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Some Pharisees and Sadducees who came to Jesus wanted to trap him, so they asked him to perform a miracle for them, to show that God approved of him.
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But Jesus answered, "When the sun is setting, you say, 'We are going to have fine weather, because the sky is red.'
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And early in the morning you say, 'It is going to rain, because the sky is red and dark.' You can predict the weather by looking at the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs concerning these times!
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How evil and godless are the people of this day! You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of Jonah." So he left them and went away.
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When the disciples crossed over to the other side of the lake, they forgot to take any bread.
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Jesus said to them, "Take care; be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
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They started discussing among themselves, "He says this because we didn't bring any bread."
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Jesus knew what they were saying, so he asked them, "Why are you discussing among yourselves about not having any bread? What little faith you have!
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Don't you understand yet? Don't you remember when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand men? How many baskets did you fill?
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And what about the seven loaves for the four thousand men? How many baskets did you fill?
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How is it that you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? Guard yourselves from the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!"
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Then the disciples understood that he was not warning them to guard themselves from the yeast used in bread but from the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
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Jesus went to the territory near the town of Caesarea Philippi, where he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
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"Some say John the Baptist," they answered. "Others say Elijah, while others say Jeremiah or some other prophet."
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"What about you?" he asked them. "Who do you say I am?"
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Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
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"Good for you, Simon son of John!" answered Jesus. "For this truth did not come to you from any human being, but it was given to you directly by my Father in heaven.
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And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it.
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I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven."
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Then Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
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From that time on Jesus began to say plainly to his disciples, "I must go to Jerusalem and suffer much from the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. I will be put to death, but three days later I will be raised to life."
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Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "God forbid it, Lord!" he said. "That must never happen to you!"
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Jesus turned around and said to Peter, "Get away from me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my way, because these thoughts of yours don't come from God, but from human nature."
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Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, carry your cross, and follow me.
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For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it.
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Will you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not! There is nothing you can give to regain your life.
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For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each one according to his deeds.
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I assure you that there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Son of Man come as King."
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Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone.
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As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white.
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Then the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.
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So Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Lord, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
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While he was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased---listen to him!"
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When the disciples heard the voice, they were so terrified that they threw themselves face downward on the ground.
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Jesus came to them and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid!"
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So they looked up and saw no one there but Jesus.
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As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Don't tell anyone about this vision you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from death."
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Then the disciples asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?"
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"Elijah is indeed coming first," answered Jesus, "and he will get everything ready.
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But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man."
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Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
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When they returned to the crowd, a man came to Jesus, knelt before him,
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and said, "Sir, have mercy on my son! He is an epileptic and has such terrible attacks that he often falls in the fire or into water.
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I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."
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Jesus answered, "How unbelieving and wrong you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy here to me!"
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Jesus gave a command to the demon, and it went out of the boy, and at that very moment he was healed.
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Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked him, "Why couldn't we drive the demon out?"
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"It was because you do not have enough faith," answered Jesus. "I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, 'Go from here to there!' and it will go. You could do anything!"
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When the disciples all came together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be handed over to those
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who will kill him; but three days later he will be raised to life." The disciples became very sad.
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When Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked, "Does your teacher pay the Temple tax?"
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"Of course," Peter answered. When Peter went into the house, Jesus spoke up first, "Simon, what is your opinion? Who pays duties or taxes to the kings of this world? The citizens of the country or the foreigners?"
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"The foreigners," answered Peter. "Well, then," replied Jesus, "that means that the citizens don't have to pay.
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But we don't want to offend these people. So go to the lake and drop in a line. Pull up the first fish you hook, and in its mouth you will find a coin worth enough for my Temple tax and yours. Take it and pay them our taxes."
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At that time the disciples came to Jesus, asking, "Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?"
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So Jesus called a child to come and stand in front of them,
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and said, "I assure you that unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.
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The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child.
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And whoever welcomes in my name one such child as this, welcomes me.
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"If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose his faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around his neck and be drowned in the deep sea.
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How terrible for the world that there are things that make people lose their faith! Such things will always happen---but how terrible for the one who causes them!
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"If your hand or your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off and throw it away! It is better for you to enter life without a hand or a foot than to keep both hands and both feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.
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And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out and throw it away! It is better for you to enter life with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
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"See that you don't despise any of these little ones. Their angels in heaven, I tell you, are always in the presence of my Father in heaven.
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"What do you think a man does who has one hundred sheep and one of them gets lost? He will leave the other ninety-nine grazing on the hillside and go and look for the lost sheep.
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When he finds it, I tell you, he feels far happier over this one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost.
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In just the same way your Father in heaven does not want any of these little ones to be lost.
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"If your brother sins against you, go to him and show him his fault. But do it privately, just between yourselves. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back.
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But if he will not listen to you, take one or two other persons with you, so that 'every accusation may be upheld by the testimony of two or more witnesses,' as the scripture says.
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And if he will not listen to them, then tell the whole thing to the church. Finally, if he will not listen to the church, treat him as though he were a pagan or a tax collector.
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"And so I tell all of you: what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
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"And I tell you more: whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
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For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them."
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Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?"
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"No, not seven times," answered Jesus, "but seventy times seven,
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because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants' accounts.
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He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.
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The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt.
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The servant fell on his knees before the king. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay you everything!'
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The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.
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"Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and started choking him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he said.
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His fellow servant fell down and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!'
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But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt.
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When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything.
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So he called the servant in. 'You worthless slave!' he said. 'I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to.
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You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.'
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The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount."
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And Jesus concluded, "That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
