Day 243 of 365

¹They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes.

²When he had come out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit met him out of the tombs.

³He lived in the tombs. And no one could bind him any more, not even with chains,

⁴because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. No one had the strength to tame him.

⁵Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.

⁶When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and bowed down to him,

⁷and crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me."

⁸For he said to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"

⁹Then he asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."

¹⁰And he begged him much that he would not send them away out of the region.

¹¹Now on the mountainside there was a great herd of pigs feeding.

¹²They begged him, saying, "Send us into the pigs, that we may enter into them."

¹³He gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out and entered into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea.

¹⁴Those who fed them fled, and told it in the city and in the country. The people came out to see what it was that had happened.

¹⁵They came to Jesus, and saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, even him who had the legion; and they were afraid.

¹⁶And those who saw it declared to them how it happened to him who was possessed by demons, and about the pigs.

¹⁷Then they began to beg him to depart from their region.

¹⁸As he was entering into the boat, he who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him.

¹⁹And he did not allow him, but said to him, "Go to your house, to your own, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you."

²⁰So he went his way, and began to proclaim in Decapolis how Jesus had done great things for him, and everyone marveled.

²¹And when Jesus had crossed back over in the boat to the other side, a great multitude was gathered to him; and he was by the sea.

²²One of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, came; and seeing him, he fell at his feet,

²³and begged him much, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Please come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made healthy, and live."

²⁴And he went with him, and a great multitude followed him, and they pressed upon him on all sides.

²⁵Now a woman, who had an issue of blood for twelve years,

²⁶and had suffered many things by many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse,

²⁷having heard the things concerning Jesus, came up behind him in the crowd, and touched his clothes.

²⁸For she said, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well."

²⁹And immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

³⁰And immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd, and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

³¹And his disciples said to him, "You see the multitude pressing against you, and you say, 'Who touched me?'"

³²He looked around to see her who had done this thing.

³³But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

³⁴And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease."

³⁵While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue ruler's house saying, "Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?"

³⁶But Jesus, overhearing the message spoken, said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid, only believe."

³⁷He allowed no one to follow him, except Peter, Jacob, and John the brother of Jacob.

³⁸And they came to the synagogue ruler's house, and he saw an uproar, weeping, and great wailing.

³⁹When he had entered in, he said to them, "Why do you make an uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but is asleep.

⁴⁰And they ridiculed him. But he, having put them all out, took the father of the child, her mother, and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.

⁴¹Taking the child by the hand, he said to her, "Talitha koum!" which means, being interpreted, "Girl, I tell you, get up!"

⁴²And immediately the girl rose up and walked, for she was twelve years old. They were amazed with great amazement.

⁴³And he strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and commanded that something should be given to her to eat.

¹And he went out from there and came into his own country, and his disciples followed him.

²When the Sabbath had come, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many hearing him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things?" and, "What is the wisdom that is given to this man, that such mighty works come about by his hands?

³Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of Jacob, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us?" They were offended at him.

⁴Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own house."

⁵And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people, and healed them.

⁶And He marveled because of their unbelief. And he went around the villages teaching.

⁷And he called to himself the twelve, and began to send them out two by two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

⁸And he commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a staff only: no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse,

⁹but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.

¹⁰And he said to them, "Wherever you enter into a house, stay there until you depart from there.

¹¹Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, as you depart from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them."

¹²So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.

¹³They cast out many demons, and anointed many with oil who were sick, and healed them.

¹⁴King Herod heard this, for his name had become known, and he said, "John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."

¹⁵But others said, "He is Elijah." Others said, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets."

¹⁶But Herod, when he heard this, said, "This is John, whom I beheaded. He has risen."

¹⁷For Herod himself had sent out and arrested John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, for he had married her.

¹⁸For John said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."

¹⁹So Herodias set herself against him, and desired to kill him, but she could not,

²⁰for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed, but he heard him gladly.

²¹And then a convenient day came, that Herod on his birthday gave a supper for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee.

²²And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and those sitting with him. The king said to the young lady, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you."

²³And he swore to her, "Whatever you shall ask of me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom."

²⁴So she went out, and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?" And she said, "The head of John the Baptist."

²⁵And she came in immediately with haste to the king, and asked, "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter."

²⁶And the king was exceedingly sorry, but for the sake of his oaths, and of his dinner guests, he did not wish to refuse her.

²⁷So immediately the king sent out a soldier of his guard, and commanded to bring John's head, and he went and beheaded him in the prison,

²⁸and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the young lady; and the young lady gave it to her mother.

²⁹And when his disciples heard this, they came and took up his corpse, and placed it in a tomb.

³⁰Then the apostles gathered themselves together to Jesus, and they told him all things, whatever they had done, and whatever they had taught.

³¹And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to an isolated place, and rest awhile." For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

³²So they went away in the boat to an isolated place by themselves.

³³But they saw them going, and many recognized him and ran there on foot from all the cities and they arrived before them.

³⁴And he came out, saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.

³⁵And when it was late in the day, his disciples came to him, and said, "This place is desolate, and it is late in the day.

³⁶Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages, and buy themselves something to eat."

³⁷But he answered them, "You give them something to eat." They asked him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give them something to eat?"

³⁸He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go see." When they knew, they said, "Five, and two fish."

³⁹He commanded them that everyone should sit down in groups on the green grass.

⁴⁰They sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties.

⁴¹He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves, and he gave to his disciples to set before them, and he divided the two fish among them all.

⁴²They all ate, and were filled.

⁴³They took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and also of the fish.

⁴⁴Those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

⁴⁵And immediately he made his disciples get into the boat, and to go ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he himself sent the multitude away.

⁴⁶After he had taken leave of them, he went up the mountain to pray.

⁴⁷When evening had come, the boat was in the midst of the sea, and he was alone on the land.

⁴⁸He saw them distressed in rowing, for the wind was against them, about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea, and he would have passed by them,

⁴⁹but they, when they saw him walking on the sea, supposed that it was a ghost, and began to scream;

⁵⁰for they all saw him, and were troubled. But he immediately spoke with them, and said to them, "Cheer up! It is I! Do not be afraid."

⁵¹He got into the boat with them; and the wind ceased, and they were very amazed among themselves;

⁵²for they had not understood about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

⁵³When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore.

⁵⁴When they had come out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him,

⁵⁵and ran around that whole region, and began to bring those who were sick, on their mats, to where they heard he was.

⁵⁶Wherever he entered, into villages, or into cities, or into the country, they placed the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch just the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched him were made well.

¹Then the Pharisees, and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem.

²Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is, unwashed, hands, they found fault.

³(For the Pharisees, and all the Judeans, do not eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders.

⁴They do not eat when they come from the marketplace, unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things, which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, and bronze vessels.)

⁵The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?"

⁶He said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

⁷But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'

⁸"For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men."

⁹He said to them, "Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

¹⁰For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother;' and, 'He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.'

¹¹But you say, 'If a man tells his father or his mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban, that is to say, given to God;"'

¹²then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother,

¹³making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this."

¹⁴He called all the multitude to himself, and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand.

¹⁵There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man." [

¹⁶If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!]

¹⁷When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable.

¹⁸He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,

¹⁹because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, cleansing all the foods?"

²⁰He said, "That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man.

²¹For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts,

²²covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.

²³All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."

²⁴From there he arose, and went away into the region of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house, and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not escape notice.

²⁵For a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, immediately came and fell down at his feet.

²⁶Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. She begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷But he said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

²⁸But she answered him, "Yes, Sir. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

²⁹He said to her, "For this saying, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter."

³⁰And when she went away to her house, she found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone out.

³¹Again he departed from the borders of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the region of Decapolis.

³²They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him.

³³He took him aside from the multitude, privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue.

³⁴Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, "Ephphatha!" that is, "Be opened!"

³⁵Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly.

³⁶He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it.

³⁷They were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear, and the mute speak!"

¹In those days, when there was a great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to himself, and said to them,

²"I have compassion on the multitude, because they have stayed with me now three days, and have nothing to eat.

³If I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way, and some of them have come a long way."

⁴His disciples answered him, "From where could one satisfy these people with bread here in a deserted place?"

⁵He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven."

⁶He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves. Having given thanks, he broke them, and gave them to his disciples to serve, and they served the multitude.

⁷They had a few small fish. Having blessed them, he said to serve these also.

⁸They ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets of broken pieces that were left over.

⁹Now they were about four thousand. Then he sent them away.

¹⁰Immediately he entered into the boat with his disciples, and came into the region of Dalmanutha.

¹¹The Pharisees came out and began to question him, seeking from him a sign from heaven, and testing him.

¹²He sighed deeply in his spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation."

¹³He left them, and again entering into a boat, departed to the other side.

¹⁴Now they forgot to take bread; and they did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them.

¹⁵He warned them, saying, "Take heed: beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod."

¹⁶They reasoned with one another, saying, "It's because we have no bread."

¹⁷He, perceiving it, said to them, "Why do you reason that it's because you have no bread? Do you not perceive yet, neither understand? Are your hearts hardened?

¹⁸Having eyes, do you not see? Having ears, do you not hear? Do you not remember?

¹⁹When I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They told him, "Twelve."

²⁰"When the seven loaves fed the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?" They told him, "Seven."

²¹He asked them, "Do you not yet understand?"

²²He came to Bethsaida. They brought a blind man to him, and begged him to touch him.

²³He took hold of the blind man by the hand, and brought him out of the village. When he had spit on his eyes, and laid his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything.

²⁴He looked up, and said, "I see men; they look like trees walking."

²⁵Then again he laid his hands on his eyes. He made him look up, and was restored, and saw everyone clearly.

²⁶He sent him away to his house, saying, "Do not enter into the village."

²⁷Jesus went out, with his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that I am?"

²⁸They answered him, "John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, but others: one of the prophets."

²⁹He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Messiah."

³⁰He commanded them that they should tell no one about him.

³¹He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

³²He spoke to them openly. Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

³³But he, turning around, and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you have in mind not the things of God, but the things of men."

³⁴He called the multitude to himself with his disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for my sake and the sake of the Good News will save it.

³⁶For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?

³⁷Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

³⁸For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."