And they were both righteous in the sight of God, living blamelessly in all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.

And it happened that [while] he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division,

And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.

And the angel answered [and] said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news.

Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee {named} Nazareth,

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

This one will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

And the angel answered [and] said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the one to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

For {nothing will be impossible with God}."

and my spirit has rejoiced greatly in God my Savior,

He has filled those who are hungry with good [things], and those who are rich he has sent away empty-handed.

And his mouth and his tongue were opened immediately, and he began to speak, praising God.

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

because of the merciful compassion of our God by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high,

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:

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people {with whom he is pleased}!"

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

he took him in [his] arms and praised God and said,

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 the child was growing and becoming strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.

And Jesus was advancing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and [with] people.

in the time of the high priest Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

and all flesh will see the salvation of God.'"

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."

So with many other exhortations also he proclaimed good news to the people.

the [son] of Enosh, the [son] of Seth, the [son] of Adam, the [son] of God.

So the devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, order this stone that it become bread!"

And Jesus answered [and] said to him, "It is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

And he brought him to Jerusalem, and had him stand on the highest point of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

And Jesus answered [and] said to him, "It is said, 'You are not to put to the test the Lord your God.'"

"The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because of which he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send out in freedom those who are oppressed,

"Ha! {Leave us alone}, Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!"

And he stood over her [and] rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she got up [and] began to serve them.

And demons also were coming out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Son of God!" And he rebuked [them] [and] did not permit them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

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].

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around him and hearing the word of God, he was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret,

And he got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, [and] asked him to put out from the land a little. And he sat down [and] began to teach the crowds from the boat.

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?"

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

But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," he said to the one who was paralyzed, "I say to you, 'Get up and pick up your stretcher [and] go to your home.'"

And immediately he stood up before them, picked up what he had been lying on, [and] went away to his home, glorifying God.

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 leaving everything behind, he got up [and] began to follow him.

how he entered into the house of God and took the bread of the presentation, which it is not permitted to eat (except the priests alone), [and] ate [it] and gave [it] to those with him?"

But he knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Get up and stand in the middle," and he got up [and] stood there.

And Jesus said to them, "I ask you whether it is permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy [it]?"

Now it happened that in these days he went away to the mountain to pray, and was spending the whole night in prayer to God.

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

"But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

And if you do good to those who do good to you, what kind of credit is [that] to you? Even the sinners do the same!

And if you lend [to those] from whom you expect to receive [back], what kind of credit is [that] to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may get back an equal [amount]!

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, 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,

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 as he approached the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, his mother's only son, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

And he came up [and] touched the bier, and those who were carrying [it] stopped. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!"

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!"

And he answered [and] said to them, "Go [and] tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear; the dead are raised, the poor have good news announced to [them].

I tell you, there is no one greater among [those] born of women than John, but the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

(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.)

And it happened that {afterward} also he was going about from [one] town and village [to another] preaching and proclaiming the good news concerning the kingdom of God, and the twelve [were] with him,

And other [seed] fell on the good soil, and [when it] came up, it produced a hundred times as much grain." [As he] said these [things], he called out, "The one who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

And he said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest [they are] in parables, so that 'Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'

Now the parable means this: the seed is the word of God,

But the [seed] on the good soil--these are the ones who, [after] hearing the word, hold fast to [it] with a noble and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.

But he answered [and] said to them, "These are my mother and my brothers--the ones who hear the word of God and do [it].

Now it happened that on one of the days both he and his disciples got into a boat, and he said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they set sail,

And they came [and] woke him up, saying, "Master, master! We are perishing!" So he got up [and] rebuked the wind and the billowing waves of water and they ceased, and it became calm.

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.

And [when he] saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, "{What do I have to do with you}, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!"

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.

But he took her hand [and] called, saying, "Child, get up."

And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately, and he ordered [something] to be given to her to eat.

and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

So they departed [and] went throughout the villages, proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.

But [when] the crowds found out, they followed him, and welcoming them, he began to speak to them about the kingdom of God, and he cured those who had need of healing.

And he said to them, "But who do you say [that] I am?" And Peter answered [and] said, "The Christ of God."

But I tell you truly, there are some of those standing here who will never experience death until they see the kingdom of God."

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.

And they were all astounded at the impressiveness of God.

But he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead! But you go [and] proclaim the kingdom of God."

But Jesus said, "No one who puts [his] hand on the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God!"

and heal the sick in it, and say to them, "The kingdom of God has come near to you."

"Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you! Nevertheless know this: that the kingdom of God has come near!"

And he answered [and] said, "You shall love the Lord your God from all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

And that one will answer from inside [and] say, 'Do not cause me trouble! The door has already been shut and my children are with me in bed! I am not able to get up to give you [anything].'

I tell you, even if he does not give him [anything] [after he] gets up because [he] is his friend, at any rate because of his impudence he will get up [and] give him whatever he needs.

Therefore if you, [although you] are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

But if I expel demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you!

But he said, "On the contrary, blessed [are] those who hear the word of God and follow [it]!"

"But woe to you, Pharisees, because you pay a tenth of mint and rue and every garden herb, and neglect justice and love for God! But it was necessary to do these [things] without neglecting those things also.

For this [reason] also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and [some] of them they will kill and persecute,'

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God.

"And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before people, the Son of Man also will acknowledge him before the angels of God,

but the one who denies me before people will be denied before the angels of God.