Since many writers have undertaken to compose narratives about the facts established among us,

just as the original eyewitnesses who became ministers of the message

have handed them down to us, I too, most excellent Theophilus, because I have carefully investigated them all from the start, have felt impressed to write them out in order for you

In the days when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest whose name was Zechariah, who belonged to the division of Abijah. His wife was also a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

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

Then Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is far advanced in years."

"This is what the Lord has done for me when He smiled upon me to take away my disgrace among men."

And listen! your relative, Elizabeth, has herself too become pregnant, although she is old, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

For nothing is ever impossible for God."

and with a loud shout she said: "Blessed are you among women, And blessed is your child!

Why is this privilege mine, to have the mother of my Lord come to me?

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

Blessed is she who has believed, for what is promised to her by the Lord will be fulfilled."

For the Almighty has done wonders for me, and holy is His name!

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

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

Then they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives that bears that name."

Then he asked for a writing-tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they were all astonished.

Then the use of his voice and tongue was at once restored,: and he began to speak, and continued to praise God.

and all who heard them kept them in their hearts, and said, "What then is this child to be?" for the hand of the Lord was with him.

and He has made a mighty Saviour for us in the house of His servant David,

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

deliverance from our foes and from the hands of all who hate us,

to grant us deliverance from the dreaded hand of our foes, so that we could serve Him

Because the heart of our God is merciful. And so the day will dawn upon us from on high,

But the angel said to them: "Stop being afraid, for now I bring you good tidings of great joy which is to be for all the people;

for today, in the town of David, a Saviour for you has been born, who is to be your Messiah and Lord.

And this is proof for you: You will find a baby wrapped up and lying in a manger."

Then when the angel left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has told us."

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,

and to offer the sacrifice in accordance with what is specified in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons."

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;

Then Symeon gave them his blessing, and said to Mary, the child's mother, "This child is destined to bring the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign continuously disputed --

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.

When His parents saw Him, they were utterly amazed, and yet His mother said to Him, "My child, why did you treat us so? Just see how your father and I, in agony of mind, have been searching for you!"

Then He said to them, "Why is it that you were searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

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.

So he used to say to the crowds that continued to come out there to be baptized by him: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to escape from the wrath that is coming?

Produce, then, fruit that is consistent with the repentance that you profess, and do not even begin to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather,' for I tell you, God can raise up descendants for Abraham even out of these stones.

Now the axe is already lying at the roots of the trees. Every tree, then, that fails to bear good fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire."

So he said to them, "Stop collecting any more than is prescribed for you."

John expressly answered them all, "I am baptizing you in water only, but there is coming the One who is stronger than I am, whose shoestrings I am not fit to untie. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire;

His winnowing-fork is in His hand, and He will clean out His threshing-floor, and store His wheat in His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with fire inextinguishable."

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.

The roll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him, and He unrolled it and found the place where it was written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has consecrated me to preach the good news to the poor; He has sent me to announce release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to send the downtrodden away in liberty and

So they all began to speak well of Him and to wonder at the gracious words that fell from His lips, and yet they continued to say, "Is He not Joseph's son?"

He added, "I solemnly say to you, no prophet is welcome in his native neighborhood.

"Ha! What do you want of us, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are God's Holy One."

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.

But He said to them, "To other towns also I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God, for that is what I was sent to do."

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.

But the scribes and the Pharisees began to argue, saying, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

Which is easier, to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say 'Get up and start walking'?

It is not upright but sinful people that I have come to invite to repentance."

But Jesus said to them, "You cannot make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?

But a time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; at that time they will fast."

No one after drinking old wine wants new, for he says, 'The old is good enough.'"

And some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath?"

Then He said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

On another Sabbath He found Himself in the synagogue teaching; and there was there a man whose right hand was withered.

Then Jesus said to them, "Is it right on the Sabbath to do people good, or to do them evil, to save life or to take it?"

Then He fixed His eyes upon His disciples, and began to speak. "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours!

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.

Burst into joy on that day and leap for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way your forefathers used to treat the prophets.

A curse on you when everyone speaks well of you, for this is the way their forefathers used to treat the false prophets.

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

But you must practice loving your enemies, doing good to them, and lending to them, despairing of nothing; so that your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

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

Practice forgiving others, and you will be forgiven. Practice giving to others, and they will give to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, people will pour into your lap. For the measure you use with others they in turn will use with you."

A pupil is not better than his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher.

"For there never is a healthy tree that bears poor fruit, nor a sickly tree that bears good fruit.

For every tree is known by its fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or gather grapes from a bramble-bush.

The good man, out of his good inner storehouse, brings forth what is good, the bad man, out of his bad one, what is bad. For a man's mouth usually speaks the things that fill his heart.

Everyone who comes to me and continues to listen to my words and practices their teachings, I will show you whom he is like.

He is like a man who was building a house, who dug deep, and laid its foundation upon the rock; and when a flood came, the torrent burst upon that house but it could not shake it, because it was well built.

But the man who merely hears them and does not practice them is like a man who built a house upon the ground without a foundation. The torrent burst upon it, and at once it collapsed, and the wreck of that house was complete."

for he loves our nation, and he is the man who built us our synagogue."

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 awe seized them all, and they began to praise God, saying, "A great prophet has appeared among us!" and, "God has visited His people!"

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?'"

And happy is the man who finds no cause for stumbling over me."

But when John's messengers had gone, He began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the desert to gaze at? A reed that is tossed to and fro by the wind?

If not, then what did you go out there to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is far more than a prophet.

This is the man of whom the Scripture says: "'Attention! I send my messenger on before you. He will prepare the road ahead of you.'

"I tell you, of all men born of women there is not one greater than John; and yet the one who is of least importance in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

But wisdom is vindicated by all who are truly wise."

So when the Pharisee who invited Him saw it, he said to himself, "If He were really a prophet, He would know who and of what character the woman is who is clinging to Him -- that she is a social outcast."

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."