The Jewish Annotated New Testament (14 page)

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“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
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Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
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For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

12
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.
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When the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath.”
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He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?
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He entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him or his companions to eat, but only for the priests.
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Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath the priests in the temple break the sabbath and yet are guiltless?
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I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.
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But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.
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For the Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

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He left that place and entered their synagogue;
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a man was there with a withered hand, and they asked him, “Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?” so that they might accuse him.
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He said to them, “Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out?
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How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the sabbath.”
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Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and it was restored, as sound as the other.
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But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

¹⁵
When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many crowds a followed him, and he cured all of them,
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and he ordered them not to make him known.
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This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

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“Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
         my beloved, with whom my soul is well
            pleased.

I will put my Spirit upon him,
         and he will proclaim justice to the
             Gentiles.

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He will not wrangle or cry aloud,
         nor will anyone hear his voice in the
            streets.

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He will not break a bruised reed
         or quench a smoldering wick
      until he brings justice to victory.

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And in his name the Gentiles will
         hope.”

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Then they brought to him a demoniac who was blind and mute; and he cured him, so that the one who had been mute could speak and see.
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All the crowds were amazed and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”
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But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons, that this fellow casts out the demons.”
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He knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.
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If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?
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If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own exorcists
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cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
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But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
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Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property, without first tying up the strong man? Then indeed the house can be plundered.
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Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
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Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
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Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

³³
“Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
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You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
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The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.
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I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter;
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for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

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Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.”
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But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
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For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so for three days and three nights the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth.
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The people of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!
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The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here!

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“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but it finds none.
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Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order.
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Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So will it be also with this evil generation.”

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While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him.

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Someone told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
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But to the one who had told him this, Jesus
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replied, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”
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And pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
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For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

13
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.
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Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.
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And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow.
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And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.
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Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.
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But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.
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Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
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Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
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Let anyone with ears
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listen!”

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Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
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He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets
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of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
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For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.
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The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’
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With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:

‘You will indeed listen, but never
       understand,
       and you will indeed look, but never
              perceive.

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For this people’s heart has grown dull,
         and their ears are hard of hearing,
              and they have shut their eyes;
              so that they might not look with
                     their eyes,
              and listen with their ears,
       and understand with their heart and
                     turn—
              and I would heal them.’

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But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.
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Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.

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“Hear then the parable of the sower.
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When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path.
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As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
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yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away.
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As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing.
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But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”