During the reign of Herod king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and he had a wife named Elizabeth, who was a descendant of Aaron.

When he came out, he was not able to speak to them. They realized that he had seen a vision in the holy place, because he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak.

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

Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

When they saw him, they related what they had been told about this child,

So the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

She had lived as a widow since then for eighty-four years. She never left the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

So when Joseph and Mary had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the evil deeds that he had done,

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,

So when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until a more opportune time.

Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,

Now in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

As the sun was setting, all those who had any relatives sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus. He placed his hands on every one of them and healed them.

He saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

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

When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets started to tear.

For Peter and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken,

So when they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

Now on one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

Immediately he stood up before them, picked up the stretcher he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God.

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 he came down with them and stood on a level place. And a large number of his disciples had gathered along with a vast multitude from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases,

He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep, and laid the foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.

After Jesus had finished teaching all this to the people, he entered Capernaum.

A centurion there had a slave who was highly regarded, but who was sick and at the point of death.

So when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well.

As he approached the town gate, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother (who was a widow), and a large crowd from the town was with her.

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

When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

(Now all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God's justice, because they had been baptized with John's baptism.

However, the Pharisees and the experts in religious law rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

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."

"A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty.

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

and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and disabilities: Mary (called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had gone out,

Other seed fell on rock, and when it came up, it withered because it had no moisture.

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!"

As Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man from the town met him who was possessed by demons. For a long time this man had worn no clothes and had not lived in a house, but among the tombs.

For Jesus had started commanding the evil spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, so he would be bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard. But he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.)

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

When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran off and spread the news in the town and countryside.

So the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus. They found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.

Those who had seen it told them how the man who had been demon-possessed had been healed.

The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,

"Return to your home, and declare what God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole town what Jesus had done for him.

because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds pressed around him.

Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years but could not be healed by anyone.

When the woman saw that she could not escape notice, she came trembling and fell down before him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed.

Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was happening, and he was thoroughly perplexed, because some people were saying that John had been raised from the dead,

while others were saying that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had risen.

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

When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida.

After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. So they kept silent and told no one at that time anything of what they had seen.

Now on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a large crowd met him.

But they did not understand this statement; its meaning had been concealed from them, so that they could not grasp it. Yet they were afraid to ask him about this statement.

But when Jesus discerned their innermost thoughts, he took a child, had him stand by his side,

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

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 he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute began to speak, and the crowds were amazed.

Meanwhile, when many thousands of the crowd had gathered so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

Now there were some present on that occasion who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

Then Jesus told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it and found none.

and a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely.

But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, "There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day."

It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all the dough had risen."

He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you host a dinner or a banquet, don't invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors so you can be invited by them in return and get repaid.

At the time for the banquet he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, because everything is now ready.'

It is of no value for the soil or for the manure pile; it is to be thrown out. The one who has ears to hear had better listen!"

Then when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.'

Then Jesus said, "A man had two sons.

After a few days, the younger son gathered together all he had and left on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth with a wild lifestyle.

Then after he had spent everything, a severe famine took place in that country, and he began to be in need.

So the Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this black mulberry tree, 'Be pulled out by the roots and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted to know how much they had earned by trading.

After Jesus had said this, he continued on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

So those who were sent ahead found it exactly as he had told them.

Then they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and had Jesus get on it.

As he approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen:

saying, "If you had only known on this day, even you, the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

Then the experts in the law and the chief priests wanted to arrest him that very hour, because they realized he had told this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her."

For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. But she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had to live on."

Then the day for the feast of Unleavened Bread came, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.

So they went and found things just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders who had come out to get him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs like you would against an outlaw?

When they had made a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them.

Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times."

When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign.

That very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other, for prior to this they had been enemies.

(This was a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city, and for murder.)

He released the man they asked for, who had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder. But he handed Jesus over to their will.

Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he praised God and said, "Certainly this man was innocent!"

And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.

And all those who knew Jesus stood at a distance, and the women who had followed him from Galilee saw these things.