New Testament Plan

¹Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the part of Judea that is beyond the Jordan;

²and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

³And Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?"

⁴He replied, "Have you never read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

⁵and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined inseparably to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?

⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate."

⁷The Pharisees said to Him, "Why then did Moses command us to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?"

⁸He said to them, "Because your hearts were hard and stubborn Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.

⁹I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

¹⁰The disciples said to Jesus, "If the relationship of a man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry."

¹¹But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom [the capacity to receive] it has been given.

¹²For there are eunuchs who have been born that way from their mother's womb [making them incapable of consummating a marriage]; and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men [for royal service]; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it."

¹³Then children were brought to Jesus so that He might place His hands on them [for a blessing] and pray; but the disciples reprimanded them.

¹⁴But He said, "Leave the children alone, and do not forbid them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

¹⁵After placing His hands on them [for a blessing], He went on from there.

¹⁶And someone came to Him and said, "Teacher, what [essentially] good thing shall I do to obtain eternal life [that is, eternal salvation in the Messiah's kingdom]?"

¹⁷Jesus answered, "Why are you asking Me about what is [essentially] good? There is only One who is [essentially] good; but if you wish to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments."

¹⁸He said to Jesus, "Which commandments?" And Jesus answered, "You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not give false testimony;

¹⁹Honor your father and mother; and love your neighbor as yourself" [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].

²⁰The young man said to Him, "I have kept all these things [from my youth]; what do I still lack?"

²¹Jesus answered him, "If you wish to be perfect [that is, have the spiritual maturity that accompanies godly character with no moral or ethical deficiencies], go and sell what you have and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have 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 when the young man heard this, he left grieving and distressed, for he owned much property and had many possessions [which he treasured more than his relationship with God].

²³Jesus said to His disciples, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, it is difficult for a rich man [who clings to possessions and status as security] to enter the kingdom 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 [who places his faith in wealth and status] to enter the kingdom of God."

²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were completely astonished and bewildered, saying, "Then who can be saved [from the wrath of God]?"

²⁶But Jesus looked at them and said, "With people [as far as it depends on them] it is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

²⁷Then Peter answered Him, saying, "Look, we have given up everything and followed You [becoming Your disciples and accepting You as Teacher and Lord]; what then will there be for us?"

²⁸Jesus said to them, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, in the renewal [that is, the Messianic restoration and regeneration of all things] when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you [who have followed Me, becoming My disciples] 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 farms for My name's sake will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.

³⁰But many who are first [in this world] will be last [in the world to come]; and the last, first.

¹"For the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out in the morning at dawn to hire workmen for his vineyard.

²When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

³And he went out about the third hour (9:00 a.m.) and saw others standing idle in the market place;

⁴and he said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right (an appropriate wage).' And they went.

⁵He went out about the sixth hour (noon) and the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), and did the same thing.

⁶And about the eleventh hour (5:00 p.m.) he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day?'

⁷They answered him, 'Because no one hired us.' He told them, 'You go into the vineyard also.'

⁸"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last [to be hired] and ending with the first [to be hired].'

⁹Those who had been hired at the eleventh hour (5:00 p.m.) came and received a denarius each [a day's wage].

¹⁰Now when the first [to be hired] came, they thought they would get more; but each of them also received a denarius.

¹¹When they received it, they protested and grumbled at the owner of the estate,

¹²saying, 'These men who came last worked [only] one hour, and yet you have made them equal [in wages] to us who have carried [most of] the burden and [worked in] the scorching heat of the day.'

¹³But the owner of the estate replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no injustice. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?

¹⁴Take what belongs to you and go, but I choose to give to this last man [hired] the same as I give to you.

¹⁵Am I not lawfully permitted to do what I choose with what is mine? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?'

¹⁶So those who are last [in this world] shall be first [in the world to come], and those who are first, last."

¹⁷As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve [disciples] aside, and along the way He said to them,

¹⁸"Listen carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), and they will [judicially] condemn Him and sentence Him to death,

¹⁹and will hand Him over to the Gentiles (Roman authorities) to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and He will be raised [to life] on the third day."

²⁰Then [Salome] the mother of Zebedee's children [James and John] came up to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down [in respect], asked a favor of Him.

²¹And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She answered Him, "Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit [in positions of honor and authority] one on Your right and one on Your left."

²²But Jesus replied, "You do not realize what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup [of suffering] that I am about to drink?" They answered, "We are able."

²³He said to them, "You will drink My cup [of suffering]; but to sit on My right and on My left this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father."

²⁴And when the [other] ten heard this, they were resentful and angry with the two brothers.

²⁵But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles have absolute power and lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them].

²⁶It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,

²⁷and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your [willing and humble] 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 [paying the price to set them free from the penalty of sin]."

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

³⁰And two blind men were sitting by the road, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David (Messiah)!"

³¹The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, Son of David (Messiah) have mercy on us!"

³²Jesus stopped and called them, and asked, "What do you want Me to do for you?"

³³They answered Him, "Lord, we want our eyes to be opened."

³⁴Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him [as His disciples].

¹When they approached Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples [ahead],

²saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and at once you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me.

³If anyone says anything to you, you should say, 'The Lord needs them,' and without delay the owner will send them [with you]."

⁴This happened so that what was spoken by the prophet would be fulfilled, saying:

⁵"Tell the daughter of Zion (the people of Jerusalem), 'Behold, your King is coming to you, Gentle and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"

⁶Then the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them,

⁷and they brought the donkey and the colt, and placed their coats on them; and Jesus sat on the coats.

⁸Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road [as before a king], while others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road.

⁹The crowds that went ahead of Him, and those that followed Him, were shouting [in praise and adoration], " Hosanna to the Son of David (Messiah); Blessed [praised, glorified] is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest [heaven]!"

¹⁰When He entered Jerusalem, all the city was trembling [with excitement], saying, "Who is this?"

¹¹And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee."

¹²And Jesus entered the temple [grounds] and drove out [with force] all who were buying and selling [birds and animals for sacrifice] in the temple area, and He turned over the tables of the moneychangers [who made a profit exchanging foreign money for temple coinage] and the chairs of those who were selling doves [for sacrifice].

¹³Jesus said to them, "It is written [in Scripture], 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you are making it a robbers' den."

¹⁴And the blind and the lame came to Him in [the porticoes and courts of] the temple area, and He healed them.

¹⁵But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful and miraculous things that Jesus had done, and heard the boys who were shouting in [the porticoes and courts of] the temple [in praise and adoration], "Hosanna to the Son of David (the Messiah)," they became indignant

¹⁶and they said to Him, "Do You hear what these children are saying?" And Jesus replied to them, "Yes; have you never read [in the Scripture], 'Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared and provided praise for Yourself'?"

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

¹⁸Now early in the morning, as Jesus was coming back to the city, He was hungry.

¹⁹Seeing a lone fig tree at the roadside, He went to it and found nothing but leaves on it; and He said to it, "Never again will fruit come from you." And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰When the disciples saw it, they were astonished and asked, "How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once?"

²¹Jesus replied to them, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if you have faith [personal trust and confidence in Me] and do not doubt or allow yourself to be drawn in two directions, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen [if God wills it].

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

²³When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and elders of the people came to Him as He was teaching and said, "By what [kind of] authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority [to exercise this power]?"

²⁴Jesus replied to them, "I will also ask you a question, and if you tell Me the answer, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

²⁵The baptism of John—from where did it come? From heaven [that is, ordained by God] or from men?" And they began debating among themselves [considering the implications of their answer], saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe John?'

²⁶But if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the [response of the] crowd; for they all regard John as a prophet."

²⁷So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what [kind of] authority I do these things."

²⁸"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.'

²⁹And he answered, 'I will not'; but afterward he regretted it and changed his mind and went.

³⁰Then the man came to the second son and said the same thing; and he replied, 'I will, sir'; but he did not go.

³¹Which of the two did the will of the father?" The chief priests and elders replied, "The first one." Jesus said to them, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.

³²For John came to you [walking] in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even change your mind afterward and believe him [accepting what he proclaimed to you].

³³"Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to tenant farmers and went on a journey [to another country].

³⁴When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his [share of the] fruit.

³⁵But the tenants took his servants and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third.

³⁶Again he sent other servants, more than the first time; and they treated them the same way.

³⁷Finally he sent his own son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son and have regard for him.'

³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This [man] is the heir; come on, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.'

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

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

⁴¹They said to Him, "He will put those despicable men to a miserable end, and rent out the vineyard to other tenants [of good character] who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons."

⁴²Jesus asked them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The [very]Stone which the builders rejected and threw away, Has become the chief Cornerstone; This is the Lord's doing, And it is marvelous and wonderful in our eyes'?

⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to [another] people who will produce the fruit of it.

⁴⁴And he who falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces; but he on whom it falls will be crushed."

⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was talking about them.

⁴⁶And although they were trying to arrest Him, they feared the people, because they regarded Jesus as a prophet.