Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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The Question about the Sabbath
(Mark 2.23–28; Luke 6.1–5)
1 Not long afterward Jesus was
walking through some wheat
fields on a Sabbath. His disciples
were hungry, so they began to pick
heads of wheat and eat the grain. note
2 When the Pharisees saw this, they
said to Jesus, “Look, it is against our
Law for your disciples to do this on
the Sabbath!”
3 Jesus answered, “Have you never
read what David did that time
when he and his men were hungry?
4 He went into the house of God, and
he and his men ate the bread offered
to God, even though it was against
the Law for them to eat it—only the
priests were allowed to eat that
bread. note note
5 Or have you not read in the
Law of Moses that every Sabbath
the priests in the Temple actually
break the Sabbath law, yet they are
not guilty? note
6 I tell you that there is
something here greater than the
Temple.
7 The scripture says, ‘It is
kindness that I want, not animal sacrifices.’
If you really knew what this
means, you would not condemn people
who are not guilty; note
8 for the Son
of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
The Man with a Paralyzed Hand
(Mark 3.1–6; Luke 6.6–11)
9 Jesus left that place and went to
a synagogue,
10 where there was a
man who had a paralyzed hand.
Some people were there who
wanted to accuse Jesus of doing
wrong, so they asked him, “Is it
against our Law to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 Jesus answered, “What if one of
you has a sheep and it falls into a
deep hole on the Sabbath? Will he
not take hold of it and lift it out? note
12 And a man is worth much more
than a sheep! So then, our Law does
allow us to help someone on the
Sabbath.”
13 Then he said to the man
with the paralyzed hand, “Stretch
out your hand.”
13 He stretched it out, and it became
well again, just like the other one.
14 Then the Pharisees left and made
plans to kill Jesus.
God's Chosen Servant
15 When Jesus heard about the plot
against him, he went away from that
place; and large crowds followed
him. He healed all the sick
16 and
gave them orders not to tell others
about him.
17 He did this so as to
make come true what God had said
through the prophet Isaiah:
18
“Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
the one I love, and with whom I am pleased.
I will send my Spirit upon him,
and he will announce my judgment to the nations.
-- --
19
He will not argue or shout,
or make loud speeches in the streets.
20
He will not break off a bent reed,
nor put out a flickering lamp.
He will persist until he causes justice to triumph,
21
and on him all peoples will put their hope.” note
Jesus and Beelzebul
(Mark 3.20–30; Luke 11.14–23)
22 Then some people brought to
Jesus a man who was blind and
could not talk because he had a demon.
Jesus healed the man, so that
he was able to talk and see.
23 The
crowds were all amazed at what
Jesus had done. “Could he be the
Son of David?” they asked.
24 When the Pharisees heard this,
they replied, “He drives out demons
only because their ruler Beelzebul
gives him power to do so.” note
25 Jesus knew what they were
thinking, and so he said to them,
“Any country that divides itself into
groups which fight each other will
not last very long. And any town or
family that divides itself into groups
which fight each other will fall apart.
26 So if one group is fighting another
in Satan's kingdom, this means that
it is already divided into groups and
will soon fall apart!
27 You say that I
drive out demons because Beelzebul
gives me the power to do so. Well,
then, who gives your followers the
power to drive them out? What your
own followers do proves that you
are wrong!
28 No, it is not Beelzebul,
but God's Spirit, who gives me the
power to drive out demons, which
proves that the Kingdom of God has
already come upon you.
29 “No one can break into a strong
man's house and take away his belongings
unless he first ties up the
strong man; then he can plunder his
house. note
30 “Anyone who is not for me is
really against me; anyone who does
not help me gather is really scattering. note
31 For this reason I tell you: people
can be forgiven any sin and any
evil thing they say; note but whoever
says evil things against the Holy
Spirit will not be forgiven.
32 Anyone
who says something against the Son
of Man can be forgiven; but whoever
says something against the Holy
Spirit will not be forgiven—now or
ever. note
A Tree and Its Fruit
(Luke 6.43–45)
33 “To have good fruit you must
have a healthy tree; if you have a
poor tree, you will have bad fruit. A
tree is known by the kind of fruit it
bears. note
34 You snakes—how can you
say good things when you are evil?
For the mouth speaks what the heart
is full of. note
35 A good person brings
good things out of his treasure of
good things; a bad person brings bad
things out of his treasure of bad
things.
36 “You can be sure that on the
Judgment Day everyone will have to
give account of every useless word
he has ever spoken.
37 Your words
will be used to judge you—to declare
you either innocent or guilty.”
The Demand for a Miracle
(Mark 8.11–12; Luke 11.29–32)
38 Then some teachers of the Law
and some Pharisees spoke up.
“Teacher,” they said, “we want to
see you perform a miracle.” note
39 “How evil and godless are the
people of this day!” Jesus exclaimed.
“You ask me for a miracle?
No! The only miracle you will be given
is the miracle of the prophet Jonah. note
40 In the same way that Jonah
spent three days and nights in the
big fish, so will the Son of Man
spend three days and nights in the
depths of the earth. note
41 On the Judgment
Day the people of Nineveh will
stand up and accuse you, because
they turned from their sins when
-- --
they heard Jonah preach; and I tell
you that there is something here
greater than Jonah! note
42 On the Judgment
Day the Queen of Sheba will
stand up and accuse you, because
she traveled all the way from her
country to listen to King Solomon's
wise teaching; and I assure you that
there is something here greater than
Solomon! note
The Return of the Evil Spirit
(Luke 11.24–26)
43 “When an evil spirit goes out of
a person, it travels over dry country
looking for a place to rest. If it can't
find one,
44 it says to itself, ‘I will go
back to my house.’ So it goes back
and finds the house empty, clean,
and all fixed up.
45 Then it goes out
and brings along seven other spirits
even worse than itself, and they
come and live there. So when it is all
over, that person is in worse shape
than he was at the beginning. This is
what will happen to the evil people
of this day.”
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
(Mark 3.31–35; Luke 8.19–21)
46 Jesus was still talking to the
people when his mother and brothers
arrived. They stood outside, asking
to speak with him.
47 So one of
the people there said to him, “Look,
your mother and brothers are standing
outside, and they want to speak
with you.” note
48 Jesus answered, “Who is my
mother? Who are my brothers?”
49 Then he pointed to his disciples
and said, “Look! Here are my
mother and my brothers!
50 Whoever
does what my Father in heaven
wants him to do is my brother, my
sister, and my mother.”
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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