Now the birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, [but] before they came together, she was found {to be pregnant} by the Holy Spirit.

[After] they listened to the king, they went out, and behold, the star which they had seen at its rising led them until it came [and] stood above [the place] where the child was.

Now [after] they had gone away, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, saying, "Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him."

Then Herod, [when he] saw that he had been deceived by the wise men, became very angry, and he sent [soldiers] [and] executed all the children in Bethlehem and in all the region [around] it from [the age of] two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined precisely from the wise men.

Now [after] Herod had died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

Now John himself had his clothing made from camel's hair and a belt made of leather around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

and [after he] had fasted forty days and forty nights, then he was hungry.

Now [when he] heard that John {had been arrested}, he withdrew into Galilee.

because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.

But [when] the crowds saw [this], they were afraid and glorified God who had given such authority to men.

And behold, a woman who had been suffering with a hemorrhage twelve years approached from behind [and] touched the edge of his cloak,

But when the crowd had been sent out, he entered [and] took her hand, and the girl got up.

And [after] the demon had been expelled, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were astonished, saying, "{This has never been seen before} in Israel!"

And [when he] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were weary and dejected, like sheep that did not have a shepherd.

And it happened that when Jesus had finished giving orders to his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and to preach in their towns.

Then he began to reproach the towns in which the majority of his miracles had been done, because they did not repent:

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today.

And if you had known what {it means}, 'I want mercy and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.

And behold, [there was] a man who had a withered hand, and they asked him, saying, "Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?" in order that they could accuse him.

And it happened that when Jesus had finished these parables he went away from there.

because John had been saying to him, "It is not permitted for you to have her."

And he sent [orders] [and] had John beheaded in the prison,

And [as he] got out, he saw the large crowd and had compassion on them and healed their sick.

And [after they] had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.

he took the seven loaves and the fish and [after he] had given thanks, he broke [them] and began giving [them] to the disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the crowds.

And [when] the disciples arrived at the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

And calling a child [to himself], he had him stand in their midst

And [because] he did not have [enough] to repay [it], the master ordered him to be sold, and his wife and his children and everything that he had, and to be repaid.

So the master of that slave, [because he] had compassion, released him and forgave him the loan.

So [when] his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed, and went [and] reported to their master everything that had happened.

And it happened that when Jesus had finished these statements, he went away from Galilee and came into the region of Judea on the other side of the Jordan.

But [when] the young man heard the statement, he went away sorrowful, because he was one who had many possessions.

"Now what do you think? A man had two sons. [He] approached the first [and] said, 'Son, go work in the vineyard today.'

And he sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the wedding celebration, and they did not want to come.

Then he said to his slaves, 'The wedding celebration is ready, but those who had been invited were not worthy.

In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her [as wife]."

Now [when] the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled at the same [place].

and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in the blood of the prophets!'

And unless those days had been shortened, {no human being would be saved}. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.

But understand this: that if the master of the house had known what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.

But [while] they had gone away to buy [it] the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding celebration, and the door was shut.

The one who had received the five talents went out [and] traded with them and gained five more.

In the same way the one [who had] the two gained two more.

But the one who had received the one went away [and] dug up the ground and hid his master's money.

And the one who had received the five talents came up [and] brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you handed over to me five talents. See, I have gained five more talents!'

And the one [who had] the two talents also came up [and] said, 'Master, you handed over to me two talents. See, I have gained two talents more!'

And the one who had received the one talent came up also [and] said, 'Master, [because I] knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from where you did not scatter [seed].

And it happened that when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples,

The Son of Man is going just as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for him if that man had not been born."

And [after they] had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Now the one who was betraying him had given them a sign, saying, "[The one] whom I kiss--he is [the one]. Arrest him!"

Now those who had arrested Jesus led [him] away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered.

And Peter remembered the statement Jesus had said, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times," and he went outside [and] wept bitterly.

Then [when] Judas, the one who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he regretted [what he had done] [and] returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and elders,

Then what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled, who said, "And they took the thirty silver coins, the price of the one who had been priced, [on] whom a price had been set by the sons of Israel,

And at that time they had a notorious prisoner named Jesus Barabbas.

So [after] they had assembled, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you--Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ?"

(For he knew that they had handed him over because of envy.

Then he released Barabbas for them, but [after] he had Jesus flogged, he handed [him] over so that he could be crucified.

And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the military cloak and put his [own] clothes on him, and led him away in order to crucify [him].

And [when they] had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves [by] casting lots.

And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised,

And there were many women there, observing from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving him,

and placed it in his [own] new tomb that he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a large stone to the entrance of the tomb [and] went away.

And [while] they were going, behold, some of the guard of soldiers went into the city [and] reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.

And [after they] had assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave a rather large sum of money to the soldiers,

So the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated for them.