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 Zechariah was terrified [when he] saw [the angel], and fear fell upon him.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he must never drink wine or beer, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit [while he is] still in his mother's womb.

And he will go on before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a people made ready."

And Zechariah said to the angel, "By what will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced {in years}!"

And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and began to wonder [when] he was delayed in the temple.

Now after these days, his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she kept herself in seclusion [for] five months, saying,

"Thus the Lord has done for me in the days in which he has concerned himself with [me], to take away my disgrace among people."

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

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

For {nothing will be impossible with God}."

For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy!

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.

And his mercy [is] for generation after generation to those who fear him.

Now the time came for Elizabeth that she should give birth, and she gave birth to a son.

and he asked for a writing tablet [and] wrote, saying, "John is his name." And they were all astonished.

And fear came on all those who lived near them, and in all the hill country of Judea all these events were discussed.

And all those who heard kept [these things] in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be? For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him!"

and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,

[that] we, being rescued from the hand of [our] enemies, could serve him without fear

And so you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways,

And it happened that while they were there, {the time came} for her to give birth.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring good news to you of great joy which will be for all the people:

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

And this will be the sign for you: you will find the baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger."

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus so that they could do for him according to what was customary under the law,

For my eyes have seen your salvation

a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory to your people Israel."

And Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed--

and herself [as] a widow up to eighty-four years) who did not depart from the temple with fastings and prayers, serving night and day.

And at [that] same hour she approached [and] began to give thanks to God, and to speak about him to all those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

And his parents went every year to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.

but believing him to be in the group of travelers, they went a day's journey. And they began searching for him among [their] relatives and [their] acquaintances,

and [when they] did not find [him], they returned to Jerusalem to search for him.

And [when they] saw him, they were astounded and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have been searching for you anxiously!"

And he said to them, "{Why} were you searching for me? Did you not know that it was necessary [for] me to be in the [house] of my Father?"

And he went into all the surrounding region of the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham [as] father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

And even now the ax is positioned at the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than I [am] is coming, of whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing shovel [is] in his hand, to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,'

But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months while a great famine took place over all the land.

And amazement came upon [them] all, and they began to talk with one another, saying, "What word [is] this? For he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!"

But he said to them, "It is necessary [for] me to proclaim the good news [of] the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this [purpose].

And when he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

For amazement had seized him and all those [who were] with him at the catch of fish that they had caught,

And he ordered him, "Tell no one, but go [and] show yourself to the priest and bring [the offering] for your cleansing just as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.

And it happened that on one of the days as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting [there] who {had come} from every village of Galilee and Judea and [from] Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was [there] in order [for] him to heal.

And amazement seized [them] all, and they began to glorify God. And they were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen wonderful things today!"

And Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining for the meal with them.

Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward [is] great in heaven. For their fathers used to do the same [things] to the prophets.

Woe whenever all people speak well of you, for their fathers used to do the same [things] to the false prophets.

bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Give to everyone who asks you, and from the one who takes away your things, do not ask for [them back].

"And if you love those who love you, what kind of credit is [that] to you? For even sinners love those who love them!

Give, and it will be given to you, a good measure--pressed down, shaken, overflowing--they will pour out into your lap. For with the measure by which you measure out, it will be measured out to you in return."

"For there is no good tree that produces bad fruit, nor on the other hand a bad tree that produces good fruit,

for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn plants, nor are grapes harvested from thorn bushes.

The good person out of the good treasury of his heart brings forth good, and the evil person out of [his] evil [treasury] brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

And [when they] came to Jesus, they began imploring him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy [that] you grant this for him,

because he loves our nation and he himself built the synagogue for us."

So Jesus went with them. Now by this time he was not far away from the house, [and] the centurion sent friends, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof.

For this reason neither did I consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word and my slave must be healed.

For I also am a man placed under authority, who has soldiers under me, and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another one, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does [it]."

And [when] the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep!"

And fear seized [them] all, and they began to glorify God, saying, "A great prophet has appeared among us!" and "God has visited to help his people!"

sent [them] to the Lord, saying, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?"

And [when] the men came to him, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you, saying, 'Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?'"

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

They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, who say, 'We played the flute for you and you did not dance; we sang a lament and you did not weep.'

For John the Baptist has come not eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'

And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house. You did not give me water for [my] feet, but she wet my feet with [her] tears and wiped [them] with her hair.

{For this reason} I tell you, her sins--[which were] many--have been forgiven, for she loved much. But [the one] to whom little is forgiven loves little."

And those on the rock [are those] who receive the word with joy when they hear [it], and these do not have [enough] root, who believe for a time and in a time of testing fall away.

For nothing is secret that will not become evident, and nothing hidden that will never be known and come to light.

Therefore consider how you listen, for whoever has, to him [more] will be given, and whoever does not have, even what he thinks [that he] has will be taken away from him."

And [as] he got out on the land, a certain man from the town met [him] who had demons and for a considerable time had not worn clothes and did not live in a house, but among the tombs.

For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For it had seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles [and] was guarded, and breaking the bonds he would be driven by the demon into the deserted places.)

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.

"Return to your home and tell all that God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole town all that Jesus had done for him.

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

And a woman who was {suffering from hemorrhages} for twelve years (who, [although she] had spent all [her] assets on physicians, was not able to be healed by anyone)

And [when] the woman saw that she did not escape notice, she came trembling and falling down before him. In the presence of all the people, she told for what reason she had touched him, and that she was healed immediately.

And they were all weeping and mourning for her, but he said, "Do not weep! For she is not dead, but is sleeping."

And he said to them, "Take along nothing for the journey--neither a staff, nor a traveler's bag, nor bread, nor money, nor to have two tunics apiece.

And [as for] all those who do not welcome you--[when you] depart from that town, shake off the dust from your feet for a testimony against them."

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.

But he said to them, "You give them [something] to eat!" And they said, "{We have no} more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go [and] purchase food for all these people."

(For there were about five thousand men.) So he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each."

saying, "It is necessary [for] the Son of Man to suffer many [things] and to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised on the third day.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me, this person will save it.

For what is a person benefited [if he] gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself?

For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of this person when he comes in his glory and the [glory] of the Father and of the holy angels.

And it happened that as they were going away from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good [for] us to be here. And let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah," not knowing what he was saying.

"{You take these words to heart}, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."

and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For the one who is least among you all--this one is great."