"The virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and they will call Him Immanuel" -- which means "God with us."

This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, when he said: "Here is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; Make the paths straight for him.'"

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.

Now the axe is already lying at the roots of the trees. Every tree then that fails to bear good fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire.

But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for this is the fitting way for both of us to do our full duty to God." Then he yielded to Him.

And as soon as Jesus was baptized, He at once went up out of the water, and look! the heavens opened, and John saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove upon Him,

And the tempter came up and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn to bread."

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

and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the Scripture says: "'He will give His angels directions about you, And they will bear you up on their hands, so you will never strike your foot against a stone.'"

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

Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For the Scripture says, 'You must worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone.'"

Then He went all over Galilee, as He continued teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and curing any disease or malady among the people.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called God's sons.

"You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its strength, what can make it salt again? It is good for nothing but to be thrown away and trodden under foot.

Let your light shine before people in such a way that they may see your good deeds, and praise your Father in heaven.

For I tell you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven at all.

I solemnly say to you, you will never get out at all until you have paid the last penny.

And if your right hand causes you to do wrong, cut it off and put it out of your way, for it is better to have one part of your body suffer loss than to have your whole body go down to the pit.

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

and if anyone wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat, too.

to prove that you are sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun rise on bad as well as good people, and makes the rain come down on doers of right and of wrong alike.

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

And if you say 'Good morning' to your brothers only, what more than others are you doing?

"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.

No one can be a slave to two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and money.

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?

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?

How can you say to your brother, 'Let me get that tiny speck out of your eye,' while all the time there is a girder in your own?

You hypocrite, first get the girder out of your own eye, and then you can see well enough to get the tiny speck out of your brother's eye.

So if you, in spite of your being bad, know how to give your children what is good, how much more surely will your heavenly Father give what is good to those who keep on asking Him?

"Go in by the narrow gate, for broad and roomy is the road that leads to destruction, and many are going in by it.

But narrow is the gate and hard is the road that leads to life, and few are they that find it.

So any healthy tree bears good fruit and a sickly tree bears poor fruit.

A healthy tree cannot bear poor fruit, and a sickly tree cannot bear good fruit.

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.

When He got back to Capernaum, a Roman military captain came up to Him and kept begging Him,

He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on Him.

And He got into a boat, and His disciples went with Him.

And He said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you with little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

And they suddenly screamed, "What do you want of us, you Son of God? Have you come here before the appointed time to torture us?"

And He said to them, "Be gone!" And they went out of the men and got into the hogs, and suddenly the whole drove, in a stampede, rushed over the cliff into the sea, and died in the water.

And He got into a boat and crossed to the other side, and went into His home town.

For which is easier, to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or, to say 'Get up and go to walking'?

But to show you that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth" -- turning to the paralyzed man, He said to Him -- "Get up, pick up your bed, and go home."

And he got up and went home.

And the crowds saw it, and were stricken with awe, and gave praise to God for giving such power to men.

And as He was passing along from there, He saw a man named Matthew in his seat at the tax-collector's desk, and He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed Him.

Nobody sews a patch of brand-new goods on an old coat, for such a patch would tear away from the coat, and the hole would be bigger than ever.

And Jesus got up and followed him; and His disciples, too.

And a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years came up and touched the tassel on His coat.

For she kept saying to herself, "If I can only touch His coat, I will get well."

But when the crowd had been driven out, He went in and took hold of her hand, and the girl got up.

Jesus kept visiting all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and curing every sort of sickness and ailment.

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.

Even the very hairs on your head have all been counted by God.

And I solemnly say to you, no one who gives a cup of cold water to one of the least of my disciples, because he is a disciple, will ever fail to get his reward."

the blind are seeing and the crippled are walking, the lepers are being healed and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised and the poor are having the good news preached to them.

Yes, Father, I thank You that Your good pleasure made it so.

How he went into the house of God, and they ate the sacred loaves, which it was against the law for him or his soldiers to eat, or for anyone except the priests?

Now there was a man there with one hand withered. And, to get a charge against Him, they asked Him, "Is it right to cure people on the sabbath?"

And how much more a man is worth than a sheep! So it is right to do good on the sabbath."

But if I by the Spirit of God am driving the demons out, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

Or, how can anyone get into a giant's house and carry off his goods, unless he first binds the giant? After that he can make a clean sweep of his house.

You brood of vipers! How can you, wicked as you are, say anything that is good? For the mouth talks about the things that fill the heart.

The good man out of his good inner storehouse, brings out good things, the bad man, out of his bad one, bad things.

While He was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and His brothers had taken their stand outside, trying hard to get to speak to Him.

And the crowds that gathered about Him were so great that He got into a boat and remained sitting in it, while all the crowd stood on the seashore.

But while the world was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed wild wheat seed in the midst of the good seed, and went away.

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?'

And he said, 'No, never, for while you are gathering the wild wheat plants you might root up the good ones with them.

Let them both grow together until harvest time, and at the harvest time I will order the reapers, "Gather first the wild wheat plants and tie them into bundles to be burned up, but get the wheat into my barn."'"

And He answered: "The sower of the good seed is the Son of Man;

the field is the world; the good seed are the members of the kingdom; the wild wheat seed are the followers of the wicked one.

which, when it was full, the fishermen drew up on the shore, and sat down and picked out the good fish for their baskets and threw the bad away.

He went to His own home town, and kept teaching in their synagogue in such a way that they were dumbfounded, and said, "Where did He get this wisdom and this power to do such wonder-works?

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

When Jesus heard it, He left there in a boat for a quiet place, to be alone. And when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him on foot from the towns.

So when He got out of the boat and saw a great crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them, and He cured their sick people.

And He at once had the disciples get into the boat and cross to the other side ahead of Him, while He dismissed the crowds.

And He said, "Come." And Peter got down out of the boat and walked on the water, and he went toward Jesus.

And when they got into the boat, the wind lulled,

And the men in the boat worshiped Him, and said, "You are certainly God's Son."

and they continued to beg Him to let them touch just the tassel on His coat, and all who barely touched it were completely cured.

But He answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of the rules that have been handed down to you?

For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Whoever curses his father or mother must certainly be put to death.'

But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Everything I have that might be used for helping you, is devoted to God,"

is under no obligation at all to help his parent.' So you have set aside what God has said for the sake of what has been handed down to you.

so that the crowd was astonished to see the dumb talking, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel.

The disciples said to Him, "Where in this destitute place can we get bread enough to satisfy such a crowd?"

Then He sent the crowds away, got into the boat, and went to the district of Magadan.

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

But He turned and said to Peter, "Get out of my way, you Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for this view of yours is not from God but from men."

And Peter interrupted, and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here! If you consent, I will put up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

Then Jesus came and touched them, and said, "Get up and do not be so afraid."

He answered, "Elijah does come and will get everything ready.

He answered, "Yes." When Jesus reached home -- He got there ahead of Simon -- He asked him, "What do you think about it, Simon? From whom do civil rulers collect duties or taxes, from their own citizens or from aliens?"

and said: "I solemnly say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you can never get into the kingdom of heaven at all.

"And if your own hand or your own foot makes you do wrong, cut it off and put it out of your way. It is better for you to get into life maimed or crippled than to have both hands or both feet to be thrown into everlasting torture.