and Jessai the father of king David. David was the father of Solomon by Uriah's wife,

but after he had planned this, there appeared an angel of the Lord to him in a dream saying, "Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary your wife home, for what is begotten in her comes from the holy Spirit.

asking, "Where is the newly-born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose, and we have come to worship him."

so he gathered all the high priests and scribes of the people and made inquiries of them about where the messiah was to be born.

And you Bethlehem, in Judah's land, You are not least among the rulers of Judah: For a ruler will come from you, Who will shepherd Israel my people."

The magicians listened to the king and then went their way. And the star they had seen rise went in front of them till it stopped over the place where the child was.

When they caught sight of the star, they were intensely glad;

where he stayed until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had said by the prophet: I called my Son from Egypt.

Then Herod saw the magicians had trifled with him, and he was furiously angry; he sent and slew all the male children in Bethlehem and in all the neighbourhood who were two years old or under, calculating by the time he had ascertained from the magicians.

A cry was heard in Rama, weeping and sore lamentation ??Rachel weeping for her children, and inconsolable because they are no more.

saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."

Now, produce fruit that answers to your repentance,

But Jesus answered him, "Come now, this is how we should fulfil all our duty to God." Then John gave in to him.

So the tempter came up and said to him, "If you are God's son, tell these stones to become loaves."

said to him, "If you are God's son, throw yourself down; for it is written, He will give his angels charge of you; they will bear you on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone."

Jesus said to him, "It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God."

Then Jesus told him, "Begone, Satan! it is written, You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone."

As he was walking along the sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew, casting a net in the sea ??for they were fishermen;

"Blessed are those who feel poor in spirit! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

Blessed are the mourners! they will be consoled.

Blessed are the humble! they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for goodness! they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful! they will find mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart! they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers! they will be ranked sons of God.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of goodness! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

Blessed are you when men denounce you and persecute you and utter all manner of evil against you for my sake;

rejoice and exult in it, for your reward is rich in heaven; that is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes insipid, what can make it salt again? After that it is fit for nothing, fit only to be thrown outside and trodden by the feet of men.

You are the light of the world. A town on the top of a hill cannot be hidden.

So your light is to shine before men, that they may see the good you do and glorify your Father in heaven.

Do not imagine I have come to destroy the Law or the prophets; I have not come to destroy but to fulfil.

Therefore whoever relaxes a single one of these commands, were it even one of the least, and teaches men so, he will be ranked least in the Realm of heaven; but whoever obeys them and teaches them, he will be ranked great in the Realm of heaven.)

For I tell you, unless your goodness excels that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the Realm of heaven.

You have heard how the men of old were told, 'Murder not: whoever murders must come up for sentence,

So if you remember, even when offering your gift at the altar, that your brother has any grievance against you,

leave your gift at the very altar and go away; first be reconciled to your brother, then come back and offer your gift.

Be quick and make terms with your opponent, so long as you and he are on the way to court, in case he hands you over to the judge, and the judge to the jailer, and you are thrown into prison;

truly I tell you, you will never get out till you pay the last halfpenny of your debt.

If your right eye is a hindrance to you, pluck it out and throw it away: better for you to lose one of your members than to have all your body thrown into Gehenna.

And if your right hand is a hindrance to you, cut it off and throw it away: better for you to lose one of your members than to have all your body thrown into Gehenna.

Once again, you have heard how the men of old were told, 'You must not forswear yourself but discharge your vows to the Lord'.

nor shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

Let what you say be simply 'yes' or 'no'; whatever exceeds that springs from evil.

But I tell you, you are not to resist an injury: whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well;

whoever wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well;

You have heard the saying, 'You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy.'

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

that you may be sons of your Father in heaven: he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

and if you only salute your friends, what is special about that? do not the very pagans do as much?

You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Take care not to practise your charity before men in order to be noticed; otherwise you get no reward from your Father in heaven. No,

When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

so as to keep your alms secret; then your Father who sees what is secret will reward you openly.

When you pray, go into your room and shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

you must not copy them; your Father knows your needs before you ask him.

Let this be how you pray: 'our Father in heaven, thy name be revered,

give us to-day our bread for the morrow,

and forgive us our debts as we ourselves have forgiven our debtors,

For if you forgive men their trespasses, then your heavenly Father will forgive you;

but if you do not forgive men, your Father will not forgive your trespasses either.

When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they look woebegone to let men see they are fasting; I tell you truly, they do get their reward.

But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

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

Store up no treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust corrode, where thieves break in and steal:

store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrode, where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure lies, your heart will lie there too.

The eye is the lamp of the body: so, if your Eye is generous, the whole of your body will be illumined,

but if your Eye is selfish, the whole of your body will be darkened. And if your very light turns dark, then ??what a darkness it is!

No one can serve two masters: either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will stand by the one and despise the other ??you cannot serve both God and Mammon.

Therefore I tell you, do not trouble about what you are to eat or drink in life, nor about what you are to put on your body; surely life means more than food, surely the body means more than clothes!

Look at the wild birds; they sow not, they reap not, they gather nothing in granaries, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than birds?

Do not be troubled, then, and cry, 'What are we to eat?' or 'what are we to drink?' or 'how are we to be clothed?'

(pagans make all that their aim in life) for your heavenly Father knows quite well you need all that.

Why do you note the splinter in your brother's eye and fail to see the plank in your own eye?

How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take out the splinter from your eye,' when there lies the plank in your own eye?

You hypocrite! take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see properly how to take the splinter out of your brother's eye.

Or, if he asks a fish, will you hand him a serpent?

Well, if for all your evil you know to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?

But the road that leads to life is both narrow and close, and there are few who find it.

Beware of false prophets; they come to you with the garb of sheep but at heart they are ravenous wolves.

You will know them by their fruit; do men gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles? No,

Many will say to me at that Day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? did we not cast out daemons in your name? did we not perform many miracles in your name?'

When Jesus finished his speech, the crowds were astounded at his teaching;

Then Jesus told him, "See, you are not to say a word to anybody; away and show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, to notify men."

Then Jesus said to the captain, "Go; as you have had faith, your prayer is granted." And the servant was cured at that very hour.

Now when evening came they brought him many demoniacs, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all the invalids ??17 that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled, He took away our sicknesses and he removed our diseases.

So the disciples went and woke him up, saying, "Help, Lord, we are drowning!"

He said to them, "Why are you afraid? How little you trust God!" Then he got up and checked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

When he reached the opposite side, the country of the Gadarenes, he was met by two demoniacs who ran out of the tombs; they were so violent that nobody could pass along the road there.

so the daemons begged him saying, "If you are going to cast us out, send us into that drove of swine."

There a paralytic was brought to him, lying on a pallet; and when Jesus saw the faith of the bearers he said to the paralytic, "Courage, my son! your sins are forgiven."

Jesus saw what they were thinking and said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?

Which is the easier thing, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?

But to let you see the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins" ??he then said to the paralytic, "Get up, lift your pallet, and go home."

The crowds who saw it were awed and glorified God for giving such power to men.

So when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with taxgatherers and sinners?"

When Jesus heard it he said, "Those who are strong have no need of a doctor, but those who are ill.

Then the disciples of John came up to him and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast a great deal, and your disciples do not fast?"

nor do men pour fresh wine into old wineskins, otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine is spilt, the wineskins are ruined. They put fresh wine into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."