Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense;

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your petition has been heard: and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call his name John.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; no wine or fermented drink shall he ever drink; but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the very hour of his birth.

"Thus has the Lord dealt with me," she said, "now that He has graciously taken away my reproach among men."

So Gabriel went into the house and said to her, "Joy be to you, favoured one! the Lord is with you."

But the angel said, "Do not be frightened, Mary, for you have found favour with God.

and uttered a loud cry of joy. "Blest among women are you," she said, "and the offspring of your body is blest!

Then Mary said: "My soul extols the Lord,

His mother, however, said, "No, he is to be called John."

"There is not one of your family," they said, "who has that name."

Instantly his mouth and his tongue were set free, and he began to speak and bless God.

All who heard the story treasured it in their memories. "What then will this child be?" they said. For the lord's hand was indeed with him.

"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel," he said, "Because He has not forgotten His people but has effected redemption for them,

But the angel said to them, "Put away all fear; for I am bringing you good news of great joy--joy for all the People.

Then, as soon as the angels had left them and returned to Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go over as far as Bethlehem and see this that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."

And when they saw the child, they told what had been said to them about Him;

he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

Which Thou hast made ready in the sight of all nations--

Symeon blessed them and said to Mary the mother, "This child is appointed for the falling and the uprising of many in Israel and for a token to be spoken against;

When they saw Him, they were smitten with amazement, and His mother said to Him, "My child, why have you behaved thus to us? Your father and I have been searching for you in anguish."

and the Holy Spirit came down in bodily shape, like a dove, upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven, which said, "Thou art My Son, dearly loved: in Thee is My delight."

Then the Devil said to Him, "If you are God's Son, tell this stone to become bread."

And the Devil said to Him, "To you will I give all this authority and this splendour; for it has been handed over to me, and on whomsoever I will I bestow it.

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem and caused Him to stand on the roof of the Temple, and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here; for it is written,

The reply of Jesus was, "It is said, 'Thou shalt not put the Lord they God to the proof.'"

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the poor; He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners of war and recovery of sight to the blind: to send away free those whom tyranny has crushed,

And rolling up the book, He returned it to the attendant, and sat down--to speak. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

And they all spoke well of Him, wondering at the sweet words of kindness which fell from His lips, while they asked one another, "Is not this Joseph's son?"

"Doubtless," said He, "you will quote to me the proverb, 'Physician, cure yourself: all that we hear that you have done at Capernaum, do here also in your native place.'"

But He said to them, "I have to tell the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because for this purpose I was sent."

and going on board one of them, which was Simon's He asked him to push out a little from land. Then He sat down and taught the crowd of people from the boat.

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Push out into deep water, and let down your nets for a haul."

Reaching out His hand and touching him, Jesus said, "I am willing; be cleansed!" And instantly the leprosy left him.

He ordered him to tell no one. "But go," He said, "show yourself to the Priest, and make the offering for your purification which Moses appointed, as evidence for them."

He saw their faith and said to him, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

But to prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" --Turning to the paralytic He said, "I bid you, Rise, take up your bed, and go home."

Amazement seized them all. "Glory to God!" was the abiding feeling. Yet fear flashed through their minds and they said, "We have seen strange things to-day."

After this He went out and noticed a tax-gatherer, Levi by name, sitting at the Toll office; and He said to him, "Follow me."

Again they said to Him, "John's disciples fast often and pray, as do also those of the pharisees; but yours eat and drink."

He also spoke in figurative language to them. "No one," He said, "tears a piece from a new garment to mend an old one. Otherwise he would not only spoil the new, but the patch from the new would not match the old.

He knew their thoughts, and said to the man with the withered arm, "Rise, and stand there in the middle." And he rose and stood there.

Then Jesus said to them, "I put it to you all whether we are allowed to do good on the Sabbath, or to do evil; to save a life, or to destroy it."

And looking round upon them all He said to the man, "Stretch out your arm." He did so, and the arm was restored.

With these He came down till He reached a level place, where there was a great crowd of His disciples, and a multitude of people from every part of Judaea, from Jerusalem, and from the sea-side district of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases;

Then fixing His eyes upon His disciples, Jesus said to them, "Blessed are you poor, because the Kingdom of God is yours.

To him who gives you a blow on one side of the face offer the other side also; and to him who is robbing you of your outer garment refuse not the under one also.

Jesus listened to the Captain's message and was astonished at him, and He turned and said to the crowd that followed Him, "I tell you that not even in Israel have I found faith like that."

The Lord saw her, was moved with pity for her, and said to her, "Do not weep."

Then He went close and touched the bier, and the bearers halted. "Young man," He said, "I command you, wake!"

The dead man sat up and began to speak; and He restored him to his mother.

All were awe-struck, and they gave glory to God--some saying, "A Prophet, a great Prophet, has risen up among us." Others said, "God has not forgotten His People."

The men came to Jesus and said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you with this question: 'Are you the Coming One, or is there another that we are to expect?'"

He immediately cured many of diseases, severe pain, and evil spirits, and to many who were blind He gave the gift of sight.

Then He answered the messengers, "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard. Blind men receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are purified, deaf persons hear, the dead are raised to life, the poor have the Good News proclaimed to them.

Noticing this, the Pharisee, His host, said to himself, "This man, if he were really a Prophet, would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him--and would know that she is an immoral woman."

In answer to his thoughts Jesus said to him, "Simon, I have a word to say to you." "Rabbi, say on," he replied.

"There were once two men in debt to one money-lender," said Jesus; "one owed him five hundred shillings and the other fifty.

Then turning towards the woman He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house: you gave me no water for my feet; but she has made my feet wet with her tears, and then wiped the tears away with her hair.

And He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

But He said to the woman, "Your faith has cured you: go, and be at peace."

"The sower," He said, "goes out to sow his seed; and as he sows, some of the seed falls by the way-side, and is trodden upon, or the birds of the air come and peck it up.

But some of the seed falls into good ground, and grows up and yields a return of a hundred for one." While thus speaking, He cried aloud and said, "Listen, every one who has ears to listen with!"

The meaning of the parable is as follows. The seed is God's Message.

Those by the way-side are those who have heard, and then the Devil comes and carries away the Message from their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

One day He went on board a boat--both He and his disciples; and He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the Lake." So they set sail.

"Where is your faith?" He asked them. But they were filled with terror and amazement, and said to one another, "Who then is this? for He gives orders both to wind and waves, and they obey Him."

When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of God Most High? Do not torture me, I beseech you."

Now there was a great herd of swine there feeding on the hill-side; and the demons begged Him to give them leave to go into them, and He gave them leave.

"Return home," He said, "and tell there all that God has done for you." So he went and published through the whole town all that Jesus had done for him.

"Who is it touched me?" Jesus asked. And when all denied having done so, Peter and the rest said, "Rabbi, the crowds are hemming you in and pressing on you."

"Daughter," said He, "your faith has cured you; go, and be at peace."

While He was still speaking, some one came to the Warden of the Synagogue from his house and said, "Your daughter is dead; trouble the Rabbi no further."

Jesus heard the words and said to him, "Have no fear. Only believe, and she shall be restored to life."

The people were all weeping aloud and beating their breasts for her; but He said, "Leave off wailing; for she is not dead, but asleep."

Now Herod the Tetrarch heard of all that was going on; and he was bewildered because of its being said by some that John had come back to life,

And Herod said, "John I have beheaded; but who is this, of whom I hear such reports?" And he sought for an opportunity of seeing Jesus.

Now when the day began to decline, the Twelve came to Him and said, "Send the people away, that they may go to the villages and farms round about and find lodging and a supply of food; because here we are in an uninhabited district."

"You yourselves," He said, "must give them food." "We have nothing," they replied, "but five loaves and a couple of fish, unless indeed we were to go and buy provisions for all this host of people."

But He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in parties of about fifty each."

They did so, making them all, without exception, sit down.

and He said, "The Son of Man must suffer much cruelty, be rejected by the Elders and High Priests and Scribes, and be put to death, and on the third day be raised to life again."

And He said to all, "If any one is desirous of following me, let him ignore self and take up his cross day by day, and so be my follower.

And when they were preparing to depart from Him, Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we are thankful to you that we are here. Let us put up three tents--one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what he was saying.

After this voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They kept it to themselves, and said not a word to any one at that time about what they had seen.

And all were awe-struck at the mighty power of God. And while every one was expressing wonder at all that He was doing, He said to his disciples,

And Jesus, knowing the reasoning that was in their hearts, took a young child and made him stand by His side

and said to them, "Whoever for my sake receives this little child, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives Him who sent me. For the lowliest among you all--he is the greatest."

"Do not forbid him," said Jesus, "for he who is not against you is on your side."

When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Master, do you wish us to order fire to come down from Heaven and consume them?"

And, as they proceeded on their way, a man came to Him and said, "I will follow you wherever you go."

"The foxes have holes," said Jesus, "and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

"Follow me," He said to another. "Master," the man replied, "allow me first to go and bury my father."

"Master," said yet another, "I will follow you; but allow me first to go and say good-bye to my friends at home."

And in that same house stay, eating and drinking at their table; for the labourer deserves his wages. Do not move from one house to another.

And He turned towards His disciples and said to them apart, "Blessed are the eyes which see what you see!

"Go to the Law," said Jesus; "what is written there? how does it read?"

"A right answer," said Jesus; "do that, and you shall live."

But he, desiring to justify himself, said, "But what is meant by my 'fellow man'?"

Now a priest happened to be going down that way, and on seeing him passed by on the other side.

In like manner a Levite also came to the place, and seeing him passed by on the other side.