But while he was contemplating this step, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to bring home your wife Mary, for she is with child through the Holy Spirit.

All this took place in fulfilment of what the Lord had spoken through the Prophet,

Reports of this soon reached the king, and greatly agitated not only him but all the people of Jerusalem.

About this time John the Baptist made his appearance, preaching in the Desert of Judaea.

This man John wore a garment of camel's hair, and a loincloth of leather; and he lived upon locusts and wild honey.

"Let it be so on this occasion," Jesus replied; "for so we ought to fulfil every religious duty." Then he consented;

while a voice came from Heaven, saying, "This is My Son, the dearly loved, in whom is My delight."

and said to Him, "All this I will give you, if you will kneel down and do me homage."

But let your language be, 'Yes, yes,' or 'No, no.' Anything in excess of this comes from the Evil one.

"In this manner therefore pray: 'Our Father who art in Heaven, may Thy name be kept holy;

For this reason I charge you not to be over-anxious about your lives, inquiring what you are to eat or what you are to drink, nor yet about your bodies, inquiring what clothes you are to put on. Is not the life more precious than its food, and the body than its clothing?

Everything, therefore, be it what it may, that you would have men do to you, do you also the same to them; for in this the Law and the Prophets are summed up.

When Jesus had concluded this discourse, the crowds were filled with amazement at His teaching,

For I myself am also under authority, and have soldiers under me. To one I say 'Go,' and he goes, to another 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave 'Do this or that,' and he does it."

Jesus listened to this reply, and was astonished, and said to the people following Him, "I solemnly tell you that in no Israelite have I found faith as great as this.

After this Jesus went to the house of Peter, whose mother-in-law he found ill in bed with fever.

in order that this prediction of the Prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled, "He took on Him our weaknesses, and bore the burden of our diseases."

and the men, filled with amazement, exclaimed, "What kind of man is this? for the very winds and waves obey him!"

The Pharisees noticed this, and they inquired of His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with the tax-gatherers and notorious sinners?"

But go and learn what this means, 'It is mercy that I desire, not sacrifice'; for I did not come to appeal to the righteous, but to sinners."

And the report of this spread throughout all that district.

And when He had gone indoors, they came to Him. "Do you believe that I can do this?" He asked them. "Yes, Sir," they replied.

This is he of whom it is written, "'See I am sending My messenger before Thy face, and he will make Thy road ready before Thee.'

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they exclaim, 'See this man! --given to gluttony and tippling, and a friend of tax-gatherers and notorious sinners!' And yet Wisdom is vindicated by her actions."

And if you knew what this means, 'It is mercy I desire, not sacrifice', you would not have condemned those who are without guilt.

Aware of this, Jesus departed elsewhere; and a great number of people followed Him, all of whom He cured.

"This is My servant whom I have chosen, My dearly loved One in whom My soul takes pleasure. I will put My spirit upon Him, and He will announce justice to the nations.

And the crowds of people were all filled with amazement and said, "Can this be the Son of David?"

The Pharisees heard it and said, "This man only expels demons by the power of Baal-zebul, the Prince of demons."

This is why I tell you that men may find forgiveness for every other sin and impious word, but that for impious speaking against the Holy Spirit they shall find no forgiveness.

And whoever shall speak against the Son of Man may obtain forgiveness; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, neither in this nor in the coming age shall he obtain forgiveness."

I speak to them in figurative language for this reason, that while looking they do not see, and while hearing they neither hear nor understand.

For this people's mind is stupefied, their hearing has become dull, and their eyes they have closed; to prevent their ever seeing with their eyes, or hearing with their ears, or understanding with their minds, and turning back, so that I might heal them.'

When a man hears the Message concerning the Kingdom and does not understand it, the Evil one comes and catches away what has been sown in his heart. This is he who has received the seed by the road-side.

"'Some enemy has done this,' he said. "'Shall we go, and collect it?' the men inquire.

All this Jesus spoke to the people in figurative language, and except in figurative language He spoke nothing to them,

"Have you understood all this?" He asked. "Yes," they said.

Jesus concluded this series of parables and then departed.

Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judah?

And his sisters--are they not all living here among us? Where then did he get all this?"

and he said to his courtiers, "This is John the Baptist: he has come back to life--and that is why these miraculous Powers are working in him."

But when evening was come, the disciples came to Him and said, "This is an uninhabited place, and the best of the day is now gone; send the people away to go into the villages and buy something to eat."

When He had done this, He climbed the hill to pray in solitude. Night came on, and he was there alone.

but you--this is what you say: 'If a man says to his father or mother, That is consecrated, whatever it is, which otherwise you should have received from me--

"'This is a People who honour Me with their lips, while their heart is far away from Me;

"Explain to us this figurative language," said Peter.

But Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, "My heart yearns over this mass of people, for it is now the third day that they have been with me and they have nothing to eat. I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they should faint on the road."

"Where can we," asked the disciples, "get bread enough in this remote place to satisfy so vast a multitude?"

Jesus perceived this and said, "Why are you reasoning among yourselves, you men of little faith, because you have no bread?

"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-jonah," said Jesus; "for mere human nature has not revealed this to you, but my Father in Heaven.

And I declare to you that you are Peter, and that upon this Rock I will build my Church, and the might of Hades shall not triumph over it.

From this time Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer much cruelty from the Elders and the High Priests and the Scribes, and be put to death, and on the third day be raised to life again.

Then Peter took Him aside and began taking Him to task. "Master," he said, "God forbid; this will not be your lot."

He was still speaking when a luminous cloud spread over them; and a voice was heard from within the cloud, which said, "This is My Son dearly beloved, in whom is My delight. Listen to Him."

On hearing this voice, the disciples fell on their faces and were filled with terror.

"Because your faith is so small," He replied; "for I solemnly declare to you that if you have faith like a mustard-seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Remove from this place to that,' and it will remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you.

But an evil spirit of this kind is only driven out by prayer and fasting."

"Yes," he replied, and then went into the house. But before he spoke a word Jesus said, "What think you, Simon? From whom do this world's kings receive customs or capitation tax? from their own children, or from others?"

Whoever therefore shall humble himself as this young child, he it is who is superior to others in the Kingdom of the Heavens.

And whoever for my sake receives one young child such as this, receives me.

At this point Peter came to Him with the question, "Master, how often shall my brother act wrongly towards me and I forgive him? seven times?"

"For this reason the Kingdom of the Heavens may be compared to a king who determined to have a settlement of accounts with his servants.

and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two shall be one'?

"If this is the case with a man in relation to his wife," said the disciples to Him, "it is better not to marry."

"It is not every man," He replied, "who can receive this teaching, but only those on whom the grace has been bestowed.

There are men who from their birth have been disabled from marriage, others who have been so disabled by men, and others who have disabled themselves for the sake of the Kingdom of the Heavens. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it."

Jesus looked at them and said, "With men this is impossible, but with God everything is possible."

Take your money and go. I choose to give this last comer just as much as I give you.

The other ten heard of this, and their indignation was aroused against the two brothers.

This took place in order that the Prophet's prediction might be fulfilled:

When He thus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was thrown into commotion, every one inquiring, "Who is this?"

"This is Jesus, the Prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee," replied the crowds.

"I solemnly tell you," said Jesus, "that if you have an unwavering faith, you shall not only perform such a miracle as this of the fig-tree, but that even if you say to this mountain, 'Be thou lifted up and hurled into the sea,' it shall be done;

He entered the Temple; and while He was teaching, the High Priests and the Elders of the people came to Him and asked Him, "By what authority are you doing these things? and who gave you this authority?"

For John came to you observing all sorts of ritual, and you put no faith in him: the tax-gatherers and the notorious sinners did put faith in him, and you, though you saw this example set you, were not even afterwards sorry so as to believe him.

"Have you never read in the Scriptures," said Jesus, "'The Stone which the builders rejected has been made the Cornerstone: this Cornerstone came from the Lord, and is wonderful in our eyes'?

He who falls on this stone will be severely hurt; but he on whom it falls will be utterly crushed."

"Whose likeness and inscription," He asked, "is this?"

They heard this, and were astonished; then left Him, and went their way.

On the same day a party of Sadducees came to Him, contending that there is no resurrection. And they put this case to Him.

All the crowd heard this, and were filled with amazement at His teaching.

This is the greatest and foremost Commandment.

"For this reason I am sending to you Prophets and wise men and Scribes. Some of them you will put to death--nay, crucify; some of them you will flog in your synagogues and chase from town to town;

Afterwards He was on the Mount of Olives and was seated there when the disciples came to Him, apart from the others, and said, "Tell us when this will be; and what will be the sign of your Coming and of the Close of the Age?"

And this Good News of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed throughout the whole world to set the evidence before all the Gentiles; and then the End will come.

But of this be assured, that if the master of the house had known the hour at which the robber was coming, he would have kept awake, and not have allowed his house to be broken into.

But as for this worthless servant, put him out into the darkness outside: *there* will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.'

"for this might have been sold for a considerable sum, and the money given to the poor."

In pouring this ointment over me, her object was to prepare me for burial.

In solemn truth I tell you that wherever in the whole world this Good News shall be proclaimed, this deed of hers shall be spoken of in memory of her."

During the meal Jesus took a Passover biscuit, blessed it and broke it. He then gave it to the disciples, saying, "Take this and eat it: it is my body."

for this is my blood which is to be poured out for many for the remission of sins--the blood which ratifies the Covenant.

Then said Jesus, "This night all of you will stumble and fail in your fidelity to me; for it is written, 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered in all directions.'

"In solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that this very night, before the cock crows, you will three times disown me."

Going forward a short distance He fell on His face and prayed. "My Father," He said, "if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou willest."

Again a second time He went away and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is impossible for this cup to pass without my drinking it, Thy will be done."

But all this has taken place in order that the writings of the Prophets may be fulfilled." At this point the disciples all left Him and fled.

who testified, "This man said, 'I am able to pull down the Sanctuary of God and three days afterwards to build a new one.'"

Soon afterwards he went out and stood in the gateway, when another girl saw him, and said, addressing the people there, "This man was with Jesus the Nazarene."

and at this time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas.