and Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam became the father of Abijah, and Abijah became the father of Asa,

and Asa became the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat became the father of Joram, and Joram became the father of Uzziah,

and Uzziah became the father of Jotham, and Jotham became the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz became the father of Hezekiah,

and Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary by whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

But [as] he was considering these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary [as] your wife, for what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

"Behold, the virgin {will become pregnant} and will give birth to a son, and they will call his name Emmanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

And Joseph, [when he] woke up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and he took his wife

Now [after] Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,

saying, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star at its rising and have come to worship him."

So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet,

Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men [and] determined precisely from them the time [when] the star appeared.

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.

For this is the one who was spoken about by the prophet Isaiah, saying, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River [as they] confessed their sins.

And do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham [as] father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

Already now the ax is positioned at the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I [am], whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing shovel [is] in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

But Jesus answered [and] said to him, "Permit [it] now, for in this way it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted him.

And behold, [there was] a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

But he answered [and] said, "It is written, 'Man will not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God."

and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down! For it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On [their] hands they will lift you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus said to him, "On the other hand it is written, 'You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.'"

Then Jesus said to him, "Go away, Satan, for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'"

in order that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said,

From that time [on], Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near."

Now [as he] was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, throwing a casting net into the sea (for they were fishermen).

"Blessed [are] the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed [are] those who are persecuted because of righteousness, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Rejoice and be glad, because your reward [is] great in heaven, for in the [same] way they persecuted the prophets before you.

"You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, by what will it be made salty? It is good for nothing any longer except to be thrown outside [and] trampled under foot by people.

In the [same] way let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

But I say to you that everyone who is angry at his brother will be subject to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Stupid fool!' will be subject to the council, and whoever says, 'Obstinate fool!' will be subject to fiery hell.

And if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw [it] from you! For it is better for you that one of your members be destroyed than your whole body be thrown into hell.

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw [it] from you! For it is better for you that one of your limbs be destroyed than your whole body go into hell.

But I say to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, because it is the throne of God,

or by the earth, because it is the footstool of his feet, or by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king.

But let your statement be 'Yes, yes; no, no,' and anything beyond these is from the evil one.

in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, because he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust.

And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing that is remarkable? Do not the Gentiles also do the same?

Therefore you be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

"And take care not to practice your righteousness before people to be seen by them; {otherwise} you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Therefore whenever you practice charitable giving, do not sound a trumpet in front of you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, in order that they may be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward in full!

But you, [when you] practice charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

But whenever you pray, enter into your inner room and shut your door [and] pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Therefore you pray in this way: "Our Father who is in heaven, may your name be treated as holy.

May your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as [it is] in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

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

"The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore if your eye is sincere, your whole body will be full of light.

But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. Therefore if the light in you is darkness, how great [is] the darkness!

"No one is able to serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You are not able to serve God and money.

"For this [reason] I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, and not for your body, what you will wear. Is your life not more than food and your body [more than] clothing?

And who among you, [by] being anxious, is able to add one hour to his life span?

But if God dresses the grass of the field in this way, [although it] is [here] today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not [do so] much more [for] you, you of little faith?

And why do you see the speck [that is] in your brother's eye, but do not notice the beam of wood in your [own] eye?

Or how will you say to your brother, 'Allow [me] to remove the speck from your eye,' and behold, the beam of wood [is] in your [own] eye?

"Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls in front of pigs, lest they trample them with their feet, and turn around [and] tear you to pieces.

Or what man is [there] among you, [if] his son will ask him [for] bread, will give him a stone?

Therefore if you, [although you] are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

Therefore [in] all [things], whatever you want that people should do to you, thus also you do to them. For this is the law and the prophets.

"Enter through the narrow gate, because broad [is] the gate and spacious [is] the road that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it,

because narrow [is] the gate and constricted [is] the road that leads to life, and there are few who find it!

A good tree is not able to produce bad fruit, nor a bad tree to produce good fruit.

Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

As a result, you will recognize them by their fruits.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

and saying, "Lord, my slave is lying paralyzed in my house, terribly tormented!"

And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go, as you have believed it will be done for you." And the slave was healed at that hour.

in order that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said, "He himself took away our sicknesses, and carried away our diseases."

And [as] he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.

And they came [and] woke him, saying, "Lord, save [us]! We are perishing!"

And the men were astonished, saying, "What sort of [man] is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"

And behold, they cried out, saying, "{What do you have to do with us}, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"

So the demons implored him, saying, "If you are going to expel us, send us into the herd of pigs."

And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming!"

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

And [as] Jesus was going away from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth and said to him, "Follow me!" And he stood up [and] followed him.

And it happened [as] he {was dining} in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners were coming [and] {dining} with Jesus and his disciples.

And Jesus said to them, "{The bridegroom's attendants} are not able to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. But days are coming when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins. {Otherwise} the wineskins burst and the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are destroyed. But they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved."

[As] he was saying these [things] to them, behold, one of the rulers came [and] knelt down before him, saying, "My daughter has just now died, but come, place your hand on her and she will live!"

he said, "Go away, because the girl is not dead, but is sleeping." And they ridiculed him.

And [as] Jesus was going away from there, two blind men followed him, crying out and saying, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"

Now [as] they were going away, behold, they brought to him a demon-possessed man [who was] unable to speak.

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest [is] plentiful, but the workers [are] few.

Now these are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James the [son] of Zebedee, and John his brother,

And [as you] are going, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near!'

Do not [take] a traveler's bag for the road, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff, for the worker [is] deserving of his provisions.

And into whatever town or village you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay [there] until you depart.

And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

And whoever does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet [as you] are going out of that house or [that] town.

"Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

For you are not the ones who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father [who is] speaking through you.

"A disciple is not superior to his teacher, nor a slave superior to his master.