The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now ^(A)the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes ^(B)grumbled, saying, ^(C)“This man receives sinners and ^(D)eats with them.”

³ So he told them this parable: ^4 (E)“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, ^(F)if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine ^(G)in the open country, and ^(H)go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, ^(I)he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for ^(J)I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who ^(K)repents than over ninety-nine ^(L)righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸ “Or what woman, having ten silver coins,^[a] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before ^(M)the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

¹¹ And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me ^(N)the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided ^(O)his property between them. ¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in ^(P)reckless living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to^[b] one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he ^(Q)was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “But ^(R)when he ^(S)came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, ^(T)I have sinned against ^(U)heaven and before you. ^19 (V)I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ^(W)ran and ^(X)embraced him and ^(Y)kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ^(Z)I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^{[c] 22} But the father said to his servants,^[d] ‘Bring quickly ^(AA)the best robe, and put it on him, and put ^(AB)a ring on his hand, and ^(AC)shoes on his feet. ²³ And bring ^(AD)the fattened calf and kill it, and ^(AE)let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴ For this my son ^(AF)was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹ but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might ^(AG)celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came, ^(AH)who has devoured ^(AI)your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, ^(AJ)you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² It was fitting ^(AK)to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother ^(AL)was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

Sexual Immorality Defiles the Church

5 It is actually reported that there is ^(A)sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, ^(B)for a man has his father's wife. ² And ^(C)you are arrogant! Ought you ^(D)not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

³ For though ^(E)absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. ⁴ When you are assembled ^(F)in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, ⁵ you are ^(G)to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so ^(H)that his spirit may be saved ^(I)in the day of the Lord.^[a]

^6 (J)Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that ^(K)a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. ⁸ Let us therefore celebrate the festival, ^(L)not with the old leaven, ^(M)the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

⁹ I wrote to you in my letter ^(N)not to associate with sexually immoral people— ^10 (O)not at all meaning ^(P)the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, ^(Q)since then you would need to go out of the world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone ^(R)who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹² For what have I to do with judging ^(S)outsiders? ^(T)Is it not those inside the church^[b] whom you are to judge? ¹³ God judges^[c] those outside. ^(U)“Purge the evil person from among you.”

The Triumphal Entry

21 ^(A)Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to ^(B)the Mount of Olives, then Jesus ^(C)sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” ⁴ This took place ^(D)to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. ⁸ Most of the crowd ^(G)spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ^(H)“Hosanna to ^(I)the Son of David! ^(J)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna ^(K)in the highest!” ¹⁰ And ^(L)when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” ¹¹ And the crowds said, “This is ^(M)the prophet Jesus, ^(N)from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

^12 (O)And Jesus entered the temple^[b] and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of ^(P)the money-changers and the seats of those who sold ^(Q)pigeons. ¹³ He said to them, “It is written, ^(R)‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but ^(S)you make it a den of robbers.”

^14 (T)And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. ^15 (U)But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, ^(V)“Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, ¹⁶ and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; ^(W)have you never read,

¹⁷ And ^(Z)leaving them, he ^(AA)went out of the city to ^(AB)Bethany and lodged there.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

^18 (AC)In the morning, as he was returning to the city, ^(AD)he became hungry. ^19 (AE)And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.

²⁰ When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” ²¹ And Jesus answered them, ^(AF)“Truly, I say to you, ^(AG)if you have faith and ^(AH)do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ^(AI)‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. ²² And ^(AJ)whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, ^(AK)if you have faith.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

^23 (AL)And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him ^(AM)as he was teaching, and said, ^(AN)“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John, ^(AO)from where did it come? ^(AP)From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ^(AQ)‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From man,’ ^(AR)we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was ^(AS)a prophet.” ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

^28 (AT)“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in ^(AU)the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he ^(AV)changed his mind and went. ³⁰ And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^(AW)the tax collectors and ^(AX)the prostitutes go into ^(AY)the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you ^(AZ)in the way of righteousness, and ^(BA)you did not believe him, but ^(BB)the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward ^(BC)change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants

^33 (BD)“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted ^(BE)a vineyard ^(BF)and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and ^(BG)leased it to tenants, and ^(BH)went into another country. ³⁴ When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants^[c] to the tenants ^(BI)to get his fruit. ^35 (BJ)And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and ^(BK)stoned another. ^36 (BL)Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. ³⁷ Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ^(BM)‘This is the heir. Come, ^(BN)let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ ³⁹ And they took him and ^(BO)threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ^40 (BP)When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, ^(BQ)“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and ^(BR)let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, ^(BS)“Have you never read in the Scriptures:

⁴³ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God ^(BU)will be taken away from you and given to a people ^(BV)producing its fruits. ⁴⁴ And ^(BW)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and ^(BX)when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”^[e]

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ And ^(BY)although they were seeking to arrest him, ^(BZ)they feared the crowds, because they held him to be ^(CA)a prophet.

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

5 ^(A)They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.^{[a] 2} And when Jesus^[b] had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. ^3 (B)He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, ⁴ for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶ And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and ^(C)fell down before him. ⁷ And ^(D)crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ^(E)Son of ^(F)the Most High God? ^(G)I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸ For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is ^(H)Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹² and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed^[c] man, the one who had had ^(I)the legion, sitting there, ^(J)clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶ And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. ¹⁷ And ^(K)they began to beg Jesus^[d] to depart from their region. ¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and ^(L)tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in ^(M)the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter

²¹ And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. ^22 (N)Then came one of ^(O)the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet ²³ and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and ^(P)lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴ And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and ^(Q)thronged about him. ²⁵ And there was a woman ^(R)who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ^29 (S)And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her ^(T)disease. ³⁰ And Jesus, perceiving in himself that ^(U)power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ³¹ And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” ³² And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, ^(V)your faith has made you well; ^(W)go in peace, and be healed of your ^(X)disease.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking, there came from ^(Y)the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why ^(Z)trouble ^(AA)the Teacher any further?” ³⁶ But overhearing^[e] what they said, Jesus said to ^(AB)the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷ And he allowed no one to follow him except ^(AC)Peter and James and ^(AD)John the brother of James. ³⁸ They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus^[f] saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ And when he had entered, he said to them, ^(AE)“Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but ^(AF)sleeping.” ⁴⁰ And they laughed at him. But he ^(AG)put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ^41 (AH)Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, ^(AI)arise.” ⁴² And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. ⁴³ And ^(AJ)he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Jesus and the Woman of Samaria

4 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and ^(A)baptizing more disciples than John ² (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), ³ he left Judea and departed ^(B)again for Galilee. ^4 (C)And he had to pass through Samaria. ⁵ So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field ^(D)that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, ^(E)wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.^[a]

⁷ A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ^(F)“Give me a drink.” ⁸ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (^(G)For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you ^(H)living water.” ¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ^12 (I)Are you greater than our father Jacob? ^(J)He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” ¹³ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but ^(K)whoever drinks of the water that I will give him ^(L)will never be thirsty again.^[b] The water that I will give him will become ^(M)in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, ^(N)give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go, ^(O)call your husband, and come here.” ¹⁷ The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” ¹⁹ The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that ^(P)you are ^(Q)a prophet. ^20 (R)Our fathers worshiped on ^(S)this mountain, but you say that ^(T)in Jerusalem is ^(U)the place where people ought to worship.” ²¹ Jesus said to her, ^(V)“Woman, believe me, ^(W)the hour is coming when ^(X)neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. ^22 (Y)You worship what you do not know; ^(Z)we worship what we know, for ^(AA)salvation is ^(AB)from the Jews. ²³ But ^(AC)the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father ^(AD)in spirit and ^(AE)truth, for the Father ^(AF)is seeking such people to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that ^(AG)Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, ^(AH)he will tell us all things.” ²⁶ Jesus said to her, ^(AI)“I who speak to you am he.”

²⁷ Just then ^(AJ)his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” ²⁸ So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see a man ^(AK)who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” ³⁰ They went out of the town and were coming to him.

³¹ Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, ^(AL)“Rabbi, eat.” ³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³ So the disciples said to one another, ^(AM)“Has anyone brought him something to eat?” ³⁴ Jesus said to them, ^(AN)“My food is ^(AO)to do the will of him who sent me and ^(AP)to accomplish his work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that ^(AQ)the fields are white for harvest. ³⁶ Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that ^(AR)sower and ^(AS)reaper ^(AT)may rejoice together. ³⁷ For here the saying holds true, ^(AU)‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap ^(AV)that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, ^(AW)and you have entered into their labor.”

³⁹ Many Samaritans ^(AX)from that town believed in him ^(AY)because of ^(AZ)the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed ^(BA)because of his word. ⁴² They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, ^(BB)and we know that this is indeed ^(BC)the Savior ^(BD)of the world.”

⁴³ After ^(BE)the two days he departed for Galilee. ⁴⁴ (For Jesus himself had testified ^(BF)that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) ⁴⁵ So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, ^(BG)having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For ^(BH)they too had gone to the feast.

Jesus Heals an Official's Son

⁴⁶ So he came again to ^(BI)Cana in Galilee, ^(BJ)where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus ^(BK)had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, ^(BL)“Unless you^[c] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The official said to him, “Sir, come down ^(BM)before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. ⁵¹ As he was going down, his servants^[d] met him and told him that his son was recovering. ⁵² So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour^[e] the fever left him.” ⁵³ The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, ^(BN)and all his household. ^54 (BO)This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.