The Holy Gospel

     35 And in the morning, rising up very early, he went out and withdrew into a desert place, and there he prayed.  36 Simon and those who were with him went after him, 37 and when they found him, they said to him, 'All are looking for you.'  38 And he saith unto them, Let us go into the villages and cities that are near, that I may preach there also, for this I have come.  39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out demons.

     40 A leper came to him, and beseeched him, and fell on his knees before him, and said to him, 'If thou wilt, thou canst cleanse me.'  41 And Jesus, having compassion on him, stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him, 'I will, be cleansed.'  42 And after these words the leprosy immediately departed from him, and he became clean.  43 And having looked at him sternly, straightway he sent him away, 44 and said to him, 'See that you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded for a witness to them.'  45 And he went out, and began to proclaim and tell what had happened, so that Jesus could no longer enter into the city openly, but was outside, in the wilderness. And they came to Him from everywhere. 

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     1 And it came to pass, after a few days, that he came again to Capernaum; and it was heard that he was in the house.  2 Immediately many were assembled, so that there was no room at the door; and he spoke a word to them.  3 And they came to him with the paralytic, who was carried by four;  4 And not being able to draw near to him because of the multitude, they opened the roof of the house where he was, and having dug through it, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.  5 Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, "Child! thy sins are forgiven thee.  6 And there sat some of the scribes, and thought in their hearts, 7 Why does he thus blaspheme? who can forgive sins except God alone?  8 And Jesus, knowing immediately in his spirit that they were thinking thus in themselves, said unto them, Why do ye think thus in your hearts?  9 Which is easier? shall I say to the paralytic, "Thy sins are forgiven?" Or shall I say, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk?  10 But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, saith unto the paralytic, 11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go into thy house.  12 And straightway he arose, and took up the bed, and went out before all, so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, 'Never have we seen anything like this.'

     13 And Jesus went out again to the sea; and all the people went to him, and he taught them.  14 As he passed, he saw Levi Alpheus sitting at the toll-house, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he arose and followed Him.  15 And as Jesus reclined in his house, his disciples also reclined with him, and many publicans and sinners: for they were many, and they followed him.  16 And when the scribes and the Pharisees saw that he was eating with tax collectors and sinners, they said to his disciples, 'How is it that he eateth and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?'  17 And when Jesus heard this, he said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

     18 The disciples of John and the Pharisees fasted. They come to Him and say, "Why do the disciples of John and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?"  19 And Jesus said to them, 'Can the sons of the bridal chamber fast when the bridegroom is with them?' As long as the bridegroom is with them, they cannot fast, 20 but the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days.  21 No one puts patches of unbleached cloth to old clothes: otherwise the newly sewn will tear off the old, and the hole will be worse.  22 No one pours new wine into old skins: otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and the wine will leak out, and the skins will be lost. but new wine must be poured into new skins.

     23 And it came to pass on the Sabbath day that he was passing through the fields that had been sown, and his disciples began to pluck the ears of grain by the way.  24 And the Pharisees said to him, 'See what they do on the Sabbath that they ought not to do.'  25 And he said to them, 'Have you never read what David did when he was in need, and he hungered, and those who were with him?'  26 And how did he enter into the house of God under Abiathar the high priest, and eat of the showbread, which no man was to eat except the priests, and gave also to those who were with him?  27 And he said to them, 'The Sabbath is made for man, and not man for the sabbath;  28 Therefore the Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath. 

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     1 And he came again into the synagogue; There was a man who had a withered hand.  2 And they watched him to see if he would heal him on the sabbath, to accuse him.  3 And he saith unto the man that hath a withered hand, Stand in the midst.  4 And he saith unto them, Is it proper to do good on the sabbath, or to do evil? To save the soul, or to destroy it? But they were silent.  5 And when he looked upon them with anger, grieving for the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, 'Stretch out thy hand.' He stretched it out, and his hand became as healthy as the other.

     6 And the Pharisees went out, and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.  7 But Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea; and a multitude of people followed Him from Galilee, Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan. And those who dwelt in the region of Tyre and Sidon, when they heard what he was doing, came to him in great multitudes.  9 And he said unto his disciples, that a boat should be ready for him, because of the multitude, that they might not oppress him.  10 For he healed many, so that those who had plagues rushed to him to touch him.  11 And the unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried out, 'You are the Son of God.'  12 But he strictly rebuked them, lest they should make him known.

     13 Then he went up into the mountain, and called to him whom he himself willed; and come to Him.  14 And he appointed twelve of them, that they might be with him, and that they might send them out to preach, 15 and that they might have power to heal diseases and cast out demons.  16 And he appointed Simon, calling his name Peter, 17 James of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and calling them the names of Boanerges, that is, "sons of thunder," 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

     20 They come to the house; and again the people came together, so that it was impossible for them to eat bread.  21 And when his neighbors heard him, they went to take him, for they said that he had lost his temper.  22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said that he had Beelzebub in him, and that he cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons.  23 And having called them, he said to them in parables, 'How can Satan cast out Satan?'  24 If the kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand;  25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand;  26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come.  27 No one who enters into the house of a strong man can plunder his goods, except he first bind the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.  28 Verily I say unto you, All sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven the sons of men, no matter how they blaspheme;  29 but whosoever blasphemeth the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiven, but shall be liable to everlasting condemnation.  30 This he said, because they said, 'In him is an unclean spirit.'

     31 And his mother and his brethren came, and standing outside the house, they sent to him to call him.  32 And the people sat around him. And they said unto him, Behold, thy mother, and thy brethren, and thy sisters, outside the house, are asking thee.  33 And he answered them, 'Who are my mother and my brethren?'  34 And when he had looked upon them that sat round about him, he said, 'Behold my mother and my brethren;  35 For whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother. 

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