1.
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy.
But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way,
you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his
sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the
unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for
that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your
friends, how are you different from anyone else?
2.
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries.
Today’s trouble is enough for today.
3.
“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of
all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
4.
“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all
your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally
important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands
of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
5.
“You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and
officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will
be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and
whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For
even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his
life as a ransom for many.”
6. “If any of you wants to be my follower, you
must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try
to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my
sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you
benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth
more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these
adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when
he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
7.
“My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to
keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of
this world.”
8.
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that
everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent
his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through
him.
9.
“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep
on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to
you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to
everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
10.
“You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the
place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
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