To The Word – Day 86

₁Dear Theophilus:

Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us. ₂They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message. ₃And so, your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you. ₄I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.

₅During the time when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife's name was Elizabeth; she also belonged to a priestly family. ₆They both lived good lives in God's sight and obeyed fully all the Lord's laws and commands. ₇They had no children because Elizabeth could not have any, and she and Zechariah were both very old.

₈One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service. ₉According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the Lord, ₁₀while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burnt.

₁₁An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right of the altar where the incense was burnt. ₁₂When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. ₁₃But the angel said to him, “Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. ₁₄How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! ₁₅He will be a great man in the Lord's sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, ₁₆and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ₁₇He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord's people ready for him.”

₁₈Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also.”

₁₉“I am Gabriel,” the angel answered. “I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news. ₂₀But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true.”

₂₁In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple. ₂₂When he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Unable to say a word, he made signs to them with his hands.

₂₃When his period of service in the Temple was over, Zechariah went back home. ₂₄Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did not leave the house for five months. ₂₅“Now at last the Lord has helped me,” she said. “He has taken away my public disgrace!”

₂₆In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee named Nazareth. ₂₇He had a message for a young woman promised in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was a descendant of King David. Her name was Mary. ₂₈The angel came to her and said, “Peace be with you! The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you!”

₂₉Mary was deeply troubled by the angel's message, and she wondered what his words meant. ₃₀The angel said to her, “Don't be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you. ₃₁You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. ₃₂He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was, ₃₃and he will be the king of the descendants of Jacob for ever; his kingdom will never end!”

₃₄Mary said to the angel, “I am a virgin. How, then, can this be?”

₃₅The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God's power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God. ₃₆Remember your relative Elizabeth. It is said that she cannot have children, but she herself is now six months pregnant, even though she is very old. ₃₇For there is nothing that God cannot do.”

₃₈“I am the Lord's servant,” said Mary; “may it happen to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.

₃₉Soon afterwards Mary got ready and hurried off to a town in the hill country of Judea. ₄₀She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. ₄₁When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby moved within her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit ₄₂and said in a loud voice, “You are the most blessed of all women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ₄₃Why should this great thing happen to me, that my Lord's mother comes to visit me? ₄₄For as soon as I heard your greeting, the baby within me jumped with gladness. ₄₅How happy you are to believe that the Lord's message to you will come true!”

₄₆Mary said,

₅₆Mary stayed about three months with Elizabeth and then went back home.

₅₇The time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son. ₅₈Her neighbours and relatives heard how wonderfully good the Lord had been to her, and they all rejoiced with her.

₅₉When the baby was a week old, they came to circumcise him, and they were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. ₆₀But his mother said, “No! His name is to be John.”

₆₁They said to her, “But you have no relatives with that name!” ₆₂Then they made signs to his father, asking him what name he would like the boy to have.

₆₃Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” How surprised they all were! ₆₄At that moment Zechariah was able to speak again, and he started praising God. ₆₅The neighbours were all filled with fear, and the news about these things spread through all the hill country of Judea. ₆₆Everyone who heard of it thought about it and asked, “What is this child going to be?” For it was plain that the Lord's power was upon him.

₆₇John's father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he spoke God's message:

₈₀The child grew and developed in body and spirit. He lived in the desert until the day when he appeared publicly to the people of Israel.

₁At that time the Emperor Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Roman Empire. ₂When this first census took place, Quirinius was the governor of Syria. ₃Everyone, then, went to register himself, each to his own town.

₄Joseph went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to the town of Bethlehem in Judea, the birthplace of King David. Joseph went there because he was a descendant of David. ₅He went to register with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him. She was pregnant, ₆and while they were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to have her baby. ₇She gave birth to her first son, wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger — there was no room for them to stay in the inn.

₈There were some shepherds in that part of the country who were spending the night in the fields, taking care of their flocks. ₉An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone over them. They were terribly afraid, ₁₀but the angel said to them, “Don't be afraid! I am here with good news for you, which will bring great joy to all the people. ₁₁This very day in David's town your Saviour was born — Christ the Lord! ₁₂And this is what will prove it to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”

₁₃Suddenly a great army of heaven's angels appeared with the angel, singing praises to God:

₁₅When the angels went away from them back into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us.”

₁₆So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and saw the baby lying in the manger. ₁₇When the shepherds saw him, they told them what the angel had said about the child. ₁₈All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said. ₁₉Mary remembered all these things and thought deeply about them. ₂₀The shepherds went back, singing praises to God for all they had heard and seen; it had been just as the angel had told them.

₂₁A week later, when the time came for the baby to be circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given him before he had been conceived.

₂₂The time came for Joseph and Mary to perform the ceremony of purification, as the Law of Moses commanded. So they took the child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, ₂₃as it is written in the law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male is to be dedicated to the Lord.” ₂₄They also went to offer a sacrifice of a pair of doves or two young pigeons, as required by the law of the Lord.

₂₅At that time there was a man named Simeon living in Jerusalem. He was a good, God-fearing man and was waiting for Israel to be saved. The Holy Spirit was with him ₂₆and had assured him that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's promised Messiah. ₂₇Led by the Spirit, Simeon went into the Temple. When the parents brought the child Jesus into the Temple to do for him what the Law required, ₂₈Simeon took the child in his arms and gave thanks to God:

₃₃The child's father and mother were amazed at the things Simeon said about him. ₃₄Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “This child is chosen by God for the destruction and the salvation of many in Israel. He will be a sign from God which many people will speak against ₃₅and so reveal their secret thoughts. And sorrow, like a sharp sword, will break your own heart.”

_36-37There was a very old prophet, a widow named Anna, daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She had been married for only seven years and was now 84 years old. She never left the Temple; day and night she worshipped God, fasting and praying. ₃₈That very same hour she arrived and gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were waiting for God to set Jerusalem free.

₃₉When Joseph and Mary had finished doing all that was required by the law of the Lord, they returned to their home town of Nazareth in Galilee. ₄₀The child grew and became strong; he was full of wisdom, and God's blessings were upon him.

₄₁Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. ₄₂When Jesus was twelve years old, they went to the festival as usual. ₄₃When the festival was over, they started back home, but the boy Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. His parents did not know this; ₄₄they thought that he was with the group, so they travelled a whole day and then started looking for him among their relatives and friends. ₄₅They did not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem looking for him. ₄₆On the third day they found him in the Temple, sitting with the Jewish teachers, listening to them and asking questions. ₄₇All who heard him were amazed at his intelligent answers. ₄₈His parents were astonished when they saw him, and his mother said to him, “My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been terribly worried trying to find you.”

₄₉He answered them, “Why did you have to look for me? Didn't you know that I had to be in my Father's house?” ₅₀But they did not understand his answer.

₅₁So Jesus went back with them to Nazareth, where he was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. ₅₂Jesus grew both in body and in wisdom, gaining favour with God and people.

₁It was the fifteenth year of the rule of the Emperor Tiberius; Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip was ruler of the territory of Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias was ruler of Abilene, ₂and Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. At that time the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. ₃So John went throughout the whole territory of the River Jordan, preaching, “Turn away from your sins and be baptized, and God will forgive your sins.”

₇Crowds of people came out to John to be baptized by him. “You snakes!” he said to them. “Who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send? ₈Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins. And don't start saying among yourselves that Abraham is your ancestor. I tell you that God can take these stones and make descendants for Abraham! ₉The axe is ready to cut down the trees at the roots; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire.”

₁₀The people asked him, “What are we to do, then?”

₁₁He answered, “Whoever has two shirts must give one to the man who has none, and whoever has food must share it.”

₁₂Some tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what are we to do?”

₁₃“Don't collect more than is legal,” he told them.

₁₄Some soldiers also asked him, “What about us? What are we to do?”

He said to them, “Don't take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely. Be content with your pay.”

₁₅People's hopes began to rise, and they began to wonder whether John perhaps might be the Messiah. ₁₆So John said to all of them, “I baptize you with water, but someone is coming who is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ₁₇He has his winnowing shovel with him, to thresh out all the grain and gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn the chaff in a fire that never goes out.”

₁₈In many different ways John preached the Good News to the people and urged them to change their ways. ₁₉But John reprimanded Herod, the governor, because he had married Herodias, his brother's wife, and had done many other evil things. ₂₀Then Herod did an even worse thing by putting John in prison.

₂₁After all the people had been baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened, ₂₂and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.”

₂₃When Jesus began his work, he was about thirty years old. He was the son, so people thought, of Joseph, who was the son of Heli, ₂₄the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, ₂₅the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, ₂₆the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, ₂₇the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, ₂₈the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, ₂₉the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, ₃₀the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, ₃₁the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, ₃₂the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, ₃₃the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, ₃₄the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, ₃₅the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, ₃₆the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, ₃₇the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Kenan, ₃₈the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

₁Jesus returned from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert, ₂where he was tempted by the Devil for forty days. In all that time he ate nothing, so that he was hungry when it was over.

₃The Devil said to him, “If you are God's Son, order this stone to turn into bread.”

₄But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone.’ ”

₅Then the Devil took him up and showed him in a second all the kingdoms of the world. ₆“I will give you all this power and all this wealth,” the Devil told him. “It has all been handed over to me, and I can give it to anyone I choose. ₇All this will be yours, then, if you worship me.”

₈Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’ ”

₉Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem and set him on the highest point of the Temple, and said to him, “If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here. ₁₀For the scripture says, ‘God will order his angels to take good care of you.’ ₁₁It also says, ‘They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.’ ”

₁₂But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

₁₃When the Devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he left him for a while.

₁₄Then Jesus returned to Galilee, and the power of the Holy Spirit was with him. The news about him spread throughout all that territory. ₁₅He taught in the synagogues and was praised by everyone.

₁₆Then Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath he went as usual to the synagogue. He stood up to read the Scriptures ₁₇and was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written:

₂₀Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. All the people in the synagogue had their eyes fixed on him, ₂₁as he said to them, “This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read.”

₂₂They were all well impressed with him and marvelled at the eloquent words that he spoke. They said, “Isn't he the son of Joseph?”

₂₃He said to them, “I am sure that you will quote this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, heal yourself.’ You will also tell me to do here in my home town the same things you heard were done in Capernaum. ₂₄I tell you this,” Jesus added, “prophets are never welcomed in their home town.

₂₅“Listen to me: it is true that there were many widows in Israel during the time of Elijah, when there was no rain for 3.5 years and a severe famine spread throughout the whole land. ₂₆Yet Elijah was not sent to anyone in Israel, but only to a widow living in Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. ₂₇And there were many people suffering from a dreaded skin disease who lived in Israel during the time of the prophet Elisha; yet not one of them was healed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

₂₈When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were filled with anger. ₂₉They rose up, dragged Jesus out of the town, and took him to the top of the hill on which their town was built. They meant to throw him over the cliff, ₃₀but he walked through the middle of the crowd and went his way.

₃₁Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, where he taught the people on the Sabbath. ₃₂They were all amazed at the way he taught, because he spoke with authority. ₃₃In the synagogue was a man who had the spirit of an evil demon in him; he screamed out in a loud voice, ₃₄“Ah! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Are you here to destroy us? I know who you are: you are God's holy messenger!”

₃₅Jesus ordered the spirit, “Be quiet and come out of the man!” The demon threw the man down in front of them and went out of him without doing him any harm.

₃₆The people were all amazed and said to one another, “What kind of words are these? With authority and power this man gives orders to the evil spirits, and they come out!” ₃₇And the report about Jesus spread everywhere in that region.

₃₈Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, and they spoke to Jesus about her. ₃₉He went and stood at her bedside and ordered the fever to leave her. The fever left her, and she got up at once and began to wait on them.

₄₀After sunset all who had friends who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; he placed his hands on every one of them and healed them all. ₄₁Demons also went out from many people, screaming, “You are the Son of God!”

Jesus gave the demons an order and would not let them speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.

₄₂At daybreak Jesus left the town and went off to a lonely place. The people started looking for him, and when they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving. ₄₃But he said to them, “I must preach the Good News about the Kingdom of God in other towns also, because that is what God sent me to do.”

₄₄So he preached in the synagogues throughout the country.

₁One day Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret while the people pushed their way up to him to listen to the word of God. ₂He saw two boats pulled up on the beach; the fishermen had left them and were washing the nets. ₃Jesus got into one of the boats — it belonged to Simon — and asked him to push off a little from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and taught the crowd.

₄When he finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Push the boat out further to the deep water, and you and your partners let down your nets for a catch.”

₅“Master,” Simon answered, “we worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ₆They let them down and caught such a large number of fish that the nets were about to break. ₇So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full of fish that the boats were about to sink. ₈When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he fell on his knees before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord! I am a sinful man!”

₉He and the others with him were all amazed at the large number of fish they had caught. ₁₀The same was true of Simon's partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus said to Simon, “Don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”

₁₁They pulled the boats up on the beach, left everything, and followed Jesus.

₁₂Once Jesus was in a town where there was a man who was suffering from a dreaded skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he threw himself down and begged him, “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean!”

₁₃Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. “I do want to,” he answered. “Be clean!” At once the disease left the man. ₁₄Jesus ordered him, “Don't tell anyone, but go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice as Moses ordered.”

₁₅But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases. ₁₆But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.

₁₇One day when Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law were sitting there who had come from every town in Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. The power of the Lord was present for Jesus to heal the sick. ₁₈Some men came carrying a paralysed man on a bed, and they tried to take him into the house and put him in front of Jesus. ₁₉Because of the crowd, however, they could find no way to take him in. So they carried him up on the roof, made an opening in the tiles, and let him down on his bed into the middle of the group in front of Jesus. ₂₀When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven, my friend.”

₂₁The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who speaks such blasphemy! God is the only one who can forgive sins!”

₂₂Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Why do you think such things? ₂₃Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ₂₄I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralysed man, “I tell you, get up, pick up your bed, and go home!”

₂₅At once the man got up in front of them all, took the bed he had been lying on, and went home, praising God. ₂₆They were all completely amazed! Full of fear, they praised God, saying, “What marvellous things we have seen today!”

₂₇After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting in his office. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” ₂₈Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.

₂₉Then Levi had a big feast in his house for Jesus, and among the guests was a large number of tax collectors and other people. ₃₀Some Pharisees and some teachers of the Law who belonged to their group complained to Jesus' disciples. “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and other outcasts?” they asked.

₃₁Jesus answered them, “People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. ₃₂I have not come to call respectable people to repent, but outcasts.”

₃₃Some people said to Jesus, “The disciples of John fast frequently and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but your disciples eat and drink.”

₃₄Jesus answered, “Do you think you can make the guests at a wedding party go without food as long as the bridegroom is with them? Of course not! ₃₅But the day will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

₃₆Jesus also told them this parable: “No one tears a piece off a new coat to patch up an old coat. If he does, he will have torn the new coat, and the piece of new cloth will not match the old. ₃₇Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins, because the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will pour out, and the skins will be ruined. ₃₈Instead, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins! ₃₉And no one wants new wine after drinking old wine. ‘The old is better,’ he says.”

₁Jesus was walking through some cornfields on the Sabbath. His disciples began to pick the ears of corn, rub them in their hands, and eat the grain. ₂Some Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what our Law says you cannot do on the Sabbath?”

₃Jesus answered them, “Haven't you read what David did when he and his men were hungry? ₄He went into the house of God, took the bread offered to God, ate it, and gave it also to his men. Yet it is against our Law for anyone except the priests to eat that bread.”

₅And Jesus concluded, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

₆On another Sabbath Jesus went into a synagogue and taught. A man was there whose right hand was paralysed. ₇Some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees wanted a reason to accuse Jesus of doing wrong, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. ₈But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man, “Stand up and come here to the front.” The man got up and stood there. ₉Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you: what does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm? To save someone's life or destroy it?” ₁₀He looked around at them all; then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand became well again.

₁₁They were filled with rage and began to discuss among themselves what they could do to Jesus.

₁₂At that time Jesus went up a hill to pray and spent the whole night there praying to God. ₁₃When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles: ₁₄Simon (whom he named Peter) and his brother Andrew; James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, ₁₅Matthew and Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon (who was called the Patriot), ₁₆Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became the traitor.

₁₇When Jesus had come down from the hill with the apostles, he stood on a level place with a large number of his disciples. A large crowd of people was there from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon; ₁₈they had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those who were troubled by evil spirits also came and were healed. ₁₉All the people tried to touch him, for power was going out from him and healing them all.

₂₀Jesus looked at his disciples and said,

₂₂“Happy are you when people hate you, reject you, insult you, and say that you are evil, all because of the Son of Man! ₂₃Be glad when that happens, and dance for joy, because a great reward is kept for you in heaven. For their ancestors did the very same things to the prophets.

₂₆“How terrible when all people speak well of you; their ancestors said the very same things about the false prophets.

₂₇“But I tell you who hear me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ₂₈bless those who curse you, and pray for those who ill-treat you. ₂₉If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well. ₃₀Give to everyone who asks you for something, and when someone takes what is yours, do not ask for it back. ₃₁Do for others just what you want them to do for you.

₃₂“If you love only the people who love you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners love those who love them! ₃₃And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners do that! ₃₄And if you lend only to those from whom you hope to get it back, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount! ₃₅No! Love your enemies and do good to them; lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked. ₃₆Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.

₃₇“Do not judge others, and God will not judge you; do not condemn others, and God will not condemn you; forgive others, and God will forgive you. ₃₈Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands — all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you.”

₃₉And Jesus told them this parable: “One blind man cannot lead another one; if he does, both will fall into a ditch. ₄₀No pupil is greater than his teacher; but every pupil, when he has completed his training, will be like his teacher.

₄₁“Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but pay no attention to the log in your own eye? ₄₂How can you say to your brother, ‘Please, brother, let me take that speck out of your eye,’ yet cannot even see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

₄₃“A healthy tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a poor tree bear good fruit. ₄₄Every tree is known by the fruit it bears; you do not pick figs from thorn bushes or gather grapes from bramble bushes. ₄₅A good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his heart; a bad person brings bad out of his treasure of bad things. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

₄₆“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and yet don't do what I tell you? ₄₇Anyone who comes to me and listens to my words and obeys them — I will show you what he is like. ₄₈He is like a man who, in building his house, dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. The river overflowed and hit that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ₄₉But anyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a man who built his house without laying a foundation; when the flood hit that house it fell at once — and what a terrible crash that was!”