The Lord of the Sabbath (1 Samuel 21:1–7; Matthew 12:1–8; Mark 2:23–28)
1 UST One Sabbath day, as Jesus and his disciples were walking through some grain fields, the disciples picked some heads of grain. They rubbed them in their hands to separate the grain from the husks. Then they ate the grain. BSB BSB: One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them.
2 UST Some Pharisees{ were watching this. They} said{ to them},“You should not be doing work like that! Our law forbids us to do work on the Sabbath day!” BSB BSB: But some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
4 UST As you know, David entered the tabernacle{ and asked for some food}. The priest gave him the bread that had been on display before God. David ate some, and he also gave some to the men who were with him, even though the law said they could not do that. Only priests could eat that bread.” BSB BSB: He entered the house of God, took the consecrated bread and gave it to his companions, and ate what is lawful only for the priests to eat.”
5 UST Jesus also said to them,“I, the Son of Man, have the authority{ to determine what is right for people to do} on the Sabbath!” BSB BSB: Then Jesus declared, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:9–14; Mark 3:1–6)
6 UST On another Sabbath day Jesus went to the synagogue and taught{ the people}. A man was there who could not move his right hand. BSB BSB: On another Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.
7 UST Some teachers of the Jewish laws and some Pharisees{ were there. They} were watching Jesus closely. They wanted to see whether he would heal the man. If he did, then they would accuse him{ of disobeying their laws about not working on the Sabbath}. BSB BSB: Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath.
8 UST But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he said to the man with the withered hand,“Come and stand here in front of everyone!” So the man got up and stood there. BSB BSB: But Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and stand among us.” So he got up and stood there.
9 UST Then Jesus said to them,“I want to ask you a question. Do the laws that God gave Moses command people to do good on the Sabbath, or to do harm? Do they command people to save a life on the Sabbath, or to destroy it?” BSB BSB: Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”
10 UST { No one answered him, so} he looked around at them all and then said to the man,“Stretch out your withered hand!” The man did that, and his hand became completely well again! BSB BSB: And after looking around at all of them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and it was restored.
11 UST But the religious leaders were very angry, and they discussed with one another about what they could do to{ get rid of} Jesus. BSB BSB: But the scribes and Pharisees were filled with rage and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
The Twelve Apostles (Matthew 10:1–4; Mark 3:13–19)
12 UST Around that time, Jesus went up into the hills to pray. He prayed to God all night there. BSB BSB: In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.
13 UST The next day he called all his disciples to come to him. From among them he chose 12 men and made them his representatives. BSB BSB: When daylight came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also designated as apostles:
14 UST { These are their names:} Simon, to whom Jesus gave the new name Peter; Andrew, Peter’ s brother; James and his brother, John; Philip; Bartholomew; BSB BSB: Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;
15 UST Matthew{, whose other name was Levi}; Thomas; another man named James whose father was named Alphaeus; Simon the Zealot; BSB BSB: Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alphaeus and Simon called the Zealot;
16 UST Judas, the son of a different man named James; and Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed Jesus. BSB BSB: Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Jesus Heals the Multitudes (Matthew 4:23–25; Mark 3:7–12)
17 UST Jesus came down from the hills with his disciples and stood on a level area. There was a great crowd of his disciples there. There was also a large group of people who had come from Jerusalem and from many other places in the region of Judea, and from the coastal areas near the cities of Tyre and Sidon. BSB BSB: Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of His disciples was there, along with a great number of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.
18 UST They came to hear Jesus{ teach them} and heal them from their diseases. He also healed those whom evil spirits had troubled. BSB BSB: They had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases, and those troubled by unclean spirits were healed.
19 UST Everyone in the crowd tried to touch him, because he was healing everyone by his power. BSB BSB: The entire crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming from Him and healing them all.
The Beatitudes (Psalm 1:1–6; Matthew 5:3–12)
20 UST Then he looked at his disciples and said,“It is very good for you who are poor, because God is ruling you. BSB BSB: Looking up at His disciples, Jesus said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 UST It is very good for you who are hungry now, because God will give you everything you need. It is very good for you who are grieving now, because God will someday make you laugh with joy. BSB BSB: Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22 UST It is very good when other people hate you, when they reject you and insult you and say that you are bad because you follow me, the Son of Man. BSB BSB: Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.
23 UST When that happens, rejoice! Jump up and down because you are so happy! Keep in mind that God is going to give you a great reward in heaven! Do not forget that the ancestors of the people who are treating you this way did similar things to God’ s prophets{ long ago}. BSB BSB: Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.
Woes to the Satisfied (Amos 6:1–7)
24 UST But how sad it is for you who are rich. You have{ already} received all the comfort you are going to get{ from your riches}. BSB BSB: But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
25 UST How sad it is for you who can stuff yourselves with food now. Later you will go hungry. Woe to the ones who are laughing now. Later you will be very unhappy. BSB BSB: Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
26 UST How sad it is for you when everyone says good things about you. In the same way, their ancestors used to say good things about people who falsely claimed to be God’ s prophets. BSB BSB: Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.
Love Your Enemies (Matthew 5:38–48)
27 UST But I say this to each of you who are listening to what I say: Love your enemies{, not only your friends}! Do good things for those who hate you! BSB BSB: But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 UST Ask God to bless those who curse you! Pray for those who treat you badly! BSB BSB: bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
29 UST If someone{ insults you by} striking you on one of your cheeks, turn your face so that he can strike the other cheek also. If someone wants to take away your coat, let him also have your shirt. BSB BSB: If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.
30 UST Give something to everyone who asks you. If someone takes things that belong to you, do not make him return them. BSB BSB: Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back.
31 UST In whatever way you want others to act toward you, that is the way that you should act toward them. BSB BSB: Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 UST If you love{ only} those who love you, do not expect God to reward you for doing that. Even sinners love those who love them. BSB BSB: If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
33 UST Do not expect God to reward you because you do good things for people who do good things for you. After all, even sinners do that. BSB BSB: If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.
34 UST If you lend{ money or property} only to those who will give it back to you, do not expect God to reward you for doing that. Even sinners lend to other sinners who will give everything back to them. BSB BSB: And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
35 UST Instead, love your enemies! Do good things for them! Lend to them, and do not expect them to pay anything back! Then God will give you a great reward. And you will be children of God the Most High, since God is kind even to people who are unthankful and wicked. BSB BSB: But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
36 UST So you should act mercifully toward other people, just as God, your Father, acts mercifully toward people. BSB BSB: Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Judging Others (Matthew 7:1–6; Romans 14:1–12)
37 UST Do not harshly criticize{ other people}. Then God will not harshly criticize you. Do not condemn{ other people}. Then God will not condemn you. Forgive{ others for the wrong things they have done to you}. Then God will forgive you. BSB BSB: Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
38 UST Give{ to others}. Then God will give to you. It will be as if he is trying to give you as much grain as possible in a container you have. He will press the grain down. He will shake it together. He will keep filling the container until it overflows. So when you give to others, it should be as if you are using a big scoop, because God will use the same size scoop to give to you.” BSB BSB: Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
39 UST He also gave his disciples this example:“A blind person should not try to lead another blind person{ down the road}. If he did, they both would fall into the ditch{ on the side of the road}! BSB BSB: Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
40 UST A disciple is not greater than his teacher. But once the teacher has finished training him, he will become like his teacher. BSB BSB: A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
41 UST { None of you should be concerned about the small faults of another person. You should be concerned about your own serious faults.} Otherwise, that would be like noticing a speck in the eye of that person while not noticing a huge wooden plank in your own eye. BSB BSB: Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?
42 UST You should not tell another believer,‘Friend, let me help you correct your faults,’ when you have not dealt with your own faults yet. If you do that, you are a hypocrite! You should first{ stop committing your own sins. That will be like} removing a large plank from your own eye. Then, as a result, you will have the spiritual insight you need to help others get rid of the{ smaller faults that are like} little specks in their eyes. BSB BSB: How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
A Tree and Its Fruit (Matthew 7:15–23; Matthew 12:33–37)
43 UST Everyone knows that healthy trees do not produce bad fruit and unhealthy trees do not produce good fruit. BSB BSB: No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
44 UST You can tell what a person is like inside by the things that they do.{ Then you know what to expect from them. You would not look for kindness or good advice from someone who does bad things.} That would be like looking for figs on a thornbush or looking for grapes on a bramble vine. BSB BSB: For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles.
45 UST Good people do good things because they think good things. Evil people do evil things because they think evil things. This is because people speak and act based on what they are thinking about.” BSB BSB: The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
The House on the Rock (Matthew 7:24–27)
46 UST { Jesus said to the people,}“Why do you call me‘Lord’ when you do not obey what I tell you to do? BSB BSB: Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say?
47 UST Let me tell you what people are like who come to me, hear my teachings, and obey them. BSB BSB: I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them:
48 UST Such people are like a person who dug deep into the ground to prepare to build his house. He made sure to build the foundation{ for the house} on solid rock. Then there was a flood. A torrent of water was beating against that house. But it could not destroy it, because the person had built the house on a solid foundation. BSB BSB: He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
49 UST But some people who hear my teachings do not obey them. They are like a person who built a house on top of the ground without digging a foundation first. When the floodwaters came, it collapsed immediately. The waters destroyed that house completely.” BSB BSB: But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”