just as the original eyewitnesses who became ministers of the message

Once when he was acting as priest before God, when his division was on duty, it fell to his lot,

For as soon as your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy within me!

He has helped His servant Israel, so as to remember mercy,

as He promised our forefathers, Abraham and his descendants forever."

"as He promised by the lips of His ancient prophets,

Then the shepherds went back continuing to give glory and praise to God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.

Now when the period of their purification ended, in accordance with the law of Moses, they took Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, to do as it is written in the law of the Lord,

So under the Spirit's guidance he went into the temple, and when the parents brought the child Jesus there to do for Him as the custom of the law required,

"Now, Master, you will let your slave go free in peace, as you have promised;

And when He was twelve years old, they went up as usual to the feast

As they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem in anxious search for Him.

as it is written in the sermon-book of the prophet Isaiah: "Here is a voice of one shouting in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord, make the paths straight for Him.

and the Holy Spirit came down upon Him in bodily form as a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are my Son, my Beloved! In you I am delighted!"

Now Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His work; He was the son, as was supposed, of Joseph, the son of Eli,

So He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as His habit was on the Sabbath, He went to the synagogue and stood up to read.

As the sun was setting, all who had friends sick with various diseases brought them to Him. Then He continued to lay His hands upon them one by one and cured them.

As day broke He left the house and went to a lonely spot, and the crowds continued to look for Him; they overtook Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them.

Once as the crowd was pressing against Him to hear the message of God, He found Himself standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret.

as well as James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Stop being afraid; from now on you will be catching men."

Then He warned him not to tell anybody, but rather He said, "Go, show yourself to the priest, and, to prove it to the people, make the offering for your purification, just as Moses prescribed."

One day as He was teaching, there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Him to cure people.

And as they could not find a way because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his pallet through the tiles, among the people right in front of Jesus.

Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and denounce you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

Yes, you must practice dealing with others as you would like them to deal with you.

Continue to be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

When the captain heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, to ask Him to come and bring his slave safe through the illness.

When Jesus heard this, He was astounded at him, and turning to the crowd that was following Him He said, "I tell you, I have not found, in a single case among the Jews, so great faith as this!"

As He approached the gate of the town, look, there was being carried out a dead man, his mother's only son, and she was a widow! A considerable crowd of townspeople were with her.

So John called two of them to him and sent them to the Lord, to ask, "Are you the One who was to come, or should we continue to look for someone else?"

So the men went to Him and said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the One who was to come, or should we continue to look for someone else?'"

Therefore, I tell you, her sins, as many as they are, are forgiven, for she has loved me so much. But the one who has little to be forgiven loves me little."

Now as a great crowd was coming together and people were coming to Him from one town after another, He said by way of a story:

"A sower went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path, and were trodden down, and the wild birds ate them up.

Another portion of them fell upon the rock, and as soon as they sprang up, they withered, because they had no moisture.

And another portion fell in rich soil and grew and yielded a crop of a hundredfold." As He said this, He exclaimed, "Let him who has ears to hear with, listen!"

And the portion of them falling among the thorns illustrates those who hear it, but as soon as they pass on they are choked out by the worries and wealth and pleasures of life, and thus yield no mature fruit.

Now as they were sailing along, He fell off to sleep. But a furious squall of wind rushed down upon the lake, and they were filling up and were in impending peril.

As soon as He stepped out upon the shore, there met Him a man from town, who was under the power of demons; and for a long time he had worn no clothes, and did not stay in a house but in tombs.

Now as Jesus was returning, the crowd welcomed Him, for they were all expecting Him.

Then Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" But as all were denying that they had done so, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are jamming you and jostling you."

Into whatever house you go, stay there and continue to go out from it as headquarters.

And when you leave that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a protest against all the people who do not welcome you."

As the day began to decline, the Twelve came up and said to Him, "Send the crowd off to the villages and farms around, to get lodging and to find food there, for we are in a destitute place here."

as He said, "The Son of Man has to endure great suffering and be disowned by the elders, the high priests, and the scribes, and be put to death but be raised to life on the third day."

And just as they were starting to leave Him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- although he did not know what he was saying.

But as he was saying this, a cloud came and was circling over them, and they were frightened as the two visitors entered into the cloud.

But they remained ignorant of what this meant; indeed, it had been hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

Now a controversy sprang up among them as to which of them might be the greatest.

But Jesus, as He knew that the controversy was going on in their hearts, took a little child and had it stand by His side.

Now as the time was coming to a head when He should be taken up to heaven, He firmly set His face to continue His journey to Jerusalem;

Go on. Listen! I am sending you out as lambs surrounded by wolves.

Then he answered, "You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, your whole strength, and your whole mind, and your neighbor as you do yourself."

But he, as he wished to justify his question, said, "But who is my neighbor?"

Now as they were journeying on, He came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed Him to her house.

Once He was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

So if you, in spite of your being bad, know how to give your children what is good, how much more surely will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who continue to ask Him?"

But when a man stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he strips him of all his arms on which he relied, and distributes his goods as spoils.

Just as He was saying this, a woman in the crowd lifted her voice and said, "Blessed is the mother who bore you and nursed you!"

Now as the crowds continued to throng upon Him, He began to say: "This is a wicked age. It is looking for a spectacular sign, but none will be given it but the sign of Jonah.

For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this age.

If then your whole body is full of light with no part of it in darkness, it will all be as light for you as it is when a lamp makes it light for you by its shining."

plotting, as if in ambush, to entrap Him in something that might fall from His lips.

Meanwhile as the people had gathered in tens of thousands, so that they were trampling upon one another, He began to say, first of all, to His disciples: "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, hypocrisy.

Then He told them a story, as follows: "A certain rich man's lands yielded bountifully.

Then He said to His disciples: "Stop worrying, then, about life, as to what you will have to eat, or about your body, as to what you will have to wear.

By no means, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.

By no means, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did."

As soon as Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your disease!"

"O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! The city that continues to murder the prophets, and to stone those who are sent to her, how often I have yearned to gather your children around me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. But you refused!

"Now his elder son was in the field. So, on coming in, as he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.

I know what I will do -- I will ask them to take me into their homes when I am removed from my position.

And in Hades he looked up, in constant tortures as he was, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus his bosom companion.

As He was going on to Jerusalem, He chanced to pass through Samaria and Galilee.

And as He was going into one village, ten lepers met Him, who got up at some distance from Him,

So as soon as He saw them, He said to them, "Go at once and show yourselves to the priests." And while they were going they were cured.

for just as when the lightning flashes, it shines from one end of the sky to the other, so will the Son of Man be when He comes.

And just as it was in the time of Noah, so it will be in the time of the Son of Man.

But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and stop preventing them from it, for to such as these the kingdom of God belongs.

I solemnly say to you, Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God as a little child does, will never get into it at all."

As He was approaching Jericho, a blind man chanced to be sitting by the roadside begging.

As he heard a crowd going by, he asked what it meant.

Now he was trying to see Jesus to find out who He was, but he could not because of the crowd, as he was so small in stature.

And as Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, "Zaccheus, come down quickly! for today I must stop at your house."

Then Zaccheus got up and said to the Lord, "Listen, Lord! I now give to the poor half of my property, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay him back four times as much."

As they were listening to these things, He told them another story, because He was near Jerusalem and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.

Then after he had gotten the appointment as king, he returned and ordered those slaves to whom he had given his money to be called in, that he might find out what business they had done.

said, "Go on to the village in front of you, in which, just as you enter, you will find a colt tied, which no man has ever yet ridden. Untie it and bring it here to me.

So off the two messengers went and found it just as He had told them.

Then they threw their coats upon it and mounted Jesus upon it. As He was going on, the people continued to spread their coats under Him on the road.

Just as He was approaching the city, going down the Mount of Olives, the whole throng of the disciples began to praise God exultantly and loudly for all the wonder-works that they had seen,

As He approached it, just as soon as He saw the city, He burst into tears over it,

but they could not find, as hard as they tried, what to do with Him, for all the people continued to hang on His words.

and said to Him, "Tell us what sort of authority you have for doing as you do, or who is it that gave you such authority?"

Then He answered them, "I will ask you a question too. Tell me,

Then Jesus said to them, "Nor am I going to tell you what sort of authority I have for doing as I do."

So they closely watched and sent spies who pretended to be upright men, to catch Him in His conversation, so as to turn Him over to the power and authority of the governor.

and the third, married her; as also the seven did who died but left no child.

For they did not dare to ask Him any more questions.

"As for all this that you are admiring, the time is coming when not one stone will be left upon another, that will not be torn down."