Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus who is called the Christ.

And she will have a son, and you must name Him Jesus, for it is He who is to save His people from their sins."

'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are not at all the least among the leading places of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

and said, "Wake up, tenderly take the child and His mother, and make the trip to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."

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.'"

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to escape from the wrath that is coming?

and a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am delighted!"

As He was walking by the shore of the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was summed Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

So the news about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were sick with various diseases, especially those who were suffering with torturing diseases; and he cured them.

"Blessed are those who feel poor in spiritual things, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for being and doing right, for they will be completely satisfied.

"Blessed are those who show mercy, for they will have mercy shown them.

"Blessed are those who suffer persecution for being and doing right, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Keep on rejoicing and leaping for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way they persecuted the prophets who lived before you.

But I say to you: "Everyone who harbors malice against his brother, will have to answer to the court, and whoever speaks contemptuously to his brother, will have to answer to the supreme court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You cursed fool? will have to pay the penalty in the pit of torture.

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman so as to have an evil desire for her at once has already committed adultery with her in his heart,

But I tell you that whoever divorces his wife for any other ground than unfaithfulness, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a wife who is thus divorced commits adultery.

But I tell you not to resist the one who injures you, but if anyone slaps you on one cheek, turn him the other, too;

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

so that your deed of charity may be secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

But whenever you, follower of mine, pray, you must go to your most private place, shut the door, and pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

so that your fasting may be seen, not by men but by your Father who is unseen, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

For everyone who keeps on asking, receives, and everyone who keeps on seeking, finds, and to the one who keeps on knocking, the door will open.

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?

"Look out for false prophets, who come to you under the guise of sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves.

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.

And then I will say to them openly, 'I never knew you at all. Go away from me, you who practiced doing wrong.'

"So everyone who listens to my words and practices their teaching, will be like a prudent man who built his house on a rocky foundation.

And anyone who listens to my words and does not practice their teaching, will be like an imprudent man who built his house on sand.

for He was teaching them as one who had authority to teach, and not as their scribes did.

When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons, and at a mere word He drove the spirits out, and cured all who were sick,

When He reached the other side, in the district of Gadara, there faced Him two men, who were under the power of demons, who were just coming out from the tombs. They were such terrors that nobody could pass that way.

And the men who fed them fled, and went off to the town, and told it all, and what occurred to the two men who were under the power of demons.

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

But at the very time they were going out, some people brought to Him a dumb man, who was under the power of a demon,

Here are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who was named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John,

Simon the zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who afterward betrayed Him.

For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father that is speaking through you.

You must never be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. But rather you must keep on fearing Him who can destroy both soul and body in the pit.

Therefore, everyone who will own me before men I will own before my Father in heaven,

but anyone who disowns me before men I will disown before my Father in heaven.

Anybody who loves father or mother more than he loves me is not worthy of me,

and nobody is worthy of me who does not take up his cross and follow me.

Anybody who gains his lower life will lose the higher life, and anybody who loses his lower life for my sake will gain the higher life.

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes Him who sent me.

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."

"Are you the One who was to come, or should we keep on looking for a different one?"

And happy is the man who finds no cause for stumbling over me."

If not, what did you go out there to see? A man dressed in silks and satins? No, people who dress in that way are found in the palaces of kings.

This is the man of whom the Scripture says, "'Attention! I am sending my messenger on before you; He will prepare the road ahead of you.'

"I solemnly say to you, of all men born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has ever appeared; and yet the one who is least important in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

And from the days of John the Baptist until the present moment the kingdom of heaven has been continuously taken by storm, and those who take it by storm are seizing it as a precious prize.

and if you are willing to accept it, John himself is the Elijah who was to come.

Let him who has ears listen!

All things have been entrusted to me by my Father, and no one but the Father perfectly knows the Son, and no one but the Son perfectly knows the Father, and the one to whom the Son chooses to make Him known.

Come to me, all of you who toil and carry burdens, and I, yes, I, will lead you into rest.

If you only knew what that saying means, 'It is mercy and not sacrifice that I want,' you would not have condemned men who are not guilty.

"Here is my Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in whom my soul delights itself. I will endow Him with my Spirit, and He will announce a judgment to the heathen.

At that time some people brought to Him a man under the power of demons, who was blind and dumb, and He cured him, so that the dumb man could talk and see.

But He answered the man who told Him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"

Let him who has ears listen."

He answered: "It is you and not they who are granted the privilege of knowing the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.

For to anyone who has, more will be given, and his supply will overflow, but from anyone who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

And what was sown upon the thin rocky soil illustrates the man who hears the message and bubbling over with joy at once accepts it,

And what was sown among the thorns illustrates the man who hears the message, and the worries of the times and the pleasures of being rich choke the truth out, and he yields no fruit.

And what was sown in rich soil illustrates the man who hears the message and understands it, and yields fruit, one a hundred, one sixty, another thirty-fold."

He told them another story, as follows: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed seed in his field.

The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the close of the age, the reapers are angels.

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all those who cause wrongdoing, and the wrongdoers,

Then the upright will shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears listen!

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a gem-dealer who was looking for beautiful pearls.

He said to them, "Every scribe who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who can bring out of his storeroom new furnishings as well as old."

And the men of that place recognized Him, and sent into all the countryside and brought to Him all who were sick,

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.

When Jesus reached the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

He said to them, "Who do you yourselves say that I am?"

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud cast its shadow over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am delighted. Keep on listening to Him!"

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?"

Just at that moment the disciples came up and asked Jesus, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

But whoever leads one of these little ones, who believe in me, to do wrong, had better have a great millstone hung around his neck to sink him to the bottom of the sea.

A curse on the world for such influences to do wrong! For they must come, but a curse on the man from whom these influences come!

So the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle up his accounts with his slaves,

And when he began, a man was brought to him who owed him ten million dollars.

"But that slave went out and found one of his fellow-slaves who owed him twenty dollars, and he caught him by the throat and began to choke him, demanding, 'Pay me what you owe me!'

He said to them, "It is not every man who has the capacity to carry out this saying, but it is for those to whom the capacity has been given.

For some are born incapable of marriage, and some have been made so by men, and some have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him accept it who can."

After that some little children were brought to Him, for Him to lay His hands on them and pray for them, but His disciples reproved those who brought them.

And He answered him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is perfectly good. But if you want to get into that life, you must practice keeping the commandments."

But when the disciples heard this, they were dumbfounded, and asked, "Who then can be saved!"

Jesus said to them: "I solemnly say to you, in the new order of life, when the Son of Man shall take His seat on His glorious throne, you too, who have followed me, will sit on twelve thrones, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.

And everyone who has given up home or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms, for my sake, will receive many times as much, and in addition will be in possession of eternal life.

But many who are first now will be last then, and many who are last now will be first then."

"For the kingdom of heaven is like an owner of an estate who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

And they who had been hired at five o'clock came and received twenty cents each.

And those who were hired first, when they came, supposed that they would receive more, but they too received twenty cents each.

and say, 'These last worked only one hour, and yet you have put them on the same footing with us who have borne the heavy burdens and scorching heat of the day.'

So those who are last now will be first then, and those first will be last."

He said to them, "You will drink the cup that I am to drink, but seats at my right and at my left are not mine to give, but they will be given to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."

And the crowds that went in front of Him and followed Him shouted: "Welcome the Son of David! Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord; Welcome Him from on high!"

When He came into Jerusalem, the whole city was trembling with excitement, and asking, "Who is He?"