if any shall deny me before men, I shall deny him before my father in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a bride against her mother-in-law, and the household of a man will be his enemies. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and come along behind me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life shall lose it, and he who loses his life because of me shall find it. He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me forth. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall have the reward of a prophet, and he who receives a just man in the name of a just man shall have the reward of a just man. And he who gives one of these small ones a cup of cold water to drink, if only in the name of a disciple, truly I tell you, he shall not lose his reward.
•t Then it came about that when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went away from there to teach and preach in their cities. But John in his prison heard of the works of the Christ, and sent his disciples to him, and through them asked him: Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Jesus answered and said to them: Go and tell John what you are seeing and hearing. The blind see again and the lame walk, lepers are made clean and deaf-mutes hear, and the dead rise up and beggars are told good news. And blessed is he who does not go astray where I am concerned. As these went away
Jesus began to speak about John to the multitudes: What did you come out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you come out to see? A man wrapped in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in the houses of the kings. But why did you come out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he about whom it was written: Behold, I send forth my messenger before your face, who will make your way ready before you. Truly I tell you, among men born of women there has not risen a greater one than John the Baptist; but one who is only a lesser one in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven has been forced and the violent have seized it. For all the prophets, and the law, prophesied rmtil John; and if you wish to accept it, he himself is Elijah, who was to come. He who has ears, let him listen. To what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the public places who call out to others and say: We played the flute, but you did not dance; we lamented and you did not beat yourselves. For John came neither eating nor drinking and they say: He has a demon. The son of man came eating and drinking and they say: See, the man is an eater and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. And wisdom is justified by what it has done.
Then he began to blame the cities in which his greatest powers had been shown, because they had not repented: Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if there had been shown in Tyre and Sidon the powers that have been shown among you, long since they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than it will be for you. And you, Capemaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades. For if in Sodom there had been shown the powers that have been shown among you, Sodom would have remained until today. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than it will be for you.
At that time Jesus spoke and said: I thank you, father, lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the clever and the understanding, and revealed them to the simple; yes, father, that thus it has been your pleasure in your sight. All was given to me by my father, and no one knows the son except the father, and no one knows the father except the son, and anyone to whom the son wishes to reveal it. Come to me, all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your souls; for my yoke is good and my burden is light.
41 At that time Jesus walked on the sabbath through the sown fields; and his disciples were hungry, and began to pick the ears of grain and eat them. But the Pharisees saw it and said to him: See, your disciples are doing what it is forbidden to do on the sabbath. But he said to them: Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those with him? How he went into the house of God, and they ate the show bread, which he was not permitted to eat, nor those with him, but only the priests? Or have you not read in the law that on sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are not guilty? I tell you that here is a thing greater than the temple. But if you knew what this means: I wish mercy, not a sacrifice; then you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the son of man is lord of the sabbath. And passing on from there he went into their synagogue, and behold, there was a man with a withered arm. And they questioned him, saying: Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath? They meant to bring a charge against him. But he said to them: Will there be one of you who owns one sheep, and if it falls down a hole on the sabbath, will not take hold of it and pull it out? How much better a man is than a sheep. Thus it is permitted to do good on the sabbath. Then he said to the man: Stretch out your arm. And he stretched it, and it became sound, like the other arm. But the Pharisees went outside and began plotting against him to destroy him.