Now the birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, [but] before they came together, she was found {to be pregnant} by the Holy Spirit.

"Behold, the virgin {will become pregnant} and will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet,

[After] they listened to the king, they went out, and behold, the star which they had seen at its rising led them until it came [and] stood above [the place] where the child was.

Now [when they] saw the star, they rejoiced [with] very great joy.

And [when they] came into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down [and] worshiped him. And opening their treasure boxes, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their [own] country by another route.

Now [after] they had gone away, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying, "Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him."

"A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping [for] her children, and she did not want to be comforted, because {they exist no longer}."

and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River [as they] confessed their sins.

and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down! For it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On [their] hands they will lift you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"

Now [as he] was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, throwing a casting net into the sea (for they were fishermen).

And immediately they left their nets [and] followed him.

And immediately they left the boat and their father [and] followed him.

And a report about him went out {throughout} Syria, and they brought to him all those {who were sick} with various diseases and afflicted by torments, demon-possessed and epileptics and paralytics, and he healed them.

Blessed [are] the ones who mourn, because they will be comforted.

Blessed [are] the meek, because they will inherit the earth.

Blessed [are] the ones who hunger and thirst [for] righteousness, because they will be satisfied.

Blessed [are] the merciful, because they will be shown mercy.

Blessed [are] the pure in heart, because they will see God.

Blessed [are] the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute [you] and say all kinds of evil things against you, lying on account of me.

Rejoice and be glad, because your reward [is] great in heaven, for in the [same] way they persecuted the prophets before you.

nor do they light a lamp and place it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it shines on all those in the house.

In the [same] way let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Therefore whenever you practice charitable giving, do not sound a trumpet in front of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, in order that they may be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full!

And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to stand [and] pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, in order that they may be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full!

"But [when you] pray, do not babble repetitiously like the pagans, for they think that because of their many words they will be heard.

"Whenever you fast, do not be sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unrecognizable in order that they may be seen fasting by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full!

Consider the birds of the sky, that they do not sow or reap or gather [produce] into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they [are]?

And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe the lilies of the field, how they grow: they do not toil or spin,

"Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls in front of pigs, lest they trample them with their feet, and turn around [and] tear you to pieces.

You will recognize them by their fruits: they do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, [do they]?

Now [when it] was evening, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed, and he expelled the spirits with a word. And he healed all {those who were sick},

And they came [and] woke him, saying, "Lord, save [us]! We are perishing!"

And behold, they cried out, saying, "{What do you have to do with us}, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"

And he said to them, "Go!" So they departed [and] went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed headlong down the steep slope into the sea and drowned in the water.

And behold, the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and [when they] saw him, they implored [him] that he would depart from their region.

And behold, they brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher, and [when] Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Have courage, child, your sins are forgiven."

But [when] the crowds saw [this], they were afraid and glorified God who had given such authority to men.

And [when they] saw [it], the Pharisees began to say to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

And Jesus said to them, "{The bridegroom's attendants} are not able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. But days are coming when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. {Otherwise} the wineskins burst and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are destroyed. But they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved."

he said, "Go away, because the girl is not dead, but is sleeping." And they ridiculed him.

And [when he] came into the house, the blind men approached him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord."

But they went out [and] spread the report about him in that whole region.

Now [as] they were going away, behold, they brought to him a demon-possessed man [who was] unable to speak.

And [when he] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were weary and dejected, like sheep that did not have a shepherd.

And summoning his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could expel [them] and could heal every disease and every sickness.

But beware of people, because they will hand you over to councils, and they will flog you in their synagogues.

But whenever they hand you over, do not be anxious how [to speak] or what you should say, for what you should say will be given to you at that hour.

And whenever they persecute you in this town, flee to another, for truly I say to you, you will never finish [going through] the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

[It is] enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household?

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon!'

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a man [who is] a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."

Then he began to reproach the towns in which the majority of his miracles had been done, because they did not repent:

"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 in sackcloth and ashes.

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck off heads of grain and eat [them].

But [when] the Pharisees saw [it], they said to him, "Behold, your disciples are doing what it is not permitted to do on the Sabbath!"

And behold, [there was] a man who had a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, "Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?" in order that they could accuse him.

But the Pharisees went out {and plotted} against him in order that they could destroy him.

And he warned them that they should not {reveal his identity},

But the Pharisees, [when they] heard [it], said, "This man does not expel demons except by Beelzebul the ruler of demons!"

And if I expel demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons expel [them]? For this [reason] they will be your judges!

But I tell you that every worthless word that they speak, people will give an account for it on the day of judgment!

The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, [something] greater than Jonah [is] here!

Then it goes and brings along with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and [they] go in [and] live there. And the last [state] of that person becomes worse than the first. So it will be for this evil generation also!"

For this [reason] I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand,

For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they hear with difficulty, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them."

But your eyes [are] blessed because they see, and your ears because they hear.

The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all the causes of sin and those who do lawless deeds,

which when it was filled they pulled to shore and sat down [and] collected the good [fish] into containers, but the bad they threw out.

"Have you understood all these [things]?" They said to him, "Yes."

And he came to his hometown [and] began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were amazed and said, "From where did this man [get] this wisdom and these miracles?

And they were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his [own] hometown and in his [own] household."

And [although he] wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, because they looked upon him as a prophet.

Now [when] Jesus heard [it], he withdrew from there in a boat to an isolated place by himself. And [when] the crowds heard [it], they followed him by land from the towns.

Now [when it] was evening, the disciples came to him saying, "The place is desolate and the hour {is late}. Release the crowds so that they can go away into the villages [and] purchase food for themselves."

But Jesus said to them, "They do not {need} to go away. You give them [something] to eat."

And they said to him, "We do not have [anything] here except five loaves and two fish."

And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.

But the disciples, [when they] saw him walking on the sea, were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear.

And [when] they got into the boat, the wind abated.

And [after they] had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.

And [when] the men of that place recognized him, they sent [word] into that whole surrounding region, and they brought to him all those {who were sick}.

And they were imploring him that they might only touch the edge of his cloak, and all those who touched [it] were cured.

"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat {a meal}."

and they worship me in vain, teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.'"

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

Let them! They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit."

And large crowds came to him, having with them [the] mute, blind, lame, crippled, and many others, and they put them down at his feet, and he healed them.

So then the crowd was astonished [when they] saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.

And Jesus summoned his disciples [and] said, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have remained with me three days already and do not have anything to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry lest they give out on the way."

And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" So they said, "Seven, and a few little fish."

And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven baskets full.

And [when] the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test [him], they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.

And [when] the disciples arrived at the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

So they were discussing [this] among themselves, saying, "[It is] because we did not take bread."

Then they understood that he did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

And they said, {Some} [say] John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."