In the reign of Herod, King of Judea, there was a certain priest, named Zachariah, belonging to the class of Abijah. He had a wife named Elizabeth,

who was a descendant of Aaron. They were both righteous in the sight of the Lord, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the law, blameless.

Now they had no child, for Elizabeth was barren, and both were far advanced in years.

Now while Zachariah was acting as priest before God in the due course of his class, it fell to his lot, according to the custom of priesthood,

And as he saw him Zachariah was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

As soon as his term of priestly service was ended he went home;

Six months later the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee, called Nazareth,

to a maiden betrothed to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. Her name was Mary.

Mary was greatly agitated at his word, and was revolving in her mind what this salutation could mean.

"And behold your kinswoman, Elizabeth, she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this was the sixth month with her that was called barren.

And when Elizabeth heard her salutation, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit,

Now when the time of Elizabeth's delivery was come, she gave birth to a son;

Every one was surprised, and at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.

All the story laid it up in their hearts, saying "What, then, will this child be?" For the Lord's hands was with him.

And his father, Zachariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying.

This was the first census, When Quirinius was governor of Syria.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city if Nazareth, into Judea, to David's town of Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David.

He went to be registered along with Mary, who was espoused to him, and was pregnant.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly army praising God and saying,

And the shepherds returned, glorifying God and praising him for all those things that they had seen and heard, even as it was told to them.

When eight days had passed, and the time had come to circumcise him, he was called Jesus, the name given him by the angel before his conception in the womb.

Now there was in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon. He was righteous and devout, and was waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him.

There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in age, having lived with her husband seven years, after her girlhood,

And the child grew and became strong, becoming full of wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

And when he was twelve years old they went up, as was customary, at the time of the feast

but supposed that he was in the company, and went a days journey. Then they hunted for him among his kinsfolk and acquaintance;

Then he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and he was always obedient to them. But his mother kept treasuring up all these incidents in her hearts.

And Jesus was ever advancing in wisdom and in status and in favor with God and man.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip, tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene;

Now after all the people had been baptized, and Jesus himself had been baptized and was praying,

And Jesus himself when he began to teach was about thirty years of age. He was the son (as it was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, came back from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, all the time tempted by the devil.

He ate nothing during these days, and at the close of them he was hungry.

and he began to teach in their synagogues, and was glorified by all.

Then he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. and, as was his custom, he entered into the synagogue on the Sabbath Day, and stood up to read.

And there was handed him the roll of the prophet Isaiah; and unrolling it he found the place where it was written,

"yet Elijah was not sent to any one of them, but only to a widow in Zarephath in Sidon.

"And there were many lepers in Israel in the days of the prophet Elisha, yet none of them was cleansed but only Naaman the Syrian."

they rose, hurried him outside the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, intending to cast him down headlong.

They were deeply impressed by his teaching because his speech was with authority.

And there was in the synagogue a man possessed by the spirit of a foul demon. He cried out, in a loud voice, saying.

Demons also came out of many, screaming and saying, "You are the Son of God." But he rebuked them, and did not permit them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

And when it was daybreak he left the town, and went away to a solitary place; and the crowd kept seeking him. Coming at length upon him, they attempted to detain him so that he should not leave them.

But he said to them. "I must preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to the other towns also; for that is what I was sent to do."

On one occasion when he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, the crowd pressed upon him to listen to the word of God.

(For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the haul of fish which they had made;

Another time when he was in one of their cities, there was a man there full of leprosy. And he, upon seeing Jesus, fell on his face and implored him. "Lord," he said, "if only you choose you can make me clean."

One day he was teaching, and near to him were seated Pharisees and teachers of the Law, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

Levi also made him a great reception at his house. There was a large party of tax-gatherers and others who were dining with them.

It happened that on a Sabbath he was going through the wheat-fields. His disciples were picking the ears and eating the wheat, rubbing it out with their hands.

On another Sabbath he went into a synagogue and was teaching; and there was there a man whose right hand was withered.

He was all along aware of their thoughts; and he said to the man with the withered hand, "Rise, and stand there in the midst."

He did so; and his hand was restored. But they were filled with fury, and they began to talk over together what they could do to Jesus.

Jude the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who was the traitor.

With these he came down till he reached a level place, where there was a great crowd of his disciples and a great many people from all Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. These came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases.

"But he who listens but does not do, is like a man who built a house upon the soil, without foundations, against which the torrent burst, and at once it fell in, and the ruin of that house was great."

Here the slave of a certain Roman captain, a man dear to his master, was ill, and at the point of death.

So Jesus started to go with them, but while he was not far from the house, the captain sent friends to him with a message. "Lord do not trouble yourself, for I am not fit that you should come under my roof,

But when Jesus heard this he was astonished and he turned and said to the crowd that was following him, "I tell you that not even in Israel have I found faith like that."

Now when he drew near the gate of the city, behold, they were there carrying out one who was dead, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

And he who was dead sat up and began to speak; and he gave him to his mother.

At that moment Jesus was healing many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and to many that were blind he was freely giving their sight.

Now there was a woman who was in the city, a sinner and when she knew that that Jesus was reclining at meat in the Pharisees house, she brought an alabaster vase of perfume,

As a great crowd was gathering, and men of town after town kept restoring to him, he spoke a parable to them.

"A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed some fell by the wayside, and was trodden under foot, and the wild birds ate it up.

Then they came to him and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we are lost!" Then he awoke, and rebuked the winds and the raging of the sea. They ceased, and there was a calm.

When he landed here he was met by a certain townsman who was possessed by demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes and nor lived in any house, but in tombs.

For Jesus was already commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For many times it had seized him and held him, and they again and again kept him under guard, and put him in chains and fetters. But he would break his bonds asunder, as he was driven by the demon in to the desert.

Now there was a great herd of swine feeding on the hillside, and the demons begged him to give them leave to enter them. He gave them leave.

for they were all waiting for him. Just then there came a man named Jarius, and he was ruler in the synagogue. He fell down at Jesus' feet and begged him to come into his house;

But Jesus said: "Some one did touch me; for I perceived that the power was proceeding out of me."

As he was speaking some one came from the house of the synagogue, saying. "Your daughter is dead! Do not trouble the Master."

They began to laugh him to scorn, because they knew well that she was dead.

Now Herod, the Tetrarch, heard of all that was happening; and he was perplexed because of its being said by someone that John was risen from the dead;

and by some that Elijah had appeared; and by others that one of the ancient prophets was risen again.

So they ate and were filled, all of them. And there was picked up that which remained over to them, of broken pieces, twelve basketfuls.

Now it happened that while he was praying by himself, the disciples were with him, and he asked them a question. "Who do the crowd think I am?"

And as he was praying the appearances of his countenance became different, and his clothing became white and dazzling.

These appeared in glory and talked about his departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

And when they were preparing to depart from him Peter said to Jesus. "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"??ot knowing what he was saying.

And while he was saying this, there came a cloud and began to overshadow them; and they were awestruck as they entered into the cloud.

When the voice ceased Jesus was found alone. And they held their peace, and told no one at that time about what they had seen.

But while he was yet coming the demon dashed him down, and cruelly convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and cured the boy, and gave him back to his father.

And they were all awestruck at the mighty power of God. But while everyone was marveling at what he was doing, he said to his disciples.

But they did not understand this saying; it was hidden from them so that they perceived it not, and they were sore afraid to ask him about his saying.

Now there arose a dispute among them as to which one of them was the greatest.

And Jesus who knew the dispute that was in their hearts, took a young child, and placed him by his side;

"Master," said John, "we saw a man who was casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us."

But they did not receive him because his face was set to go to Jerusalem.

In the same hour he thrilled with joy in the Holy Ghost. "I praise thee, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth," he said "for hiding these things from the wise and prudent, and for revealing them to babes. Yea, Father, for so it was well pleasing in thy sight!

"A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell among bandits who both stripped him and beat him, and went off leaving him half dead.

"But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him was moved with compassion.

She had a sister named Mary, who after seating herself at the Lord's feet was listening to his teaching.

But Martha meanwhile was growing distracted about much serving. She came up to him and said: "Lord do you not care that my sister has left me alone to do the serving? Come tell her to take hold of her end of the work along with me."

It happened he was praying in a certain place, and when he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, "Master, teach us how to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

Once he was casting out a dumb demon, and when the demon was gone out, the dumb man spoke, and the people wondered.

"but when the stronger man attacks him, he takes away from the strong armor in which he was trusting and divides up the spoil.

It happened while he was saying this, that a certain woman out of the crowd shouted to him, saying, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breast that you have sucked."

And the Pharisee noticed, to his amazement, that he did not wash his hands before eating,