Then a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the [tassel] fringe of His outer robe;
for she had been saying to herself, “If I only touch His outer robe, I will be healed.”
But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Take courage, daughter; your [personal trust and confident] faith [in Me] has made you well.” And at once the woman was [completely] healed.
As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, screaming loudly, “Have mercy and compassion on us, Son of David (Messiah)!”
When He went into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe [with a deep, abiding trust] that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith [your trust and confidence in My power and My ability to heal] it will be done to you.”
And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows this!”
Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said,
“Why do Your disciples violate the tradition (religious laws) handed down by the [Jewish] elders? For Your disciples do not [ceremonially] wash their hands before they eat.”
He replied to them, “Why also do you violate the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders]?
For God said [through Moses], ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of or insults or treats improperly father or mother is to be put to death.’
But you say, ‘If anyone says to his father or mother, “Whatever [money or resource that] I have that would help you is [already dedicated and] given to God,”
he is not to honor his father or his mother [by helping them with their need].’ So by this you have invalidated the word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect] for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders].
You hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said,
‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me.
But in vain do they worship Me, For they teach as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ”
After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said, “Listen and understand this:
It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that defiles and dishonors him, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles and dishonors him.”
Then the disciples came and said to Jesus, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard you say this?”
He answered, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be torn up by the roots.
Leave them alone; they are blind guides [leading blind followers]. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Peter asked Him, “Explain this parable [about what defiles a person] to us.”
And He said, “Are you still so dull [and unable to put things together]?
Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?
But whatever [word] comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what defiles and dishonors the man.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming).
These are the things which defile and dishonor the man; but eating with [ceremonially] unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
After leaving there, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
And a Canaanite woman from that district came out and began to cry out [urgently], saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David (Messiah); my daughter is cruelly possessed by a demon.”
But He did not say a word in answer to her. And His disciples came and asked Him [repeatedly], “Send her away, because she keeps shouting out after us.”
He answered, “I was commissioned by God and sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But she came and began to kneel down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”
And He replied, “It is not good (appropriate, fair) to take the children’s bread and throw it to the pet dogs.”
She said, “Yes, Lord; but even the pet dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their [young] masters’ table.”
Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith [your personal trust and confidence in My power] is great; it will be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that moment.
Jesus went on from there and passed along by [the eastern shore of] the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on the hillside and was sitting there.
And great crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they put them down at His feet; and He healed them.
So the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised and glorified the God of Israel.
Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and have nothing [left] to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, because they might faint [from exhaustion] on the way [home].”
The disciples said to Him, “Where are we to get enough bread in this isolated place to feed so large a crowd?”
And Jesus asked them, “How many loaves [of bread] do you have?” They replied, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
He directed the crowd to sit down on the ground,
and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and when He had given thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the people.
And they all ate and were satisfied, and they gathered up seven full baskets of the broken pieces that were left over.
[Among] those who ate were 4,000 men, not counting women and children.
Then Jesus sent the crowds away, got into the boat and went to the district of Magadan.
Now after the Sabbath, near dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
And a great earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone [from the opening of the tomb], and sat on it.
The angel’s appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow.
The guards shook, paralyzed with fear [at the sight] of him and became like dead men [pale and immobile].
But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said [He would]. Come! See the place where He was lying.
Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee [as He promised]. There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
So the women left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell [the good news to] the disciples.
And as they went, suddenly, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” And they went to Him and took hold of His feet [in homage] and worshiped Him [as the Messiah].
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell My brothers to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me [just as I promised].”
While they were on their way, some of the [Roman] guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.
And when the chief priests had gathered with the elders and had consulted together [to develop a plan of deception], they gave a sufficient sum of money [as a bribe] to the soldiers,
and said, “You say this, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him while we were sleeping.’
And if the governor (Pilate) hears about it, we will calm him down and keep you out of trouble.”
So they took the money [they were paid for lying] and did as they were instructed; and this [fabricated] story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to the present day.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.
And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted [that it was really He].
Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.”
Jesus said to him, “[You say to Me,] ‘If You can?’ All things are possible for the one who believes and trusts [in Me]!”
In the morning, as they were passing by, the disciples saw that the fig tree had withered away from the roots up.
And remembering, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi (Master), look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered!”
Jesus replied, “Have faith in God [constantly].
I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!’ and does not doubt in his heart [in God’s unlimited power], but believes that what he says is going to take place, it will be done for him [in accordance with God’s will].
For this reason I am telling you, whatever things you ask for in prayer [in accordance with God’s will], believe [with confident trust] that you have received them, and they will be given to you.
While Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing [along the border] between Samaria and Galilee.
As He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance;
and they raised their voices and called out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were [miraculously] healed and made clean.
One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying and praising and honoring God with a loud voice;
and he lay face downward at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him [over and over]. He was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten [of you] cleansed? Where are the [other] nine?
Was there no one found to return and to give thanks and praise to God, except this foreigner?”
Jesus said to him, “Get up and go [on your way]. Your faith [your personal trust in Me and your confidence in God’s power] has restored you to health.”
As He was approaching Jericho [on His way to Jerusalem], it happened that a blind man was sitting beside the road begging.
Now when he heard a crowd going by, he began to ask what this was [about].
They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
So he shouted out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David (Messiah), have mercy on me!”
Those who were leading the way were sternly telling him to keep quiet; but he screamed all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Then Jesus stopped and ordered that the blind man be led to Him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him,
“What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me regain my sight!”
Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight; your [personal trust and confident] faith [in Me] has made you well.”
Immediately he regained his sight and began following Jesus, glorifying and praising and honoring God. And all the people, when they saw it, praised God.
Now at Lystra a man sat who was unable to use his feet, for he was crippled from birth and had never walked.
This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, and Paul looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed,
and said with a loud voice, “Stand up on your feet.” And he jumped up and began to walk.
Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].
For by this [kind of] faith the men of old gained [divine] approval.
By faith [that is, with an inherent trust and enduring confidence in the power, wisdom and goodness of God] we understand that the worlds (universe, ages) were framed and created [formed, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose] by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.
By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which it was testified of him that he was righteous (upright, in right standing with God), and God testified by accepting his gifts. And though he died, yet through [this act of] faith he still speaks.
By faith [that pleased God] Enoch was caught up and taken to heaven so that he would not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found because God had taken him; for even before he was taken [to heaven], he received the testimony [still on record] that he had walked with God and pleased Him.
But without faith it is impossible to [walk with God and] please Him, for whoever comes [near] to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He rewards those who [earnestly and diligently] seek Him.
and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.