Seeing that many have attempted to draw up a narrative of the facts which are received with full assurance among us

on the authority of those who were from the beginning eye-witnesses and were devoted to the service of the divine Message,

They were both of them upright before God, blamelessly obeying all the Lord's precepts and ordinances.

But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren; and both of them were far advanced in life.

and the whole multitude of the people were outside praying, at the hour 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.

Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were surprised that he stayed so long in the Sanctuary.

When his days of service were at an end, he went to his home;

You will conceive in your womb and bear a son; and you are to call His name JESUS.

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for this reason your holy offspring will be called 'the Son of God.'

And see, your relative Elizabeth--she also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

"I am the Lord's maidservant," Mary replied; "may it be with me in accordance with your words!" And then the angel left her.

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

For, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the babe within me leapt for joy.

He has manifested His supreme strength. He has scattered those who were haughty in the thoughts of their hearts.

In fulfillment of His promises to our forefathers--For Abraham and his posterity for ever."

And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and were going to call him Zechariah, after his father.

"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.

And all who lived round about them were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judaea reports of all these things were spread abroad.

To deliver us from our foes and from the power of all who hate us.

He dealt pitifully with our forefathers, And remembered His holy covenant,

The oath which He swore to Abraham our forefather,

To grant us to be rescued from the power of our foes And so render worship to Him free from fear,

In piety and uprightness before Him all our days.

Through the tender compassion of our God, Through which the daybreak from on high will come to us,

Dawning on those who now dwell in the darkness and shadow of death--To direct our feet into the path of peace."

But while they were there, her full time came,

Now there were shepherds in the same part of the country, keeping watch over their sheep by night in the open fields,

when suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them; and they were filled with terror.

and all who listened were astonished at what the shepherds told them.

And they also offered a sacrifice as commanded in the Law of the Lord, "a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons."

And while the child's father and mother were wondering at the words of Symeon concerning Him,

and a sword will pierce through your own soul also; that the reasonings in many hearts may be revealed."

And coming up just at that moment, she gave thanks to God, and spoke about the child to all who were expecting the deliverance of Jerusalem.

Now His parents used to go up year by year to Jerusalem at the Feast of the Passover.

while all who heard Him were astonished at His intelligence and at the answers He gave.

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."

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being Governor of Judaea, Herod Tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip Tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias Tetrarch of Abilene,

Live lives which shall prove your change of heart; and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our forefather,' for I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones.

The crowds repeatedly asked him, "What then are we to do?"

There came also a party of tax-gatherers to be baptized, and they asked him, "Rabbi, what are we to do?"

The soldiers also once and again inquired of him, "And we, what are we to do?" His answer was, "Neither intimidate any one nor lay false charges; and be content with your pay."

And while the people were in suspense and all were debating in their minds whether John might possibly be the Anointed One,

son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam, son of Er,

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

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,

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

And there was handed to Him the book of the Prophet Isaiah, and, opening the book, He found the place where it was written,

"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,

to proclaim the year of acceptance with the Lord."

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.

Then He proceeded to say to them, "To-day is this Scripture fulfilled in your hearing."

"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.'"

Then all in the synagogue, while listening to these words, were filled with fury.

So He came down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, where He frequently taught the people on the Sabbath days.

And they were greatly impressed by His teaching, because He spoke with the language of authority.

"Ha! Jesus the Nazarene, what have you to do with us? I know who you are--God's Holy One!"

All were astonished and awe-struck; and they asked one another, "What sort of language is this? For with authority and real power He gives orders to the foul spirits and they come out."

Demons also came out of many, loudly calling out, "You are the Son of God." But He rebuked them and forbad them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.

Next morning, at daybreak, He left the town and went away to a solitary place; but the people flocked out to find Him, and, coming to the place where He was, they endeavoured to detain Him that He might not leave them.

He, however, saw two fishing-boats drawn up on the beach (for the men had gone away from them and were washing the nets)

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

"Rabbi," replied Peter, "all night long we have worked hard and caught nothing; but at your command I will let down the nets."

and so were Simon's partners James and John, the sons of Zabdi.)

On another occasion, when He was in one of the towns, there was a man there covered with leprosy, who, seeing Jesus, threw himself at His feet and implored Him, saying, "Sir, if only you are willing, you are able to make me clean."

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."

One day He was teaching, and there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting there who had come from every village in Galilee and Judaea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present for Him to cure people.

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

Well aware of their reasonings, Jesus answered their questions by asking in turn, "What is this that you are debating in your hearts?

Which is easier? --to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?

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."

This led the Pharisees and Scribes of their party to expostulate with His disciples and ask, "Why are you eating and drinking with these tax-gatherers and notorious sinners?"

Now on the second-first Sabbath while He was passing through the wheatfields, His disciples were plucking the ears and rubbing them with their hands to eat the grain.

And some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what the Law forbids on the Sabbath?"

"Have you never read so much as this," answered Jesus--"what David did when he and his followers were hungry;

how he entered the house of God and took and ate the Presented Loaves and gave some to his followers--loaves which none but the Priests are allowed to eat?"

The Scribes and the Pharisees were on the watch to see whether He would cure him on the Sabbath that they might be able to bring an accusation against Him.

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.

But they were filled with madness, and began to discuss with one another what they should do to Jesus.

These were Simon, to whom also He had given the name of Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew;

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;

and those who were tormented by foul spirits were cured.

The whole crowd were eager to touch Him, because power went forth from him and cured every one.

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

"Blessed are you who hunger now, because your hunger shall be satisfied. "Blessed are you who now weep aloud, because you shall laugh.

"Blessed are you when men shall hate you and exclude you from their society and insult you, and spurn your very names as evil things, for the Son of Man's sake.

"Be glad at such a time, and dance for joy; for your reward is great in Heaven; for that is just the way their forefathers behaved to the Prophets!

"But alas for you rich men, because you already have your consolation!

"But to you who are listening to me I say, Love your enemies; seek the welfare of those who hate you;

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.

To every one who asks, give; and from him who takes away your property, do not demand it back.

And behave to your fellow men just as you would have them behave to you.

And if you are kind to those who are kind to you, what credit is it to you? Even bad men act thus.

Nevertheless love your enemies, be beneficent; and lend without hoping for any repayment. Then your recompense shall be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate.

give, and gifts shall be bestowed on you. Full measure, pressed, shaken down, and running over, shall they pour into your laps; for with the same measure that you use they shall measure to you in return."

"And why look at the splinter in your brother's eye instead of giving careful attention to the beam in your own?