and after braiding ¹  a crown of thorns, ²  they put it on his head. They ³  put a staff ⁴  in his right hand, and kneeling down before him, they mocked him: ⁵  “Hail, king of the Jews!” ⁶ 

how he entered the house of God when Abiathar was high priest ¹  and ate the sacred bread, ²  which is against the law ³  for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?” ⁴ 

After looking around ¹  at them in anger, grieved by the hardness of their hearts, ²  he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ³ 

Again he began to teach by the lake. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there while ¹  the whole crowd was on the shore by the lake.

Isn’t this the carpenter, the son ¹  of Mary ²  and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And so they took offense at him.

When his daughter Herodias ¹  came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.”

Then ¹  he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. After he took the seven loaves and gave thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples to serve. So ²  they served the crowd.

Then Jesus and his disciples went to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. ¹  On the way he asked his disciples, ²  “Who do people say that I am?”

Then ¹  Jesus ²  left that place and went to the region of Judea and ³  beyond the Jordan River. ⁴  Again crowds gathered to him, and again, as was his custom, he taught them.

When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Then no one dared any longer to question him.

“But when you see the abomination of desolation ¹  standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee ²  to the mountains.

“Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.

Now ¹  while Jesus ²  was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, reclining at the table, ³  a woman came with an alabaster jar ⁴  of costly aromatic oil ⁵  from pure nard. After breaking open the jar, she poured it on his head.

“I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand ¹  of the Power ²  and coming with the clouds of heaven.” ³ 

During the reign ¹  of Herod ²  king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to ³  the priestly division of Abijah, ⁴  and he had a wife named Elizabeth, ⁵  who was a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ 

When ¹  Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped ²  in her ³  womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴ 

So ¹  Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth ²  in Galilee to Judea, to the city ³  of David called Bethlehem, ⁴  because he was of the house ⁵  and family line ⁶  of David.

Therefore produce ¹  fruit ²  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ³  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ⁴  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ⁵ 

All ¹  were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They ²  said, “Isn’t this ³  Joseph’s son?”

They got up, forced ¹  him out of the town, ²  and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that ³  they could throw him down the cliff. ⁴