But her husband, Joseph, because he was an upright man and did not want to disgrace her, decided to break the engagement by secretly divorcing her.

But just as this thought occurred to him, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for it is through the influence of the Holy Spirit that she has become an expectant mother.

but he did not live with her as a husband until she had had a son; and he named Him Jesus.

'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are not at all the least among the leading places of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

Then, as they had been divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they set out to their own country by another route.

Then he awoke and tenderly took the child and His mother by night and made their escape to Egypt;

and do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather? For I tell you, God can raise up descendants for Abraham even out of these stones.

I am baptizing you in water to picture your repentance. But He that is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not fit to carry His shoes. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire;

But John tried to prevent Him, by saying, "I have need to be baptized by you, and you come to me!"

But he answered, "The Scripture says, 'Not on bread alone can man live, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Jesus said to him, "Again the Scripture says, 'You must not try the Lord your God.'"

As He was walking by the shore of the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was summed Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

People do not light a lamp and put it under a peck-measure but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all that are in the house.

"Do not suppose that I have come to set aside the law or the prophets.

I have not come to set them aside but to fill them up to the brim. For I solemnly say to you, heaven and earth would sooner pass away than the dotting of an 'i' or the crossing of a 't' from the law, until it all becomes in force.

"You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You must not murder,' and 'Whoever murders will have to answer to the court.'

Be quick to come to terms with your opponent while you are on the road to court with him, so that he may not turn you over to the judge and the judge turn you over to the officer, and you be put in prison.

"You have heard it was said, 'You must not commit adultery.'

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You must not swear falsely, but you must perform your oaths as a religious duty.'

But I tell you not to swear at all, either by heaven, for it is God's throne,

But I tell you not to resist the one who injures you, but if anyone slaps you on one cheek, turn him the other, too;

If anyone, whoever he may be, keeps on begging you, give to him; if anyone wants to borrow from you, do not turn him away.

For if you practice loving only those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even the tax-collectors practice that?

"Take care not to do your good deeds in public, to attract the attention of people; if you do, you will get no reward from your Father in heaven.

"Also, whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, to attract the attention of people. I solemnly say to you, they already have their reward.

And whenever you pray, you must not keep on repeating set phrases, as the heathen do, for they suppose that they will be heard in accordance with the length of their prayers,

So then you must not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

And do not let us be subjected to temptation, but save us from the evil one.

But if you do not forgive others, your heavenly Father will not forgive your shortcomings either.

"Also whenever you fast, you must not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a gloomy countenance, to let people see them fasting. I solemnly say to you, they already have their reward.

so that your fasting may be seen, not by men but by your Father who is unseen, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

But keep on storing up your riches in heaven where moths and rust do not make away with them and where thieves do not break in and steal them.

So I tell you, stop worrying about your life, as to what you will have to eat or drink, or about your body, as to what you will have to wear. Is not life worth more than food and the body worth more than clothes?

Take a good look at the wild birds, for they do not sow or reap, or store up food in barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps on feeding them. Are you not worth more than they?

And why should you worry about clothes? Look at the wild lilies and learn how they grow. They do not toil or spin;

but I tell you, not even Solomon, in all his gorgeous splendor, was ever dressed up like a single one of these.

Now if God so gorgeously dresses the wild grass which today is green but tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you with little faith?

For the heathen are greedily pursuing all such things; and surely your heavenly Father well knows that you need them all.

"Stop criticizing others, so that you may not be criticized yourselves.

You must recognize them by their fruits. People do not pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles, do they?

Any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and burned up.

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will get into the kingdom of heaven, but only those who practice doing the will of my Father in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, was it not in your name that we prophesied, and in your name that we drove out demons, and in your name that we did many wonder-works?'

And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall, for its pillars had been laid on a rocky foundation.

And anyone who listens to my words and does not practice their teaching, will be like an imprudent man who built his house on sand.

for He was teaching them as one who had authority to teach, and not as their scribes did.

But the captain answered, "I am not fit for you to come under my roof, but simply speak the word, and my servant-boy will be cured.

When Jesus heard it, He was astounded, and said to His followers, "I solemnly say to you, I have not found, in a single case among the Jews, so great faith as this.

Now there was not far from there a large drove of hogs feeding.

And when He heard it, He said, "It is not well, but sick people that have to send for a doctor.

Go, learn what this means, 'It is mercy and not sacrifice that I want.' It is not upright but sinful people that I have come to invite."

Then John's disciples went up to Him, and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees practice fasting, but your disciples do not?"

said, "Go away, for the girl is not dead, but is sleeping." And they began to laugh in His face.

Jesus sent these twelve out, after giving them the following charge: "Do not go to the heathen, or to any Samaritan town,

Do not accept gold or silver or even copper money for your purse,

and do not take a bag for your journey, nor two shirts, nor any shoes, nor a staff, for the workman deserves his support.

and if the house should prove deserving, may your good wish for peace upon it come true, but if not, may your good wish bring peace to yourselves.

And whoever will not welcome you, or listen to your words, on leaving that place shake off from your feet its very dust.

But when they turn you over to the courts, you must not worry at all about how or what you ought to speak, for it will be given you at that hour what you ought to speak.

For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father that is speaking through you.

But whenever they persecute you in one town, flee to a different one. For I solemnly say to you, you will not cover all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man returns.

So you must never be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, nor a secret that will not be known.

Do not sparrows sell for a cent apiece? And yet not one of them can fall to the ground without your Father's notice.

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.

Anybody who loves father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of me,

and nobody is worthy of me who does not take up his cross and follow me.

If not, what did you go out there to see? A man dressed in silks and satins? No, people who dress in that way are found in the palaces of kings.

If not, why did you go out there? To see a prophet?

"'We played the wedding march for you, but you did not dance. We sang the funeral dirge, but you did not beat your breasts.'

Then He began to censure the cities in which His many, many wonder-works had been done, because they did not repent.

Or, did you never read in the law that the priests in the temple break the sabbath, and yet are not guilty?

If you only knew what that saying means, 'It is mercy and not sacrifice that I want,' you would not have condemned men who are not guilty.

But He said to them, "What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a ditch on the sabbath, will not lay hold on it and lift it out?

and charged them not to publish Him,

He will not debate, nor challenge anyone; His voice will no one hear in the streets;

A broken reed He will not break off; a flickering wick He will not put out, until He brings His judgment to victory.

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man is not driving out demons except by the help of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons."

But because He knew their thoughts, He said to them, "Any kingdom that is not united is in the process of destruction, and any city or family that is not united cannot last.

Whoever is not in partnership with me is against me, and whoever does not gather in partnership with me scatters.

And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven for it, but whoever speaks abusively against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven for it, either in this world or in the world to come.

and some fell upon rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and at once they sprang up, because there was no depth of soil,

He answered: "It is you and not they who are granted the privilege of knowing the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.

For to anyone who has, more will be given, and his supply will overflow, but from anyone who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

This is why I am speaking to them in stories, because they look but do not see, they listen but do not really hear or understand.

So in them the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: "'You will listen and listen and not understand, and you will look and look and never see at all,

For I solemnly say to you, many prophets and upright men yearned to see what you are seeing, and did not see it, and to hear what you are hearing, and did not hear it.

When anyone hears the message of the kingdom and does not understand it, the wicked one comes and carries off the seed that was sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.

And the farmer's slaves came up to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where did the wild wheat plants come from?'

Is He not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother's name Mary, are not His brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?

And are not His sisters all living here with us? Where then did He get all these things?"

He did not do many wonder-works there, because of their lack of faith.

for John had said to him, "It is not right for you to have her as wife."

But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to leave here; give them something to eat yourselves."

"Why do your disciples break the rules handed down by our forefathers? For they do not practice washing their hands when they take their meals."

It is not what goes into a man's mouth that makes him foul; no, it is what comes out of a man's mouth that makes him foul."

He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant must be rooted up.

Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and afterwards into the waste?

These are the things that make a man foul, but eating with unwashed hands does not make a man foul."

But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came up and kept begging Him, "Send her away, for she keeps on screaming after us."

He answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the house dogs."