on the authority of those who were from the beginning eye-witnesses and were devoted to the service of the divine Message,

it has seemed right to me also, after careful investigation of the facts from their commencement, to write for you, most noble Theophilus, a connected account,

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; no wine or fermented drink shall he ever drink; but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the very hour of his birth.

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth,

For no promise from God will be impossible of fulfilment."

And blessed is she who has believed, for the word spoken to her from the Lord shall be fulfilled."

Because He has not turned from His maidservant in her lowly position; For from this time forward all generations will account me happy,

He has cast monarchs down from their thrones, And exalted men of low estate.

As He has spoken from all time by the lips of His holy Prophets--

To deliver us from our foes and from the power of all who hate us.

To grant us to be rescued from the power of our foes And so render worship to Him free from fear,

Through the tender compassion of our God, Through which the daybreak from on high will come to us,

So Joseph went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judaea, to David's town of Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

and then being a widow of eighty-four years. She was never absent from the Temple, but worshipped, by day and by night, with fasting and prayer.

during the High-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, a message from God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the Desert.

Accordingly John used to say to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, "O vipers' brood, who has warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Live lives which shall prove your change of heart; and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our forefather,' for I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones.

and the Holy Spirit came down in bodily shape, like a dove, upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven, which said, "Thou art My Son, dearly loved: in Thee is My delight."

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led about by the Spirit in the Desert for forty days,

tempted all the while by the Devil. During those days He ate nothing, and at the close of them He suffered from hunger.

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem and caused Him to stand on the roof of the Temple, and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here; for it is written,

And He proceeded to teach in their synagogues, winning praise from all.

And they all spoke well of Him, wondering at the sweet words of kindness which fell from His lips, while they asked one another, "Is not this Joseph's son?"

Now when He rose and left the synagogue He went to Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from an acute attack of fever; and they consulted Him about her.

At sunset all who had friends suffering from any illness brought them to Him, and He laid His hands on them all, one by one, and cured them.

He, however, saw two fishing-boats drawn up on the beach (for the men had gone away from them and were washing the nets)

and going on board one of them, which was Simon's He asked him to push out a little from land. Then He sat down and taught the crowd of people from the boat.

One day He was teaching, and there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting there who had come from every village in Galilee and Judaea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present for Him to cure people.

But a time for this will come, when the Bridegroom has been taken away from them: then, at that time, they will fast."

He also spoke in figurative language to them. "No one," He said, "tears a piece from a new garment to mend an old one. Otherwise he would not only spoil the new, but the patch from the new would not match the old.

When it was day, He called His disciples; and He selected from among them twelve, whom He also named Apostles.

With these He came down till He reached a level place, where there was a great crowd of His disciples, and a multitude of people from every part of Judaea, from Jerusalem, and from the sea-side district of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases;

The whole crowd were eager to touch Him, because power went forth from him and cured every one.

"Blessed are you when men shall hate you and exclude you from their society and insult you, and spurn your very names as evil things, for the Son of Man's sake.

To every one who asks, give; and from him who takes away your property, do not demand it back.

And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is it to you? Even bad men lend to their fellows so as to receive back an equal amount.

Every tree is known by its own fruit. It is not from thorns that men gather figs, nor from the bramble that they can get a bunch of grapes.

A good man from the good stored up in his heart brings out what is good; and an evil man from the evil stored up brings out what is evil; for from the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Then Jesus went with them. But when He was not far from the house, the Captain sent friends to Him with the message: "Sir, do not trouble to come. I am not worthy of having you come under my roof;

No kiss did you give me; but she from the moment I came in has not left off tenderly kissing my feet.

and certain women whom He had delivered from evil spirits and various diseases--Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven demons had come,

And when a great crowd was assembling, and was receiving additions from one town after another, He spoke a parable to them.

Those by the way-side are those who have heard, and then the Devil comes and carries away the Message from their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

Be careful, therefore, how you hear; for whoever has anything, to him more shall be given, and whoever has nothing, even that which he thinks he has shall be taken away from him."

whereupon the people came out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were terrified.

Then the whole population of the Gerasenes and of the adjacent districts begged Him to depart from them; for their terror was great. So He went on board and returned.

But the man from whom the demons had gone out earnestly asked permission to go with Him; but He sent him away.

"Some one has touched me," Jesus replied, "for I feel that power has gone out from me."

While He was still speaking, some one came to the Warden of the Synagogue from his house and said, "Your daughter is dead; trouble the Rabbi no further."

Whatever house you enter, make that your home, and from it start afresh.

Wherever they refuse to receive you, as you leave that town shake off the very dust from your feet as a protest against them."

And when they were preparing to depart from Him, Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we are thankful to you that we are here. Let us put up three tents--one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what he was saying.

Then there came a voice from within the cloud: "This is My Son, My Chosen One: listen to Him."

On the following day, when they were come down from the mountain, a great crowd came to meet Him;

and a man from the crowd called out, "Rabbi, I beg you to pity my son, for he is my only child.

But they did not understand His meaning: it was veiled from them that they might not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.

When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Master, do you wish us to order fire to come down from Heaven and consume them?"

And in that same house stay, eating and drinking at their table; for the labourer deserves his wages. Do not move from one house to another.

On that same occasion Jesus was filled by the Holy Spirit with rapturous joy. "I give Thee fervent thanks," He exclaimed, "O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from sages and men of understanding, and hast revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for such has been Thy gracious will.

Jesus replied, "A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell among robbers, who after both stripping and beating him went away, leaving him half dead.

At one place where He was praying, when He rose from His knees one of His disciples said to Him, "Master, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

for a friend of mine has just come to my house from a distance, and I have nothing for him to eat'?

"And he from indoors shall answer, "'Do not pester me. The door is now barred, and I am here in bed with my children. I cannot get up and give you bread.'

The Queen of the South will awake at the Judgement together with the men of the present generation, and will condemn them; because she came from the extremity of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; but mark! One greater than Solomon is here.

so that the blood of all the Prophets, that is being shed from the creation of the world onwards, may be required from the present generation.

Yes, I tell you that, from the blood of Abel down to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the House, it shall all be required from the present generation.

lying in wait to catch some unguarded expression from His lips.

Whatever therefore you have said in the dark, will be heard in the light; and what you have whispered within closed doors will be proclaimed from the house-tops.

"But God said to him, "'Foolish man, this night your life is demanded from you; and these preparations--for whom shall they be?'

and be yourselves like men waiting for their master--on the look-out till he shall return from the wedding feast--that, when he comes and knocks, they may open the door instantly.

But he who had not been told it and yet did what deserved the scourge, will receive but few lashes. To whomsoever much has been given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been entrusted, of him a larger amount will be demanded.

For from this time there will be in one house five persons split into parties. Three will form a party against two and two will form a party against three;

But Jesus saw her, and calling to her, He said to her, "Woman, you are free from your weakness."

But the Lord's reply to him was, "Hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his bullock or his ass from the stall and lead him to water?

And this woman, daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan had bound for no less than eighteen years, was she not to be loosed from this chain because it is the Sabbath day?"

"But He will reply, "'I tell you that you are no friends of mine. Begone from me, all of you, wrongdoers that you are.'

They will come from east and west, from north and south, and will sit down at the banquet in the Kingdom of God.

In front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy.

Just as no one of you who does not detach himself from all that belongs to him can be a disciple of mine.

So he went and hired himself to one of the inhabitants of that country, who sent him on to his farm to tend swine;

"Now his elder son was out on the farm; and when he returned and came near home, he heard music and dancing.

"Then the steward said within himself, "'What am I to do? For my master is taking away the stewardship from me. I am not strong enough for field labour: to beg, I should be ashamed.

I see what to do, in order that when I am discharged from the stewardship they may give me a home in their own houses.'

The Law and the Prophets continued until John came: from that time the Good News of the Kingdom of God has been spreading, and all classes have been forcing their way into it.

Every man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries her when so divorced from her husband commits adultery.

covered with sores and longing to make a full meal off the scraps flung on the floor from the rich man's table. Nay, the dogs, too, used to come and lick his sores.

And, besides all this, a vast chasm is immovably fixed between us and you, put there in order that those who desire to cross from this side to you may not be able, nor any be able to cross over from your side to us.'

"'No, father Abraham,' he pleaded; 'but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'

"'If they are deaf to Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham, 'they would not be led to believe even if some one should rise from the dead.'"

But which of you who has a servant ploughing, or tending sheep, will say to him when he comes in from the farm, 'Come at once and take your place at table,'

For just as the lightning, when it flashes, shines from one part of the horizon to the opposite part, so will the Son of Man be on His day.

but on the day that Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from the sky and destroyed them all.

Exactly so will it be on the day that the veil is lifted from the Son of Man.

yet because she annoys me I will give her justice, to prevent her from constantly coming to pester me.'"

"I tell you that this man went home more thoroughly absolved from guilt than the other; for every one who uplifts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be uplifted."

"All of those," he replied, "I have kept from my youth."

Zacchaeus however stood up, and addressing the Lord said, "Here and now, Master, I give half my property to the poor, and if I have unjustly exacted money from any man, I pledge myself to repay to him four times the amount."

"And he said to those who stood by, "'Take the pound from him and give it to him who has the ten pounds.'

"'I tell you that to every one who has anything, more shall be given; and from him who has not anything, even what he has shall be taken away.

"O that at this time thou hadst known--yes even thou--what makes peace possible! But now it is hid from thine eyes.