as they delivered them to us, who were from the beginning eye-witnesses of them, and ministers of the word;

And they were both righteous in the sight of God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

And they had no child, for Elisabeth was barren; and they were both far advanced in years.

and all the people were praying without at the time of offering incense.

And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and wondered at his staying so long in the temple:

and as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

and blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a performance of the things that were told her from the Lord.

He hath wrought powerfully with his arm; He hath confounded those that were proud in the imagination of their heart.

in remembrance of his mercy (even as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed,) for ever."

And an awe fell upon all that dwelt round about them; and all these things were divulged through the whole hill-country of Judea.

even salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us,

to display his mercy towards our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant,

according to the oath which He sware to Abraham our father,

to grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him,

all the days of our life.

in the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day-spring hath visited us from on high,

to enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace."

Now in those days an edict was published by Augustus Cesar, that all the world should be enrolled or taxed,

And while they were there, the days of her delivery were fulfilled,

And there were in the same country shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night: and lo,

an angel of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them, and they were greatly terrified:

that this day is born, in the city of David, your Saviour Christ the Lord.

and all that heard it, were amazed at the things which were related to them by the shepherds.

And when eight days were fulfilled for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, having been so called by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him before the Lord:

according to what is required in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.

And Joseph and his mother were amazed at the things that were spoken concerning Him.

And coming in at the very same time, gave thanks unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all that were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.

Now his parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover:

And all that heard Him were astonished at his understanding and his answers.

And when they saw Him, they were amazed. And his mother said to Him, Son, why didst thou deal thus with us? behold, thy father and I with grief have been seeking for thee.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis,

Bring forth therefore fruits becoming penitents, and do not say within yourselves, "We have Abraham for our father," for I tell you that God can of these stones raise up children to Abraham.

And the soldiers also asked him, saying, And what shall we do? and He said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your pay.

Now as the people were in suspense, and were all thinking in their hearts concerning John, whether he were the Christ or not,

Now, when all the people were baptized, and Jesus was baptized and praying,

the son of Er, the son of Joses, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

and He did eat nothing in all those days: and when they were ended, at last He was hungry.

And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and according to his custom He went into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, and stood up to read.

And there was delivered to Him the book of the prophet Esaias; and opening the book, He found the place where it was written,

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me to the end, for which He hath anointed me: He hath sent me to publish good tidings to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to release them that are bruised,

and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

And He folded up the book, and gave it again to the minister, and sat down: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him.

And He said unto them, this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

And He said unto them, No doubt ye will apply to me this proverb, "Physician, cure thyself, and do here in thy own country what we have heard were done at Capernaum."

And I assure you, there were many widows in Israel, in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a great famine through all the land;

There were also many lepers in Israel, in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed; but Naaman the Syrian was.

And all the synagogue were filled with rage, when they heard these things,

and they were astonished at his doctrine; for He spake with authority.

And they were all amazed, and said one to another, What a speech is this? for with authority and power He commandeth the impure spirits, and they come out!

And when the people were pressing on Him to hear the word of God, as He stood by the lake of Gennesareth, seeing two vessels at the edge of the lake,

(but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets:)

And when He had done speaking, He said to Simon, Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, to come and help them; and they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were even sinking: and when Simon Peter saw it,

for he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of fishes which they had taken;

as were also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Be not afraid, from henceforth thou shalt be a captor of men.

And one day, as He was teaching, there were pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, who were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judea, and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present to heal the people:

who seeing their faith said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

but Jesus knowing their thoughts, answered and said unto them, What are ye disputing in your hearts?

Which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee, or to say, Rise up and walk?

And they were all amazed and glorified God, and were filled with awe, saying, we have seen wonderful things to-day.

And Jesus answered and said unto them, They that are in health have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I am not come to call the righteous,

but new wine must be put into new vessels, and then both are saved.

And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read what David did, when he himself was hungry and those that were with him? how he went into the house of God,

Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing, Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to let it be lost?

And they were filled with confusion: and consulted together, what they might do to Jesus.

even those that were tormented by impure spirits: and they were healed.

And lifting up his eyes on his disciples He said, Blessed are ye though poor; for the kingdom of God is yours.

Blessed are ye that hunger now; for ye shall be satisfied. Blessed are ye that weep now; for ye shall laugh.

Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and reject you, and reproach you, and cast out your name as infamous on account of the Son of man.

Rejoice in that day, and be exceeding glad; for behold, your reward is great in heaven: for thus did their fathers to the prophets.

But wo unto you that are rich; for ye have received your consolation.

Wo unto you that are full; for ye shall be hungry. Wo unto you that laugh now: for ye shall mourn and weep.

But I say unto you my hearers, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you,

If ye love only them that love you, what thanks are due to you? for even the wicked love those that love them:

and if ye do good offices to them that do good to you, what thanks are due to you? for even wicked men do the same.

And if ye lend to those from whom ye expect to receive, what thanks are due to you? for sinners also lend to sinners that they may receive an equivalent.

But do ye love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing from it: and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the sons of the most High; for He is kind even to the ungrateful and the wicked:

be ye therefore merciful as your heavenly Father also is merciful.

give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed and shaken down and running over, shall they give into your bosom: for by the same measure, which ye measure with, shall it be measured back again to you.

or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother let me take out the splinter that is in thine eye, when thou thyself seest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first take out the beam from thine own eye, and then thou wilt see distinctly how to take out the chaff that is in thy brother's eye.

for he loveth our nation, and hath built us a synagogue.

And when they that were sent, returned to the house, they found the servant well, that had been sick.

and as He came near to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carrying out to be buried, his mother's only son, and she was a widow: and many of the people of the city were with her.

and sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou He that was to come, or are we to expect another?

And the men came to Him, and said, John the baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou He that was to come, or are we to expect another?

(Now at that very time He cured many of their diseases and plagues, and of evil spirits, and gave sight to many that were blind.)

And Jesus answering said unto them, Go and tell John what ye have seen and heard: that the blind recover sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them,

When the messengers of John were departed, He began to speak unto the people concerning John, what went ye out into the wilderness to see?

a reed shaken by the wind? but what did ye go out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that are dressed in fine clothes and live delicately, are in palaces, not in deserts: but what went ye out to see?

but the pharisees indeed and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God within themselves, and were not baptized by him.---

and to what are they like? they are like children sitting in the market-place, and calling to one another, and saying, "We have played pleasant tunes to you, and ye have not danced; we have sung mournful ones and ye have not wept:"

But when the pharisee that invited Him saw it, he said within himself, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what sort of a woman this is that toucheth Him; for she is a notorious sinner.

Wherefore, I tell thee, her sins though many are forgiven, for she loved much: but he to whom little is forgiven, loveth but little.

And He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

And it came to pass afterwards that He went through every city and village, preaching and declaring the good tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with Him;

and some women that had been cured of evil spirits and other infirmities, as Mary Magdalene, out of whom were cast seven demons,

A sower went out to sow his seed, and as he was sowing, some fell by the way-side, and was trodden down, and the birds of the air devoured it.

and those by the way-side, are such as hear indeed; but then the devil cometh and taketh away the word from their hearts, least they should believe and be saved.

And those on stony-ground are such as when they hear, receive the word with joy; but have no root, and so believe only for a while, and in the time of trial fall away.