And all the congregation was praying outside [in the court of the temple] at the hour of the incense offering.

for he will be great and distinguished in the sight of the Lord; and will never drink wine or liquor, and he will be filled with and empowered to act by the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.

He will be great and eminent and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

“For He who is mighty has done great things for me;
And holy is His name [to be worshiped in His purity, majesty, and glory].

Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown His great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.

Three days later they found Him in the [court of the] temple, sitting among the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

for it is written and forever remains written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard and protect You,’

But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little distance from the shore. And He sat down and began teaching the crowds from the boat.

When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets were [at the point of] breaking;

But the news about Him was spreading farther, and large crowds kept gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their illnesses.

But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof [and removed some tiles to make an opening] and lowered him through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.

Levi (Matthew) gave a great banquet for Him at his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining at the table with them.

Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a vast multitude of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,

Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for your reward in heaven is great [absolutely inexhaustible]; for their fathers used to treat the prophets in the same way.

But love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is kind and gracious and good to the ungrateful and the wicked.

But the one who has [merely] heard and has not practiced [what I say], is like a [foolish] man who built a house on the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it; and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith [as this man’s].”

Soon afterward Jesus went to a city called Nain [near Nazareth], and His disciples and a large crowd accompanied Him.

Fear and profound awe gripped them all, and they began glorifying and honoring and praising God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people [to help and care for and provide for them]!”

When a large crowd was gathering together, and people from city after city were coming to Him, He spoke [to them] using a parable:

And some fell into good soil, and grew up and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”

Then Jesus’ mother and His brothers came up toward Him, but they could not reach Him because of the crowd.

But as they were sailing, He fell asleep. And a fierce gale of wind swept down [as if through a wind tunnel] on the lake, and they began to be swamped, and were in great danger.

Now He was [already] commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him [violently] many times; and he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.

Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the mountain. The demons begged Jesus to allow them to enter the pigs, and He gave them permission.

“Return home and tell [about] all the great things God has done for you.” So the man went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

Now as Jesus was returning [to Galilee], the people welcomed Him, for they had all been expecting Him.

But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”

On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him.

And a man from the crowd shouted for help, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he is my only child;

and He told them, “Whoever welcomes this child in My name welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me [also] welcomes Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you [that is, the one who is genuinely humble—the one with a realistic self-view]—he is the one who is [truly] great.”

Now while Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed (happy, favored by God) is the womb that gave birth to You and the breasts at which You nursed!”

But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate [as required by tradition]; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

In the meantime, after so many thousands of the people had gathered that they were stepping on one another, Jesus began speaking first of all to His disciples, “Be continually on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees [that is, their pervasive, corrupting influence and teaching], which is hypocrisy [producing self-righteousness].

Someone from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

Then He said to them, “Watch out and guard yourselves against every form of greed; for not even when one has an overflowing abundance does his life consist of nor is it derived from his possessions.”

But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work ought to be done; so come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

But Jesus said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many guests;

So the servant came back and reported this to his master. Then [his master,] the head of the household, became angry [at the rejections of his invitation] and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the disabled and the blind and the lame.’

Or else [if he feels he is not powerful enough], while the other [king] is still a far distance away, he sends an envoy and asks for terms of peace.

And besides all this, between us and you [people] a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to come over from here to you will not be able, and none may cross over from there to us.’

Pay attention and always be on guard [looking out for one another]! If your brother sins and disregards God’s precepts, solemnly warn him; and if he repents and changes, forgive him.

Now Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ought to pray and not give up and lose heart,

Now when he heard a crowd going by, he began to ask what this was [about].

Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, but he could not see because of the crowd, for he was short in stature.

As soon as He was approaching [Jerusalem], near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the entire multitude of the disciples [all those who were or claimed to be His followers] began praising God [adoring Him enthusiastically and] joyfully with loud voices for all the miracles and works of power that they had seen,

He said, “Be careful and see to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name [appropriating for themselves the name Messiah which belongs to Me alone], saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not follow them.

There will be violent earthquakes, and in various places famines and [deadly and devastating] pestilences (plagues, epidemics); and there will be terrible sights and great signs from heaven.

Woe to those women who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For great trouble and anguish will be on the land, and wrath and retribution on this people [Israel].

Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with [transcendent, overwhelming] power [subduing the nations] and with great glory.

“But be on guard, so that your hearts are not weighed down and depressed with the giddiness of debauchery and the nausea of self-indulgence and the worldly worries of life, and then that day [when the Messiah returns] will not come on you suddenly like a trap;

And being in agony [deeply distressed and anguished; almost to the point of death], He prayed more intently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down on the ground.

While He was still speaking, a crowd came, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve [disciples], was leading the way for them. He approached Jesus to kiss Him.

Following Him was a large crowd of the people, including women who were mourning and wailing for Him.

And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy [fully understanding that He lives and that He is the Son of God];