so that you may know the certainty of the story which you have been taught by the word of mouth.

Now they had no child, for Elizabeth was barren, and both were far advanced in years.

Now while Zachariah was acting as priest before God in the due course of his class, it fell to his lot, according to the custom of priesthood,

"And now you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day the day when this has taken place; because you did not believe my words??ords which will be fulfilled at their appointed time."

And when he came out he could not speak to them, and then they knew that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept making signs to them and remained dumb.

"This has the Lord done for me. He has now deigned to take the away my reproach among men."

"and he shall reign over the House of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

And Mary said to the angel. "How can this be? For I have no husband?"

"For no word of God shall be void of power."

Now when the time of Elizabeth's delivery was come, she gave birth to a son;

when his mother said, "No, he is to be called John."

Said they, "You have no relatives of that name!"

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

"Have no fear, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all the people.

Now when the angels had left them, and gone away to heaven, the shepherds said to one to another, "Let us go now even to Bethlehem, and see this saying which has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."

Now there was in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon. He was righteous and devout, and was waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him.

Now it has been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

"Now lettest thou thy slave depart, O Master; according to thy word in peace,

Now his parents were accustomed to go up to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover.

After spending the full number of days they started home, but the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother did not know this,

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip, tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias, tetrarch of Abilene;

And now truly the axe is already laid at the root of the trees. So every tree which is not bearing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

And he said to them, "Exact no more than the sum allowed you."

Now after all the people had been baptized, and Jesus himself had been baptized and was praying,

son of Cainan, son of Arpachshad, son of Shem, son of Noah, son of Lamech,

"I tell you in solemn truth," he added, "that no prophet is acceptable in his own country.

"Ha! Jesus of Nazareth, what business have you with us? Are you come to destroy us? I know you who you are, you holy one of God!"

Now when he rose and left the synagogue, he entered into the house of Simon, where Simon's mother-in-law lay sick of a great fever. And they kept entreating him for her.

Demons also came out of many, screaming and saying, "You are the Son of God." But he rebuked them, and did not permit them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

And instantly the leprosy left him. Jesus ordered him to tell no one, "But be off," he said, "show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them."

But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins (he said to the paralytic), "I bid you rise, take up your bed, and go to your house."

Jesus answered them saying. "They who are well have no need of a physician, but they who are ill.

He also told them a parable. "No one," he said, "tears a piece from a new garment, and patches it upon an old one; otherwise he will tear the new garment, and the patch from the new will not mend the old.

"Nor does any one pour new wine into old wine-skins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins, and will itself be spilled, and the skins be destroyed

"But new wine must be put into fresh wine-skins

"And no man after drinking old wine, wishes for new; for he says, "The old is better.""

Now the Scribes and Pharisees kept watching to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might be able to bring on accusations to him.

"Blessed are you who are hungry now, For you shall be filled. "Blessed are you who are wailing now, For you shall laugh.

"Woe unto you who are full now! For you shall suffer hunger. "Woe to you who are laughing now! For you shall wail and weep.

"But you must love even your enemies and be kind to them, And lend, despairing of no man. Then your reward will be great, And you will be the sons of the Most High; For he is kind even to the ungrateful and to the evil.

"There is no disciple who is above his master; But every one when he is completely trained will be like his master.

Now when he drew near the gate of the city, behold, they were there carrying out one who was dead, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

"And blessed is he who finds no cause of stumbling in me."

"For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'

Now there was a woman who was in the city, a sinner and when she knew that that Jesus was reclining at meat in the Pharisees house, she brought an alabaster vase of perfume,

When he noticed this the Pharisee, who had invited him, said to himself, "If this man were really a prophet he would have perceived who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, and would know that she is a sinner."

"You have rightly judged." answered Jesus, and turning to the woman, he said to Simon. "Do you see this woman? When I came into your house you gave me no water for my feet; but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

"You gave me no kiss; but she, since she came in, has never ceased tenderly kissing my feet;

"Some other seed dropped on the rock, as soon as it grew it withered away, because it had no moisture.

"Those on the rock are people who, upon hearing, receive the word with joy; but they have no root. For a time indeed they all believe, but in time of temptation they fall away.

"And that which fell upon thorns is those who have heard, but as they go on their way of word is choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of life; so they bring no fruit of perfection.

"When he lights a lamp no one covers it with a vase or hides it under a bed; he puts it on a lamp-stand so whoever may behold the light.

Now it happened that one of these days he got into a boat, And him his disciples, and he said to them, "Let us cross to the other side of the lake."

When he landed here he was met by a certain townsman who was possessed by demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes and nor lived in any house, but in tombs.

Now there was a great herd of swine feeding on the hillside, and the demons begged him to give them leave to enter them. He gave them leave.

But Jesus heard and answered. "Have no fear. Only believe, and she shall be restored."

They began to laugh him to scorn, because they knew well that she was dead.

Now Herod, the Tetrarch, heard of all that was happening; and he was perplexed because of its being said by someone that John was risen from the dead;

But now the day began to decline, and the twelve came to him and said: "Send away the crowd so that they may go into the villages and surrounding the country to lodge and buy provisions; for here we are on a solitary place."

Now it happened that while he was praying by himself, the disciples were with him, and he asked them a question. "Who do the crowd think I am?"

Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep; but when they were fully awake they saw his glory, and the two men were standing beside him.

When the voice ceased Jesus was found alone. And they held their peace, and told no one at that time about what they had seen.

Now there arose a dispute among them as to which one of them was the greatest.

And Jesus who knew the dispute that was in their hearts, took a young child, and placed him by his side;

When now when the time drew near for him to be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,

"You know not what kind of spirit you share, for the Son of man came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them." And they went to another village.

But Jesus answered him, "No man who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

"Carry no purse, no bag, no shoes; and do not salute any one on your journey.

"'The very dust of your town which clings to your feet we wipe off as protest; but know this, that the kingdom of God is drawing near to you.'

"And you Capernaum, shall you be exalted to heaven? No! you shall be brought down to Hades!

"Behold, I give you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and to trample on all the power of the enemy. In no case shall anything do you harm.

"All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father; and who the Father is except the Son, and he the Son wishes to reveal him."

"Now a certain priest chanced to be going down that way, but on seeing him he passed on the other side.

"and he from indoors shall answer. 'Do not pester me. The door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you.'

He knew their intentions and said to them. "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and house falls upon house.

"No, rather," he answered, "blessed are those who listen to the word of God, and keep it."

When the crowd were beginning to throng about him he proceeded to say. "This is an evil generation! It seeks a sign, and there shall be no sign be given to it except the sign of Jonah;

"But I say to you who are my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.

"So he debated with himself saying, 'What shall I do? for I have no place in which to store my crops.'

"Consider the ravens; they neither sow nor reap; they have no storehouse nor barn. And yet God feeds them. How much more are you worth than the birds?

"Now if God so clothe the grass in the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

"Sell what you have and give alms. Provide yourselves with purses which do not grow old, a treasure inexhaustible in the heavens, where no thief draws near, nor does moth destroy.

"However, you know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not have allowed his house to be broken into.

"The slave who knew his Lord's will, and made not ready, nor did according to his will, will be beaten with many lashes,

"but he who did not know, but did things worthy of a beating, will receive few lashes. To whom much has been given, from him much will be required, and to whom much is entrusted, of him they will ask the more.

"Do you think that I am come to make peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather dissension.

"Hypocrites! you know how to read the face of the earth and of the sky; but how is it that you do not know how to read the signs of the present time?

"You shall by no means come out of there until you have paid the very last farthing."

Now there were some present at that very season who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

"I tell you no; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

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

"when once the master of the house is risen up and has shut the door. You will begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, crying, "'Lord, open to us.' "'I do not know were you came from,' he will reply.

"But he will answer. "'I tell you I do not know were you came from;

"Then you will be blessed, because they have no means to repay you, but you shall be paid in the Resurrection of the Just."

"At dinnertime he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'

Now all the tax-gatherers and sinners continued to draw near him, and to listen to him.

"I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance.

"And he was longing to be filled with the husks which the swine were eating, but no one gave him any.

"'"I am no more worthy to be called your son; only make me like one of your hired men."'

"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight and am no more worthy to be called your son.'