it seemed best to me also--[because I] have followed all [things] carefully from the beginning--to write [them] down in orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus,

And they were without children, because Elisabeth had never given birth, and they were at that time very old.

There was a whole crowd of people praying outside because it was the time for burning the incense offering.

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John.

because he will be great in the Lord's presence. He will never drink wine or any strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.

Now, see, you will be without voice or language till the day when these things come about, because you had not faith in my words, which will have effect at the right time.

And the people were waiting for Zacharias and were surprised because he was in the Temple for such a long time.

When he came out, he was not able to speak to them. They realized that he had seen a vision in the holy place, because he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak.

“This is how the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor on me, to take away my disgrace among men.”

Then the angel told her, "Stop being afraid, Mary, because you have found favor with God.

And Mary said to the angel, How may this be, because I have had no knowledge of a man?

because nothing shall be impossible with God.'

And blessed is she who believed, because there will be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her from Lord.

because he has looked upon the humble state of his female slave, for behold, from now on all generations will consider me blessed,

because the Mighty [One] has done great [things] for me, and holy [is] his name.

He has done a mighty deed with His arm;
He has scattered the proud
because of the thoughts of their hearts;

Everyone who heard about it kept thinking what had happened and asked, "What will this child become?" because it was obvious that the hand of the Lord was with him.

"Blessed [be] the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited to help and {has redeemed} his people,

To show mercy [as He promised] to our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant [the promised blessing],

And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, because you will go ahead of the Lord to prepare his way

Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us,

And Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the town of Nazareth, into Judaea, to Beth-lehem, the town of David, because he was of the house and family of David,

(because he was of the family and houshold of David) To be inrolled with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.

And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house.

because to you was born today in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ Lord.

because my eyes have seen thy salvation,

Then Simeon [asked God to] bless them and said to Jesus' mother Mary, "Look, many Israelites will be caused to fall [i.e., into spiritual ruin] or rise [i.e., to spiritual renewal] because of Him. And [He will be] a 'sign' [for people] to speak against,

but (because they assumed that he was in their group of travelers) they went a day's journey. Then they began to look for him among their relatives and acquaintances.

Now all who heard him were beside themselves, because of his understanding and his answers.

Demonstrate by your lives that you have [really] repented, and quit saying to yourselves, 'We claim Abraham as our forefather,' because I tell you, God is able to make Abraham's children out of these stones.

But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother's wife, and other evil things which Herod had done,

And the devil said to him, "I will give you all this domain and their glory, because it has been handed over to me, and I can give it to whomever I want.

because it is written, "God will put his angels in charge of you to watch over you carefully.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,

And they were astounded at his teaching, because {he spoke} with authority.

And amazement developed in all, and they spoke among each other, saying, What is this word? Because with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.

And demons also came out from many, crying out, and saying, Thou art the Son of God. And rebuking them, he suffered them not to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

But he said to them, I have to give the good news of the kingdom of God in other towns, because that is why I was sent.

And [when he] saw [it], Simon Peter fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, Lord, because I am {a sinful man}!"

For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken;

And it happened while Jesus was in one of the towns [i.e., surrounding Lake Galilee], that a man covered with an infectious skin disease appeared and, when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face [to the ground] and begged Him, saying, "If you want to, you can heal me." [Note: Throughout this narrative the terms "heal/healing" are originally "clean/cleansing" because the Jews viewed a person with such a disease as ceremonially "unclean." See Lev. 13:1-3].

And behold there came men carrying a paralytic on a bed; and they tried to bring him and lay him before Jesus, but they could not because of the crowd.

And not finding by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop, and let him down through the tiles with his couch into the midst before Jesus.

Because Jesus knew that they were arguing, he asked them, "Why are you arguing about this among yourselves?

And no one [after] drinking old [wine] wants new, because he says, 'The old is [just] fine!'"

And the whole crowd was seeking to touch him, because power was going out from him and healing [them] all.

And he lifted up his eyes to his disciples [and] said, "Blessed [are] the poor, because yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed [are] those who are hungry now, because you will be satisfied. Blessed [are] those who weep now, Because you will laugh.

Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man.

“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! Take note—your reward is great in heaven, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.

"But woe to you who are rich, because you have received your comfort.

Woe to you who are satisfied now, because you will be hungry. Woe, you who laugh now, because you will mourn and weep.

Woe to you
when all people speak well of you,
for this is the way their ancestors
used to treat the false prophets.

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend expecting back nothing, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Give [to others] and you will have [things] given to you. People will pour into your lap a full measure [of goods]; it will be pressed down, shaken together and running over [the edges]. Because the standard you use in giving [to others] will be the standard used [by them or God] in giving back to you."

because every tree is known by its own fruit. People don't gather figs from thorny plants or pick grapes from a thorn bush.

A good person produces good from the good treasure of his heart, and an evil person produces evil from an evil treasure, because the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart."

he is like a man building a house, who digged and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock: and when a flood arose, the stream brake against that house, and could not shake it: because it had been well builded.

It is right for you to do this for him, because he is a friend to our nation, and himself has put up a Synagogue for us.

So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to tell Jesus, "Sir, stop troubling yourself, because I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof.

because I, too, am a man under authority and have soldiers under me. I say to one "Go' and he goes, to another "Come' and he comes, and to my servant "Do this' and he does it."

And anyone who is not offended because of Me is blessed.”

(And all the people, [when they] heard [this]--even the tax collectors--affirmed the righteousness of God, [because they] had been baptized [with] the baptism of John,

but the Pharisees and the legal experts rejected the purpose of God for themselves, [because they] had not been baptized by him.)

Because John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, yet you say, "He has a demon!'

And the Pharisee, having invited Him, seeing, spoke within himself, saying, If He were a prophet, He would know who and what kind the woman is, who touches Him, because she is a sinner.

And so I say to you, She will have forgiveness for her sins which are great in number, because of her great love: but he who has small need of forgiveness gives little love.

And other fell on the rock; and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

So pay attention to how you listen, because to the one who has something, more will be given. However, from the one who doesn't have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him."

Now his mother and brothers came to him, and they were not able to meet with him because of the crowd.

And He said to them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid were astonished, saying to one another, Who then is this, because He commands the winds and the water, and they obey Him?

For Jesus was commanding the evil spirits to be driven out of the man, because they had been controlling him for a long time. The man was continually being guarded and his hands and feet were bound with chains. [Sometimes] he broke loose from the chains and was driven into the desert by the evil spirits.

So Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered into him.

He answered, "Legion," because many demons had gone into him. Then the demons began begging Jesus not to order them to go into the bottomless pit.

And all the people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, because they had been seized with great fear. So he got into the boat [and] returned.

Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, because they were all waiting for him.

because {he had} an only daughter, about twelve years [old], and she was dying. Now as he was going, the crowds were pressing against him.

But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, because I know power has gone out from me."

And they began laughing at him, [because they] knew that she was dead.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done: and he was much perplexed, because that it was said by some, that John was risen from the dead;

because it was said by some, That John was risen from the dead; and by some that Elijah had appeared; by others, that one of the old prophets was risen again.

Now the day began to be far spent, and the twelve came up [and] said to him, "Send away the crowd so that they can go into the surrounding villages and farms to obtain lodging and find provisions, because we are here in a desolate place.

For whoever has a desire to keep his life will have it taken from him, but whoever gives up his life because of me, will keep it.

For if any man has a feeling of shame because of me or of my words, the Son of man will have shame because of him when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, saying, "Teacher, I beg you to look with concern on my son, because he is my only [son]!

But Jesus, [because he] knew the thoughts of their hearts, took hold of a child and had him stand beside him

and said to the disciples, "The person who welcomes this little child in my name [i.e., because he belongs to me], welcomes me [also]. And the person who welcomes me [i.e., into his life ?] welcomes God, who sent me. For that person who is the least [significant] among you men is the one who is the greatest [in importance]."

And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out demons in thy name; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us.

But Jesus said to him, "Do not prevent [him], because whoever is not against you is for you."

And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he were going to Jerusalem.

Stay with the same family, eating and drinking whatever they provide, because the worker deserves his pay. Don't move from house to house.

Woe to thee, Chorazin! Woe to thee, Bethsaida! Because if the mighty works were done in Tyre and Sidon, which were done in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

Do not be glad, however, because you have power over spirits, but because your names are recorded in heaven.

In that same hour he was full of joy in the Holy Spirit and said, I give praise to you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have kept these things secret from the wise and the men of learning, and have made them clear to little children: for so, O Father, it was pleasing in your eyes.

Because I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you see but didn't see them, and to hear the things you hear but didn't hear them."

Because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I have nothing to put before him;

I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

because he is his friend, yet, because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.

because everyone who keeps asking will receive, and the person who keeps searching will find, and the person who keeps knocking will have the door opened.

But some of them said, “He drives out demons by [the power of] Beelzebul (Satan), the ruler of the demons.”