, "It is Eliyahu!" and still others, "He is a prophet, like one of the old prophets."
16 But when Herod heard about it, he said, "Yochanan, whom I had beheaded, has been raised."
17 For Herod had sent and had Yochanan arrested and chained in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. Herod had married her,
18 but Yochanan had told him, "It violates the Torah for you to marry your brother's wife."
19 So Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted him put to death. But this she could not accomplish,
20 because Herod stood in awe of Yochanan and protected him, for he knew that he was a tzaddik, a holy man. Whenever he heard him, he became deeply disturbed; yet he liked to listen to him.
21 Finally, the opportunity came. Herod gave a banquet on his birthday for his nobles and officers and the leading men of the Galil.
22 The daughter of Herodias came in and danced, and she pleased Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for whatever you want; I will give it to you";
23 and he made a vow to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom."
24 So she went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" She said, "The head of Yochanan the Immerser."
25 At once the daughter hurried back to the king and announced her request: "I want you to give me right now on a platter the head of Yochanan the Immerser."
26 Herod was appalled; but out of regard for the oaths he had sworn before his dinner guests, he did not want to break his word to her.
27 So the king immediately sent a soldier from his personal guard with orders to bring Yochanan's head. The soldier went and beheaded Yochanan in the prison,
28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.
29 When Yochanan's talmidim heard of it, they came and took the body and laid it in a grave.
30 Those who had been sent out rejoined Yeshua and reported to him all they had done and taught.
31 There were so many people coming and going that they couldn't even take time to eat, so he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a place where we can be alone, and you can get some rest."
32 They went off by themselves to an isolated spot;
33 but many people, seeing them leave and recognizing them, ran ahead on foot from all the towns and got there first.
34 When Yeshua came ashore, he saw a huge crowd. Filled with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time, the hour was late. The talmidim came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's getting late.
36 Send the people away, so that they can go and buy food for themselves in the farms and towns around here."
37 But he answered them, "Give them something to eat, yourselves!" They replied, "We are to go and spend thousands on bread, and give it to them to eat?"
38 He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and check." When they had found out, they said, "Five. And two fish."
39 Then he ordered all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass.
40 They sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.
41 Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up toward heaven, made a b'rakhah. Next he broke up the loaves and began giving them to the talmidim to distribute. He also divided up the two fish among them all.
42 They all ate as much as they wanted,
43 and they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces and fish.
44 Those who ate the loaves numbered five thousand men.
45 Immediately Yeshua had his talmidim get in the boat and go on ahead of him toward the other side of the lake, toward Beit-Tzaidah, while he sent the crowds away.
46 After he had left them, he went into the hills to pray.
47 When night came, the boat was out on the lake, and he was by himself on land.
48 He saw that they were having difficulty rowing, because the wind was against them; so at around four o'clock in the morning he came toward them, walking on the lake! He meant to come alongside them;
49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and let out a shriek;
50 for they had all seen him and were terrified. However, he spoke to them. "Courage," he said, "it is I. Stop being afraid!"
51 He got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded,
52 for they did not understand about the loaves; on the contrary, their hearts had been made stone-like.
53 After they had made the crossing, they landed at Ginosar and anchored.
54 As soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized him
55 and began running around throughout that whole region and bringing sick people on their stretchers to any place where they heard he was.
56 Wherever he went, in towns, cities or country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the tzitzit on his robe, and all who touched it were healed.
1 The P'rushim and some of the Torah-teachers who had come from Yerushalayim gathered together with Yeshua
2 and saw that some of his talmidim ate with ritually unclean hands, that is, without doing n'tilat-yadayim.
3 (For the P'rushim, and indeed all the Judeans, holding fast to the Tradition of the Elders, do not eat unless they have given their hands a ceremonial washing.
4 Also, when they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they have rinsed their hands up to the wrist; and they adhere to many other traditions, such as washing cups, pots and bronze vessels.)
5 The P'rushim and the Torah-teachers asked him, "Why don't your talmidim live in accordance with the Tradition of the Elders, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?"
6 Yeshua answered them, "Yesha'yahu was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites- as it is written, 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from me.
7 Their worship of me is useless, because they teach man-made rules as if they were doctrines.'
8 "You depart from God's command and hold onto human tradition.
9 Indeed," he said to them, "you have made a fine art of departing from God's command in order to keep your tradition!
10 For Moshe said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'
11 But you say, 'If someone says to his father or mother, "I have promised as a korban" ' " (that is, as a gift to God) " ' "what I might have used to help you,"'
12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother.
13 Thus, with your tradition which you had handed down to you, you nullify the Word of God! And you do other things like this."
14 Then Yeshua called the people to him again and said, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand this!
15 There is nothing outside a person which, by going into him, can make him unclean. Rather, it is the things that come out of a person which make a person unclean!"
16 *
17 When he had left the people and entered the house, his talmidim asked him about the parable.
18 He replied to them, "So you too are without understanding? Don't you see that nothing going into a person from outside can make him unclean?
19 For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and it passes out into the latrine." (Thus he declared all foods ritually clean.)
20 "It is what comes out of a person," he went on, "that makes him unclean.
21 For from within, out of a person's heart, come forth wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
22 greed, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, foolishness....
23 All these wicked things come from within, and they make a person unclean."
24 Next, Yeshua left that district and went off to the vicinity of Tzor and Tzidon. There he found a house to stay in and wanted to remain unrecognized, but keeping hidden proved impossible.
25 Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit in her came to him and fell down at his feet.
26 The woman was a Greek, by birth a Syro-phoenician, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 He said, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children's food and toss it to their pet dogs."
28 She answered him, "That is true, sir; but even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers."
29 Then he said to her, "For such an answer you may go on home; the demon has left your daughter."
30 She went back home and found the child lying on the couch, the demon gone.
31 Then he left the district of Tzor and went through Tzidon to Lake Kinneret and on to the region of the Ten Towns.
32 They brought him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment and asked Yeshua to lay his hand on him.
33 Taking him off alone, away from the crowd, Yeshua put his fingers into the man's ears, spat, and touched his tongue;
34 then, looking up to heaven, he gave a deep groan and said to him, "Hippatach!" (that is, "Be opened!").
35 His ears were opened, his tongue was freed, and he began speaking clearly.
36 Yeshua ordered the people to tell no one; but the more he insisted, the more zealously they spread the news.
37 People were overcome with amazement. "Everything he does, he does well!" they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak!"
1 It was during that time that another large crowd gathered, and they had nothing to eat. Yeshua called his talmidim to him and said to them,
2 "I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat.
3 If I send them off to their homes hungry, they will collapse on the way; some of them have come a long distance."
4 His talmidim said to him, "How can anyone find enough bread to satisfy these people in a remote place like this?"
5 "How many loaves do you have?" he asked them. They answered, "Seven."
6 He then told the crowd to sit down on the ground, took the seven loaves, made a b'rakhah, broke the loaves and gave them to his talmidim to serve to the people.
7 They also had a few fish; making a b'rakhah over them he also ordered these to be served.
8 The people ate their fill; and the talmidim took up the leftover pieces, seven large basketsful.
9 About four thousand were there.
10 After sending them away, Yeshua got into the boat with his talmidim and went off to the district of Dalmanuta.
11 The P'rushim came and began arguing with him; they wanted him to give them a sign from Heaven, because they were out to trap him.
12 With a sigh that came straight from his heart, he said, "Why does this generation want a sign? Yes! I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation!"
13 With that, he left them, got into the boat again and went off to the other side of the lake.
14 Now the talmidim had forgotten to bring bread and had with them in the boat only one loaf.
15 So when Yeshua said to them, "Watch out! Guard yourselves from the hametz of the P'rushim and the hametz of Herod,"
16 they thought he had said it because they had no bread.
17 But, aware of this, he said, "Why are you talking with each other about having no bread? Don't you see or understand yet? Have your hearts been made like stone?
18 You have eyes- don't you see? You have ears- don't you hear? And don't you remember?
19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?" "Twelve," they answered him.
20 "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?" "Seven," they answered.
21 He said to them, "And you still don't understand?"
22 They came to Beit-Tzaidah. Some people brought him a blind man and begged Yeshua to touch him.
23 Taking the blind man's hand, he led him outside the town. He spit in his eyes, put his hands on him and asked him, "Do you see anything?"
24 He looked up and said, "I see people, but they look like walking trees."
25 Then he put his hands on the blind man's eyes again. He peered intently, and his eyesight was restored, so that he could see everything distinctly.
26 Yeshua sent him home with the words, "Don't go into town."
27 Yeshua and his talmidim went on to the towns of Caesarea Philippi. On the way, he asked his talmidim, "Who are people saying I am?"
28 "Some say you are Yochanan the Immerser," they told him, "others say Eliyahu, and still others, one of the prophets."
29 "But you," he asked, "who do you say I am?" Kefa answered, "You are the Mashiach."
30 Then Yeshua warned them not to tell anyone about him.
31 He began teaching them that the Son of Man had to endure much suffering and be rejected by the elders, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers; and that he had to be put to death; but that after three days, he had to rise again.
32 He spoke very plainly about it. Kefa took him aside and began rebuking him.
33 But, turning around and looking at his talmidim, he rebuked Kefa. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said, "For your thinking is from a human perspective, not from God's perspective!"
34 Then Yeshua called the crowd and his talmidim to him and told them, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him say 'No' to himself, take up his execution-stake, and keep following me.
35 For whoever wants to save his own life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will save it.
36 Indeed, what will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life?
37 What could a person give in exchange for his life?
38 For if someone is ashamed of me and of what I say in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.
1 Yes!" he went on, "I tell you that there are some people standing here who will not experience death until they see the Kingdom of God come in a powerful way!"
2 Six days later, Yeshua took Kefa, Ya'akov and Yochanan and led them up a high mountain privately. As they watched, he began to change form,
3 and his clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than anyone in the world could possibly bleach them.
4 Then they saw Eliyahu and Moshe speaking with Yeshua.
5 Kefa said to Yeshua, "It's good that we're here, Rabbi! Let's put up three shelters- one for you, one for Moshe and one for Eliyahu."
6 (He didn't know what to say, they were so frightened.)
7 Then a cloud enveloped them; and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Yeshua.
9 As they came down the mountain, he warned them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10 So they kept the matter to themselves; but they continued asking each other, "What is this 'rising from the dead'?"
11 They also asked him, "Why do the Torah-teachers say that Eliyahu has to come first?"
12 "Eliyahu will indeed come first," he answered, "and he will restore everything. Nevertheless, why is it written in the Tanakh that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected?
13 There's more to it: I tell you that Eliyahu has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as the Tanakh says about him."
14 When they got back to the talmidim, they saw a large crowd around them and some Torah-teachers arguing with them.
15 As soon as the crowd saw him, they were surprised and ran out to greet him.
16 He asked them, "What's the discussion about?"
17 One of the crowd gave him the answer: "Rabbi, I brought my son to you because he has an evil spirit in him that makes him unable to talk.
18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground- he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth and becomes stiff all over. I asked your talmidim to drive the spirit out, but they couldn't do it."
19 "People without any trust!" he responded. "How long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me!"
20 They brought the boy to him; and as soon as the spirit saw him, it threw the boy into a convulsion.
21 Yeshua asked the boy's father, "How long has this been happening to him?" "Ever since childhood," he said;
22 "and it often tries to kill him by throwing him into the fire or into the water. But if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us!"
23 Yeshua said to him, "What do you mean, 'if you can'? Everything is possible to someone who has trust!"
24 Instantly the father of the child exclaimed, "I do trust- help my lack of trust!"
25 When Yeshua saw that the crowd was closing in on them, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You deaf and dumb spirit! I command you: come out of him, and never go back into him again!"
26 Shrieking and throwing the boy into a violent fit, it came out. The boy lay there like a corpse, so that most of the people said he was dead.
27 But Yeshua took him by the hand and raised him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Yeshua had gone indoors, his talmidim asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
29 He said to them "This is the kind of spirit that can be driven out only by prayer."
30 After leaving that place, they went on through the Galil. Yeshua didn't want anyone to know,
31 because he was teaching his talmidim. He told them, "The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men who will put him to death; but after he has been killed, three days later he will rise."
32 But they didn't understand what he meant, and they were afraid to ask him.
33 They arrived at K'far-Nachum. When Yeshua was inside the house, he asked them, "What were you discussing as we were traveling?"
34 But they kept quiet; because on the way, they had been arguing with each other about who was the greatest.
35 He sat down, summoned the Twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all."
36 He took a child and stood him among them. Then he put his arms around him and said to them,
37 "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the One who sent me."
38 Yochanan said to him, "Rabbi, we saw a man expelling demons in your name; and because he wasn't one of us, we told him to stop."
39 But Yeshua said, "Don't stop him, because no one who works a miracle in my name will soon after be able to say something bad about me.
40 For whoever is not against us is for us.
41 Indeed, whoever gives you even a cup of water to drink because you come in the name of the Messiah- yes! I tell you that he will certainly not lose his reward.
42 "Whoever ensnares one of these little ones who trust me- it would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck and be thrown in the sea.
43 If your hand makes you sin, cut it off! Better that you should be maimed but obtain eternal life, rather than keep both hands and go to Gei-Hinnom, to unquenchable fire!
44 *
45 And if your foot makes you sin, cut it off! Better that you should be lame but obtain eternal life, rather than keep both feet and be thrown into Gei-Hinnom!
46 *
47 And if your eye makes you sin, pluck it out! Better that you should be one-eyed but enter the Kingdom of God, rather than keep both eyes and be thrown into Gei-Hinnom,
48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
49 Indeed, everyone is going to be salted with fire.
50 Salt is excellent, but if it loses its saltiness, how will you season it? So have salt in yourselves- that is, be at peace with each other."
1 Then Yeshua left that place and went into the regions of Y'hudah and the territory beyond the Yarden. Again crowds gathered around him; and again, as usual, he taught them.
2 Some P'rushim came up and tried to trap him by asking him, "Does the Torah permit a man to divorce his wife?"
3 He replied, "What did Moshe command you?"
4 They said, "Moshe allowed a man to hand his wife a get and divorce her."
5 But Yeshua said to them, "He wrote this commandment for you because of your hardheartedness.
6 However, at the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
7 For this reason, a man should leave his father and mother and be united with his wife,
8 and the two are to become one flesh. Thus they are no longer two, but one.
9 So then, no one should break apart what God has joined together."
10 When they were indoors once more, the talmidim asked him about this.
11 He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against his wife;
12 and if a wife divorces her husband and marries another man, she too commits adultery."
13 People were bringing children to him so that he might touch them, but the talmidim rebuked those people.
14 However, when Yeshua saw it, he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me, don't stop them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
15 Yes! I tell you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it!"
16 And he took them in his arms, laid his hands on them, and made a b'rakhah over them.
17 As he was starting on his way, a man ran up, kneeled down in front of him and asked, "Good rabbi, what should I do to obtain eternal life?"
18 Yeshua said to him, "Why are you calling me good? No one is good except God!
19 You know the mitzvot- 'Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't give false testimony, don't defraud, honor your father and mother,...'"
20 "Rabbi," he said, "I have kept all these since I was a boy."
21 Yeshua, looking at him, felt love for him and said to him, "You're missing one thing. Go, sell whatever you own, give to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come, follow me!"
22 Shocked by this word, he went away sad; because he was a wealthy man.
23 Yeshua looked around and said to his talmidim, "How hard it is going to be for people with wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!"
24 The talmidim were astounded at these words; but Yeshua said to them again, "My friends, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God!
25 It's easier for a camel to pass through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God."
26 They were utterly amazed and said to him, "Then who can be saved?"
27 Yeshua looked at them and said, "Humanly, it is impossible, but not with God; with God, everything is possible."
28 Kefa began saying to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you."
29 Yeshua said, "Yes! I tell you that there is no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the Good News,
30 who will not receive a hundred times over, now, in the 'olam hazeh, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and lands- with persecutions!- and in the 'olam haba, eternal life.
31 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first!"
32 They were on the road going up to Yerushalayim. Yeshua was walking ahead of them, and they were amazed- and those following were afraid. So again taking the Twelve along with him, he began telling them what was about to happen to him.
33 "We are now going up to Yerushalayim, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers. They will sentence him to death and turn him over to the Goyim,
34 who will jeer at him, spit on him, beat him and kill him; but after three days, he will rise."
35 Ya'akov and Yochanan, the sons of Zavdai, came up to him and said, "Rabbi, we would like you to do us a favor."
36 He said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?"
37 They replied, "When you are in your glory, let us sit with you, one on your right and the other on your left."
38 But Yeshua answered, "You don't know what you're asking! Can you drink the cup that I am drinking? or be immersed with the immersion that I must undergo?"
39 They said to him, "We can." Yeshua replied, "The cup that I am drinking, you will drink; and the immersion I am being immersed with, you will undergo.
40 But to sit on my right and on my left is not mine to give. Rather, it is for those for whom it has been prepared."
41 When the other ten heard about this, they became outraged at Ya'akov and Yochanan.
42 But Yeshua called them to him and said to them, "You know that among the Goyim, those who are supposed to rule them become tyrants, and their superiors become dictators.
43 But among you, it must not be like that! On the contrary, whoever among you wants to be a leader must be your servant;
44 and whoever wants to be first among you must become everyone's slave!
45 For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve- and to give his life as a ransom for many."
46 They came to Yericho; and as Yeshua was leaving Yericho with his talmidim and a great crowd, a blind beggar, Bar-Timai (son of Timai), was sitting by the side of the road.
47 When he heard that it was Yeshua from Natzeret, he started shouting, "Yeshua! Son of David! Have pity on me!"
48 Many people scolded him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the louder, "Son of David! Have pity on me!"
49 Yeshua stopped and said, "Call him over!" They called to the blind man, "Courage! Get up! He's calling for you!"
50 Throwing down his blanket, he jumped up and came over to Yeshua.
51 "What do you want me to do for you?" asked Yeshua. The blind man said to him, "Rabbi, let me be able to see again."
52 Yeshua said to him, "Go! Your trust has healed you." Instantly he received his sight and followed him on the road.
1 As they were approaching Yerushalayim, near Beit-Pagei and Beit-Anyah, by the Mount of Olives, Yeshua sent two of his talmidim
2 with these instructions: "Go into the village ahead of you; and as soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it, and bring it here.
3 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it,' and he will send it here right away."
4 They went off and found a colt in the street tied in a doorway, and they untied it.
5 The bystanders said to them, "What are you doing, untying that colt?"
6 They gave the answer Yeshua had told them to give, and they let them continue.
7 They brought the colt to Yeshua and threw their robes on it, and he sat on it.
8 Many people carpeted the road with their clothing, while others spread out green branches which they had cut in the fields.
9 Those who were ahead and those behind shouted, "Please! Deliver us!"* "Blessed is he who comes in the name of ADONAI!"
10 "Blessed is the coming Kingdom of our father David!" and, "You in the highest heaven! Please! Deliver us!"*
11 Yeshua entered Yerushalayim, went into the Temple courts and took a good look at everything; but since it was now late, he went out with the Twelve to Beit-Anyah.
12 The next day, as they came back from Beit-Anyah, he felt hungry.
13 Spotting in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came up to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it wasn't fig season.
14 He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And his talmidim heard what he said.
15 On reaching Yerushalayim, he entered the Temple courts and began driving out those who were carrying on business there, both the merchants and their customers. He also knocked over the desks of the money-changers, upset the benches of the pigeon-dealers,
16 and refused to let anyone carry merchandise through the Temple courts.
17 Then, as he taught them, he said, "Isn't it written in the Tanakh, My house will be called a house of prayer for all the Goyim But you have made it into a den of robbers!"
18 The head cohanim and the Torah-teachers heard what he said and tried to find a way to do away with him; they were afraid of him, because the crowds were utterly taken by his teaching.
19 When evening came, they left the city.
20 In the morning, as the talmidim passed by, they saw the fig tree withered all the way to its roots.
21 Kefa remembered and said to Yeshua, "Rabbi! Look! The fig tree that you cursed has dried up!"
22 He responded, "Have the kind of trust that comes from God!
23 Yes! I tell you that whoever does not doubt in his heart but trusts that what he says will happen can say to this mountain, 'Go and throw yourself into the sea!' and it will be done for him.
24 Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, trust that you are receiving it, and it will be yours.
25 And when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive your offenses."
26 *
27 They went back into Yerushalayim; and as he was walking in the Temple courts, there came to him the head cohanim, the Torah-teachers and the elders;
28 and they said to him, "What s'mikhah do you have that authorizes you to do these things? Who gave you this s'mikhah authorizing you to do them?"
29 Yeshua said to them, "I will ask you just one question: answer me, and I will tell you by what s'mikhah I do these things.
30 The immersion of Yochanan- was it from Heaven or from a human source? Answer me."
31 They discussed it among themselves: "If we say, 'From Heaven,' he will say, 'Then why didn't you believe him?'
32 But if we say, 'From a human source,... '"- they were afraid of the people, for they all regarded Yochanan as a genuine prophet.
33 So they answered Yeshua, "We don't know." "Then," he replied, "I won't tell you by what s'mikhah I do these things."
1 Yeshua began speaking to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the wine press and built a tower; then he rented it to tenant-farmers and left.
2 When harvest-time came, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the crop from the vineyard.
3 But they took him, beat him up and sent him away empty-handed.
4 So he sent another servant; this one they punched in the head and insulted.
5 He sent another one, and him they killed; and so with many others- some they beat up, others they killed.
6 He had still one person left, a son whom he loved; in the end, he sent him to them, saying, 'My son they will respect.'
7 But the tenants said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!'
8 So they seized him, killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others!
10 Haven't you read the passage in the Tanakh that says, 'The very rock which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone!
11 This has come from ADONAI, and in our eyes it is amazing'?"
12 They set about to arrest him, for they recognized that he had told the parable with reference to themselves. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.
13 Next they sent some P'rushim and some members of Herod's party to him in order to trap him with a sh'eilah.
14 They came and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you tell the truth and are not concerned with what people think about you, since you pay no attention to a person's status but really teach what God's way is. Does Torah say that taxes are to be paid to the Roman Emperor, or not?"
15 But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it."
16 They brought one; and he asked them, "Whose name and picture are these?" "The Emperor's," they replied.
17 Yeshua said, "Give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give to God what belongs to God!" And they were amazed at him.
18 Then some Tz'dukim came to him. They are the ones who say there is no such thing as resurrection, so they put to him a sh'eilah:
19 "Rabbi, Moshe wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and have children to preserve the man's family line.
20 There were seven brothers. The first one took a wife, and when he died, he left no children.
21 Then the second one took her and died without leaving children, and the third likewise,
22 and none of the seven left children. Last of all, the woman also died.
23 In the Resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife."
24 Yeshua said to them, "Isn't this the reason that you go astray? because you are ignorant both of the Tanakh and of the power of God?
25 For when people rise from the dead, neither men nor women marry- they are like angels in heaven.
26 And as for the dead being raised, haven't you read in the book of Moshe, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz'chak and the God of Ya'akov'?
27 He is God not of the dead, but of the living! You are going far astray!"
28 One of the Torah-teachers came up and heard them engaged in this discussion. Seeing that Yeshua answered them well, he asked him, "Which is the most important mitzvah of them all?"
29 Yeshua answered, "The most important is, 'Sh'ma Yisra'el, ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad [Hear, O Isra'el, the LORD our God, the LORD is one],
30 and you are to love ADONAI your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your understanding and with all your strength.'
31 The second is this: 'You are to love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other mitzvah greater than these."
32 The Torah-teacher said to him, "Well said, Rabbi; you speak the truth when you say that he is one, and that there is no other besides him;
33 and that loving him with all one's heart, understanding and strength, and loving one's neighbor as oneself, mean more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices."
34 When Yeshua saw that he responded sensibly, he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." And after that, no one dared put to him another sh'eilah.
35 As Yeshua was teaching in the Temple, he asked, "How is it that the Torah-teachers say the Messiah is the Son of David?
36 David himself, inspired by the Ruach HaKodesh, said, 'ADONAI said to my Lord, "Sit here at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet."'
37 David himself calls him 'Lord'; so how is he his son?" The great crowd listened eagerly to him.
38 As he taught them, he said, "Watch out for the kind of Torah-teachers who like to walk around in robes and be greeted deferentially in the marketplaces,
39 who like to have the best seats in the synagogues and take the places of honor at banquets,
40 who like to swallow up widows' houses while making a show of davvening at great length. Their punishment will be all the worse!"
41 Then Yeshua sat down opposite the Temple treasury and watched the crowd as they put money into the offering-boxes. Many rich people put in large sums,
42 but a poor widow came and put in two small coins.
43 He called his talmidim to him and said to them, "Yes! I tell you, this poor widow has put more in the offering-box than all the others making donations.
44 For all of them, out of their wealth, have contributed money they can easily spare; but she, out of her poverty, has given everything she had to live on."
1 As Yeshua came out of the Temple, one of the talmidim said to him, "Look, Rabbi! What huge stones! What magnificent buildings!"
2 "You see all these great buildings?" Yeshua said to him, "They will be totally destroyed- not a single stone will be left standing!"
3 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the Temple, Kefa, Ya'akov, Yochanan and Andrew asked him privately,
4 "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what sign will show when all these things are about to be accomplished?"
5 Yeshua began speaking to them: "Watch out! Don't let anyone fool you!
6 Many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and they will fool many people.
7 When you hear the noise of wars nearby and the news of wars far off, don't become frightened. Such things must happen, but the end is yet to come.
8 For peoples will fight each other, and nations will fight each other, there will be earthquakes in various places, there will be famines; this is but the beginning of the 'birth pains.'
9 "But you, watch yourselves! They will hand you over to the local Sanhedrins, you will be beaten up in synagogues, and on my account you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
10 Indeed, the Good News has to be proclaimed first to all the Goyim.
11 Now when they arrest you and bring you to trial, don't worry beforehand about what to say. Rather, say whatever is given you when the time comes; for it will not be just you speaking, but the Ruach HaKodesh.
12 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against their parents and have them put to death;
13 and everyone will hate you because of me. But whoever holds out till the end will be delivered.
14 "Now when you see the abomination that causes devastation standing where it ought not to be" (let the reader understand the allusion), "that will be the time for those in Y'hudah to escape to the hills.
15 If someone is on the roof, he must not go down and enter his house to take any of his belongings;
16 if someone is in the field, he must not turn back to get his coat.
17 What a terrible time it will be for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
18 Pray that it may not happen in winter.
19 For there will be worse trouble at that time than there has ever been from the very beginning, when God created the universe, until now; and there will be nothing like it again.
20 Indeed, if God had not limited the duration of the trouble, no one would survive; but for the sake of the elect, those whom he has chosen, he has limited it.
21 "At that time, if anyone says to you, 'Look! Here's the Messiah!' or, 'See, there he is!'- don't believe him!
22 There will appear false Messiahs and false prophets performing signs and wonders for the purpose, if possible, of misleading the chosen.
23 But you, watch out! I have told you everything in advance!
24 In those days, after that trouble, the sun will grow dark, the moon will stop shining,
25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in heaven will be shaken.
26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with tremendous power and glory.
27 He will send out his angels and gather together his chosen people from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
28 "Now let the fig tree teach you its lesson: when its branches begin to sprout and leaves appear, you know that summer is approaching.
29 In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you are to know that the time is near, right at the door.
30 Yes! I tell you that this people will certainly not pass away before all these things happen.
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will certainly not pass away.
32 However, when that day and hour will come, no one knows- not the angels in heaven, not the Son, just the Father.
33 Stay alert! Be on your guard! For you do not know when the time will come.
34 "It's like a man who travels away from home, puts his servants in charge, each with his own task, and tells the doorkeeper to stay alert.
35 So stay alert! for you don't know when the owner of the house will come,
36 whether it will be evening, midnight, cockcrow or morning- you don't want him to come suddenly and find you sleeping!
37 And what I say to you, I say to everyone: stay alert!"
1 It was now two days before Pesach (that is, the festival of Matzah), and the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers were trying to find some way to arrest Yeshua surreptitiously and have him put to death;
2 for they said, "Not during the festival, or the people will riot."
3 While he was in Beit-Anyah in the home of Shim'on (a man who had had tzara'at), and as he was eating, a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfume, pure oil of nard, very costly. She broke the jar and poured the perfume over Yeshua's head.
4 But some there angrily said to themselves, "Why this waste of perfume?
5 It could have been sold for a year's wages and given to the poor!" And they scolded her.
6 But he said, "Let her be. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me.
7 For you will always have the poor with you; and whenever you want to, you can help them. But you will not always have me.
8 What she could do, she did do- in advance she poured perfume on my body to prepare it for burial.
9 Yes! I tell you that wherever in the whole world this Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told in her memory."
10 Then Y'hudah from K'riot, who was one of the Twelve, went to the head cohanim in order to betray Yeshua to them.
11 They were pleased to hear this and promised to give him money. And he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Yeshua.
12 On the first day for matzah, when they slaughtered the lamb for Pesach, Yeshua's talmidim asked him, "Where do you want us to go and prepare your Seder?"
13 He sent two of his talmidim with these instructions: "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him;
14 and whichever house he enters, tell him that the Rabbi says, 'Where is the guest room for me, where I am to eat the Pesach meal with my talmidim?'
15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make the preparations there."
16 The talmidim went off, came to the city and found things just as he had told them they would be; and they prepared the Seder.
17 When evening came, Yeshua arrived with the Twelve.
18 As they were reclining and eating, Yeshua said, "Yes! I tell you that one of you is going to betray me."
19 They became upset and began asking him, one after the other, "You don't mean me, do you?"
20 "It's one of the Twelve," he said to them, "someone dipping matzah in the dish with me.
21 For the Son of Man will die, just as the Tanakh says he will; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him had he never been born!"
22 While they were eating, Yeshua took a piece of matzah, made the b'rakhah, broke it, gave it to them and said, "Take it! This is my body."
23 Also he took a cup of wine, made the b'rakhah, and gave it to them; and they all drank.
24 He said to them, "This is my blood, which ratifies the New Covenant, my blood shed on behalf of many people.
25 Yes! I tell you, I will not drink this 'fruit of the vine' again until the day I drink new wine in the Kingdom of God."
26 After singing the Hallel, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
27 Yeshua said to them, "You will all lose faith in me, for the Tanakh says, 'I will strike the shepherd dead, and the sheep will be scattered.'
28 But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you into the Galil."
29 Kefa said to him, "Even if everyone else loses faith in you, I won't."
30 Yeshua replied, "Yes! I tell you that this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will disown me three times!"
31 But Kefa kept insisting, "Even if I must die with you, I will never disown you!" And they all said the same thing.
32 They went to a place called Gat Sh'manim; and Yeshua said to his talmidim, "Sit here while I pray."
33 He took with him Kefa, Ya'akov and Yochanan. Great distress and anguish came over him;
34 and he said to them, "My heart is so filled with sadness that I could die! Remain here and stay awake."
35 Going on a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that if possible, the hour might pass from him:
36 "Abba!" (that is, "Dear Father!") "All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me! Still, not what I want, but what you want."
37 He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Kefa, "Shim'on, are you asleep? Couldn't you stay awake one hour?
38 Stay awake, and pray that you will not be put to the test- the spirit indeed is eager, but human nature is weak."
39 Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words;
40 and again he came and found them sleeping, their eyes were so very heavy; and they didn't know what to answer him.
41 The third time, he came and said to them, "For now, go on sleeping, take your rest....There, that's enough! The time has come! Look! The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners!
42 Get up! Let's go! Here comes my betrayer!"
43 While Yeshua was still speaking, Y'hudah (one of the Twelve!) came, and with him a crowd carrying swords and clubs, from the head cohanim, the Torah-teachers and the elders.
44 The betrayer had arranged to give them a signal: "The man I kiss is the one you want. Grab him, and take him away under guard."
45 As he arrived, he went right up to Yeshua, said, "Rabbi!" and kissed him.
46 Then they laid hold of Yeshua and arrested him;
47 but one of the people standing nearby drew his sword and struck at the servant of the cohen hagadol, cutting off his ear.
48 Yeshua addressed them: "So you came out to take me with swords and clubs, the way you would the leader of a rebellion?
49 Every day I was with you in the Temple court, teaching, and you didn't seize me then! But let the Tanakh be fulfilled."
50 And they all deserted him and ran away.
51 There was one young man who did try to follow him; but he was wearing only a nightshirt; and when they tried to seize him,
52 he slipped out of the nightshirt and ran away naked.
53 They led Yeshua to the cohen hagadol, with whom all the head cohanim, elders and Torah-teachers were assembling.
54 Kefa followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the cohen hagadol, where he sat down with the guards and warmed himself by the fire.
55 The head cohanim and the whole Sanhedrin tried to find evidence against Yeshua, so that they might have him put to death, but they couldn't find any.
56 For many people gave false evidence against him, but their testimonies didn't agree.
57 Some stood up and gave this false testimony:
58 "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this Temple made with hands; and in three days I will build another one, not made with hands.'"
59 Even so, their testimonies didn't agree.
60 The cohen hagadol stood up in the front and asked Yeshua, "Have you nothing to say to the accusations these men are making?"
61 But he remained silent and made no reply. Again the cohen hagadol questioned him: "Are you the Mashiach, Ben-HaM'vorakh?"
62 "I AM," answered Yeshua. "Moreover, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of HaG'vurah and coming on the clouds of heaven."
63 At this, the cohen hagadol tore his clothes and said, "Why do we still need witnesses?
64 You heard him blaspheme! What is your decision?" And they all declared him guilty and subject to the death penalty.
65 Then some began spitting at him; and after blindfolding him, they started pounding him with their fists and saying to him, "Let's see you prophesy!" And as the guards took him, they beat him too.
66 Meanwhile, Kefa was still in the courtyard below. One of the serving-girls of the cohen hagadol
67 saw Kefa warming himself, took a look at him, and said, "You were with the man from Natzeret, Yeshua!"
68 But he denied it, saying, "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about!" He went outside into the entryway, and a rooster crowed.
69 The girl saw him there and started telling the bystanders, "This fellow is one of them."
70 Again he denied it. A little later, the bystanders themselves said to Kefa, "You must be one of them, because you're from the Galil."
71 At this he began to invoke a curse on himself as he swore, "I do not know this man you are telling me about!"-
72 and immediately the rooster crowed a second time. Then Kefa remembered what Yeshua had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will disown me three times." And throwing himself down, he burst into tears.
1 As soon as it was morning, the head cohanim held a council meeting with the elders, the Torah-teachers and the whole Sanhedrin. Then they put Yeshua in chains, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
2 Pilate put this question to him: "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered him, "The words are yours."
3 The head cohanim too made accusations against him,
4 and Pilate again inquired of him, "Aren't you going to answer? Look how many charges they are making against you!"
5 But Yeshua made no further response, to Pilate's amazement.
6 Now during a festival, Pilate used to set free one prisoner, whomever the crowd requested.
7 There was in prison among the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection a man called Bar-Abba.
8 When the crowd came up and began asking Pilate to do for them what he usually did,
9 he asked them, "Do you want me to set free for you the 'King of the Jews'?"
10 For it was evident to him that it was out of jealousy that the head cohanim had handed him over.
11 But the head cohanim stirred up the crowd to have him release Bar-Abba for them instead.
12 Pilate again said to them, "Then what should I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?"
13 They shouted back, "Put him to death on the stake!"
14 He asked, "Why? What crime has he committed?" But they only shouted louder, "Put him to death on the stake!"
15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the mob, set Bar-Abba free for them; but he had Yeshua whipped and then handed him over to be executed on the stake.
16 The soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the headquarters building) and called together the whole battalion.
17 They dressed him in purple and wove thorn branches into a crown, which they put on him.
18 Then they began to salute him, "Hail to the King of the Jews!"
19 They hit him on the head with a stick, spat on him and kneeled in mock worship of him.
20 When they had finished ridiculing him, they took off the purple robe, put his own clothes back on him and led him away to be nailed to the execution-stake.
21 A certain man from Cyrene, Shim'on, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country; and they forced him to carry the stake.
22 They brought Yeshua to a place called Gulgolta (which means "place of a skull"),
23 and they gave him wine spiced with myrrh, but he didn't take it.
24 Then they nailed him to the execution-stake; and they divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to determine what each man should get.
25 It was nine in the morning when they nailed him to the stake.
26 Over his head, the written notice of the charge against him read, THE KING OF THE JEWS
27 On execution-stakes with him they placed two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.
28 *
29 People passing by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! So you can destroy the Temple, can you, and rebuild it in three days?
30 Save yourself and come down from the stake!"
31 Likewise, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers made fun of him, saying to each other, "He saved others, but he can't save himself!"
32 and, "So he's the Messiah, is he? The King of Isra'el? Let him come down now from the stake! If we see that, then we'll believe him!" Even the men nailed up with him insulted him.
33 At noon, darkness covered the whole Land until three o'clock in the afternoon.
34 At three, he uttered a loud cry, "Elohi! Elohi! L'mah sh'vaktani?" (which means, "My God! My God! Why have you deserted me?")
35 On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, "Look! He's calling for Eliyahu!"
36 One ran and soaked a sponge in vinegar, put it on a stick and gave it to him to drink. "Wait!" he said, "Let's see if Eliyahu will come and take him down."
37 But Yeshua let out a loud cry and gave up his spirit.
38 And the parokhet in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
39 When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw the way he gave up his spirit, he said, "This man really was a son of God!"
40 There were women looking on from a distance; among them were Miryam from Magdala, Miryam the mother of the younger Ya'akov and of Yosi, and Shlomit.
41 These women had followed him and helped him when he was in the Galil. And many other women were there who had come up with him to Yerushalayim.
42 Since it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before a Shabbat), as evening approached,
43 Yosef of Ramatayim, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who himself was also looking forward to the Kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Yeshua's body.
44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead, so he summoned the officer and asked him if he had been dead awhile.
45 After he had gotten confirmation from the officer that Yeshua was dead, he granted Yosef the corpse.
46 Yosef purchased a linen sheet; and after taking Yeshua down, he wrapped him in the linen sheet, laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb.
47 Miryam of Magdala and Miryam the mother of Yosi saw where he had been laid.
1 When Shabbat was over, Miryam of Magdala, Miryam the mother of Ya'akov, and Shlomit bought spices in order to go and anoint Yeshua.
2 Very early the next day, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb.
3 They were asking each other, "Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?"
4 Then they looked up and saw that the stone, even though it was huge, had been rolled back already.
5 On entering the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right; and they were dumbfounded.
6 But he said, "Don't be so surprised! You're looking for Yeshua from Natzeret, who was executed on the stake. He has risen, he's not here! Look at the place where they laid him.
7 But go and tell his talmidim, especially Kefa, that he is going to the Galil ahead of you. You will see him there, just as he told you."
8 Trembling but ecstatic they went out and fled from the tomb, and they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.*
9 When Yeshua rose early Sunday, he appeared first to Miryam of Magdala, from whom he had expelled seven demons.
10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they were crying and mourning.
11 But when they heard that he was alive and that she had seen him, they wouldn't believe it.
12 After that, Yeshua appeared in another form to two of them as they were walking into the country.
13 They went and told the others, but they didn't believe them either.
14 Later, Yeshua appeared to the Eleven as they were eating, and he reproached them for their lack of trust and their spiritual insensitivity in not having believed those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 Then he said to them, "As you go throughout the world, proclaim the Good News to all creation.
16 Whoever trusts and is immersed will be saved; whoever does not trust will be condemned.
17 And these signs will accompany those who do trust: in my name they will drive out demons, speak with new tongues,
18 not be injured if they handle snakes or drink poison, and heal the sick by laying hands on them."
19 So then, after he had spoken to them, the Lord Yeshua was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God.
20 And they went out and proclaimed everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the message by the accompanying signs.