The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 1

¹The record of the birth of Yeshua the Anointed, son of David, son of Abraham.

²Abraham fathered Isaac. Isaac fathered Jacob. Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers.

³Judah fathered Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar. Perez fathered Hezron. Hezron fathered Ram.

⁴Ram fathered Amminadab. Amminadab fathered Nahshon. Nahshon fathered Salmon.

⁵Salmon fathered Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz fathered Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed fathered Jesse.

⁶Jesse fathered David the king. David fathered Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife.

⁷Solomon fathered Rehoboam. Rehoboam fathered Abijah. Abijah fathered Asa.

⁸Asa fathered Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat fathered Joram. Joram fathered Uzziah.

⁹Uzziah fathered Jotham. Jotham fathered Ahaz. Ahaz fathered Hezekiah.

¹⁰Hezekiah fathered Manasseh. Manasseh fathered Amon. Amon fathered Josiah.

¹¹Josiah fathered Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the exile to Babylon.

¹²After the exile to Babylon, Jeconiah fathered Shealtiel. Shealtiel fathered Zerubbabel.

¹³Zerubbabel fathered Abiud. Abiud fathered Eliakim. Eliakim fathered Azor.

¹⁴Azor fathered Zadok. Zadok fathered Achim. Achim fathered Eliud.

¹⁵Eliud fathered Eleazar. Eleazar fathered Matthan. Matthan fathered Jacob.

¹⁶Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her was born Yeshua, who is called the Anointed.

¹⁷So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen. From David to the exile to Babylon, fourteen. And from the exile to Babylon to the Anointed, fourteen.

¹⁸This is how the birth of Yeshua the Anointed came about. His mother, Mary, was promised in marriage to Joseph; but before they came together, she was found to be carrying a child by the Sacred Ruha.

Ruha: breath-wind-spirit.

¹⁹Joseph, her husband, was a man who did what was right, and he did not want to disgrace her in public. So he decided to release her quietly.

²⁰But as he was turning this over in his mind, an angel of God appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. What has been conceived in her is from the Sacred Ruha.

²¹She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua, for he will save his people from their errors."

²²All of this happened so that what God had spoken through the prophet would come true:

²³Look, the young woman will be with child and bear a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which means, God is with us.

²⁴When Joseph woke from his sleep, he did what the angel of God had told him: he took Mary home as his wife.

²⁵But he did not know her until she had given birth to a son. And he named him Yeshua.

Matthew 2

¹After Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east came to Jerusalem,

²asking, "Where is the one born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east, and we have come to bow down before him."

³When Herod the king heard this, he was shaken, and all Jerusalem with him.

⁴So he gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of the people and asked them where the Anointed was to be born.

⁵"In Bethlehem of Judea," they told him, "for this is what was written through the prophet:

⁶And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel."

⁷Then Herod called the magi to him in secret and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared.

⁸He sent them on to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, bring me word, so that I too may come and bow down before him."

⁹They listened to the king and went on their way. And there it was, the star they had seen in the east, going ahead of them until it came and stood still over the place where the child was.

¹⁰When they saw the star, they were filled with great joy.

¹¹They came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and bowed before him. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another road.

¹³After they had gone, an angel of God appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child to kill him."

¹⁴So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt.

¹⁵He stayed there until Herod's death, so that what God had spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my son.

¹⁶When Herod saw that the magi had outwitted him, he was furious. He sent and killed all the boys in Bethlehem and in all its surrounding country, from two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the magi.

¹⁷Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud wailing: Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.

¹⁹After Herod died, an angel of God appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt

²⁰and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead."

²¹So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

²²But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee,

²³and he came and settled in a town called Nazareth, so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.

Matthew 3

¹In those days John the Immerser came, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea.

²"Turn around," he said, "for the reign of heaven has come near."

³This is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

A voice cries out in the wilderness:

prepare the way of God. Make his paths straight.

⁴John wore a coat of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

⁵Then Jerusalem went out to him, and all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan.

⁶And they were immersed by him in the Jordan River, confessing where they had missed the mark.

⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his immersing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath that is coming?

⁸Bear fruit, then, worthy of your turning around.

⁹And don't tell yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father.' For I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham out of these very stones.

¹⁰Already the axe lies at the root of the trees. Every tree that doesn't bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹I immerse you in water for turning around. But one stronger than I am is coming after me, and I'm not worthy to carry his sandals. He will immerse you in the Sacred Ruha and in fire.

¹²His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

¹³Then Yeshua came from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be immersed by him.

¹⁴But John tried to stop him. "I'm the one who needs to be immersed by you," he said, "and you come to me?"

¹⁵Yeshua answered him: "Let it be so for now. This is how it's right for us, to fulfill all that is right." Then John let him.

¹⁶As soon as Yeshua was immersed, he came up from the water. The heavens were opened, and he saw Ruha of God coming down like a dove, lighting on him.

¹⁷And a voice from heaven said: "This is my Son, the beloved. In him I am well pleased."

Matthew 4

¹Then Yeshua was led by Ruha into the place of leading, the wilderness, to be tested by the accuser.

²After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

³The tester came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

⁴But he answered, "It is written: A person does not live on bread alone, but on every word from the mouth of God."

⁵Then the accuser took him to the sacred city and set him on the highest point of the temple.

⁶"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you on their hands, so you never strike your foot against a stone."

⁷Yeshua said to him, "It is also written: Do not put your God to the test."

⁸Again the accuser took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

⁹"All this I will give you," he said, "if you fall down and bow before me."

¹⁰Then Yeshua said to him, "Get away, adversary! For it is written: Revere your God, and serve him alone."

¹¹Then the accuser left him, and angels came and began to wait on him.

¹²When Yeshua heard that John had been handed over, he withdrew into Galilee.

¹³He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, beside the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,

¹⁴so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled:

¹⁵Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations:

¹⁶the people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; and on those sitting in the land and shadow of death, a light has dawned.

¹⁷From then on Yeshua began to proclaim, "Turn around, for the reign of heaven has come near."

¹⁸As he was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

¹⁹"Come, follow me," he said to them, "and I will make you fishers of people."

²⁰At once they left their nets and followed him.

²¹Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. And he called them.

²²At once they left the boat and their father, and followed him.

²³Yeshua went all through Galilee, teaching in their gatherings, proclaiming the hopeful news of the reign, and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

²⁴Word of him spread through all Syria, and they brought him everyone who was suffering: those gripped by every kind of disease and torment, those tormented by evil spirits, those falling into seizures, those unable to move. And he healed them.

²⁵And large crowds followed him, from Galilee and the Ten Cities, from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

Matthew 5

¹When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. He sat down, and his students came to him.

²He opened his mouth and began to teach them, saying:

³Flourishing are those poor in Ruha,
for the reign of heaven is theirs.

⁴Flourishing are those who are mourning,
for they will be comforted.

⁵Flourishing are those who are softening,
for they will inherit the earth.

⁶Flourishing are those hungering and thirsting for what is right,
for they will be filled.

⁷Flourishing are those showing compassion,
for compassion will be shown them.

⁸Flourishing are those being pure in heart,
for they will see God.

⁹Flourishing are those making wholeness,
for they will be called children of God.

¹⁰Flourishing are those hunted for the sake of what is right,
for the reign of heaven is theirs.

¹¹Flourishing are you when they revile you and hunt you and say every kind of wrong against you, lying, because of me.

¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great. They hunted the prophets before you the very same way.

¹³You are the salt of the earth. But when salt loses its taste, how can it be made salty again? It is good for nothing now but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

¹⁴You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

¹⁵No one lights a lamp and puts it under a measuring basket. They set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

¹⁶So let your light shine before people, that they may see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.

¹⁷Do not think I came to tear down the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to tear down, but to fulfill.

¹⁸Amen, I tell you: until heaven and earth pass away, not one yod, not one stroke of a letter will pass from the Law until all of it comes to pass.

¹⁹So whoever sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the reign of heaven. But whoever keeps them and teaches them will be called great in the reign of heaven.

²⁰For I tell you: unless your rightness runs deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the reign of heaven.

²¹You have heard it was said to those long ago: Do not murder; whoever murders must answer to the court.

²²But I tell you: everyone who rages at his brother must answer to the court. Whoever says to his brother, 'You empty-head,' must answer to the council. And whoever says, 'You fool,' must answer in the Gehenna of fire.

Gehenna: the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, a place of fire and refuse.

²³So if you are bringing your gift to the altar and remember there that your brother has something against you,

²⁴leave your gift right there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to your brother first; then come and offer your gift.

²⁵Settle quickly with the one who accuses you, while you are still on the road with him. Otherwise he may hand you to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.

²⁶Amen, I tell you: you will not get out until you have paid back the last small coin.

²⁷You have heard it was said: Do not commit adultery.

²⁸But I tell you: everyone who looks at a woman to crave her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

²⁹If your right eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away. Better to lose one part of you than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.

³⁰And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. Better to lose one part of you than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

³¹It was also said: Whoever sends his wife away must give her a certificate of divorce.

³²But I tell you: everyone who sends his wife away, except for sexual unfaithfulness, makes her the victim of adultery; and whoever marries a woman sent away commits adultery.

³³Again, you have heard it was said to those long ago: Do not break your oath, but keep your vows to God.

³⁴But I tell you: do not swear at all. Not by heaven, for it is God's throne;

³⁵not by the earth, for it is the stool under his feet; not toward Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

³⁶Do not even swear by your own head, for you cannot turn a single hair white or black.

³⁷Let your word be simply 'Yes' or 'No.' Anything more than this comes from what is wrong.

³⁸You have heard it was said: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.

³⁹But I tell you: do not stand against the one who does wrong. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.

⁴⁰If someone wants to take you to court and take your shirt, let him have your coat too.

⁴¹And if someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.

⁴²Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn away the one who wants to borrow.

⁴³You have heard it was said: Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

⁴⁴But I tell you: love your enemies, and pray for those who hunt you,

⁴⁵so that you may become children of your Father in heaven. He makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and sends rain on those who do what is right and those who do wrong.

⁴⁶For if you love only those who love you, what reward is that? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?

⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing that is so much more? Don't even the outsiders do the same?

⁴⁸So you must be whole, as your Father in heaven is whole.

Matthew 6

¹Be careful not to do what is right in front of others, just to be seen by them. If you do, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

²So when you give to the poor, don't sound a trumpet ahead of you, the way the actors do in the gathering places and the streets, fishing for the praise of people. Amen, I tell you: they already have their reward in full.

³But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

⁴so your giving stays hidden. And your Father, who sees what is hidden, will repay you.

⁵And when you pray, don't be like the actors. They love to stand and pray in the gathering places and on the street corners, so people will see them. Amen, I tell you: they already have their reward in full.

⁶But you, when you pray, go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is there in secret. And your Father, who sees what is hidden, will repay you.

⁷And when you pray, don't pile up empty words like the outsiders, who think they'll be heard for the sheer flood of them.

⁸So don't be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹So pray like this:

Our Father of heaven, your name be honored.

¹⁰May your reign come.

Let your will unfold
in heaven as well as on earth.

¹¹Give us the bread we need for today.

¹²And release us from our debts,
as we have released those in debt to us.

¹³And do not bring us to the trial,
but rescue us from what is wrong.

¹⁴For if you release others when they wrong you, your Father in heaven will release you too.

¹⁵But if you do not release others, your Father will not release your wrongs either.

¹⁶And when you fast, don't be gloomy like the actors. They make their faces look miserable so everyone can see they are fasting. Amen, I tell you: they already have their reward in full.

¹⁷But you, when you fast, oil your head and wash your face,

¹⁸so no one sees you fasting except your Father, who is there in secret. And your Father, who sees what is hidden, will repay you.

¹⁹Don't store up treasures for yourselves here on earth, where moth and rust eat them away and where thieves break in and steal.

²⁰Store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust eats them away and where no thief breaks in to steal.

²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be.

²²The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is single, your whole body is full of light.

²³But if your eye is divided, your whole body is full of darkness. And if the very light inside you is darkness, how deep that darkness goes!

²⁴No one can serve two masters. Either you'll hate the one and love the other, or hold to the one and have no use for the other. You cannot serve both God and possessions.

²⁵So I tell you: do not worry about your life, what you'll eat or drink, or about your body, what you'll wear. Isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

²⁶Look at the birds of heaven. They don't plant, they don't harvest, they don't gather into barns, and your Father in heaven feeds them. Aren't you worth far more than they are?

²⁷And which of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to your life?

²⁸And why worry about clothes? Look how the wildflowers of the field grow. They don't labor, they don't spin thread.

²⁹Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

³⁰If God dresses the grass of the field like that, here today and thrown into the oven tomorrow, won't he do far more for you, you of little trust?

³¹So don't worry, asking, "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear?"

³²The outsiders chase after all these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them all.

³³Seek first the reign of God and what is right, and all these things will be given to you as well.

³⁴So don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 7

¹Do not judge, and you won't be judged.

²For with the judgment you hand out, you'll be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

³Why do you stare at the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the beam in your own?

⁴How can you say to your brother, "Let me take the splinter out of your eye," when look, there's a beam in your own?

⁵You actor! First take the beam out of your own eye. Then you'll see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother's.

⁶Do not give what is sacred to the dogs, and do not throw your pearls in front of the pigs. They will only trample them underfoot, then turn and tear you apart.

⁷Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you.

⁸For everyone who asks receives; everyone who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.

⁹Which of you, when your son asks for bread, would hand him a stone?

¹⁰Or when he asks for a fish, would hand him a snake?

¹¹So if you, bad as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.

¹²So in everything, do for others what you want them to do for you. This is the Law and the Prophets.

¹³Go in through the narrow gate. Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to ruin, and many walk in through it.

¹⁴But narrow is the gate and hard is the road that leads to life, and few are the ones who find it.

¹⁵Watch out for the false prophets. They come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are ravenous wolves.

¹⁶You will know them by their fruit. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from briars?

¹⁷In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but a diseased tree bears bad fruit.

¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a diseased tree cannot bear good fruit.

¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

²⁰So then, you will know them by their fruit.

²¹Not everyone who says to me, "Master, master," will go into the reign of heaven, only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

²²On that day many will say to me, "Master, master, didn't we prophesy in your name? In your name didn't we drive out evil spirits and do many works of power?"

²³And then I will tell them plainly: I never knew you. Get away from me, you who practice lawlessness.

²⁴So everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.

²⁵The rain came down, the floods came, the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not fall, because it was founded on rock.

²⁶And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

²⁷The rain came down, the floods came, the winds blew and battered that house, and it fell, and great was its fall.

²⁸When Yeshua had finished these words, the crowds were stunned at his teaching,

²⁹because he was teaching them as one who has authority, not the way their scribes did.

Matthew 8

¹When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.

²A man with leprosy came up and knelt before him. "Master," he said, "if you are willing, you can make me clean."

³Yeshua reached out his hand and touched him. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean." And at once his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴Then Yeshua told him: "See that you say nothing to anyone. Go, show yourself to the priest, and bring the gift Moses commanded, as a witness to them."

⁵When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading with him.

⁶"Master," he said, "my boy is lying at home, paralyzed, in terrible pain."

⁷Yeshua said to him: "I will come and heal him."

⁸But the centurion answered: "Master, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Only say the word, and my boy will be healed.

⁹For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."

¹⁰When Yeshua heard this, he was amazed. He said to those following him: "Amen, I tell you: I have not found trust like this in anyone in Israel.

¹¹And I tell you: many will come from east and west and take their place at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the reign of heaven.

¹²But the sons of the reign will be thrown out into the darkness outside. There will be weeping there, and the gnashing of teeth."

¹³Then Yeshua said to the centurion: "Go. As you have trusted, so let it be done for you." And the boy was healed in that very hour.

¹⁴When Yeshua came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying down, burning with fever.

¹⁵He touched her hand, and the fever left her. She got up and began to serve him.

¹⁶When evening came, they brought him many who were troubled by unclean spirits. He drove the spirits out with a word, and he healed all who were suffering.

¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: He has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains.

¹⁸When Yeshua saw the crowd around him, he gave the order to cross to the other side.

¹⁹Then a scribe came up to him. "Teacher," he said, "I will follow you wherever you go."

²⁰Yeshua said to him: "Foxes have dens, and the birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

²¹Another of the students said to him: "Master, first let me go and bury my father."

²²But Yeshua told him: "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

²³Then he got into the boat, and his students followed him.

²⁴A great storm rose up on the sea, so that the waves were sweeping over the boat. But Yeshua was sleeping.

²⁵They went and woke him. "Master, rescue us!" they cried. "We're going under!"

²⁶He said to them: "Why are you afraid, you with so little trust?" Then he stood up and ordered the winds and the sea to be still, and there was a great calm.

²⁷The men were stunned. "What kind of man is this," they said, "that even the winds and the sea obey him?"

²⁸When he reached the other side, the region of the Gadarenes, two men troubled by evil spirits met him, coming out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.

²⁹They cried out: "What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"

³⁰Some distance away from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding.

³¹The evil spirits begged him: "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs."

³²"Go," he told them. So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and died in the water.

³³The herdsmen ran off. They went into the town and told everything, including what had happened to the men who had been troubled by evil spirits.

³⁴The whole town came out to meet Yeshua. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Matthew 9

¹He stepped into a boat, crossed the water, and came to his own town.

²They brought him a paralyzed man, lying on his mat. When Yeshua saw their trust, he said to the man, "Take heart, child. Your errors are released."

³At this, some of the scribes said among themselves, "This man is blaspheming."

⁴Yeshua saw what they were thinking and said, "Why do you hold such wrong in your hearts?

⁵Which is easier: to say, 'Your errors are released,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?

⁶But so you will know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to release errors." Then he turned to the paralyzed man: "Get up, take your mat, and go home."

⁷And the man got up and went home.

⁸When the crowds saw it, awe swept over them, and they gave honor to God, who had given such authority to people.

⁹As Yeshua moved on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. "Follow me," he said. And Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰Later, while Yeshua was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and others who miss the mark came and reclined with him and his students.

¹¹When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his students, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and those who miss the mark?"

¹²Yeshua heard, and said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

¹³Go and learn what this means: I want compassion, not sacrifice. I did not come to call those doing what is right, but those who miss the mark."

¹⁴Then John's students came to him and asked, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast so often, but your students do not fast at all?"

¹⁵Yeshua answered, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn while he is still with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth onto an old coat. The patch pulls away from the coat, and the tear is made worse.

¹⁷And no one pours new wine into old skins. If they do, the skins burst, the wine spills, and the skins are ruined. No. New wine goes into fresh skins, and both are kept safe."

¹⁸While he was still speaking, a ruler came and knelt before him. "My daughter has just died," he said. "But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live."

¹⁹So Yeshua got up and went with him, and his students came too.

²⁰A woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.

²¹For she kept telling herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well."

²²Yeshua turned, saw her, and said, "Take heart, daughter. Your trust has made you well." And the woman was well from that hour.

²³When Yeshua came into the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd in an uproar,

²⁴he said, "Step back. The girl is not dead. She is only sleeping." And they laughed at him.

²⁵But once the crowd had been put outside, he went in, took her by the hand, and the girl rose up.

²⁶And word of this went out through that whole region.

²⁷As Yeshua moved on from there, two blind men followed him, crying out, "Have compassion on us, Son of David!"

²⁸When he came into the house, the blind men came to him, and Yeshua asked them, "Do you trust that I can do this?" "Yes, Master," they said.

²⁹Then he touched their eyes and said, "Let it be done for you, according to your trust."

³⁰And their eyes were opened. Yeshua warned them sternly, "See that no one finds out."

³¹But they went out and spread word of him through that whole region.

³²As they were leaving, a man was brought to him who could not speak, held by an evil spirit.

³³When the evil spirit was driven out, the man who had been silent spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."

³⁴But the Pharisees said, "He drives out evil spirits by the ruler of the evil spirits."

³⁵Yeshua went all through the towns and villages, teaching in their gathering places, announcing the hopeful news of the reign, and healing every disease and every affliction.

³⁶When he saw the crowds, compassion moved deep within him, for they were worn out and scattered, like sheep with no shepherd.

³⁷Then he said to his students, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few.

³⁸So beg the Master of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest."

Matthew 10

¹He called his twelve students to him and gave them authority over unclean spirits: to drive them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.

²These are the names of the twelve sent ones: first, Simon, the one called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

³Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

⁴Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who handed him over.

⁵These twelve Yeshua sent out, charging them: "Don't take the road to the outsiders, and don't enter a town of the Samaritans.

⁶Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

⁷And as you go, announce this: the reign of heaven has come near.

⁸Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out evil spirits. Freely you received, so freely give.

⁹Take no gold, no silver, no copper for your belts;

¹⁰no bag for the road, no second shirt, no sandals, no walking staff. The worker is worth his keep.

¹¹Whatever town or village you enter, find out who there is worthy, and stay with them until you leave.

¹²When you go into the house, greet it.

¹³If the house is worthy, let your wholeness settle on it. But if it is not worthy, let your wholeness come back to you.

¹⁴And if anyone won't welcome you or listen to your words, as you leave that house or town, shake its dust from your feet.

¹⁵Amen, I tell you: on the day of judgment it will go easier for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

¹⁶Look, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves.

¹⁷Watch out for people. They will hand you over to the councils, and flog you in their gatherings.

¹⁸You'll be dragged before governors and kings on my account, as a witness to them and to the nations.

¹⁹When they hand you over, don't worry about how to speak or what to say. What you are to say will be given to you in that hour,

²⁰because it is not you who speak, but Ruha of your Father, speaking through you.

²¹Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

²²Everyone will hate you because of my name. But the one who holds on to the end, this is the one who will live.

²³When they hunt you in one town, flee to the next. For amen, I tell you: you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

²⁴A student is not above the teacher, and a slave is not above his master.

²⁵It is enough for the student to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the rest of his household.

²⁶So don't be afraid of them. Nothing is covered that won't be uncovered, nothing hidden that won't be made known.

²⁷What I tell you in the dark, say in the daylight; what you hear whispered in your ear, shout from the rooftops.

²⁸Don't be afraid of those who kill the body but can't kill the self. Be afraid instead of the One who can destroy both self and body in Gehenna.

²⁹Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father.

³⁰And even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

³¹So don't be afraid: you are worth more than many sparrows.

³²So everyone who acknowledges me before others, I will acknowledge them too, before my Father in heaven.

³³But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown them too, before my Father in heaven.

³⁴Don't think I came to bring wholeness to the earth. I came to bring not wholeness, but a sword.

³⁵I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a bride against her mother-in-law.

³⁶A person's enemies will be the people of his own house.

³⁷Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

³⁸And whoever does not take up their cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

³⁹Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

⁴⁰Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the One who sent me.

⁴¹Whoever welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes someone who does what is right, because he does what is right, will receive that one's reward.

⁴²And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a student, amen, I tell you, that one will never lose their reward."

Matthew 11

¹When Yeshua had finished instructing his twelve students, he moved on from there to teach and to proclaim in their towns.

²Now John, hearing in prison what the Anointed One was doing, sent word through his students

³to ask him, "Are you the one who is coming, or should we wait for another?"

⁴Yeshua answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see:

⁵the blind see again, the lame walk, those with leprosy are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are given the hopeful news.

⁶And it is well with the one who does not stumble over me."

⁷As they were leaving, Yeshua began to speak to the crowds about John. "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

⁸What did you go out to see, then? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothes are in the palaces of kings.

⁹So what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet.

¹⁰This is the one it was written about: 'Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will clear the way before you.'

¹¹Amen, I tell you: among all born of women, none has risen greater than John the Immerser. And yet the least in the reign of heaven is greater than he.

¹²From the days of John the Immerser until now, the reign of heaven has been forced, and the violent are seizing it.

¹³For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied, up until John.

¹⁴And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come.

¹⁵Whoever has ears, let them hear.

¹⁶To what should I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, calling out to the others:

¹⁷'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. We sang a lament, and you did not mourn.'

¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has an evil spirit.'

¹⁹The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and of those who miss the mark.' Yet wisdom is proven right by what she does."

²⁰Then he began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not turn around.

²¹"Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have turned around long ago, in sackcloth and ashes.

²²But I tell you: it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

²³And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to heaven? You will go down to Sheol. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would still be standing today.

²⁴But I tell you: it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

²⁵At that time Yeshua said, "I praise you openly, Father, Master of heaven and earth: you have hidden these things from the wise and the clever, and revealed them to those not yet speaking.

²⁶Yes, Father, for this is what pleased you.

²⁷Everything has been handed over to me by my Father. And no one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son, and anyone the Son chooses to reveal him to.

²⁸Come to me, all of you who are worn out and weighed down, and I will give you rest.

²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves.

³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my load is light."

Matthew 12

¹At that time Yeshua walked through the grainfields on the sabbath. His students were hungry, so they began to pull heads of grain and eat.

²When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your students are doing what isn't allowed on the sabbath."

³He answered them, "Haven't you read what David did when he was hungry, he and the men with him?

⁴How he went into the house of God, and they ate the bread of the Presence, bread he wasn't allowed to eat, nor were the men with him, but only the priests?

⁵Or haven't you read in the Law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and carry no guilt?

⁶And I tell you: something greater than the temple is here.

⁷If you had known what this means, I want compassion, not sacrifice, you wouldn't have condemned the guiltless.

⁸For the Son of Man is master of the sabbath."

⁹Moving on from there, he came into their gathering.

¹⁰And there, a man with a withered hand. Looking to bring a charge against him, they asked, "Is it allowed to heal on the sabbath?"

¹¹He said to them, "Which of you, if he had one sheep and it fell into a pit on the sabbath, wouldn't grab hold of it and lift it out?

¹²And how much more is a person worth than a sheep! So it is allowed to do good on the sabbath."

¹³Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and it was made whole, sound as the other.

¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him, how they might destroy him.

¹⁵Knowing this, Yeshua withdrew from there. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all,

¹⁶warning them not to make him known,

¹⁷so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah would come true:

¹⁸"Look, my servant, the one I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my self delights. I will set my Ruha on him, and he will carry justice to the nations.

¹⁹He won't quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰A bruised reed he won't break, a smoldering wick he won't snuff out, until he brings justice through to victory.

²¹And in his name the nations will place their hope."

²²Then they brought him a man, blind and mute, held by an unclean spirit. Yeshua healed him, so that the mute man could speak and see.

²³All the crowds were stunned and kept asking, "Could this be the Son of David?"

²⁴But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man drives out the evil spirits only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the evil spirits."

²⁵Knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, "Every reign divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

²⁶And if the adversary drives out the adversary, he is divided against himself. How then will his reign stand?

²⁷And if I drive out the evil spirits by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? So they will be your judges.

²⁸But if I drive out the evil spirits by Ruha of God, then the reign of God has come upon you.

²⁹Or how can someone go into a strong man's house and carry off his goods, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder the house.

³⁰Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

³¹So I tell you: every error and slander will be released for people, but slander against Ruha will not be released.

³²Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be released; but whoever speaks against the Sacred Ruha will not be released, not in this age or in the age to come.

³³Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree diseased and its fruit rotten, for the tree is known by its fruit.

³⁴You brood of vipers! How can you say anything good when you are bad? For the mouth speaks out of what overflows the heart.

³⁵The good person brings good things out of a good store, and the bad person brings bad things out of a bad store.

³⁶And I tell you: for every empty word people speak, they will answer for it on the day of judgment.

³⁷For by your words you will be cleared, and by your words you will be condemned."

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees spoke up: "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you."

³⁹He answered them, "A bad and unfaithful generation looks for a sign, and no sign will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

⁴⁰For just as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

⁴¹The men of Nineveh will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they turned around at the preaching of Jonah, and look, something greater than Jonah is here.

⁴²The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and look, something greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it roams through waterless places looking for rest, and finds none.

⁴⁴Then it says, 'I'll go back to my house, the one I left.' It comes and finds the house empty, swept clean, and put in order.

⁴⁵Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits worse than itself, and they move in and settle there. And that person ends up worse off than before. So it will be for this bad generation too."

⁴⁶While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, looking to speak with him.

⁴⁷Someone said to him, "Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, looking to speak with you."

⁴⁸He answered the one who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"

⁴⁹And stretching out his hand toward his students, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers.

⁵⁰For whoever aligns with the unfolding will of my Father in heaven, that one is my brother and sister and mother."

Matthew 13

¹That same day Yeshua went out of the house and sat down beside the sea.

²Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while all the crowd stood on the shore.

³And he told them many things in parables. "Look," he said, "a sower went out to sow.

⁴As he scattered the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

⁵Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once, because the soil was shallow.

⁶But when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered.

⁷Some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.

⁸And some fell on good soil and gave a harvest: a hundred times, sixty times, thirty times over.

⁹Whoever has ears, let them hear."

¹⁰The students came up and asked him, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"

¹¹He answered, "To you it is given to know the secrets of the reign of heaven, but to them it is not given.

¹²For whoever has, more will be given, until it overflows; but whoever has not, even what he has will be taken from him.

¹³This is why I speak to them in parables: because they look and do not see, they listen and do not hear or understand.

¹⁴In them the prophecy of Isaiah comes true: You will listen and listen, and never understand; you will look and look, and never see.

¹⁵For the heart of this people has grown thick. They hear heavily with their ears, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes, or hear with their ears, or understand in their heart, and turn around, and let me heal them.

¹⁶But fortunate are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.

¹⁷Amen, I tell you: many prophets and many who did what is right longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

¹⁸So listen, then, to the parable of the sower.

¹⁹When anyone hears the word of the reign and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

²⁰The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy,

²¹but he has no root in himself and lasts only a while. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he stumbles at once.

²²The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worry of this age and the lie of riches choke the word, and it gives no fruit.

²³But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who bears fruit and yields: a hundred times, sixty times, thirty times over."

²⁴He set before them another parable. "The reign of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

²⁵But while everyone slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.

²⁶When the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared too.

²⁷The slaves of the householder came to him and said, 'Master, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did the weeds come from?'

²⁸He told them, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'

²⁹'No,' he said, 'because if you pull up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.

³⁰Let them both grow together until the harvest. And at harvest time I will tell the harvesters: gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to be burned, but bring the wheat into my barn.'"

³¹He set before them another parable. "The reign of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

³²It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the largest of the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and nest in its branches."

³³He told them another parable. "The reign of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened."

³⁴Yeshua said all this to the crowds in parables; he said nothing to them without a parable,

³⁵so that what was spoken through the prophet would come true: I will open my mouth in parables; I will pour out what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.

³⁶Then he left the crowds and went into the house. His students came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."

³⁷He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

³⁸The field is the world. The good seed is the children of the reign; the weeds are the children of the evil one;

³⁹the enemy who sowed them is the accuser. The harvest is the completion of the age, and the harvesters are the messengers.

⁴⁰So just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, that is how it will be at the completion of the age.

⁴¹The Son of Man will send out his messengers, and they will gather out of his reign everything that makes people stumble, and all who do wrong,

⁴²and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁴³Then those doing what is right will shine like the sun in the reign of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

⁴⁴The reign of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. A man found it and hid it again, and in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.

⁴⁵Again, the reign of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.

⁴⁶When he found one pearl of great price, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

⁴⁷Again, the reign of heaven is like a net let down into the sea that caught fish of every kind.

⁴⁸When it was full, they hauled it up onto the shore. Then they sat down and gathered the good fish into baskets, but threw the bad ones away.

⁴⁹That is how it will be at the completion of the age. The messengers will go out and separate those doing wrong from those doing what is right,

⁵⁰and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹"Have you understood all this?" "Yes," they told him.

⁵²And he said to them, "So then, every scribe trained for the reign of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his storeroom things new and old."

⁵³When Yeshua had finished these parables, he moved on from there.

⁵⁴He came to his hometown and taught them in their gathering, and they were stunned. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?" they said.

⁵⁵"Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother named Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

⁵⁶And aren't all his sisters here with us? So where did this man get all this?"

⁵⁷And they took offense at him. But Yeshua said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and in his own house."

⁵⁸And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their lack of trust.

Matthew 14

¹At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Yeshua,

²and he said to his servants, "This is John the Immerser. He has been raised from the dead. That is why these powers are at work in him."

³For Herod had seized John, bound him, and put him in prison, on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.

⁴John had been telling him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."

⁵Herod wanted to kill him, but he was afraid of the crowd, because they held John to be a prophet.

⁶Then, on Herod's birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them all, and she delighted Herod,

⁷so he swore an oath to give her whatever she asked.

⁸Pushed forward by her mother, she said, "Give me the head of John the Immerser, here, on a platter."

⁹The king was grieved, but because of his oaths and his guests, he ordered it to be given.

¹⁰He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

¹¹His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, and she carried it to her mother.

¹²John's students came, took the body, and buried it. Then they went and told Yeshua.

¹³When Yeshua heard, he withdrew from there by boat to a deserted place, off by himself. But the crowds heard, and they followed him on foot from the towns.

¹⁴When he stepped ashore, he saw the great crowd, and compassion moved deep within him, and he healed their sick.

¹⁵As evening came, his students came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves food."

¹⁶But Yeshua said to them, "They don't need to go. You give them something to eat."

¹⁷"All we have here," they told him, "is five loaves and two fish."

¹⁸"Bring them here to me," he said.

¹⁹He told the crowds to sit down on the grass. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, gave the blessing, and broke the loaves. He gave them to the students, and the students to the crowds.

²⁰Everyone ate and was filled. And they took up what was left over: twelve baskets full of broken pieces.

²¹Those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

²²Right away he made the students get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he stayed to send the crowds away.

²³And when he had sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. Evening came, and he was there alone.

²⁴The boat was already far from land, battered by the waves, for the wind was against them.

²⁵In the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea.

²⁶When the students saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. "It's a ghost!" they said, and they cried out in fear.

²⁷But right away Yeshua spoke to them. "Take heart," he said. "It is I. Don't be afraid."

²⁸Peter answered him, "Master, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."

²⁹"Come," he said. So Peter climbed down from the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Yeshua.

³⁰But when he saw the strong wind, he was afraid, and he began to sink. "Master, pull me free!" he cried.

³¹At once Yeshua reached out his hand and caught hold of him. "You with so little trust," he said, "why did you waver?"

³²And when they climbed into the boat, the wind dropped.

³³Those in the boat knelt before him and said, "Truly, you are the Son of God."

³⁴When they had crossed over, they came ashore at Gennesaret.

³⁵The men of that place recognized him and sent word through all the country around, and they brought him everyone who was ill.

³⁶They begged him just to let them touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were made well.

Matthew 15

¹Then Pharisees and scribes came to Yeshua from Jerusalem and asked,

²"Why do your students break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat bread."

³He answered them, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

⁴For God said, Honor your father and your mother, and, Whoever curses father or mother must be put to death.

⁵But you say that whoever tells his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might have had from me is a gift to God,'

⁶he need not honor his father. And so you have cancelled the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

⁷You actors! Isaiah said it well when he spoke of you:

⁸This people honors me with their lips, but their heart stays far from me.

⁹They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine the rules of men."

¹⁰Then he called the crowd to him and said, "Listen, and understand.

¹¹It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person."

¹²Then his students came to him and said, "Do you know the Pharisees were offended when they heard that?"

¹³He answered, "Every plant my heavenly Father did not plant will be torn up by the roots.

¹⁴Leave them. They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit."

¹⁵Peter spoke up and said to him, "Explain this riddle to us."

¹⁶And he said, "Are you still without understanding too?

¹⁷Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the belly and passes on out?

¹⁸But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those are what defile a person.

¹⁹For out of the heart come bad thoughts: murder, adultery, sexual sin, theft, false witness, slander.

²⁰These are what defile a person. Eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person."

²¹Yeshua left that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

²²A Canaanite woman from that territory came out, crying, "Have compassion on me, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly tormented by an evil spirit."

²³But he answered her not a word. And his students came and urged him, "Send her away. She keeps crying out after us."

²⁴He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

²⁵But she came and knelt before him. "Master," she said, "help me."

²⁶He answered, "It isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

²⁷"Yes, Master," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."

²⁸Then Yeshua answered her, "Woman, great is your trust. Let it be done for you as you want." And her daughter was healed from that hour.

²⁹Yeshua moved on from there and came along the Sea of Galilee. He went up the mountain and sat down there,

³⁰and large crowds came to him, bringing with them the mute, the blind, the lame, the crippled, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them,

³¹so the crowd was stunned to see the mute speaking, the crippled made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

³²Then Yeshua called his students to him and said, "I have compassion for the crowd. They have stayed with me three days now and have nothing to eat, and I don't want to send them away hungry. They might give out on the road."

³³His students said to him, "Where in this wilderness could we find enough bread to fill so great a crowd?"

³⁴Yeshua said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" "Seven," they said, "and a few small fish."

³⁵So he told the crowd to sit down on the ground.

³⁶He took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and kept giving them to the students, and the students to the crowds.

³⁷They all ate and were filled, and they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

³⁸Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

³⁹Then he sent the crowds away, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magadan.

Matthew 16

¹The Pharisees and Sadducees came up to test him, asking him to show them a sign from the heavens.

²He answered them: "When evening comes, you say, 'Fair weather: the heavens are red.'

³And in the morning, 'Storm today: the heavens are red and gloomy.' You know how to interpret the face of the heavens, but you can't discern the signs of the times.

⁴A bad and unfaithful generation looks for a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah." Then he left them and went away.

⁵When the students crossed to the other side, they had forgotten to bring bread.

⁶Yeshua said to them: "Watch out. Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

⁷They talked it over among themselves: "He says this because we didn't bring bread."

⁸Yeshua knew, and he said: "You of so little trust, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?

⁹Don't you understand yet? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered up?

¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you gathered up?

¹¹How is it you don't understand I wasn't speaking to you about bread? Guard yourselves against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

¹²Then they understood. He wasn't telling them to guard against the yeast in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³When Yeshua came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his students: "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

¹⁴They said: "Some say John the Immerser; others, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

¹⁵"But you," he said to them, "who do you say I am?"

¹⁶Simon Peter answered: "You are the Anointed One, the Son of the living God."

¹⁷Yeshua answered him: "It is well with you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.

¹⁸And I tell you: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my gathering, and the gates of Sheol will not overpower it.

¹⁹I will give you the keys of the reign of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven."

²⁰Then he warned the students to tell no one that he was the Anointed One.

²¹From then on Yeshua began to show his students that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer much at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

²²Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: "Mercy on you, Master. This will never happen to you."

²³But he turned around and said to Peter: "Get behind me, adversary. You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not thinking the thoughts of God, but of men."

²⁴Then Yeshua said to his students: "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

²⁵For whoever wants to keep his life alive will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

²⁶What good is it if someone gains the whole world but forfeits his life? What could a person give in exchange for his life?

²⁷For the Son of Man is going to come in the majesty of his Father, with his angels, and then he will repay each one according to what he has done.

²⁸Amen, I tell you: some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his reign."

Matthew 17

¹Six days later, Yeshua took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

²And he was transformed in front of them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes turned white as the light.

³Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.

⁴Peter spoke up and said to Yeshua, "Master, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I'll put up three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

⁵While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud: "This is my Son, the one I love. In him I am well pleased. Listen to him."

⁶When the students heard it, they fell on their faces, terrified.

⁷Then Yeshua came over, touched them, and said, "Get up. Don't be afraid."

⁸And when they lifted their eyes, they saw no one but Yeshua alone.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, Yeshua ordered them, "Tell no one what you saw, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead."

¹⁰And the students asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"

¹¹He answered, "Elijah does come, and he will restore everything.

¹²But I tell you: Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him. Instead they did to him whatever they wanted. In the same way the Son of Man too is about to suffer at their hands."

¹³Then the students understood that he was speaking to them about John the Immerser.

¹⁴When they came to the crowd, a man came up to him, knelt before him,

¹⁵and said, "Master, have mercy on my son. He is moonstruck and suffers terribly. Again and again he falls into the fire, and again and again into the water.

¹⁶I brought him to your students, but they couldn't heal him."

¹⁷Yeshua answered, "You faithless and twisted generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I bear with you? Bring him here to me."

¹⁸And Yeshua rebuked it, and the evil spirit came out of him, and the boy was healed from that very hour.

¹⁹Then the students came to Yeshua privately and said, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"

²⁰He told them, "Because you trust so little. Amen, I tell you: if you have trust the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

²²As they were gathering in Galilee, Yeshua said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be handed over into human hands.

²³They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised." And they were filled with grief.

²⁴When they came to Capernaum, those who collect the temple tax came up to Peter and said, "Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax?"

²⁵"Yes," he said. And when he came into the house, Yeshua spoke first: "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take tolls and taxes: from their own children, or from outsiders?"

²⁶When Peter said, "From outsiders," Yeshua told him, "Then the children are free.

²⁷But so we don't cause them to stumble, go to the sea, throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin. Take it and give it to them, for me and for you."

Matthew 18

¹At that hour the students came to Yeshua and asked, "Who, then, is greatest in the reign of heaven?"

²So he called a little child over, stood the child in front of them,

³and said, "Amen, I tell you: unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the reign of heaven.

⁴Whoever makes himself low, like this little child, that is the one who is greatest in the reign of heaven.

⁵And whoever welcomes one little child like this in my name welcomes me.

⁶But whoever causes one of these little ones who trust into me to stumble, better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.

⁷How terrible for the world, with all that causes people to stumble! The stumbling is bound to come, but how terrible for the one through whom it comes.

⁸If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. Better to enter into life maimed or lame than to keep two hands or two feet and be thrown into the timeless fire.

⁹And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away. Better to enter into life with one eye than to keep two eyes and be thrown into Gehenna, into its fire.

¹⁰See that you don't look down on a single one of these little ones. For I tell you: in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father in heaven.

¹²What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, won't he leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go searching for the one that wandered away?

¹³And if he finds it, amen, I tell you, he rejoices over that one more than over the ninety-nine that never wandered.

¹⁴In the same way, your Father in heaven does not want a single one of these little ones to be lost.

¹⁵If your brother errs against you, go and show him his fault, just the two of you alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back.

¹⁶But if he won't listen, take one or two others with you, so that every word may be settled by the testimony of two witnesses or three.

¹⁷If he won't listen to them, tell it to the gathering. And if he won't listen even to the gathering, treat him as you would an outsider or a tax collector.

¹⁸Amen, I tell you: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven.

¹⁹Again, amen, I tell you: if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.

²⁰For wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."

²¹Then Peter came up to him and asked, "Master, how many times can my brother err against me and I release him? As many as seven?"

²²Yeshua said to him, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.

²³This is why the reign of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.

²⁴As he began the reckoning, a man was brought to him who owed ten thousand talents.

²⁵Since he had no way to pay, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and his children and all that he had, and the debt repaid.

²⁶So the slave fell to his knees before him, begging, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.'

²⁷And the master of that slave was moved with compassion. He let him go and released the debt.

²⁸But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, took him by the throat, and said, 'Pay back what you owe.'

²⁹So his fellow slave fell down and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

³⁰But he refused. He went off and threw the man into prison until he paid back the debt.

³¹When the other slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved, and they went and told their master everything that had happened.

³²Then his master called him in and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I cancelled that whole debt for you, because you begged me.

³³Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow slave, just as I had mercy on you?'

³⁴And in anger his master handed him over to the jailers, until he paid back all that he owed.

³⁵This is how my Father in heaven will deal with you, unless each of you releases his brother from your heart."

Matthew 19

¹When Yeshua had finished saying all this, he left Galilee and came into the region of Judea, across the Jordan.

²Large crowds followed him there, and he healed them.

³Some Pharisees came up to test him. "Is it lawful," they asked, "for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"

⁴He answered, "Haven't you read that the One who made them at the beginning made them male and female,

⁵and said, For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?

⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What God has joined together, then, let no one pull apart."

⁷"Why, then," they said to him, "did Moses command a man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?"

⁸He told them, "Moses let you divorce your wives because your hearts are hard. But from the beginning it was not so.

⁹And I tell you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual unfaithfulness, and marries another, commits adultery."

¹⁰His students said to him, "If that is how it stands between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry."

¹¹He said to them, "Not everyone can take in this word, only those to whom it has been given.

¹²For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb; there are eunuchs made so by others; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the reign of heaven. Whoever can take this in, let him take it in."

¹³Then little children were brought to him, for him to lay his hands on them and pray. But the students scolded those who brought them.

¹⁴Yeshua said, "Let the little children come to me, and don't hold them back, for the reign of heaven belongs to ones like these."

¹⁵And he laid his hands on them, and went on from there.

¹⁶A man came up to him and said, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to have life of hidden time?"

¹⁷Yeshua said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commands."

¹⁸"Which ones?" the man asked. Yeshua said, "These: Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness.

¹⁹Honor your father and your mother. And, Love your neighbor as your self."

²⁰"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What am I still missing?"

²¹Yeshua told him, "If you want to be whole, go, sell what you own, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

²²When the young man heard this, he went away grieving, because he had great wealth.

²³Then Yeshua said to his students, "Amen, I tell you: it is hard for a rich man to enter the reign of heaven.

²⁴Again I tell you: it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the reign of God."

²⁵When the students heard it, they were stunned. "Then who can live?" they said.

²⁶Yeshua looked straight at them and said, "For people this is impossible, but for God everything is possible."

²⁷Then Peter spoke up. "Look, we have left everything and followed you. What, then, will there be for us?"

²⁸Yeshua said to them, "Amen, I tell you: in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his majesty, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

²⁹And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times as much, and will inherit life of hidden time.

³⁰But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Matthew 20

¹The reign of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

²He agreed with the workers on a denarius for the day, and sent them into his vineyard.

³About the third hour he went out again and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.

⁴He told them, "You go to the vineyard too, and I'll give you whatever is right."

⁵So they went. He went out again about the sixth hour, and again about the ninth, and did the same.

⁶About the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing there, and he said to them, "Why have you stood here all day, doing nothing?"

⁷"Because no one hired us," they said. He told them, "You go to the vineyard too."

⁸When evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his foreman, "Call the workers and give them their pay: start with the last and go to the first."

⁹So those hired about the eleventh hour came, and each one received a denarius.

¹⁰When the first came, they thought they would receive more, but they too each received a denarius.

¹¹As they took it, they grumbled against the landowner.

¹²"These last ones worked one hour," they said, "and you've made them equal to us, and we bore the weight of the day and the burning heat."

¹³But he answered one of them, "Friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Didn't you agree with me on a denarius?

¹⁴Take what is yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as you.

¹⁵Am I not allowed to do what I want with what is mine? Or is your eye bad because I am good?"

¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first last.

¹⁷As Yeshua was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve students aside, and on the way he told them,

¹⁸"Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death

¹⁹and hand him over to the outsiders to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised."

²⁰Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons, bowing low and asking something of him.

²¹"What do you want?" he said. She told him, "Say that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your reign."

²²But Yeshua answered, "You don't know what you're asking. Can you drink the cup I am about to drink?" "We can," they told him.

²³He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give. It belongs to those for whom my Father has prepared it."

²⁴When the ten heard this, they were indignant at the two brothers.

²⁵But Yeshua called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the outsiders lord it over them, and their great ones throw their weight around.

²⁶It will not be so among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,

²⁷and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave,

²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

²⁹As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.

³⁰Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Yeshua was passing by, they cried out, "Master, have mercy on us, Son of David!"

³¹The crowd scolded them, telling them to be quiet, but they cried out all the louder, "Master, have mercy on us, Son of David!"

³²Yeshua stopped, called them, and said, "What do you want me to do for you?"

³³"Master," they told him, "let our eyes be opened."

³⁴Moved with compassion, Yeshua touched their eyes, and at once they could see, and they followed him.

Matthew 21

¹When they came near Jerusalem and reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Yeshua sent two students ahead,

²telling them, "Go into the village across from you. Right away you'll find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.

³If anyone says anything to you, tell him the Master needs them, and he'll send them at once."

⁴All this happened to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

⁵"Tell the daughter of Zion: Look, your king is coming to you, humble, riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

⁶So the students went and did just as Yeshua had told them.

⁷They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.

⁸A huge crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

⁹And the crowds going ahead of him, and those following, kept shouting:

"Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God!

Hosanna in the highest!"

Hosanna: "save us now," a shout of welcome.

¹⁰When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken. "Who is this?" they asked.

¹¹And the crowds kept saying, "This is the prophet Yeshua, from Nazareth in Galilee."

¹²Then Yeshua went into the temple and drove out everyone buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves,

¹³and he said to them, "It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers."

¹⁴The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.

¹⁵But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders he did, and the children shouting in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were furious.

¹⁶"Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," Yeshua said. "Have you never read, From the mouths of those not yet speaking and of nursing infants you have brought forth praise?"

¹⁷And he left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

¹⁸Early in the morning, on his way back to the city, he was hungry.

¹⁹Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it but leaves. So he said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again." And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰When the students saw it, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so fast?" they asked.

²¹Yeshua answered them, "Amen, I tell you: if you have trust and are not divided in your hearts, you'll not only do what was done to the fig tree, you'll say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and it will happen.

²²And whatever you ask in prayer, trusting, you will receive."

²³He went into the temple, and as he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you this authority?"

²⁴Yeshua answered them, "I'll ask you one thing too. If you tell me, then I'll tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁵John's immersion, where did it come from? From heaven, or from people?" They talked it over among themselves: "If we say, 'From heaven,' he'll say to us, 'Then why didn't you trust him?'

²⁶But if we say, 'From people,' we're afraid of the crowd, since they all hold John to be a prophet."

²⁷So they answered Yeshua, "We don't know." And he said to them, "Then neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁸"But what do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go work in the vineyard today.'

²⁹"'I won't,' he answered. But later he thought better of it and went.

³⁰"Then the man went to the second and said the same. 'I will, sir,' he answered, but he didn't go.

³¹"Which of the two did what the father wanted?" "The first," they said. Yeshua said to them, "Amen, I tell you: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the reign of God ahead of you.

³²For John came to you on the way of what is right, and you didn't trust him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes trusted him. And even after you saw it, you didn't think better of it later and trust him.

³³"Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, built a watchtower, leased it to tenant farmers, and went away.

³⁴When the season for fruit came near, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his fruit.

³⁵But the tenants seized his slaves: they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.

³⁶Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and the tenants did the same to them.

³⁷Last of all he sent his son to them. 'They'll respect my son,' he said.

³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.'

³⁹So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"

⁴¹"He'll bring those wretches to a wretched end," they said, "and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruit in its seasons."

⁴²Yeshua said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:

The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

This came from God,

and it is a wonder in our eyes?

⁴³So I tell you: the reign of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

⁴⁴And whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but the one it falls on will be crushed."

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew he was speaking about them.

⁴⁶They wanted to seize him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the people held him to be a prophet.

Matthew 22

¹Again Yeshua answered them in parables. He said:

²"The reign of heaven is like a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.

³He sent his slaves to call those who were invited to the feast, but they wouldn't come.

⁴Again he sent other slaves, saying: 'Tell those who were invited: Look, I have my dinner ready. My oxen and fattened calves have been slaughtered, and everything is set. Come to the feast.'

⁵But they paid no attention and went off, one to his own field, another to his trading.

⁶The rest seized his slaves, shamed them, and killed them.

⁷The king was enraged. He sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city to the ground.

⁸Then he said to his slaves, 'The feast is ready, but those I invited were not worthy.

⁹So go out to the street corners, and everyone you find, call to the feast.'

¹⁰Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered everyone they found, the bad along with the good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests at the table.

¹¹But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw a man there not dressed in wedding clothes.

¹²'Friend,' he said to him, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' And the man had nothing to say.

¹³Then the king told the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and throw him out into the darkness outside. Out there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

¹⁴For many are called, but few are chosen."

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went off and laid a plan to trap him in his own words.

¹⁶They sent their students to him, along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know that you are truthful, and that you teach the way of God in truth. You don't bend for anyone, because you show no partiality.

¹⁷So tell us what you think: is it lawful to pay the tax to Caesar, or not?"

¹⁸But Yeshua knew their malice. "Why are you testing me, you actors?" he said.

¹⁹"Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius.

²⁰"Whose image is this," he asked them, "and whose inscription?"

²¹"Caesar's," they told him. Then he said to them, "So give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God."

²²When they heard this, they were stunned. They left him and went away.

²³That same day the Sadducees came to him, the ones who say there is no rising, and they put a question to him.

²⁴"Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring, he left his wife to his brother.

²⁶The same with the second, and the third, all the way to the seventh.

²⁷Last of all, the woman died.

²⁸So in the rising, whose wife will she be of the seven? They all had her."

²⁹Yeshua answered them, "You are wandering off, because you don't know the Scriptures or the power of God.

³⁰In the rising people neither marry nor are given in marriage. They are like the messengers of God in heaven.

³¹But about the resurrection of the dead, haven't you read what God told you:

³²'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

³³When the crowds heard this, they were astounded at his teaching.

³⁴When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

³⁵And one of them, an expert in the Law, put him to the test:

³⁶"Teacher, which command is the great one in the Law?"

³⁷He said to him, "'Love your God with all your heart, with all your self, and with all your mind.'

³⁸This is the great and first command.

³⁹And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

⁴⁰On these two commands hang all the Law and the Prophets."

⁴¹While the Pharisees were gathered together, Yeshua asked them,

⁴²"What do you think about the Anointed One? Whose son is he?" "David's," they told him.

⁴³He said to them, "Then how is it that David, in Ruha, calls him master? He says:

⁴⁴'God said to my master: Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet.'

⁴⁵So if David calls him master, how is he his son?"

⁴⁶No one could answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to question him any further.

Matthew 23

¹Then Yeshua spoke to the crowds and to his students:

²"The scribes and the Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses.

³So do whatever they tell you, and keep it. But don't do what they do, because they say one thing and do another.

⁴They tie up heavy loads and pile them on people's shoulders, but they themselves won't lift a finger to move them.

⁵Everything they do, they do to be seen by others. They make their prayer-boxes wide and their tassels long.

⁶They love the place of honor at banquets and the front seats in the gatherings,

⁷the greetings in the marketplaces, and being called 'Rabbi' by everyone.

⁸But you, don't be called 'Rabbi,' for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.

⁹And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, the one in heaven.

¹⁰Nor be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Anointed One.

¹¹The greatest among you will be your servant.

¹²Whoever lifts himself up will be brought low, and whoever brings himself low will be lifted up.

¹³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, actors! You shut the reign of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves don't go in, and you won't let in those who are trying to enter.

¹⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, actors! You cross sea and dry land to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for Gehenna as yourselves.

¹⁶Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'

¹⁷You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?

¹⁸And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.'

¹⁹You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

²⁰So the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

²¹And the one who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it.

²²And the one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the One seated on it.

²³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, actors! You give a tenth of your mint and dill and cumin, but you have let go of the weightier matters of the Law: justice and compassion and faithfulness. These you should have done, without letting go of the others.

²⁴Blind guides! You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.

²⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, actors! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and the appetite that knows no limit.

²⁶Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, and the outside will be clean too.

²⁷Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, actors! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of uncleanness.

²⁸In the same way, on the outside you look right to people, but on the inside you are full of pretending and lawlessness.

²⁹Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, actors! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of those who did what is right,

³⁰and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'

³¹So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.

³²Go ahead, then: finish what your fathers started.

³³You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?

³⁴So look, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your gatherings and hunt from town to town,

³⁵so that on you will come all the innocent blood spilled on the earth, from the blood of Abel, who did what is right, to the blood of Zechariah son of Berachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

³⁶Amen, I tell you: all this will come down on this generation.

³⁷Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

³⁸Look, your house is left to you, empty.

³⁹For I tell you: you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God.'"

Matthew 24

¹Yeshua came out of the temple and was walking away, and his students came up to point out to him the temple buildings.

²But he answered them, "Do you see all this? Amen, I tell you: not one stone here will be left on another. Every one will be thrown down."

³As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the students came to him in private and asked, "Tell us, when will this happen? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the completion of the age?"

⁴Yeshua answered them, "Watch out that no one leads you astray.

⁵For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Anointed One,' and they will lead many astray.

⁶You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren't alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is not yet.

⁷Nation will rise against nation, and reign against reign, and there will be famines and earthquakes in place after place.

⁸All these are the beginning of the birth-pains.

⁹Then they will hand you over to be crushed, and they will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my name.

¹⁰And then many will stumble, and they will betray one another and hate one another.

¹¹Many false prophets will rise and lead many astray.

¹²And because lawlessness will swell, the love of many will grow cold.

¹³But whoever holds out to the end, this one will live.

¹⁴And this hopeful news of the reign will be proclaimed in all the world, as a testimony to all the nations. And then the end will come.

¹⁵So when you see the desolating horror that the prophet Daniel spoke of, standing in the sacred place, let the reader understand,

¹⁶then let those in Judea run to the hills.

¹⁷The one on the roof must not go down to take what is in his house,

¹⁸and the one in the field must not go back for his coat.

¹⁹How hard it will be for women carrying a child, and for those nursing, in those days!

²⁰Pray that your flight won't be in winter, or on a sabbath.

²¹For there will be great anguish then, the like of which has not happened from the beginning of the world until now, and never will again.

²²And if those days had not been cut short, no flesh would live. But for the sake of the chosen, those days will be cut short.

²³Then, if anyone tells you, 'Look, here is the Anointed One!' or 'There he is!' do not trust it.

²⁴For false anointed ones and false prophets will rise, and they will give great signs and wonders, to lead astray, if it were possible, even the chosen.

²⁵Look, I have told you ahead of time.

²⁶So if they tell you, 'Look, he's in the wilderness,' do not go out; or 'Look, he's in the inner rooms,' do not trust it.

²⁷For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

²⁸Wherever the body lies, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹Right after the anguish of those days, the sun will go dark, and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

³⁰And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great majesty.

³¹And he will send out his messengers with a great trumpet blast, and they will gather his chosen from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³²Learn the lesson of the fig tree: as soon as its branch turns tender and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near.

³³So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, right at the door.

³⁴Amen, I tell you: this generation will not pass away until all these things happen.

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³⁶But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the messengers of heaven, nor the Son, only the Father.

³⁷For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

³⁸In the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, right up to the day Noah went into the ark.

³⁹And they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man.

⁴⁰Then two will be in the field: one is taken and one is left.

⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one is taken and one is left.

⁴²So stay awake, because you don't know what day your master is coming.

⁴³But understand this: if the owner of the house had known what hour of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into.

⁴⁴So you too be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you don't expect.

⁴⁵Who then is the faithful and wise slave, the one his master put in charge of the household to give them their food at the right time?

⁴⁶It is well with that slave whose master finds him doing so when he comes.

⁴⁷Amen, I tell you: he will put him in charge of all he owns.

⁴⁸But suppose that wicked slave says in his heart, 'My master is taking a long time,'

⁴⁹and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and to eat and drink with the drunkards,

⁵⁰the master of that slave will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know.

⁵¹He will cut him in two and assign him a place with the actors, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25

¹"At that time the reign of heaven will be like ten young women who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

³When the foolish ones took their lamps, they took no oil.

⁴The wise ones, though, took oil in jars along with their lamps.

⁵The bridegroom was a long time coming, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶But in the middle of the night a shout went up: 'Look, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'

⁷Then all those young women woke up and trimmed their lamps.

⁸The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out.'

⁹But the wise ones answered, 'There may not be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell it, and buy your own.'

¹⁰While they were away buying it, the bridegroom came. The ones who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut.

¹¹Later the other young women came too. 'Master, master,' they said, 'open the door for us!'

¹²But he answered, 'Amen, I tell you: I do not know you.'

¹³So stay awake, because you do not know the day or the hour.

¹⁴"It is like a man going on a journey, who called his own slaves and put his property in their hands.

¹⁵To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability, and he went away.

¹⁶The one who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work, and gained five more.

¹⁷In the same way the one with two gained two more.

¹⁸But the one who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's silver.

¹⁹After a long time the master of those slaves came back and settled accounts with them.

²⁰The one who had received the five talents came forward and brought five more. 'Master,' he said, 'you handed me five talents. Look, I have gained five more.'

²¹His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Come, share your master's joy.'

²²The one with the two talents came forward too. 'Master,' he said, 'you handed me two talents. Look, I have gained two more.'

²³His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Come, share your master's joy.'

²⁴Then the one who had received the one talent came forward. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter.

²⁵I was afraid, so I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.'

²⁶But his master answered him, 'You wicked, lazy slave! You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter?

²⁷Then you ought to have put my silver with the bankers, and when I came I would have gotten back my own with interest.

²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.

²⁹For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have plenty; but from the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.

³⁰And throw that useless slave out into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his majesty, and all the messengers with him, then he will sit on his throne of majesty.

³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

³³He will set the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the reign prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you took me in.

³⁶I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to me.'

³⁷Then those who did what is right will answer him, 'Master, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?

³⁸When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you?

³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?'

⁴⁰And the King will answer them, 'Amen, I tell you: whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

⁴¹Then he will say to those on his left, 'Go away from me, you who are cursed, into the timeless fire, prepared for the accuser and his messengers.

⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink.

⁴³I was a stranger and you did not take me in, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

⁴⁴Then they too will answer, 'Master, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not serve you?'

⁴⁵Then he will answer them, 'Amen, I tell you: whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

⁴⁶And these will go away into the punishment of hidden time, but those who did what is right into the life of hidden time."

Matthew 26

¹When Yeshua had finished saying all this, he told his students,

²"You know that in two days the Passover comes, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."

³Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the high priest, the one called Caiaphas,

⁴and they plotted together to seize Yeshua by some trick and kill him.

⁵But they kept saying, "Not during the festival, or the people will riot."

⁶While Yeshua was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,

⁷a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of costly perfume, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at the table.

⁸When the students saw it, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they said.

⁹"This could have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor."

¹⁰Yeshua knew, and he said to them, "Why are you troubling this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me.

¹¹You always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.

¹²When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

¹³Amen, I tell you: wherever this hopeful news is proclaimed in all the world, what she has done will be told too, in memory of her."

¹⁴Then one of the Twelve, the one called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests

¹⁵and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.

¹⁶From then on he watched for the right moment to hand him over.

¹⁷On the first day of Unleavened Bread, the students came to Yeshua and asked, "Where do you want us to prepare the Passover for you to eat?"

¹⁸He said, "Go into the city, to a certain man, and tell him, 'The teacher says: My time is near. I am keeping the Passover at your house with my students.'"

¹⁹So the students did as Yeshua had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

²⁰When evening came, he reclined at the table with the Twelve.

²¹And while they were eating, he said, "Amen, I tell you: one of you will hand me over."

²²Deeply grieved, they began to say to him, one after another, "Surely not I, Master?"

²³He answered, "The one who dipped his hand in the bowl with me, he is the one who will hand me over.

²⁴The Son of Man goes, as it is written of him. But how terrible for the man who hands the Son of Man over! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born."

²⁵Then Judas, the one handing him over, spoke up. "Surely not I, Rabbi?" he said. Yeshua told him, "You have said it."

²⁶While they were eating, Yeshua took bread, and after he blessed it he broke it. He gave it to the students and said, "Take it and eat. This is my body."

²⁷Then he took a cup, and after he gave thanks he gave it to them and said, "Drink from it, all of you.

²⁸For this is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many to release them from their errors.

²⁹I tell you, from now on I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until the day I drink it new with you in the reign of my Father."

³⁰And when they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

³¹Then Yeshua said to them, "Tonight all of you will fall away because of me, for it is written:

I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.

³²But after I am raised, I will go ahead of you into Galilee."

³³Peter answered him, "Even if everyone else falls away because of you, I never will."

³⁴Yeshua told him, "Amen, I tell you: tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."

³⁵Peter said to him, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you." And all the students said the same.

³⁶Then Yeshua came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to the students, "Sit here while I go over there to pray."

³⁷He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be grieved and deeply troubled.

³⁸Then he said to them, "My grief is crushing me, to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."

³⁹Going on a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I want, but as you want."

⁴⁰Then he came back to the students and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, "So, you couldn't keep watch with me for one hour?

⁴¹Keep watch and pray, so that you don't come into the trial. Ruha is willing, but the flesh is weak."

⁴²Again, a second time, he went away and prayed, "My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, let your will be done."

⁴³When he came back, again he found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

⁴⁴So he left them and went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same words once more.

⁴⁵Then he came to the students and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come near, and the Son of Man is handed over into the hands of those who miss the mark.

⁴⁶Get up, let's go. Look, the one handing me over is here."

⁴⁷While he was still speaking, there was Judas, one of the Twelve. With him came a large crowd carrying swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

⁴⁸The one handing him over had given them a sign: "The one I kiss, he is the one. Seize him."

⁴⁹He went straight to Yeshua and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed him.

⁵⁰Yeshua said to him, "Friend, do what you came for." Then they stepped up, laid their hands on Yeshua, and seized him.

⁵¹One of those with Yeshua reached out his hand, drew his sword, struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his ear.

⁵²Then Yeshua said to him, "Put your sword back in its place, for all who take up the sword will die by the sword.

⁵³Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once give me more than twelve legions of messengers?

⁵⁴But then how would the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way?"

⁵⁵At that hour Yeshua said to the crowds, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to take me, as if I were a bandit? Day after day I sat teaching in the temple, and you did not seize me.

⁵⁶But all this has happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled." Then all the students deserted him and ran.

⁵⁷Those who had seized Yeshua led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered.

⁵⁸Peter followed him at a distance, all the way to the high priest's courtyard. He went inside and sat with the guards, to see how it would end.

⁵⁹The chief priests and the whole council kept looking for false testimony against Yeshua, so they could put him to death.

⁶⁰They found none, even though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward

⁶¹and said, "This man said, 'I can tear down the temple of God and build it in three days.'"

⁶²Then the high priest stood up and said to him, "Have you no answer? What is this they testify against you?"

⁶³But Yeshua stayed silent. The high priest said to him, "I put you under oath by the living God: tell us if you are the Anointed One, the Son of God."

⁶⁴Yeshua told him, "You have said it. But I tell you: from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."

⁶⁵Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.

⁶⁶What is your verdict?" They answered, "He deserves death."

⁶⁷Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him

⁶⁸and said, "Prophesy to us, Anointed One: who hit you?"

⁶⁹Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant girl came up to him and said, "You too were with Yeshua the Galilean."

⁷⁰But he denied it in front of them all. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

⁷¹When he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those there, "This man was with Yeshua the Nazarene."

⁷²Again he denied it, with an oath: "I don't know the man."

⁷³A little later, those standing there came up and said to Peter, "You really are one of them. Your accent gives you away."

⁷⁴Then he began to curse and to swear, "I don't know the man!" And at once a rooster crowed.

⁷⁵And Peter remembered the word Yeshua had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Matthew 27

¹When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Yeshua to put him to death.

²They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

³Then Judas, who had handed him over, saw that Yeshua was condemned, and he was filled with regret. He brought the thirty pieces of silver back to the chief priests and the elders,

⁴saying, "I have missed the mark. I handed over innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they said. "See to it yourself."

⁵So he threw the silver into the temple and left, and he went off and hanged himself.

⁶The chief priests picked up the silver and said, "It isn't lawful to put this into the treasury, since it's the price of blood."

⁷So they took counsel and bought the potter's field with it, as a burial place for strangers.

⁸That is why that field has been called the Field of Blood to this very day.

⁹Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price was set, on whom the sons of Israel had set a price,

¹⁰and they gave them for the potter's field, as God had directed me.

¹¹Now Yeshua stood before the governor, and the governor questioned him. "Are you the king of the Jews?" "You say so," Yeshua replied.

¹²And while the chief priests and elders accused him, he answered nothing.

¹³Then Pilate said to him, "Don't you hear how many things they're testifying against you?"

¹⁴But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was deeply amazed.

¹⁵Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd one prisoner, whomever they wanted.

¹⁶At that time they had a notorious prisoner called Yeshua Barabbas.

¹⁷So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you: Yeshua Barabbas, or Yeshua who is called the Anointed One?"

¹⁸For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed him over.

¹⁹While he was seated on the judgment bench, his wife sent word to him: "Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered much today in a dream because of him."

²⁰But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Yeshua put to death.

²¹The governor said to them again, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" "Barabbas," they said.

²²"Then what should I do with Yeshua who is called the Anointed One?" Pilate asked. "Let him be crucified!" they all said.

²³"Why? What wrong has he done?" he asked. But they kept shouting all the more, "Let him be crucified!"

²⁴When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, and that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "See to it yourselves."

²⁵And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!"

²⁶So he released Barabbas for them. But Yeshua he had flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

²⁷Then the governor's soldiers took Yeshua into the palace and gathered the whole company around him.

²⁸They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him.

²⁹They twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. Then they knelt before him and mocked him: "Hail, king of the Jews!"

³⁰They spat on him, took the reed, and struck him on the head again and again.

³¹And when they had mocked him, they stripped off the robe, put his own clothes back on him, and led him away to crucify him.

³²On their way out they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, and they forced him to carry his cross.

³³When they came to a place called Gulgulta, which means Place of the Skull,

³⁴they gave him wine to drink, mixed with gall. But when he tasted it, he would not drink.

³⁵When they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves, casting lots.

³⁶Then they sat down and kept watch over him there.

³⁷Above his head they put the written charge against him: This is Yeshua, the king of the Jews.

³⁸Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.

³⁹Those passing by kept hurling insults at him, shaking their heads

⁴⁰and saying, "You who would tear down the temple and build it in three days, rescue yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!"

⁴¹In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes and elders, mocked him:

⁴²"He made others live, but he can't make himself live. He's the king of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross, and we'll trust into him.

⁴³He relies on God. Let God rescue him now, if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"

⁴⁴And the robbers crucified with him taunted him the same way.

⁴⁵From the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land, until the ninth hour.

⁴⁶And about the ninth hour Yeshua cried out in a loud voice, "Elahi, Elahi, lema shevaqtani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

⁴⁷Some of those standing there heard it and said, "This man is calling Elijah."

⁴⁸At once one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink.

⁴⁹But the rest said, "Leave him. Let's see if Elijah comes to set him free."

⁵⁰Then Yeshua cried out again in a loud voice and released his spirit.

⁵¹The curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split,

⁵²the tombs opened, and many bodies of the sacred ones who had fallen asleep were raised.

⁵³Coming out of the tombs after Yeshua's rising, they entered the sacred city and appeared to many.

⁵⁴When the centurion and those with him keeping watch over Yeshua saw the earthquake and all that was happening, they were terrified. "Truly," they said, "this was the Son of God."

⁵⁵Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Yeshua from Galilee and cared for him.

⁵⁶Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

⁵⁷When evening came, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph arrived, who himself had become a student of Yeshua.

⁵⁸He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Yeshua. Then Pilate ordered it given to him.

⁵⁹Joseph took the body, wrapped it in clean linen,

⁶⁰and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. He rolled a great stone across the door of the tomb and went away.

⁶¹Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting across from the grave.

⁶²The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate.

⁶³"Sir," they said, "we remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise.'

⁶⁴So give the order to make the grave secure until the third day. Otherwise his students may come, steal him, and tell the people, 'He has been raised from the dead.' Then the last deception would be worse than the first."

⁶⁵"You have a guard," Pilate said to them. "Go, make it as secure as you know how."

⁶⁶So they went and made the grave secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.

Matthew 28

¹After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary came to see the tomb.

²A great earthquake struck, for an angel of God came down from heaven, went to the tomb, rolled the stone away, and sat on it.

³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

⁴The guards shook with fear of him and became like dead men.

⁵But the angel spoke to the women. "Don't be afraid," he said. "I know you're looking for Yeshua, the one who was crucified.

⁶He isn't here. He has been raised, just as he said. Come, see the place where he was lying.

⁷Then go quickly and tell his students: 'He has been raised from the dead, and look, he's going ahead of you into Galilee. There you'll see him.' Listen, I've told you."

⁸So they hurried away from the tomb, afraid and overjoyed, and ran to tell his students.

⁹And there before them was Yeshua. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, took hold of his feet, and knelt before him.

¹⁰Then Yeshua said to them, "Don't be afraid. Go, tell my brothers to leave for Galilee; there they'll see me."

¹¹While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.

¹²So they met with the elders, came up with a plan, and gave the soldiers a large sum of silver,

¹³telling them, "Say this: 'His students came at night and stole him while we were asleep.'

¹⁴And if the governor hears of it, we'll satisfy him and keep you out of trouble."

¹⁵So they took the silver and did as they were told. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this very day.

¹⁶The eleven students went to Galilee, to the mountain where Yeshua had told them to go.

¹⁷When they saw him, they knelt before him, but some wavered.

¹⁸Then Yeshua came near and spoke to them. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

¹⁹So go and make students of all the nations, immersing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Sacred Ruha,

²⁰teaching them to keep everything I have entrusted to you. I am with you always, to the very completion of the age."