Bible Reading Plan – Day 276

₁₈While Jesus was saying this, a Jewish official came to him, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and place your hands on her, and she will live.”

₁₉So Jesus got up and followed him, and his disciples went along with him.

₂₀A woman who had suffered from severe bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and touched the edge of his cloak. ₂₁She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will get well.”

₂₂Jesus turned round and saw her, and said, “Courage, my daughter! Your faith has made you well.” At that very moment the woman became well.

₂₃Then Jesus went into the official's house. When he saw the musicians for the funeral and the people all stirred up, ₂₄he said, “Get out, everybody! The little girl is not dead — she is only sleeping!” Then they all laughed at him. ₂₅But as soon as the people had been put out, Jesus went into the girl's room and took hold of her hand, and she got up. ₂₆The news about this spread all over that part of the country.

₂₇Jesus left that place, and as he walked along, two blind men started following him. “Take pity on us, Son of David!” they shouted.

₂₈When Jesus had gone indoors, the two blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I can heal you?”

“Yes, sir!” they answered.

₂₉Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “Let it happen, then, just as you believe!” — ₃₀and their sight was restored. Jesus spoke sternly to them, “Don't tell this to anyone!”

₃₁But they left and spread the news about Jesus all over that part of the country.

₃₂As the men were leaving, some people brought to Jesus a man who could not talk because he had a demon. ₃₃But as soon as the demon was driven out, the man started talking, and everyone was amazed. “We have never seen anything like this in Israel!” they exclaimed.

₃₄But the Pharisees said, “It is the chief of the demons who gives Jesus the power to drive out demons.”

₃₅Jesus went round visiting all the towns and villages. He taught in the synagogues, preached the Good News about the Kingdom, and healed people with every kind of disease and sickness. ₃₆As he saw the crowds, his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were worried and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ₃₇So he said to his disciples, “The harvest is large, but there are few workers to gather it in. ₃₈Pray to the owner of the harvest that he will send out workers to gather in his harvest.”

₁Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and every sickness. ₂These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James and his brother John, the sons of Zebedee; ₃Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ₄Simon the Patriot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

₅These twelve men were sent out by Jesus with the following instructions: “Do not go to any Gentile territory or any Samaritan towns. ₆Instead, you are to go to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. ₇Go and preach, ‘The Kingdom of heaven is near!’ ₈Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, heal those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases, and drive out demons. You have received without paying, so give without being paid. ₉Do not carry any gold, silver, or copper money in your pockets; ₁₀do not carry a beggar's bag for the journey or an extra shirt or shoes or a stick. Workers should be given what they need.

₁₁“When you come to a town or village, go in and look for someone who is willing to welcome you, and stay with him until you leave that place. ₁₂When you go into a house, say, ‘Peace be with you.’ ₁₃If the people in that house welcome you, let your greeting of peace remain; but if they do not welcome you, then take back your greeting. ₁₄And if some home or town will not welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place and shake the dust off your feet. ₁₅I assure you that on the Judgement Day God will show more mercy to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah than to the people of that town!

₁₆“Listen! I am sending you out just like sheep to a pack of wolves. You must be as cautious as snakes and as gentle as doves. ₁₇Watch out, for there will be those who will arrest you and take you to court, and they will whip you in the synagogues. ₁₈For my sake you will be brought to trial before rulers and kings, to tell the Good News to them and to the Gentiles. ₁₉When they bring you to trial, do not worry about what you are going to say or how you will say it; when the time comes, you will be given what you will say. ₂₀For the words you will speak will not be yours; they will come from the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

₂₁“Men will hand over their own brothers to be put to death, and fathers will do the same to their children; children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. ₂₂Everyone will hate you because of me. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved. ₂₃When they persecute you in one town, run away to another one. I assure you that you will not finish your work in all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

₂₄“No pupil is greater than his teacher; no slave is greater than his master. ₂₅So a pupil should be satisfied to become like his teacher, and a slave like his master. If the head of the family is called Beelzebul, the members of the family will be called even worse names!

₂₆“So do not be afraid of people. Whatever is now covered up will be uncovered, and every secret will be made known. ₂₇What I am telling you in the dark you must repeat in broad daylight, and what you have heard in private you must announce from the housetops. ₂₈Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of God, who can destroy both body and soul in hell. ₂₉For only a penny you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. ₃₀As for you, even the hairs of your head have all been counted. ₃₁So do not be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows!

₃₂“For those who declare publicly that they belong to me, I will do the same before my Father in heaven. ₃₃But if anyone rejects me publicly, I will reject him before my Father in heaven.

₃₄“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ₃₅I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law; ₃₆your worst enemies will be the members of your own family.

₃₇“Those who love their father or mother more than me are not fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than me are not fit to be my disciples. ₃₈Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples. ₃₉Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it.

₄₀“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. ₄₁Whoever welcomes God's messenger because he is God's messenger, will share in his reward. And whoever welcomes a good man because he is good, will share in his reward. ₄₂You can be sure that whoever gives even a drink of cold water to one of the least of these my followers because he is my follower, will certainly receive a reward.”

₁When Jesus finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he left that place and went off to teach and preach in the towns near there.

₂When John the Baptist heard in prison about the things that Christ was doing, he sent some of his disciples to him. ₃“Tell us,” they asked Jesus, “are you the one John said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?”

₄Jesus answered, “Go back and tell John what you are hearing and seeing: ₅the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. ₆How happy are those who have no doubts about me!”

₇While John's disciples were leaving, Jesus spoke about him to the crowds: “When you went out to John in the desert, what did you expect to see? A blade of grass bending in the wind? ₈What did you go out to see? A man dressed up in fancy clothes? People who dress like that live in palaces! ₉Tell me, what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes indeed, but you saw much more than a prophet. ₁₀For John is the one of whom the scripture says: ‘God said, I will send my messenger ahead of you to open the way for you.’ ₁₁I assure you that John the Baptist is greater than anyone who has ever lived. But the one who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than John. ₁₂From the time John preached his message until this very day the Kingdom of heaven has suffered violent attacks, and violent men try to seize it. ₁₃Until the time of John all the prophets and the Law of Moses spoke about the Kingdom; ₁₄and if you are willing to believe their message, John is Elijah, whose coming was predicted. ₁₅Listen, then, if you have ears!

₁₆“Now, to what can I compare the people of this day? They are like children sitting in the market place. One group shouts to the other, ₁₇‘We played wedding music for you, but you wouldn't dance! We sang funeral songs, but you wouldn't cry!’ ₁₈When John came, he fasted and drank no wine, and everyone said, ‘He has a demon in him!’ ₁₉When the Son of Man came, he ate and drank, and everyone said, ‘Look at this man! He is a glutton and a drinker, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts!’ God's wisdom, however, is shown to be true by its results.”

₂₀The people in the towns where Jesus had performed most of his miracles did not turn from their sins, so he reproached those towns. ₂₁“How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would long ago have put on sackcloth and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins! ₂₂I assure you that on the Judgement Day God will show more mercy to the people of Tyre and Sidon than to you! ₂₃And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would still be in existence today! ₂₄You can be sure that on the Judgement Day God will show more mercy to Sodom than to you!”

₂₅At that time Jesus said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth! I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and learned. ₂₆Yes, Father, this was how you wanted it to happen.

₂₇“My Father has given me all things. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

₂₈“Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. ₂₉Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. ₃₀For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light.”