New Testament Plan

¹" Do not judge and criticize and condemn [others unfairly with an attitude of self-righteous superiority as though assuming the office of a judge], so that you will not be judged [unfairly].

²For just as you [hypocritically] judge others [when you are sinful and unrepentant], so will you be judged; and in accordance with your standard of measure [used to pass out judgment], judgment will be measured to you.

³Why do you look at the [insignificant] speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice and acknowledge the [egregious] log that is in your own eye?

⁴Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me get the speck out of your eye,' when there is a log in your own eye?

⁵You hypocrite (play-actor, pretender), first get the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

⁶"Do not give that which is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, for they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

⁷" Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.

⁸For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.

⁹Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will [instead] give him a stone?

¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will [instead] give him a snake?

¹¹If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him.

¹²"So then, in everything treat others the same way you want them to treat you, for this is [the essence of] the Law and the [writings of the] Prophets.

¹³"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it.

¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it.

¹⁵"Beware of the false prophets, [teachers] who come to you dressed as sheep [appearing gentle and innocent], but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them [that is, by their contrived doctrine and self-focus]. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?

¹⁷Even so, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the unhealthy tree bears bad fruit.

¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.

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

²⁰Therefore, by their fruit you will recognize them [as false prophets].

²¹"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.

²²Many will say to Me on that day [when I judge them], 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and driven out demons in Your name, and done many miracles in Your name?'

²³And then I will declare to them publicly, 'I never knew you; depart from Me [you are banished from My presence], you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].'

²⁴"So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, will be like a wise man [a far-sighted, practical, and sensible man] who built his house on the rock.

²⁵And the rain fell, and the floods and torrents came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

²⁶And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them, will be like a foolish (stupid) man who built his house on the sand.

²⁷And the rain fell, and the floods and torrents came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great and complete was its fall."

²⁸When Jesus had finished [speaking] these words [on the mountain], the crowds were astonished and overwhelmed at His teaching;

²⁹for He was teaching them as one who had authority [to teach entirely of His own volition], and not as their scribes [who relied on others to confirm their authority].

¹When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.

²And a leper came up to Him and bowed down before Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You are able to make me clean (well)."

³Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one [about this]; but go, show yourself to the priest [for inspection] and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony (evidence) to them [of your healing]."

⁵As Jesus went into Capernaum, a centurion came up to Him, begging Him [for help],

⁶and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, with intense and terrible, tormenting pain."

⁷Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."

⁸But the centurion replied to Him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.

⁹For I also am a man subject to authority [of a higher rank], with soldiers subject to me; and I say to one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."

¹⁰When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those who were following Him, "I tell you truthfully, I have not found such great faith [as this] with anyone in Israel.

¹¹I say to you that many [Gentiles] will come from east and west, and will sit down [to feast at the table, and enjoy God's promises] with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven [because they accepted Me as Savior],

¹²while the sons and heirs of the kingdom [the descendants of Abraham who will not recognize Me as Messiah] will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place [which is farthest removed from the kingdom] there will be weeping [in sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [in distress and anger]."

¹³Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; it will be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was restored to health at that very hour.

¹⁴When Jesus went into Peter's house [in Capernaum], He saw Peter's mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.

¹⁵He touched her hand and the fever left her; and she got up and served Him.

¹⁶When evening came, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons; and He cast out the evil spirits with a word, and restored to health all who were sick [exhibiting His authority as Messiah],

¹⁷so that He fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He Himself took our infirmities [upon Himself] and carried away our diseases."

¹⁸Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to cast off for the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

¹⁹Then [on His way to board the boat] a scribe [who was a respected and authoritative interpreter of the Law] came and said to Him, "Master, I will accompany You [as Your student] wherever You go."

²⁰Jesus replied to him, "Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

²¹Another of the disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father (collect my inheritance)."

²²But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me [believing in Me as Master and Teacher], and allow the [spiritually] dead to bury their own dead."

²³When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.

²⁴And suddenly a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus was sleeping.

²⁵And the disciples went and woke Him, saying, "Lord, save us, we are going to die!"

²⁶He said to them, "Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was [at once] a great and wonderful calm [a perfect peacefulness].

²⁷The men wondered in amazement, saying, "What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

²⁸When He arrived at the other side in the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs met Him. They were so extremely fierce and violent that no one could pass by that way.

²⁹And they screamed out, " What business do we have [in common] with each other, Son of God? Have You come to torment us before the appointed time [of judgment]?"

³⁰Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was grazing.

³¹The demons began begging Him, "If You drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs."

³²And He said to them, "Go!" So they came out [of the men] 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 away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the men under the power of demons.

³⁴And the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.

¹And Jesus, getting into a boat, crossed over the Sea of Galilee and came to [Capernaum] His own city.

²They brought to Him a man who was paralyzed, lying on a stretcher. Seeing their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], Jesus said to the paralytic, "Do not be afraid, son; your sins are forgiven [the penalty is paid, the guilt removed, and you are declared to be in right standing with God]."

³And some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man blasphemes [by claiming the rights and prerogatives of God]!"

⁴But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?

⁵For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven and the penalty paid,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? [Both are possible for God; both are impossible for man.]

⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority and the power on earth to forgive sins"—then He said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your stretcher and go home."

⁷And he got up and went home [healed and forgiven].

⁸When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God and praised Him, who had given such authority and power to men.

⁹As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew (Levi) sitting in the tax collector's booth; and He said to him, "Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk]." And Matthew got up and followed Him.

¹⁰Then as Jesus was reclining at the table in Matthew's house, many tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews] came and ate with Him and His disciples.

¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, "Why does your Master eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

¹²But when Jesus heard this, He said, "Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but [only] those who are sick.

¹³Go and learn what this [Scripture] means: 'I desire compassion [for those in distress], and not [animal] sacrifice,' for I did not come to call [to repentance] the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to change], but sinners [those who recognize their sin and actively seek forgiveness]."

¹⁴Then the disciples of John [the Baptist] came to Jesus, asking, "Why do we and the Pharisees often fast [as a religious exercise], but Your disciples do not fast?"

¹⁵And Jesus replied to them, "Can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

¹⁶But no one puts a piece of unshrunk (new) cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

¹⁷Nor is new wine put into old wineskins [that have lost their elasticity]; otherwise the wineskins burst, and the [fermenting] wine spills and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, so both are preserved."

¹⁸While He was saying these things to them, a ruler (synagogue official) entered [the house] and kneeled down and worshiped Him, saying, "My daughter has just now died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live."

¹⁹Jesus got up and began to accompany the ruler, with His disciples.

²⁰Then a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the [tassel] fringe of His outer robe;

²¹for she had been saying to herself, "If I only touch His outer robe, I will be healed."

²²But Jesus turning and seeing her said, "Take courage, daughter; your [personal trust and confident] faith [in Me] has made you well." And at once the woman was [completely] healed.

²³When Jesus came to the ruler's house, and saw the flute players [who were professional, hired mourners] and the [grieving] crowd making an uproar,

²⁴He said, "Go away; for the girl is not dead, but is sleeping." And they laughed and jeered at Him.

²⁵But when the crowd had been sent outside, Jesus went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.

²⁶And the news about this spread throughout all that district.

²⁷As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, screaming loudly, "Have mercy and compassion on us, Son of David (Messiah)!"

²⁸When He went into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe [with a deep, abiding trust] that I am able to do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."

²⁹Then He touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith [your trust and confidence in My power and My ability to heal] it will be done to you."

³⁰And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: "See that no one knows this!"

³¹But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that whole district.

³²While they were going away, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Jesus.

³³And when the demon was driven out [by Jesus], the mute man spoke; and the crowds wondered in amazement, saying, "Never before has anything like this [miracle] been seen in Israel."

³⁴But the Pharisees were saying, "He casts out the demons by [the power of] the ruler of demons."

³⁵Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages [in Galilee], teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news (gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness [His words and His works reflecting His Messiahship].

³⁶When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion and pity for them, because they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd.

³⁷Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few.

³⁸So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."