This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled:

When King Herod heard this he was alarmed, and all Jerusalem with him.

"In Bethlehem of Judea," they said, "for it is written this way by the prophet:

He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: "I called my Son out of Egypt."

And a voice from heaven said, "This is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight."

From that time Jesus began to preach this message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Let your word be 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no.' More than this is from the evil one.

So pray this way: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored,

And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, won't he clothe you even more, you people of little faith?

In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets.

For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, 'Go' and he goes, and to another 'Come' and he comes, and to my slave 'Do this' and he does it."

When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel!

In this way what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled: "He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases."

And the men were amazed and said, "What sort of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!"

Then some of the experts in the law said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming!"

When the crowd saw this, they were afraid and honored God who had given such authority to men.

When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

When Jesus heard this he said, "Those who are healthy don't need a physician, but those who are sick do.

Go and learn what this saying means: 'I want mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

And the news of this spread throughout that region.

When he went into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord."

And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, "See that no one knows about this."

After the demon was cast out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, "Never has anything like this been seen in Israel!"

As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near!'

This is the one about whom it is written: 'Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'

"To what should I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another,

And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to Hades! For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day.

Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.

But when the Pharisees saw this they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath."

If you had known what this means: 'I want mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.

Now when Jesus learned of this, he went away from there. Great crowds followed him, and he healed them all.

This fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet:

All the crowds were amazed and said, "Could this one be the Son of David?"

But when the Pharisees heard this they said, "He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons!"

And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

For this reason I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them -- and now, something greater than Jonah is here!

The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon -- and now, something greater than Solomon is here!

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!"

To the one who had said this, Jesus replied, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?"

For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand.

For the heart of this people has become dull; they are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'

When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; this is the seed sown along the path.

But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown."

He said, 'An enemy has done this.' So the slaves replied, 'Do you want us to go and gather them?'

This fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will announce what has been hidden from the foundation of the world."

It will be this way at the end of the age. Angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous

Then he came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, "Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?

Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother named Mary? And aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

And aren't all his sisters here with us? Where did he get all this?"

and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead! And because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him."

Now when Jesus heard this he went away from there privately in a boat to an isolated place. But when the crowd heard about it, they followed him on foot from the towns.

When evening arrived, his disciples came to him saying, "This is an isolated place and the hour is already late. Send the crowds away so that they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves."

This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me,

Then the disciples came to him and said, "Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this saying they were offended?"

But Peter said to him, "Explain this parable to us."

Jesus said, "Even after all this, are you still so foolish?

The disciples said to him, "Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?"

So they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, "It is because we brought no bread."

When Jesus learned of this, he said, "You who have such little faith! Why are you arguing among yourselves about having no bread?

And Jesus answered him, "You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: "God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!"

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!"

When the disciples heard this, they were overwhelmed with fear and threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.

He told them, "It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you."

Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

And whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me.

"For this reason, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.

and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?

Jesus said to them, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts, but from the beginning it was not this way.

The disciples said to him, "If this is the case of a husband with a wife, it is better not to marry!"

He said to them, "Not everyone can accept this statement, except those to whom it has been given.

For there are some eunuchs who were that way from birth, and some who were made eunuchs by others, and some who became eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this should accept it."

But when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.

The disciples were greatly astonished when they heard this and said, "Then who can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and replied, "This is impossible for mere humans, but for God all things are possible."

Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last man the same as I gave to you.

Now when the other ten heard this, they were angry with the two brothers.

It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant,

This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:

As he entered Jerusalem the whole city was thrown into an uproar, saying, "Who is this?"

And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee."

Jesus answered them, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will happen.

Now after Jesus entered the temple courts, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

Where did John's baptism come from? From heaven or from people?" They discussed this among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?'

The father went to the other son and said the same thing. This boy answered, 'I will, sir,' but did not go.

For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Although you saw this, you did not later change your minds and believe him.

But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and get his inheritance!'

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed."

Jesus said to them, "Whose image is this, and whose inscription?"

Now when they heard this they were stunned, and they left him and went away.

When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.

This is the first and greatest commandment.