Jesus left that place and went off to the territory near the cities of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden. A certain Canaanite woman who lived in that region, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia of Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. "Son of David!" she cried out. "Have mercy on me, sir! My daughter has a demon and is in a terrible condition."

But Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples came to him and begged him, "Send her away! She is following us and making all this noise!"

Then Jesus replied, "I have been sent only to those lost sheep of the people of Israel."

At this the woman came and fell at his feet. "Help me, sir!" she said.

Jesus answered, "Let us first feed the children. It isn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs."

"That’s true, sir," she answered; "but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s leftovers that fall from their master's table."

So Jesus answered her, "You are a woman of great faith! Because of that answer, go back home; what you want will be done for you. You will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!" And at that very moment her daughter was healed.

She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her.

Jesus then left the neighborhood of Tyre and went on through Sidon to Lake Galilee, going by way of the territory of the Ten Towns. He climbed a hill and sat down. Large crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb, and many other sick people, whom they placed at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them. The people were amazed as they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled made whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they praised the God of Israel.

Some people brought him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. So Jesus took him off alone, away from the crowd, put his fingers in the man’s ears, spat, and touched the man’s tongue. Then Jesus looked up to heaven, gave a deep groan, and said to the man, "Ephphatha," which means, "Open up!"

At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble. Then Jesus ordered the people not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he ordered them not to, the more they told it. And all who heard were completely amazed. "How well he does everything!" they exclaimed. "He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!"

Not long afterward, another large crowd came together. When the people had nothing left to eat, Jesus called the disciples to him and said, "I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to eat. If I send them home without feeding them, they will faint as they go, because some of them have come a long way."

His disciples asked him, "Where in this desert can anyone find enough food to feed all these people?"

"How much bread do you have?" Jesus asked.

"Seven loaves," they answered, "and a few small fish."

He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks to God, broke them, and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and had enough. Then the disciples took up seven baskets full of pieces left over. The number of men who ate was four thousand, not counting the women and children.

Jesus sent the people away and at once got into a boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

Some Pharisees and Sadducees who came to Jesus wanted to trap himand started to argue with him. So they asked him to perform a miracle ^Afor them, to show that God approved of him. But Jesus answered, "When the sun is setting, you say, ‘We are going to have fine weather, because the sky is red.’ And early in the morning you say, ‘It is going to rain, because the sky is red and dark.’ When you see a cloud coming up in the west, at once you say that it is going to rain—and it does. And when you feel the south wind blowing, you say that it is going to get hot—and it does. Hypocrites! You can look at the earth and the sky and predict the weather; but you cannot interpret the signs concerning these times! Why, then, don’t you know the meaning of this present time? How evil and godless are the people of this day! You ask me for a miracle? No! The only miracle you will be given is the miracle of Jonah." Jesus gave a deep groan and said, "Why do the people of this day ask for a miracle? No, I tell you! No such proof will be given to these people!"

He left them, got back into the boat, and started across to the other side of the lake.

When the disciples crossed over to the other side of the lake, they had forgotten to bring enough bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. "Take care," Jesus warned them, "and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees and the yeast of Herod."

They started discussing among themselves: "He says this because we don’t have any bread."

Jesus knew what they were saying, so he asked them, "Why are you discussing among yourselves about not having any bread? ^AWhat little faith you have! Don’t you know or understand yet? Are your minds so dull? You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear? Don’t you remember when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand people? How many baskets full of leftover pieces did you take up?"

"Twelve," they answered.

And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand people," asked Jesus, "how many baskets full of leftover pieces did you take up?"

"Seven," they answered.

"And you still don’t understand?" he asked them.

"How is it that you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? Guard yourselves from the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!"

Then the disciples understood that he was not warning them to guard themselves from the yeast used in bread, but from the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

They came to Bethsaida, where some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. After spitting on the man’s eyes, Jesus placed his hands on him and asked him, "Can you see anything?"

The man looked up and said, "Yes, I can see people, but they look like trees walking around."

Jesus again placed his hands on the man’s eyes. This time the man looked intently, his eyesight returned, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus then sent him home with the order, "Don’t go back into the village."

Then Jesus and his disciples went away to the villages near Caesarea Philippi.

One day when Jesus was praying alone, the disciples came to him. He asked his disciples, "Who do men say the Son of Man is?"

"Some say John the Baptist," they answered. "Others say that you are Elijah, while others say Jeremiah or that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life."

"What about you?" he asked them. "Who do you say I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

"Good for you, Simon, son of John!" answered Jesus. "For this truth did not come to you from any human being, but it was given to you directly by my Father in heaven. And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven."

Then Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

From that time on Jesus began to say plainly to his disciples, "I must go to Jerusalem. The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will rise to life." He made this very clear to them. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "God forbid it, Lord!" he said. "That must never happen to you!"

But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter.

"Get away from me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my way, because these thoughts of yours don’t come from God, but from human nature."

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, take up your cross every day, and follow me. For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it. Will you gain anything if you win the whole world but are yourself lost or defeated? Of course not! There is nothing you can give to regain your life. If you are ashamed of me and of my teaching in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his deeds."

And he went on to say, "I tell you, there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Son of Man come as King—the Kingdom of God come with power."

Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone. While he was praying, a change came over Jesus: his face changed its appearance and was shining like the sun, and his clothes became shining, dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could wash them.

Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfill God’s purpose by dying in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus’ glory and the two men who were standing with him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Teacher, (Lord, Master), how good it is that we are here! If you wish, we will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (He did not really know what he was saying.) He and the others were so frightened that he did not know what to say.

While he was still speaking, a shining cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them. A voice said from the cloud, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am well pleased, whom I have chosen—listen to him!"

When the disciples heard the voice, they were so terrified that they threw themselves face downward on the ground. Jesus came to them and touched them. "Get up," he said, "Don’t be afraid!" So they looked up, took a quick look round and saw no one there but Jesus.

As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Don’t tell anyone about this vision you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from death." The disciples kept quiet about all this and told no one at that time anything they had seen.

They obeyed this order, but among themselves they started discussing the matter, "What does this ‘rising from death’ mean? Then the disciples asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?"

"Elijah is indeed coming first," answered Jesus, "and he will get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man will suffer much and be rejected? But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased, as the Scriptures say about him. In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man."

Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

The people were still marveling at everything Jesus was doing. Jesus and his disciples left that place and went on through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was, because he was teaching his disciples: "Don’t forget what I am about to tell you! The Son of Man will be handed over to those who will kill him. Three days later, however, he will rise to life."

The disciples became very sad. They did not understand what this teaching meant. It had been hidden from them so that they could not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about the matter.

When Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked, "Does your teacher pay the Temple tax?"

"Of course," Peter answered.

When Peter went into the house, Jesus spoke up first, "Simon, what is your opinion? Who pays duties or taxes to the kings of this world? The citizens of the country or the foreigners?"

"The foreigners," answered Peter.

"Well, then," replied Jesus, "that means that the citizens don’t have to pay. But we don’t want to offend these people. So go to the lake and drop in a line. Pull up the first fish you hook, and in its mouth you will find a coin worth enough for my Temple tax and yours. Take it and pay them our taxes."

After going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, "What were you arguing about on the road?"

But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. Jesus sat down, called a child to come and stand in front of them by his side. He put his arms around him and said to them, "I assure you that unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child. Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.

"Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me. For the one who is least among you all is the greatest."

John said to him, "Teacher, we saw a man who was driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn’t belong to our group."

"Do not try to stop him," Jesus told them, "because no one who performs a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say evil things about me. For whoever is not against us is for us. I assure you that anyone who gives you a drink of water because you belong to me will certainly receive a reward."

Jesus said to his disciples, "Things that make people fall into sin are bound to happen. If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose his faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around his neck and and be drowned in the deep sea. How terrible for the world that there are things that make people lose their faith! "Such things will always happen but how terrible for the one who causes them!

"So if your hand makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand than to keep both hands and go off to hell, to the fire that never goes out. And if your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot than to keep both feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out! It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye, than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell. There ‘the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out.’

"See that you don’t despise any of these little ones. Their angels in heaven, I tell you, are always in the presence of my Father in heaven."

After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee; he did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jewish authorities there were wanting to kill him. The time for the Festival of Shelters was near, so Jesus’ brothers said to him, "Leave this place and go to Judea, so that your followers will see the works that you are doing. People don't hide what they are doing if they want to be well known. Since you are doing these things, let the whole world know about you!" (Not even his brothers believed in him.)

Jesus said to them, "The right time for me has not yet come. Any time is right for you. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I keep telling it that its ways are bad. You go on to the festival. I am not going to this festival, because the right time has not come for me." He said this and then stayed on in Galilee.