And of Jesus Christ, the birth was thus: For his mother Mary having been betrothed to Joseph, before their coming together she was found to have conceived from the Holy Spirit,

And on his thinking of these things, lo, a messenger of the Lord in a dream appeared to him, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, thou mayest not fear to receive Mary thy wife, for that which in her was begotten is of the Holy Spirit,

and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.'

saying, 'Where is he who was born king of the Jews? for we saw his star in the east, and we came to bow to him.'

And they said to him, 'In Beth-Lehem of Judea, for thus it hath been written through the prophet,

And thou, Beth-Lehem, the land of Judah, thou art by no means the least among the leaders of Judah, for out of thee shall come one leading, who shall feed My people Israel.'

and having sent them to Beth-Lehem, he said, 'Having gone -- inquire ye exactly for the child, and whenever ye may have found, bring me back word, that I also having come may bow to him.'

And on their having withdrawn, lo, a messenger of the Lord doth appear in a dream to Joseph, saying, 'Having risen, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and be thou there till I may speak to thee, for Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him.'

A voice in Ramah was heard -- lamentation and weeping and much mourning -- Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted because they are not.'

saying, 'Having risen, take the child and his mother, and be going to the land of Israel, for they have died -- those seeking the life of the child.'

and saying, 'Reform, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens,'

for this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, 'A voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, straight make ye His paths.'

and do not think to say in yourselves, A father we have -- Abraham, for I say to you, that God is able out of these stones to raise children to Abraham,

and now also, the axe unto the root of the trees is laid, every tree therefore not bearing good fruit is hewn down, and to fire is cast.

'I indeed do baptize you with water to reformation, but he who after me is coming is mightier than I, of whom I am not worthy to bear the sandals, he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,

whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and will gather his wheat to the storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.'

But Jesus answering said to him, 'Suffer now, for thus it is becoming to us to fulfil all righteousness,' then he doth suffer him.

and saith to him, 'If Son thou art of God -- cast thyself down, for it hath been written, that, His messengers He shall charge concerning thee, and on hands they shall bear thee up, that thou mayest not dash on a stone thy foot.'

Then saith Jesus to him, 'Go -- Adversary, for it hath been written, The Lord thy God thou shalt bow to, and Him only thou shalt serve.'

From that time began Jesus to proclaim and to say, 'Reform ye, for come nigh hath the reign of the heavens.'

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon named Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a drag into the sea -- for they were fishers --

Happy those hungering and thirsting for righteousness -- because they shall be filled.

Happy those persecuted for righteousness' sake -- because theirs is the reign of the heavens.

Happy are ye whenever they may reproach you, and may persecute, and may say any evil thing against you falsely for my sake --

rejoice ye and be glad, because your reward is great in the heavens, for thus did they persecute the prophets who were before you.

'Ye are the salt of the land, but if the salt may lose savour, in what shall it be salted? for nothing is it good henceforth, except to be cast without, and to be trodden down by men.

for, verily I say to you, till that the heaven and the earth may pass away, one iota or one tittle may not pass away from the law, till that all may come to pass.

'For I say to you, that if your righteousness may not abound above that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye may not enter to the reign of the heavens.

but I -- I say to you, that every one who is angry at his brother without cause, shall be in danger of the judgment, and whoever may say to his brother, Empty fellow! shall be in danger of the sanhedrim, and whoever may say, Rebel! shall be in danger of the gehenna of the fire.

'But, if thy right eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.

'And, if thy right hand doth cause thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.

but I -- I say to you, that whoever may put away his wife, save for the matter of whoredom, doth make her to commit adultery; and whoever may marry her who hath been put away doth commit adultery.

'Ye heard that it was said: Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth;

but I -- I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those cursing you, do good to those hating you, and pray for those accusing you falsely, and persecuting you,

'For, if ye may love those loving you, what reward have ye? do not also the tax-gatherers the same?

And -- praying -- ye may not use vain repetitions like the nations, for they think that in their much speaking they shall be heard,

be ye not therefore like to them, for your Father doth know those things that ye have need of before your asking him;

For, if ye may forgive men their trespasses He also will forgive you -- your Father who is in the heavens;

'And when ye may fast, be ye not as the hypocrites, of sour countenances, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men fasting; verily I say to you, that they have their reward.

for where your treasure is, there will be also your heart.

'None is able to serve two lords, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one, and despise the other; ye are not able to serve God and Mammon.

'Because of this I say to you, be not anxious for your life, what ye may eat, and what ye may drink, nor for your body, what ye may put on. Is not the life more than the nourishment, and the body than the clothing?

look to the fowls of the heaven, for they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into storehouses, and your heavenly Father doth nourish them; are not ye much better than they?

for all these do the nations seek for, for your heavenly Father doth know that ye have need of all these;

Be not therefore anxious for the morrow, for the morrow shall be anxious for its own things; sufficient for the day is the evil of it.

for in what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and in what measure ye measure, it shall be measured to you.

for every one who is asking doth receive, and he who is seeking doth find, and to him who is knocking it shall be opened.

'All things, therefore, whatever ye may will that men may be doing to you, so also do to them, for this is the law and the prophets.

Every tree not yielding good fruit is cut down and is cast to fire:

and the rain did descend, and the streams came, and the winds blew, and they beat on that house, and it fell not, for it had been founded on the rock.

for he was teaching them as having authority, and not as the scribes.

And Jesus saith to him, 'See, thou mayest tell no one, but go, thyself shew to the priest, and bring the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony to them.'

for I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers, and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Be coming, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doth it.'

And there was far off from them a herd of many swine feeding,

for which is easier? to say, The sins have been forgiven to thee; or to say, Rise, and walk?

but having gone, learn ye what is, Kindness I will, and not sacrifice, for I did not come to call righteous men, but sinners, to reformation.'

'And no one doth put a patch of undressed cloth on an old garment, for its filling up doth take from the garment, and a worse rent is made.

for she said within herself, 'If only I may touch his garment, I shall be saved.'

he saith to them, 'Withdraw, for the damsel did not die, but doth sleep,' and they were deriding him;

And having seen the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, that they were faint and cast aside, as sheep not having a shepherd,

nor scrip for the way, nor two coats, nor sandals, nor staff -- for the workman is worthy of his nourishment.

verily I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

And, take ye heed of men, for they will give you up to sanhedrims, and in their synagogues they will scourge you,

and before governors and kings ye shall be brought for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.

'And whenever they may deliver you up, be not anxious how or what ye may speak, for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak;

for ye are not the speakers, but the Spirit of your Father that is speaking in you.

'And whenever they may persecute you in this city, flee to the other, for verily I say to you, ye may not have completed the cities of Israel till the Son of Man may come.

'Ye may not, therefore, fear them, for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed, and hid, that shall not be known;

'And be not afraid of those killing the body, and are not able to kill the soul, but fear rather Him who is able both soul and body to destroy in gehenna.

'Are not two sparrows sold for an assar? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father;

for I came to set a man at variance against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,

'He who found his life shall lose it, and he who lost his life for my sake shall find it.

said to him, 'Art thou He who is coming, or for another do we look?'

for this is he of whom it hath been written, Lo, I do send My messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.

for all the prophets and the law till John did prophesy,

'For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon;

but I say to you, to Tyre and Sidon it shall be more tolerable in a day of judgment than for you.

for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'

for the son of man is lord even of the sabbath.'

'Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad, for from the fruit is the tree known.

Brood of vipers! how are ye able to speak good things -- being evil? for out of the abundance of the heart doth the mouth speak.

'And I say to you, that every idle word that men may speak, they shall give for it a reckoning in a day of judgment;

for from thy words thou shalt be declared righteous, and from thy words thou shalt be declared unrighteous.'

for, as Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

'Men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for they reformed at the proclamation of Jonah, and lo, a greater than Jonah here!

'A queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and lo, a greater than Solomon here!

for whoever may do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.'

for whoever hath, it shall be given to him, and he shall have overabundance, and whoever hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him.

for made gross was the heart of this people, and with the ears they heard heavily, and their eyes they did close, lest they might see with the eyes, and with the ears might hear, and with the heart understand, and turn back, and I might heal them.

for verily I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men did desire to see that which ye look on, and they did not see, and to hear that which ye hear, and they did not hear.

'As, then, the darnel is gathered up, and is burned with fire, so shall it be in the full end of this age,

and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.

and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.'

For Herod having laid hold on John, did bind him, and did put him in prison, because of Herodias his brother Philip's wife,

for John was saying to him, 'It is not lawful to thee to have her,'

and the boat was now in the midst of the sea, distressed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

and the disciples having seen him walking upon the sea, were troubled saying -- 'It is an apparition,' and from the fear they cried out;

And immediately Jesus, having stretched forth the hand, laid hold of him, and saith to him, 'Little faith! for what didst thou waver?'

'Wherefore do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they do not wash their hands when they may eat bread.'

for God did command, saying, Honour thy father and mother; and, He who is speaking evil of father or mother -- let him die the death;