and sent them to Jesus ¹  to ask, ²  “Are you the one who is to come, ³  or should we look for another?”

One ¹  day Jesus ²  got into a boat ³  with his disciples and said to them, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” So ⁴  they set out,

Then ¹  all the people of the Gerasenes ²  and the surrounding region ³  asked Jesus ⁴  to leave them alone, ⁵  for they were seized with great fear. ⁶  So ⁷  he got into the boat and left. ⁸ 

saying, “The Son of Man must suffer ¹  many things and be rejected by the elders, ²  chief priests, and experts in the law, ³  and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” ⁴ 

For whoever is ashamed ¹  of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person ²  when he comes in his glory and in the glory ³  of the Father and of the holy angels.

Now ¹  Jesus ²  was praying in a certain place. When ³  he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John ⁴  taught ⁵  his disciples.”

Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ¹  the last state of that person ²  is worse than the first.” ³ 

As ¹  the crowds were increasing, Jesus ²  began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign, ³  but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ⁴ 

But Jesus ¹  replied, ²  “Woe to you experts in religious law as well! ³  You load people ⁴  down with burdens difficult to bear, yet you yourselves refuse to touch ⁵  the burdens with even one of your fingers!

So then ¹  whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered ²  in private rooms ³  will be proclaimed from the housetops. ⁴ 

Then ¹  he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from ²  all types of greed, ³  because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Consider the ravens: ¹  They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds ²  them. How much more valuable are you than the birds!

then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, ¹  and assign him a place with the unfaithful. ² 

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth ¹  when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, ²  and all the prophets in the kingdom of God ³  but you yourselves thrown out. ⁴ 

But when you are invited, go and take the least important place, so that when your host ¹  approaches he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up here to a better place.’ ²  Then you will be honored in the presence of all who share the meal with you.

Then ¹  his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven ²  and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ³ 

but he answered ¹  his father, ‘Look! These many years I have worked like a slave ²  for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet ³  you never gave me even a goat ⁴  so that I could celebrate with my friends!

But ¹  Jesus ²  said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in men’s eyes, ³  but God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized ⁴  among men is utterly detestable ⁵  in God’s sight.

Now at one point ¹  the Pharisees ²  asked Jesus ³  when the kingdom of God ⁴  was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs ⁵  to be observed,

The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ¹  ‘God, I thank ²  you that I am not like other people: ³  extortionists, ⁴  unrighteous people, ⁵  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ⁶