Since many writers have undertaken to compose narratives about the facts established among us,

have handed them down to us, I too, most excellent Theophilus, because I have carefully investigated them all from the start, have felt impressed to write them out in order for you

that you may better know the certainty of those things that you have been taught.

The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel; I stand in the very presence of God. I have been sent to talk with you and to tell you this good news.

Then the angel said, "Stop being afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His reign will have no end."

But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?"

Why is this privilege mine, to have the mother of my Lord come to me?

"Now, Master, you will let your slave go free in peace, as you have promised;

for my eyes have seen your Salvation,

When His parents saw Him, they were utterly amazed, and yet His mother said to Him, "My child, why did you treat us so? Just see how your father and I, in agony of mind, have been searching for you!"

Produce, then, fruit that is consistent with the repentance that you profess, and do not even begin to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather,' for I tell you, God can raise up descendants for Abraham even out of these stones.

"Ha! What do you want of us, Jesus, you Nazarene? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are. You are God's Holy One."

Simon answered, "We have toiled all night and caught nothing, but since you tell me to do so, I will set the nets again."

Then an overwhelming wonder seized them all and they began to give praise to God. They were filled with awe and continued to say, "We have seen unthinkable wonders today!"

But Jesus answered them, "Not well but sick people have to send for the doctor.

It is not upright but sinful people that I have come to invite to repentance."

Then Jesus started to go with them. But when He was not far from the house, the captain sent friends to say to Him, "My Lord, stop troubling yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.

For I too am under authority of others, and have soldiers under me, and I order one to go, and he goes, another to come, and he comes, my slave to do this, and he does it."

When Jesus heard this, He was astounded at him, and turning to the crowd that was following Him He said, "I tell you, I have not found, in a single case among the Jews, so great faith as this!"

And so He answered them, "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind are seeing and the crippled are walking, the lepers are being healed and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised and the poor are having the good news preached to them.

Then Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," said he, "go on and say it."

So take care how you listen, for whoever gets more will have more given to him, and whoever does not get more will have even what he thinks he has taken away from him."

But Jesus heard it and said to him, "Do not be afraid; just have faith, and she will get well."

So He said to them, "Take nothing with you for your journey, no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, nor even have two shirts.

But He said to them, "Give them something to eat yourselves." Then they said, "We have only five loaves and two fish, unless we go ourselves and buy food for all these people."

For there were about five thousand men. So He said to His disciples, "Have them sit down in reclining groups of fifty each."

But Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, even wild birds have roosts, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

A curse on you, Chorazin! A curse on you, Bethsaida! For if the wonder-works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, long ago they would have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

Listen! I have given you power to tread on snakes and scorpions, and to trample on all the power of the enemy, and nothing at all will ever harm you.

All things have been entrusted to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to make Him known."

For I tell you, many prophets and kings have wished to see what you are seeing, but they did not, and to hear what you are hearing, but they did not."

He said to him, "You have answered correctly. Continue to do this, and you will live."

for a friend of mine has just come to my house on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him to eat.'

But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees have the habit of cleaning the outside of your cups and dishes, but inside you yourselves are full of greed and wickedness.

But dedicate once for all your inner self, and at once you will have everything clean.

But a curse on you Pharisees, because you pay tithes on mint, rue, and every tiny garden herb, but neglect justice and the love of God! These latter especially you ought to have done, but ought not to have neglected the former.

A curse on you Pharisees, because you like to have the front seats in synagogues, and to be greeted with honor in public places!

A curse on you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to the door of knowledge! You did not go in yourselves, and you kept out those who tried to get in."

because what you have spoken in darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in people's ears, behind closed doors, will be proclaimed from the housetops.

So I tell you, my friends, never be afraid of those who kill the body but after that have nothing more that they can do.

Yes, the very hairs on your heads have all been counted by God! Stop being afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

So he began to argue with himself, 'What am I to do, because I have nowhere to store my crops?'

Then I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Go on taking your ease; continue to eat, drink, and enjoy yourself."'

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is to be demanded of you. Then who will have all that you have prepared?'

Then He said to His disciples: "Stop worrying, then, about life, as to what you will have to eat, or about your body, as to what you will have to wear.

Just think of the ravens! For they neither sow nor reap, they have no storehouses nor barns, and yet God continues to feed them. How much more are you worth than the birds!

Happy are those slaves whom the master, when he comes, will find on the watch for him. I solemnly say to you, he will tighten his belt and have them sit at table, and he will go around and wait on them.

But be sure of this, that if the master of the house had known what time the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

But the one who does wrong without knowing it will be lightly punished. Much will be demanded from anyone to whom much has been given; yea, people will demand much more from anyone to whom they have entrusted much.

"It is fire that I have come to bring upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am pressed with anguish till it is accomplished!

I tell you, you will never get out of it until you have paid the last penny!"

So he said to the vine-dresser, 'Look here! for three years I have been coming to look for figs on this fig tree, and have not found any. Cut it down. Why waste the ground with it?'

If it bears figs in the future, well; but if not, you will have to cut it down.'"

"O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! The city that continues to murder the prophets, and to stone those who are sent to her, how often I have yearned to gather your children around me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. But you refused!

"When you are invited by anyone to a wedding supper, never take the best place, for someone of greater distinction than you may have been invited,

But they all in the same attitude began to excuse themselves. The first one said, 'I have just bought a piece of land and I must go and look it over. Please excuse me.'

Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I am on my way to try them. Please excuse me.'

Another said, 'I have just gotten married, and so I cannot come.'

and when he reaches home he calls in his friends and neighbors, and says to them, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!'

And when she finds it, she calls in her friends and neighbors, and says, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found the coin which I lost!'

Then he came to himself and said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more to eat than they need, and here I am dying of hunger!

I will get up and go to my father, and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your opinion;

His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your opinion; I no longer deserve to be called your son; just treat me like one of your hired men.'

But he answered his father, 'See! I have served you all these years and have never disobeyed a command of yours, but you have never given me even a kid, so that I could celebrate with my friends.

But when this son of yours arrives, who has eaten up your property with immoral women, you have killed for him the fattening calf.'

Then he said to him, 'My child, you have been with me all the time, and all I have is yours.

So if you have not proved dependable in handling your ill-gotten riches, who will trust you with the true riches?

And if you have not proved dependable in what belongs to someone else, who will trust you with what belongs to you?

(for I have five brothers) to warn them, that they too may not come to this place of torture.'

But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.'

It would be better for him to have a millstone hung around his neck, and he be hurled into the sea, than for him to ensnare one of these lowly ones.

Then the Lord said to them, "If you had faith that grows like a mustard seed, you might have been saying to this mulberry tree, 'Pull yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea,' and it would have obeyed you!

So you too, when you do all that you are ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done.'"

And he would not for a time, but afterward he said to himself, Though I have no reverence for God nor respect for men,

But the tax-collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but continued to beat his breast, and say, 'O God, have mercy on me, a sinner!'

Now some people were bringing even their babies to Him to have Him touch them, but the disciples, when they saw it, reproved them for it.

But he said, "I have kept all these commandments ever since I was a child."

When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell everything you have, and distribute the money among the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me."

So when Jesus saw it, He said, "How hard it is for those who have money to get into the kingdom of God!

Then Peter said to Him, "We have left our very own, homes and all, and have followed you."

Then Zaccheus got up and said to the Lord, "Listen, Lord! I now give to the poor half of my property, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay him back four times as much."

So he said to him, 'Well done, my good slave! Because you have proven dependable in a very small business, be governor of ten cities!'

So why did you not put my money into the bank? In that case, when I came back I could have gotten interest on my principal.'

'I tell you, the man who gets will have more given to him, but the man who does not get will have even what he has taken away from him!

and He said to them, "The Scripture says, 'And my house shall be a house of prayer,' but you have made it a cave for robbers."

and said to Him, "Tell us what sort of authority you have for doing as you do, or who is it that gave you such authority?"

Then Jesus said to them, "Nor am I going to tell you what sort of authority I have for doing as I do."

Then some of the scribes answered Him, "Teacher, you have given a fine answer."

Alas for the women who are pregnant and those who have nursing babies in those days! For there will be great misery in the land and wrath on this people.

But ever be watching and always praying, so that you may have strength to escape all this that is going to take place, and so you may take your stand in the presence of the Son of Man."

And He said to them, "I have heartily desired to eat this Passover supper with you before I suffer.

Yet you have continued to stand by me in my trials;

but I have prayed especially for you that your own faith may not utterly fail. And you yourself, after you have turned, must strengthen your brothers."

Then He said to them, "But now the man who has a purse must take it, and a bag too. And the man who does not have a sword must sell his coat and buy one.

Then Jesus said to the high priests, captains of the temple, and elders, who had come to take Him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as though I were a robber?

Then they said, "What more evidence do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth!"

Here they began to make the following charges against Him: "We have found this fellow corrupting our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar and claiming to be a king himself."

and said to them, "You brought this man to me on a charge of turning the people from allegiance, and here in your presence I have examined Him and do not find Him guilty of the charges you make against Him.