Journey Through God's Word

¹The beginning of the [facts regarding the] good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

²As it is written and forever remains in the [writings of the] prophet Isaiah: "Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way—

³A voice of one shouting in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!'"

⁴John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins [that is, requiring a change of one's old way of thinking, turning away from sin and seeking God and His righteousness].

⁵And all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem were continually going out to him; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.

⁶John wore clothing made of camel's hair and had a [wide] leather band around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

⁷And he was preaching, saying, "After me comes He who is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I, and I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the straps of His sandals [even as His slave].

⁸As for me, I baptized you [who came to me] with water [only]; but He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit."

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

¹⁰Immediately coming up out of the water, he (John) saw the heavens torn open, and the Spirit like a dove descending on Him (Jesus);

¹¹and a voice came out of heaven saying: "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!"

¹²Immediately the [Holy] Spirit forced Him out into the wilderness.

¹³He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.

¹⁴Now after John [the Baptist] was arrested and taken into custody, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of [the kingdom of] God,

¹⁵and saying, "The [appointed period of] time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God's purpose for your life] and believe [with a deep, abiding trust] in the good news [regarding salvation]."

¹⁶As Jesus was walking by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon [Peter] and Simon's brother, Andrew, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.

¹⁷And Jesus said to them, " Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men."

¹⁸Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].

¹⁹Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who were also in the boat mending and cleaning the nets.

²⁰Immediately Jesus called to them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers, and went away to follow Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].

¹Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea [of Galilee]. And a very large crowd gathered around Him, so He got into a boat [anchoring it a short distance out] on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.

²And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them,

³"Listen! A sower went out to sow seed;

⁴and as he was sowing, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up.

⁵Other seed fell on rocks where there was not much soil; and immediately a plant sprang up because the soil had no depth.

⁶And when the sun came up, the plant was scorched; and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away.

⁷Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.

⁸And other seed fell into good soil, and as the plants grew and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times [as much as had been sown]."

⁹And He said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words."

¹⁰As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, together with the twelve [disciples], began asking Him about [the interpretation of] the parables.

¹¹He said to them, "The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you [who have teachable hearts], but those who are outside [the unbelievers, the spiritually blind] get everything in parables,

¹²so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand, otherwise they might turn [from their rejection of the truth] and be forgiven."

¹³Then He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables?

¹⁴The sower sows the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation].

¹⁵These [in the first group] are the ones along the road where the word is sown; but when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

¹⁶In a similar way these [in the second group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy [but accept it only superficially];

¹⁷and they have no real root in themselves, so they endure only for a little while; then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they [are offended and displeased at being associated with Me and] stumble and fall away.

¹⁸And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,

¹⁹but the worries and cares of the world [the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures], and the deceitfulness [and the false security or glamour] of wealth [or fame], and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

²⁰And those [in the last group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation] and accept it and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much [as was sown]."

²¹He said to them, "A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not [brought in] to be put on the lampstand?

²²For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been kept secret, but that it would come to light [that is, things are hidden only temporarily, until the appropriate time comes for them to be known].

²³If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words."

²⁴Then He said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear. By your own standard of measurement [that is, to the extent that you study spiritual truth and apply godly wisdom] it will be measured to you [and you will be given even greater ability to respond]—and more will be given to you besides.

²⁵For whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a yearning for truth], even what he has will be taken away from him."

²⁶Then He said, "The kingdom of God is like a man who throws seed on the ground;

²⁷and he goes to bed at night and gets up every day, and [in the meantime] the seed sprouts and grows; how [it does this], he does not know.

²⁸The earth produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head [of grain], then the mature grain in the head.

²⁹But when the crop ripens, he immediately puts in the sickle [to reap], because [the time for] the harvest has come."

³⁰And He said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it?

³¹It is like a mustard seed, which, when it is sown on the ground, even though it is smaller than all the [other] seeds that are [sown] on the soil,

³²yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden herbs; and it puts out large branches, so that the birds of the sky are able to make nests and live under its shade."

³³With many such parables, Jesus spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear and understand it;

³⁴and He did not say anything to them without [using] a parable; He did, however, explain everything privately to His own disciples.

³⁵On that [same] day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee]."

³⁶So leaving the crowd, they took Him with them, just as He was, in the boat. And other boats were with Him.

³⁷And a fierce windstorm began to blow, and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already being swamped.

³⁸But Jesus was in the stern, asleep [with His head] on the [sailor's leather] cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are about to die?"

³⁹And He got up and [sternly] rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still (muzzled)!" And the wind died down [as if it had grown weary] and there was [at once] a great calm [a perfect peacefulness].

⁴⁰Jesus said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith and confidence [in Me]?"

⁴¹They were filled with great fear, and said to each other, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

¹Getting up, He left there (Capernaum) and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; and crowds gathered around Him again and accompanied Him, and as was His custom, He once more began to teach them.

²Pharisees came to Jesus to test Him [intending to trick Him into saying something wrong], and asked Him, "Is it lawful [according to Scripture] for a man to divorce his wife and send her away?"

³He replied to them, "What did Moses command you?"

⁴They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away."

⁵But Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of hearts [your callousness and insensitivity toward your wives and theprovision of God] he wrote you this precept.

⁶But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.

⁷For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother [to establish a home with his wife],

⁸and the two shall become one flesh; so that they are no longer two, but [are united as] one flesh.

⁹Therefore, what God has united and joined together, man must not separate [by divorce]."

¹⁰In the house the disciples began questioning Him again about this.

¹¹And He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;

¹²and if a woman divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery."

¹³People were bringing children to Him so that He would touch and bless them, but the disciples reprimanded them and discouraged them [from coming].

¹⁴But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and He said to them, "Allow the children to come to Me; do not forbid them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

¹⁵I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever does not receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all."

¹⁶And He took the children [one by one] in His arms and blessed them [with kind, encouraging words], placing His hands on them.

¹⁷As He was leaving on His journey, a man ran up and knelt before Him and asked Him, "Good Teacher [You who are essentially good and morally perfect], what shall I do to inherit eternal life [that is, eternal salvation in the Messiah's kingdom]?"

¹⁸Jesus said to him, " Why do you call Me good? No one is [essentially] good [by nature] except God alone.

¹⁹You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not testify falsely, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'"

²⁰And he replied to Him, "Teacher, I have [carefully] kept all these [commandments] since my youth."

²¹Looking at him, Jesus felt a love (high regard, compassion) for him, and He said to him, "You lack one thing: go and sell all your property and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have [abundant] treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk]."

²²But the man was saddened at Jesus' words, and he left grieving, because he owned much property and had many possessions [which he treasured more than his relationship with God].

²³Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How difficult it will be for those who are wealthy [and cling to possessions and status as security] to enter the kingdom of God!"

²⁴The disciples were amazed and bewildered by His words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how difficult it is [for those who place their hope and confidence in riches] to enter the kingdom of God!

²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man [who places his faith in wealth or status] to enter the kingdom of God."

²⁶They were completely and utterly astonished, and said to Him, "Then who can be saved [from the wrath of God]?"

²⁷Looking at them, Jesus said, "With people [as far as it depends on them] it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."

²⁸Peter started saying to Him, "Look, we have given up everything and followed You [becoming Your disciples and accepting You as Teacher and Lord]."

²⁹Jesus said, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there is no one who has given up a house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake,

³⁰who will not receive a hundred times as much now in the present age—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms—along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.

³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last, first."

³²Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were perplexed [at what Jesus had said], and those who were following were alarmed and afraid. And again He took the twelve [disciples] aside and began telling them what was going to happen to Him,

³³saying, "Listen very carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed and handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles (Romans).

³⁴They will mock and ridicule Him and spit on Him, and whip (scourge) Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise [from the dead]."

³⁵James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You."

³⁶And He replied to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"

³⁷They said to Him, "Grant that we may sit [with You], one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory [Your majesty and splendor in Your kingdom]."

³⁸But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism [of suffering and death] with which I am baptized?"

³⁹And they replied to Him, "We are able." Jesus told them, "The cup that I drink you will drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.

⁴⁰But to sit on My right or left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared [by My Father]."

⁴¹Hearing this, the [other] ten became indignant with James and John.

⁴²Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their powerful men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them].

⁴³But this is not how it is among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,

⁴⁴and whoever wishes to be first and most important among you must be slave of all.

⁴⁵For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."

⁴⁶Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road [as was his custom].

⁴⁷When Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and say, "Jesus, Son of David (Messiah), have mercy on me!"

⁴⁸Many sternly rebuked him, telling him to keep still and be quiet; but he kept on shouting out all the more, "Son of David (Messiah), have mercy on me!"

⁴⁹Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, telling him, "Take courage, get up! He is calling for you."

⁵⁰Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped up and came to Jesus.

⁵¹And Jesus said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni (my Master), let me regain my sight."

⁵²Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith [and confident trust in My power] has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and began following Jesus on the road.