But while he was thinking of doing this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary, your wife, to your home, for it is through the influence of the holy Spirit that she is to become a mother.

All this happened in fulfilment of what the Lord said through the prophet,

They said, "At Bethlehem in Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:

And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said to them, "Go and inquire particularly about the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, so that I may go and do homage to him too."

When they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said, "Wake up! Take the child and his mother and make your escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave. For Herod is going to look for the child in order to make away with him."

to fulfil what the Lord said by the prophet, "I called my son from Egypt."

and said, "Wake up! Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."

"Repent!" he said, "for the Kingdom of Heaven is coming!"

It was he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, when he said, "Hark! Someone is shouting in the desert, 'Get the Lord's way ready! Make his paths straight!' "

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

But John dissuaded him, and said, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

and a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, my Beloved! This is my Chosen."

And the tempter came up and said to him, "If you are God's son, tell these stones to turn into bread!"

and said to him, "If you are God's son, throw yourself down, for the Scripture says, " 'He will give his angels orders about you, And they will lift you up with their hands So that you may never strike your foot against a stone!' "

Jesus said to him, "The Scripture also says, 'You shall not try the Lord your God.' "

and said to him, "I will give all this to you, if you will fall on your knees and do homage to me."

Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! For the Scripture says, 'You must do homage to the Lord your God, and worship him alone!' "

in fulfilment of what was said by the prophet Isaiah,

He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fish for men!"

Great crowds followed him about, from Galilee and the Ten Towns and Jerusalem and Judea and from the other side of the Jordan.

he opened his lips to teach them. And he said,

Then Jesus said to him, "See that you tell nobody, but go! Show yourself to the priest, and in proof of your cure, offer the gift that Moses prescribed."

He said to him, "I will come and cure him."

When Jesus heard this he was astonished, and said to his followers, "I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such faith as this.

Then Jesus said to the captain, "Go! You shall find it just as you believe!" And the servant was immediately cured.

Then Jesus, seeing a crowd about him, gave orders to cross to the other side.

And a scribe came up and said to him, "Master, I will follow you wherever you are going!"

And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and wild birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head!"

And another of his disciples said to him, "Let me first go, sir, and bury my father."

But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead!"

And he said to them, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he got up and reproved the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.

And the men were amazed and said, "What kind of man is this? For the very winds and sea obey him!"

When he reached the other side, in the region of Gadara, two men possessed by demons came out of the tombs and confronted him; they were so extremely violent that nobody could go along that road.

And he said to them, "Begone!" And they came out and went into the pigs. And suddenly the whole drove rushed over the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the water.

Some people came bringing to him on a bed a man who was paralyzed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, "Courage, my son! Your sins are forgiven."

Some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is talking blasphemy!"

Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said, "Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts?

But I would have you know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed and go home!"

Afterward, as Jesus was passing along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tollhouse, and he said to him, "Follow me!" And he got up and followed him.

And the Pharisees observed it, and they said to his disciples, "Why does your master eat with tax-collectors and irreligious people?"

But he heard it, and said, "It is not well people but the sick who have to have the doctor!

Then the disciples of John came up to him and said, "Why is it that we and the Pharisees are keeping the fast, while your disciples are not keeping it?"

Jesus said to them, "Can wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But a time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and they will fast then.

Just as he said this to them, an official came up and bowing low before him said to him, "My daughter has just died. But come! Lay your hand on her and she will come to life!"

For she said to herself, "If I can just touch his cloak, I will get well."

And Jesus turned and saw her, and he said, "Courage, my daughter! Your faith has cured you!" And from that time the woman was well.

he said, "You must go away, for the girl is not dead; she is asleep." And they laughed at him.

When he had gone indoors, the blind men came up to him, and he said to them, "Do you believe that I can do this?" They said to him, "Yes, sir."

Then he touched their eyes and said, "You shall have what your faith expects."

And their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly not to let anyone hear of it.

and as soon as the demon was driven out, the dumb man was able to speak. And the crowds were amazed, and said, "Nothing like this was ever seen in Israel!"

But the Pharisees said, "It is by the aid of the prince of the demons that he drives them out."

But the sight of the crowds of people filled him with pity for them, because they were bewildered and dejected, like sheep that have no shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is abundant enough, but the reapers are few.

Whatever town or village you come to, inquire for some suitable person, and stay with him till you leave the place.

and said to him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we look for someone else?"

The blind are regaining their sight and the lame can walk, the lepers are being cured and the deaf can hear, the dead are being raised and good news is being preached to the poor.

For when John came, he neither ate nor drank, and people said, 'He has a demon!'

At that same time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding all this from the learned and intelligent and revealing it to children.

But the Pharisees saw it and said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing something which it is against the Law to do on the Sabbath!"

But he said to them, "Did you never read what David did, when he and his companions were hungry?

But he said to them, "Who among you if he has even a single sheep and it falls into a hole on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

Then he said to the man, "Hold out your hand!" And he held it out, and it was restored and became as well as the other.

??n fulfilment of what was said by the prophet Isaiah,

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

But when the Pharisees heard of it they said, "This man cannot drive out demons except by the aid of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons."

But he knew what they were thinking, and he said to them, "Any kingdom that is disunited is on the way to destruction, and any city or household that is disunited cannot last.

But he said to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"

And he pointed to his disciples and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

And such great crowds gathered about him that he got into a boat and sat down in it, while all the people stood on the shore.

And he told them many things in figures, and said to them, "A sower went out to sow,

and as he was sowing, some of the seed fell by the path and the birds came and ate it up,

His disciples came up and said to him, "Why do you speak to them in figures?"

When anyone hears the teaching of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and robs him of the seed that has been sown in his mind. That is what was sown along the path.

Another figure which he used in speaking to them was this: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,

And the owner's slaves came to him and said, 'Was not the seed good that you sowed in your field, sir? So where did these weeds come from?'

He said to them, 'This is some enemy's doing.' And they said to him, 'Do you want us to go and gather them up?'

But he said, 'No, for in gathering up the weeds you may uproot the wheat.

Another figure which he used in speaking to them was this: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field.

Jesus said all this to the crowds in figures, and told them nothing except in figures,

to fulfil what was said by the prophet, "I will open my mouth in figures, I will utter things that have been hidden since the creation."

Then he left the crowds and went into his house. And his disciples came up to him and said, "Explain to us the figure of the weeds in the field."

He answered, "The sower who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

The field is the world. The good seed is the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the wicked.

When it was full, they dragged it up on the beach, and sat down and sorted the good fish into baskets and threw the bad away.

"Do you understand all this?" They said to him, "Yes."

He said to them, "Then remember that every scribe who has become a disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven must be like a householder who can supply from his storeroom new things as well as old."

and went to his own part of the country. And he taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished, and said, "Where did he get this wisdom, and the power to do these wonders?

And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is treated with honor everywhere except in his native place and at his home."

and he said to his attendants, "This man must be John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, and that is why wonderful powers are working through him."

for John said to him, "It is not right for you to be living with her."

But she, at her mother's instigation, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter!"

So when he got out of the boat he found a great crowd gathered, and his heart was touched at the sight of them, and he cured those of them that were sick.

And when it was evening, the disciples came up to him and said, "This is a lonely place and the day is over. Send the crowds off to the villages to buy themselves food."

But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away. Give them food yourselves."

They said to him, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish."

He said, "Bring them here to me."

Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and he took the five loaves and the two fish and looked up to heaven and blessed them, and he broke the loaves in pieces and gave them to the disciples and they gave them to the people.

And he immediately made his disciples get into the boat and cross before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds.

And the disciples saw him walking on the sea, and they were terrified and said, "It is a ghost!" And they screamed with fear.