<t /><p class="bodytext">Now<n id="1" /> while Jesus<n id="2" /> was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, reclining at the table,<n id="3" /> a woman came with an alabaster jar<n id="4" /> of costly aromatic oil<n id="5" /> from pure nard. After breaking open the jar, she poured it on his head.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Right away, while Jesus<n id="1" /> was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived.<n id="2" /> With him came a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and experts in the law<n id="3" /> and elders.

John wore a garment made of camel&#8217;s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.<n id="1" />

He proclaimed,<n id="1" /> &#8220;One more powerful than I am is coming after me; I am not worthy<n id="2" /> to bend down and untie the strap<n id="3" /> of his sandals.

He was in the wilderness forty days,<n id="1" /> enduring temptations from Satan. He<n id="2" /> was with wild animals, and angels were ministering to his needs.<n id="3" />p>

When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and demon-possessed.

Which is easier,<n id="1" /> to say to the paralytic, &#8216;Your sins are forgiven,&#8217; or to say, &#8216;Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk&#8217;?

And immediately the man<n id="1" /> stood up, took his stretcher, and went out in front of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, &#8220;We have never seen anything like this!&#8221;p>

but<n id="1" /> worldly cares, the seductiveness of wealth,<n id="2" /> and the desire for other things come in and choke the word,<n id="3" /> and it produces nothing.

It is like a mustard seed<n id="1" /> that when sown in the ground, even though it is the smallest of all the seeds in the ground &#8211;

<p class="bodytext">But<n id="1" /> a suitable day<n id="2" /> came, when Herod gave a banquet on his birthday for his court officials, military commanders, and leaders of Galilee.

But many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they hurried on foot<n id="1" /> from all the towns<n id="2" /> and arrived there ahead of them.<n id="3" />

As Jesus<n id="1" /> came ashore<n id="2" /> he saw the large crowd and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So<n id="3" /> he taught them many things.p>

He said to them, &#8220;How many loaves do you have? Go and see.&#8221; When they found out, they said, &#8220;Five &#8211; and two fish.&#8221;

He said to them, &#8220;Are you so foolish? Don&#8217;t you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him?

A member of the crowd said to him, &#8220;Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that makes him mute.

Salt<n id="1" /> is good, but if it loses its saltiness,<n id="2" /> how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.&#8221;p>

Then<n id="1" /> Jesus<n id="2" /> entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. And after looking around at everything, he went out to Bethany with the twelve since it was already late.p>

Jesus answered, &#8220;The most important is: &#8216;<i><b>Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is oneb>.i>

The expert in the law said to him, &#8220;That is true, Teacher; you are right to say that <b><i>he is one, and there is no one else besides himi>b>.<n id="1" />