Inasmuch as a number of writers have essayed to draw up a narrative of the established facts in our religion

exactly as these have been handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses who were in the service of the Gospel Message,

and inasmuch as I have gone carefully over them all myself from the very beginning, I have decided, O Theophilus, to write them out in order for your excellency,

it fell to him by lot, as was the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense,

Mary said, "I am here to serve the Lord. Let it be as you have said." Then the angel went away.

Why, as soon as the sound of your salutation reached my ears, the babe leapt for joy within my womb.

as he promised our fathers, to have mercy on Abraham and his offspring for ever."

as he promised of old by the lips of his prophets

and as Joseph belonged to the house and family of David he went up from Galilee to Judaea, from the town of Nazaret to David's town called Bethlehem,

she gave birth to her firstborn son, and as there was no room for them inside the khan she wrapped him up and laid him in a stall for cattle.

and as for Mary, she treasured it all up and mused upon it.

Then the shepherds went away back, glorifying and extolling God for all they had heard and seen as they had been told they would.

(as it is written in the law of the Lord: every male that opens the womb must be considered consecrated to the Lord)

"Now, Master, thou canst let thy servant go, and go in peace, as thou didst promise;

but Symeon blessed them, and to his mother Mary he said, "This child is destined for the downfall as well as for the rise of many a one in Israel; destined to be a Sign for man's attack ??35 to bring out the secret aims of many a heart. And your own soul will be pierced by a spear."

and when he was twelve years old they went up as usual to the festival.

Then, as they failed to find him, they came back to Jerusalem in search of him.

Then he went down along with them to Nazaret, and did as they told him. His mother treasured up everything in her heart.

and he went into all the Jordan-district preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ??4 as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah, The voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him.

Now as people's expectations were roused and as everybody thought to himself about John, "Can he be the Christ,"

But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias his brother's wife as well as for all the wickedness that he, Herod, had committed,

At the outset Jesus was about thirty years of age; he was the son, as people supposed, of Joseph, the son of Heli,

Then he came to Nazaret, where he had been brought up, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue as was his custom. He stood up to read the lesson

From many people daemons were also driven out, clamouring aloud, "You are God's son!" But he checked them and refused to let them say anything, as they knew he was the Christ.

He answered them, "I must preach the glad news of the Reign of God to the other towns as well, for that is what I was sent to do."

Now as the crowd were pressing on him to listen to the word of God, he saw, as he stood beside the lake of Gennesaret,

as was the case with James and John, the sons of Zebedaeus, who were partners of Simon. Then said Jesus to Simon, "Have no fear; from now your catch will be men."

One day he was teaching, and near him sat Pharisees and doctors of the Law who had come from every village of Galilee and Judaea as well as from Jerusalem. Now the power of the Lord was present for the work of healing.

They said to him, "The disciples of John fast frequently and offer prayers, as do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your adherents eat and drink."

One sabbath it happened that as he was crossing the cornfields his disciples pulled some ears of corn and ate them, rubbing them in their hands.

He went into the house of God, took the loaves of the Presence and ate them, giving them to his men as well ??bread that no one is allowed to eat except the priests."

and the scribes and Pharisees watched to see if he would heal on the sabbath, so as to discover some charge against him.

Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it right on the sabbath to help or to hurt, to save life or to kill?"

Blessed are you when men will hate you, when they will excommunicate you and denounce you and defame you as wicked on account of the Son of man;

If a man strikes you on the one cheek, offer him the other as well: if anyone takes your coat, do not deny him your shirt as well;

give to anyone who asks you, and do not ask your goods back from anyone who has taken them.

As you would like men to do to you, so do to them.

If you only lend to those from whom you hope to get something, what credit is that to you? Even sinful men lend to one another, so as to get a fair return.

Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.

Just as he was near the gate of the town, there was a dead man being carried out; he was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the town were with her.

So John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to ask the Lord, "Are you the Coming One? Or are we to look out for someone else?"

When the men reached Jesus they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask if you are the Coming One or if we are to look out for someone else?"

(On hearing this all the people and the taxgatherers acknowledged the justice of God, as they had been baptized with the baptism of John;

As they were unable to pay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, now, which of them will love him most?"

Therefore I tell you, many as her sins are, they are forgiven, for her love is great; whereas he to whom little is forgiven has but little love."

As a large crowd was gathering and as people were resorting to him from town after town, he addressed them in a parable.

"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the road and was trampled down, and the wild birds ate it up;

As for the seed that fell among thorns, that means people who hear but who go and get choked with worries and money and the pleasures of life, so that they never ripen.

As for the seed in the good soil, that means those who hear and hold fast the word in a good and sound heart and so bear fruit stedfastly.

So take care how you listen; for he who has, to him shall more be given, while as for him who has not, from him shall be taken even what he thinks he has."

As he stepped out on land he was met by a man from the town who had daemons in him; for a long while he had worn no clothing, and he stayed not in a house but among the tombs.

for he had an only daughter about twelve years old and she was dying. As Jesus went the crowds kept crushing him,

Jesus said, "Who touched me?" As everyone denied it, Peter and his companions said, "Master, the crowds are all round you pressing hard!"

Calling the twelve apostles together he gave them power and authority over all daemons as well as to heal diseases.

Whoever will not receive you, leave that town and shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."

Now as the day began to decline the twelve came up to him and said, "Send the crowd off to lodge in the villages and farms around and get provisions there, for here we are in a desert place."

As he spoke, a cloud came and overshadowed them. They were awestruck as they passed into the cloud,

But they did not understand this saying ??indeed it was kept a secret from them, to prevent them from fathoming it ??and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

A dispute arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.

As the time for his assumption was now due, he set his face for the journey to Jerusalem.

And as they journeyed along the road a man said to him, "I will follow you anywhere."

'The very dust of your town that clings to us, we wipe off from our feet as a protest. But mark this, the Reign of God is near!'

He replied, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with your whole soul, with your whole strength, and with your whole mind. Also your neighbour as yourself."

He was praying at a certain place, and when he stopped one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

So I tell you, ask and the gift will be yours, seek and you will find, knock and the door will open to you;

Well, if for all your evil you know to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father give the holy Spirit from heaven to those who ask him?"

When an unclean spirit leaves a man, it roams through dry places in search of refreshment. As it finds none, then it says, 'I will go back to the house I left,'

As the crowds were thronging to him, he proceeded to say, "This is an evil generation: it demands a Sign, but no Sign will be given to it except the Sign of Jonah;

for as Jonah was a Sign to the Ninivites, so shall the Son of man be to this generation.

So if your whole body has light, without any corner of it in darkness, it will be lit up entirely, as when a lamp lights you with its rays."

One of the jurists said to him, "Teacher, when you say this you are insulting us as well."

Meanwhile as the crowd was gathering in its thousands till they trod on one another, he proceeded to say to his disciples first of all, "Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy,

and be like men who are expecting their lord and master on his return from a marriage-banquet, so as to open the door for him at once when he comes and knocks.

I tell you, no; unless you repent you will all perish as they did.

I tell you, no; unless you repent you will all perish as they did."

The Lord replied to him, "You hypocrites, does not each of you untether his ox or ass from the stall on the sabbath and lead it away to drink?

As he said this, all his opponents were put to shame, but all the crowd rejoiced over all his splendid doings.

On he went, teaching from one town and village to another, as he made his way to Jerusalem.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not have it!

"Which of you," he said to them, "when an ass or an ox has fallen into a well, will not pull him out at once upon the sabbath day?"

He also said to his host, "When you give a dinner or supper, do not ask your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbours, in case they invite you back again and you get repaid.

Then you will be blessed; for as they have no means of repaying you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."

Now his elder son was out in the field, and as he came near the house he heard music and dancing;

but he replied, 'Look at all the years I have been serving you! I have never neglected any of your orders, and yet you have never given me so much as a kid, to let me make merry with my friends.

But as soon as this son of yours arrives, after having wasted your means with harlots, you kill the fatted calf for him!'

And I tell you, use mammon, dishonest as it is, to make friends for yourselves, so that when you die they may welcome you to the eternal abodes.

And as he was being tortured in Hades he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus in his bosom;

But Abraham said, 'Remember, my son, you got all the bliss when you were alive, just as Lazarus got the ills of life; he is in comfort now, and you are in anguish.

for I have five brothers; let him bear testimony to them, that they may not come to this place of torture as well.'

Noticing them he said, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went away they were cleansed.

On being asked by the Pharisees when the Reign of God was coming, he answered them, "The Reign of God is not coming as you hope to catch sight of it;

And just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of man;

Or just as it was in the days of Lot; they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting and building,

still, as this widow is bothering me, I will see justice done to her ??not to have her for ever coming and pestering me.'

The Pharisee stood up and prayed by himself as follows; 'I thank thee, O God, I am not like the rest of men, thieves, rogues, and immoral, or even like yon taxgatherer.

but Jesus called for the infants. "Let the children come to me," he said, "do not stop them: the Realm of God belongs to such as these.

As he approached Jericho, it chanced that a blind man was seated beside the road begging.

Then he entered Jericho. And as he passed through it,

So he ran forward and climbed into a sycomore tree to get a sight of him, as he was to pass that road.

So Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, "I will give the half of all I have, Lord, to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will give him back four times as much."