New Testament Plan

¹Soon afterward, Jesus began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him,

²and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

³and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.

⁴Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:

⁵“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the sky ate it up.

⁶Other seed fell on rocky soil, and when it came up, it withered away because it had no moisture.

⁷Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.

⁸And yet other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as much.” As He said these things, He would call out, “The one who has ears to hear,let him hear.”

⁹Now His disciples began asking Him what this parable meant.

¹⁰And He said, “To you it has been granted to know themysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest they are told in parables, so thatwhile seeing they may not see, andwhile hearing they may not understand.

¹¹“Now this is the parable: the seed is the word of God.

¹²And those beside the road are the ones who have heard, then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

¹³Those on the rocky soil are the ones who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and yet these do not have a firm root;they believe for a while, and in a time of temptation theyfall away.

¹⁴And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked by worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

¹⁵But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the wordwith a good and virtuous heart, and hold it firmly, and produce fruit withperseverance.

¹⁶“Now no one lights a lamp and covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in may see the light.

¹⁷For nothing is concealed that will not become evident, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.

¹⁸So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what hethinks he has will be taken away from him.”

¹⁹Now His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd.

²⁰And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.”

²¹But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

²²Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out.

²³But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger.

²⁴They came up to Jesus and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm.

²⁵And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” But they were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

²⁶Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

²⁷And when He stepped out onto the land, a man from the city met Him who was possessed with demons; and he had not put on clothing for a long time and was not living in a house, but among the tombs.

²⁸And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and said with a loud voice, “What business do You have with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!”

²⁹For He had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into the desert.

³⁰And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; because many demons had entered him.

³¹And they were begging Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.

³²Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding there on the mountain; and the demons begged Him to permit them to enter the pigs. And He gave them permission.

³³And the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴Now when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported everything in the city, and in the country.

³⁵And the people came out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened.

³⁶Those who had seen everything reported to them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been made well.

³⁷And all the people of the territory of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Him to leave them, because they were overwhelmed by great fear; and He got into a boat and returned.

³⁸But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but Jesus sent him away, saying,

³⁹“Return to your home and describe what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city what great things Jesus had done for him.

⁴⁰And as Jesus was returning, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.

⁴¹And a man named Jairus came, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began urging Him to come to his house;

⁴²for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.

⁴³And a woman who had suffered a chronic flow of blood for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone,

⁴⁴came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

⁴⁵And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.”

⁴⁶But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had left Me.”

⁴⁷Now when the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and admitted in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed.

⁴⁸And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith hasmade you well; go in peace.”

⁴⁹While He was still speaking, someone *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; do not trouble the Teacher anymore.”

⁵⁰But when Jesus heard this, He responded to him, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will bemade well.”

⁵¹When He came to the house, He did not allow anyone to enter with Him except Peter, John, and James, and the girl’s father and mother.

⁵²Now they were all weeping and mourning for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.”

⁵³And they began laughing at Him, knowing that she had died.

⁵⁴He, however, took her by the hand and spoke forcefully, saying, “Child, arise!”

⁵⁵And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He ordered that something be given her to eat.

⁵⁶Her parents were amazed; but He instructed them to tell no one what had happened.

¹Now He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and the power to heal diseases.

²And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.

³And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor abag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have twotunics.

⁴And whatever house you enter, stay thereuntil you leave that city.

⁵And as for all who do not receive you, when you leave that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

⁶And as they were leaving, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

⁷Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening; and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,

⁸and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen.

⁹Herod said, “I myself had John beheaded; but who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see Him.

¹⁰When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Him of all that they had done. And taking them with Him, He withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida.

¹¹But the crowds were aware of this and followed Him; and He welcomed them and began speaking to them about the kingdom of God, and curing those who had need of healing.

¹²Now the day was ending, and the twelve came up and said to Him, “Dismiss the crowd, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; because here, we are in a secluded place.”

¹³But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” But they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”

¹⁴(For there were about five thousand men.) But He said to His disciples, “Have them recline to eat in groups of about fifty each.”

¹⁵They did so, and had them all recline.

¹⁶And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He blessed them and broke them, and gave them to the disciples again and again, to serve the crowd.

¹⁷And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full.

¹⁸And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do thepeople say that I am?”

¹⁹They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.”

²⁰And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

²¹But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone,

²²saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.”

²³And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

²⁴For whoever wants to save hislife will lose it, but whoever loses hislife for My sake, this is the one who will save it.

²⁵For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but loses or forfeits himself?

²⁶For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

²⁷But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

²⁸About eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter, John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.

²⁹And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.

³⁰And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah,

³¹who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

³²Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who were standing with Him.

³³And as these two men were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; and let’s make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying.

³⁴But while he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

³⁵And then a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”

³⁶And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

³⁷On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him.

³⁸And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he is my only son,

³⁹and a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves.

⁴⁰And I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.”

⁴¹And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.”

⁴²Now while he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

⁴³And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was astonished at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples,

⁴⁴“As for you, let these words sink into your ears: for the Son of Man is going to behanded over to men.”

⁴⁵But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not comprehend it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

⁴⁶Now an argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest.

⁴⁷But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their hearts, took a child and had him stand by His side,

⁴⁸and He said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

⁴⁹John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow along with us.”

⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for the one who is not against you isfor you.”

⁵¹When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem;

⁵²and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him.

⁵³And they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem.

⁵⁴When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

⁵⁵But He turned and rebuked them.

⁵⁶And they went on to another village.

⁵⁷As they were going on the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.”

⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

⁵⁹And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say goodbye to those at my home.”

⁶²But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

¹Now after this the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

²And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

³Go; behold, I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves.

⁴Carry no money belt, nobag, no sandals, and greet no one along the way.

⁵And whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’

⁶And if aman of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you.

⁷Stay inthat house, eating and drinkingwhat they provide; for the laborer is deserving of his wages. Do not move from house to house.

⁸Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is served to you;

⁹and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

¹⁰But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say,

¹¹‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yetbe sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’

¹²I say to you, it will be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that city.

¹³“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

¹⁴But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.

¹⁵And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!

¹⁶“The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; but the one who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”

¹⁷Now the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!”

¹⁸And He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to walk on snakes and scorpions, and authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

²⁰Nevertheless, do notrejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

²¹At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “Ipraise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for doing so was well pleasing in Your sight.

²²All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son determines to reveal Him.”

²³Turning to the disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see;

²⁴for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things that you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things that you hear, and did not hear them.”

²⁵And behold, a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶And He said to him, “What is written in the Law?How does it read to you?”

²⁷And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

²⁸And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

²⁹But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him andbeat him, and went away leaving him half dead.

³¹And by coincidence a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

³²Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

³³But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,

³⁴and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

³⁵On the next day he took out twodenarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’

³⁶Which of these three do you thinkproved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”

³⁷And he said, “The one who showed compassion to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and dothe same.”

³⁸Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord’s feet, and was listening to His word.

⁴⁰But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do the serving by myself? Then tell her to help me.”

⁴¹But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;

⁴²but only one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”