But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son; you will name him John.

Zechariah said to the angel, "How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well."

After some time his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and for five months she kept herself in seclusion. She said,

The angel came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you!"

So the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God!

Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?"

So Mary said, "Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

And Mary said, "My soul exalts the Lord,

They said to her, "But none of your relatives bears this name."

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people:

When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord has made known to us."

and all who heard it were astonished at what the shepherds said.

So the child's father and mother were amazed at what was said about him.

Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "Listen carefully: This child is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected.

When his parents saw him, they were overwhelmed. His mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously."

So John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?"

The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."

And he said to him, "To you I will grant this whole realm -- and the glory that goes along with it, for it has been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish.

Then the devil brought him to Jerusalem, had him stand on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.'"

All were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They said, "Isn't this Joseph's son?"

Jesus said to them, "No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself!' and say, 'What we have heard that you did in Capernaum, do here in your hometown too.'"

But Jesus said to them, "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, for that is what I was sent to do."

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch."

and so were James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were Simon's business partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."

When Jesus saw their faith he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

When Jesus perceived their hostile thoughts, he said to them, "Why are you raising objections within yourselves?

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he said to the paralyzed man -- "I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher and go home."

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. "Follow me," he said to him.

Then they said to him, "John's disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours continue to eat and drink."

So Jesus said to them, "You cannot make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?

But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?"

Then he said to them, "The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath."

But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Get up and stand here." So he rose and stood there.

Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?"

After looking around at them all, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." The man did so, and his hand was restored.

Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God belongs to you.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him. He turned and said to the crowd that followed him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith!"

When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep."

Then he came up and touched the bier, and those who carried it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!"

When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?'"

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner."

Simon answered, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly."

Then, turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

But other seed fell on good soil and grew, and it produced a hundred times as much grain." As he said this, he called out, "The one who has ears to hear had better listen!"

He said, "You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that although they see they may not see, and although they hear they may not understand.

One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, "Let's go across to the other side of the lake." So they set out,

Then he said to them, "Where is your faith?" But they were afraid and amazed, saying to one another, "Who then is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!"

Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him.

Then Jesus asked, "Who was it who touched me?" When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing against you!"

But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, for I know that power has gone out from me."

Then he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

While he was still speaking, someone from the synagogue ruler's house came and said, "Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer."

Now they were all wailing and mourning for her, but he said, "Stop your weeping; she is not dead but asleep."

But Jesus gently took her by the hand and said, "Child, get up."

He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey -- no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, and do not take an extra tunic.

Herod said, "I had John beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?" So Herod wanted to learn about Jesus.

Now the day began to draw to a close, so the twelve came and said to Jesus, "Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and food, because we are in an isolated place."

But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They replied, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish -- unless we go and buy food for all these people."

(Now about five thousand men were there.) Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each."

Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God."

Then he said to them all, "If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Then as the men were starting to leave, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he was saying.

ThenBut while the entire crowd was amazed at everything Jesus was doing, he said to his disciples,

and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, for the one who is least among you all is the one who is great."

But Jesus said to him, "Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you."

Now when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"

As they were walking along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Jesus said to another, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."

But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family."

Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."

He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

So he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

On that same occasion Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.

Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!

He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you understand it?"

Jesus said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."

But the expert, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

The expert in religious law said, "The one who showed mercy to him." So Jesus said to him, "Go and do the same."

She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he said.

But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she came up to him and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me."

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

So he said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, may your name be honored; may your kingdom come.

Then he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

But some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons, he casts out demons."

But Jesus, realizing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and a divided household falls.

As he said these things, a woman in the crowd spoke out to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!"

But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

For this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,'

So then whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.

Then someone from the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

But Jesus said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator between you two?"

Then he said to them, "Watch out and guard yourself from all types of greed, because one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Then he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'