Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

1 Yeshua and histalmidimarrived 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 GodHa‘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 muchAdonaiin 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 Histalmidimresponded, “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 histalmidimfollowed him.

2 OnShabbathe 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 theTorahfor 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 atzaddik, 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’stalmidimheard 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. Thetalmidimcame 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 ab’rakhah. Next he broke up the loaves and began giving them to thetalmidimto 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 histalmidimget 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 thetzitziton his robe, and all who touched it were healed.

1 TheP’rushimand some of theTorah-teachers who had come from Yerushalayim gathered together with Yeshua

2 and saw that some of histalmidimate with ritually unclean hands, that is, without doingn’tilat-yadayim.

3 (For theP’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 TheP’rushimand theTorah-teachers asked him, “Why don’t yourtalmidimlive 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 akorban” ’ ” (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, histalmidimasked 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 histalmidimto 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 Histalmidimsaid 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 ab’rakhah, broke the loaves and gave them to histalmidimto serve to the people.

7 They also had a few fish; making ab’rakhahover them he also ordered these to be served.

8 The people ate their fill; and thetalmidimtook up the leftover pieces, seven large basketsful.

9 About four thousand were there.

10 After sending them away, Yeshua got into the boat with histalmidimand went off to the district of Dalmanuta.

11 TheP’rushimcame 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 thetalmidimhad 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 thehametzof theP’rushimand thehametzof 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 histalmidimwent on to the towns of Caesarea Philippi. On the way, he asked histalmidim, “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 theMashiach.”

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 headcohanimand theTorah-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 histalmidim, 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 histalmidimto 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 theTorah-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 theTanakhthat 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 theTanakhsays about him.”

14 When they got back to thetalmidim, they saw a large crowd around them and someTorah-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 yourtalmidimto 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, histalmidimasked 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 histalmidim. 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 SomeP’rushimcame up and tried to trap him by asking him, “Does theTorahpermit 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 agetand 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, thetalmidimasked 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 thetalmidimrebuked 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 ab’rakhahover 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 themitzvot— ‘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 histalmidim, “How hard it is going to be for people with wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!”

24 Thetalmidimwere 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 headcohanimand theTorah-teachers. They will sentence him to death and turn him over to theGoyim,

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 theGoyim, 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 histalmidimand 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 histalmidim

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 ofAdonai!”

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 histalmidimheard 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 theTanakh, My house will be called a house of prayer for all theGoyimBut you have made it into a den of robbers!”

18 The headcohanimand theTorah-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 thetalmidimpassed 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 headcohanim, theTorah-teachers and the elders;

28 and they said to him, “Whats’mikhahdo you have that authorizes you to do these things? Who gave you thiss’mikhahauthorizing you to do them?”

29 Yeshua said to them, “I will ask you just one question: answer me, and I will tell you by whats’mikhahI 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 whats’mikhahI 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 theTanakhthat says,

‘The very rock which the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone!

11 This has come fromAdonai,

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 someP’rushimand some members of Herod’s party to him in order to trap him with ash’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. DoesTorahsay 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 someTz’dukimcame to him. They are the ones who say there is no such thing as resurrection, so they put to him ash’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 theTanakhand 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 theTorah-teachers came up and heard them engaged in this discussion. Seeing that Yeshua answered them well, he asked him, “Which is the most importantmitzvahof them all?”

29 Yeshua answered, “The most important is,

‘Sh’ma Yisra’el,AdonaiEloheinu,Adonaiechad[Hear, O Isra’el, theLordour God, theLordis one],

30 and you are to loveAdonaiyour 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 othermitzvahgreater than these.”

32 TheTorah-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 anothersh’eilah.

35 As Yeshua was teaching in the Temple, he asked, “How is it that theTorah-teachers say the Messiah is the Son of David?

36 David himself, inspired by theRuach HaKodesh, said,

‘Adonaisaid 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 ofTorah-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 ofdavveningat 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 histalmidimto 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 thetalmidimsaid 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 localSanhedrins, 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 theGoyim.

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 theRuach 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 beforePesach(that is, the festival ofMatzah), and the headcohanimand theTorah-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 hadtzara‘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 headcohanimin 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 formatzah, when they slaughtered the lamb forPesach, Yeshua’stalmidimasked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare yourSeder?”

13 He sent two of histalmidimwith 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 thePesachmeal with mytalmidim?’

15 He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make the preparations there.”

16 Thetalmidimwent off, came to the city and found things just as he had told them they would be; and they prepared theSeder.

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 dippingmatzahin the dish with me.

21 For the Son of Man will die, just as theTanakhsays 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 ofmatzah, made theb’rakhah, broke it, gave it to them and said, “Take it! This is my body.”

23 Also he took a cup of wine, made theb’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 theHallel, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

27 Yeshua said to them, “You will all lose faith in me, for theTanakhsays,

‘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 histalmidim, “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 headcohanim, theTorah-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 thecohen 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 theTanakhbe 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 thecohen hagadol, with whom all the headcohanim, elders andTorah-teachers were assembling.

54 Kefa followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of thecohen hagadol, where he sat down with the guards and warmed himself by the fire.

55 The headcohanimand the wholeSanhedrintried 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 Thecohen hagadolstood 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 thecohen hagadolquestioned him: “Are you theMashiach,Ben-HaM’vorakh?”

62 “I AM,” answered Yeshua. “Moreover, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand ofHaG’vurahand coming on the clouds of heaven.”

63 At this, thecohen hagadoltore 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 thecohen 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.