When he had contemplated this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

"In Bethlehem of Judea," they said, "for it is written this way by the prophet:

He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and look carefully for the child. When you find him, inform me so that I can go and worship him as well."

After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him."

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

And a voice from heaven said, "This is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight."

The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread."

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 'with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus said to him, "Once again it is written: 'You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.'"

And he said to him, "I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me."

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

the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned."

He said to them, "Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people."

When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. After he sat down his disciples came to him.

"You have heard that it was said to an older generation, 'Do not murder,' and 'whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.'

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'

"It was said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a legal document.'

"Again, you have heard that it was said to an older generation, 'Do not break an oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.'

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor' and 'hate your enemy.'

Then Jesus said to him, "See that you do not speak to anyone, but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."

When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel!

Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; just as you believed, it will be done for you." And the servant was healed at that hour.

Now when Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave orders to go to the other side of the lake.

Then an expert in the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."

Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."

But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

But he said to them, "Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was dead calm.

And the men were amazed and said, "What sort of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!"

When he came to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were extremely violent, so that no one was able to pass by that way.

And he said, "Go!" So they came out and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned in the water.

After getting into a boat he crossed to the other side and came to his own town.

Just then some people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Have courage, son! Your sins are forgiven."

Then some of the experts in the law said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming!"

When Jesus saw their reaction he said, "Why do you respond with evil in your hearts?

But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- then he said to the paralytic -- "Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home."

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. "Follow me," he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

When Jesus heard this he said, "Those who are healthy don't need a physician, but those who are sick do.

Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.

As he was saying these things, a ruler came, bowed low before him, and said, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live."

But when Jesus turned and saw her he said, "Have courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well." And the woman was healed from that hour.

he said, "Go away, for the girl is not dead but asleep." And they began making fun of him.

When he went into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord."

After the demon was cast out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, "Never has anything like this been seen in Israel!"

But the Pharisees said, "By the ruler of demons he casts out demons."

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

Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy there and stay with them until you leave.

For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children.

But when the Pharisees saw this they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath."

He said to them, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry --

He said to them, "Would not any one of you, if he had one sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, take hold of it and lift it out?

Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and it was restored, as healthy as the other.

All the crowds were amazed and said, "Could this one be the Son of David?"

But when the Pharisees heard this they said, "He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons!"

Now when Jesus realized what they were thinking, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and no town or house divided against itself will stand.

To the one who had said this, Jesus replied, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?"

And pointing toward his disciples he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

On that day after Jesus went out of the house, he sat by the lake.

And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat to sit while the whole crowd stood on the shore.

Then the disciples came to him and said, "Why do you speak to them in parables?"

When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; this is the seed sown along the path.

The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

The seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth choke the word, so it produces nothing.

But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown."

He presented them with another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field.

So the slaves of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?'

He said, 'An enemy has done this.' So the slaves replied, 'Do you want us to go and gather them?'

But he said, 'No, since in gathering the weeds you may uproot the wheat with them.

He gave them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man.

The field is the world and the good seed are the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one,

When it was full, they pulled it ashore, sat down, and put the good fish into containers and threw the bad away.

Then he said to them, "Therefore every expert in the law who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old."

Then he came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, "Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?

And so they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house."

and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead! And because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him."

Instructed by her mother, she said, "Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter."

They said to him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."

Then he instructed the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, and looking up to heaven he gave thanks and broke the loaves. He gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dispersed the crowds.

When the disciples saw him walking on the water they were terrified and said, "It's a ghost!" and cried out with fear.

Peter said to him, "Lord, if it is you, order me to come to you on the water."

So he said, "Come." Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus.

Then Pharisees and experts in the law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and said,

For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.'

Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,

Then he called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand.

Then the disciples came to him and said, "Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this saying they were offended?"

But Peter said to him, "Explain this parable to us."

Jesus said, "Even after all this, are you still so foolish?

But she came and bowed down before him and said, "Lord, help me!"

"It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs," he said.

When he left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain, where he sat down.

Then Jesus called the disciples and said, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way."

The disciples said to him, "Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?"

Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" They replied, "Seven -- and a few small fish."