In the days when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest whose name was Zechariah, who belonged to the division of Abijah. His wife was also a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

to a virgin there engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

Then they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives that bears that name."

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth,

and she bore her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him up and laid Him in a manger, for there was no room for them at the inn.

Now there were some shepherds in the same neighborhood, living in the open fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a throng of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:

Now there was in Jerusalem a man named Symeon, an upright, devout man; he was expecting to see the consolation of Israel, and he was under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

So under the Spirit's guidance he went into the temple, and when the parents brought the child Jesus there to do for Him as the custom of the law required,

There was also a prophetess there, Hannah, a daughter of Phanuel, who belonged to the tribe of Asher.

So he used to say to the crowds that continued to come out there to be baptized by him: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to escape from the wrath that is coming?

John expressly answered them all, "I am baptizing you in water only, but there is coming the One who is stronger than I am, whose shoestrings I am not fit to untie. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire;

But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the heaven was closed for three years and a half, and there was a great famine over all the land,

And there were many lepers in Israel in Elisha's time, and yet not one of them was cured except Naaman the Syrian."

Now there was a man in the synagogue who was under the power of the spirit of a foul demon, and he screamed with a loud voice,

One day as He was teaching, there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Him to cure people.

Then Levi gave a great reception for Him in his house, and there was a large crowd of tax-collectors and others who were at table with them.

On another Sabbath He found Himself in the synagogue teaching; and there was there a man whose right hand was withered.

But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, "Get up and stand at the front." So he got up and stood there.

Then He came down with them and took His stand on a level place, where there was a great throng of His disciples and a vast crowd of people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and the seacoast district of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases.

"For there never is a healthy tree that bears poor fruit, nor a sickly tree that bears good fruit.

There was a Roman captain who had a slave that was very dear to him, and he was sick and at the point of death,

As He approached the gate of the town, look, there was being carried out a dead man, his mother's only son, and she was a widow! A considerable crowd of townspeople were with her.

If not, what did you go out there to see? A man dressed in silks and satins? No. People who dress gorgeously and live luxuriously are found in royal palaces.

If not, then what did you go out there to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is far more than a prophet.

"I tell you, of all men born of women there is not one greater than John; and yet the one who is of least importance in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

There was a woman in the town who was a social outcast, and when she learned that He was taking dinner at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster bottle of perfume

For there is nothing hidden which shall not come out into the open, and nothing kept secret which shall not be known and come to light.

So they came to Him and woke Him up, and said, "Master, Master, we are perishing? Then He aroused Himself and reproved the wind and the surge of the water, and they stopped at once and instantly there came a calm.

As soon as He stepped out upon the shore, there met Him a man from town, who was under the power of demons; and for a long time he had worn no clothes, and did not stay in a house but in tombs.

Now there was a large drove of hogs feeding there on the hillside. So they begged Him to let them go into those hogs. And He let them do so.

Into whatever house you go, stay there and continue to go out from it as headquarters.

As the day began to decline, the Twelve came up and said to Him, "Send the crowd off to the villages and farms around, to get lodging and to find food there, for we are in a destitute place here."

For there were about five thousand men. So He said to His disciples, "Have them sit down in reclining groups of fifty each."

And if anyone there loves peace, your peace will come upon him; but if not, it will come back to you.

to cure the sick there, and to say, 'The kingdom of God is close upon you.'

But there is actual need of few things, really of only one thing. For Mary has chosen the good portion which must not be taken away from her."

Now is there a father among you who, if his son asks him for a fish, will give him a snake instead?

Then it goes and gets seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there, and so the end of that man is worse than the beginning."

There is nothing covered up that will not be uncovered, nor secret that will not be made known;

For wherever your treasure is, there too your heart will be.

and there was a woman there who for eighteen years had had a disease caused by a spirit. She was bent double and could not straighten herself up at all.

But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured her on the Sabbath, answered the crowd, "There are six days on which people must work; so come on these and be cured, but not on the Sabbath."

There you will weep and grind your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves being driven away on the outside.

And so there are those now last who will be first then, and there are those now first who will then be last."

Then the slave said, 'Sir, what you ordered has been done, and still there is room.'

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinful person who repents than over ninety-nine upright people who do not need any repentance.

Just so, I tell you, there is joy among the angels of God over one sinful person who repents!"

Then He said: "There was a man who had two sons.

Not many days after that, the younger son got together all he had and went away to a distant country, and there he squandered all his property by living in dissipation.

Now He was saying to the disciples: "Once there was a rich man who had a household manager, and he was accused to his master of squandering the latter's property.

"Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in dazzling luxury every day.

But Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received in full your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus his hardships in his, but now he is continuously comforted here, while you are continuously tortured there.

Besides all this, between you and us there stands fixed a great chasm, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot, nor can they cross from your side to us.'

and so people will not say, 'Look! Here it is,' nor, 'There it is,' for the kingdom of God is within you."

And men will say to you, 'Look! There he is!' or, 'Look! Here He is!' Do not start in pursuit of Him,

Then they asked Him, "Where, Lord, will this be?" And He said to them, "Wherever there is carrion the vultures will flock."

"Once there was in a city a judge who had no reverence for God nor respect for men.

And in that city there was a widow who continued to come to him and say, 'Give me justice and protection from my opponent.'

So He said to them, "I solemnly say to you, there is no one who has given up home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the kingdom of God,

Here there was a man named Zaccheus, who was tax-commissioner of the district, and he was a rich man too.

Then some of the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came up and asked Him,

Now there were seven brothers. And the first brother married a wife and died childless.

There will be great earthquakes and pestilences and famines in various places, and there will be dreadful portents and awful signs in the sky.

Alas for the women who are pregnant and those who have nursing babies in those days! For there will be great misery in the land and wrath on this people.

And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on earth despair of nations in bewilderment at the roaring of the sea and its waves,

Then he will show you a large room upstairs already furnished. There make the preparations."

There arose also among them a contention as to which one of them should rank as greatest.

Then He went out of the city and up the Mount of Olives, as He was in the habit of doing; and His disciples, too, followed Him there.

There was following Him also a vast throng of the people and of women who were beating their breasts and lamenting Him.

When they reached the place called "The Skull," they crucified Him there; also the criminals, one at His right and one at His left.

Yes, there was a placard above His head: "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS."

Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the council, a good and upright man,

So the women, who had come with Jesus from Galilee, followed closely after Joseph and saw the tomb and how His body was laid there.

Finally one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered Him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who has not heard of the things that have taken place there in these last days?"