according to the custom of the priesthood the lot fell to him to go into the temple of the Lord and burn the incense.

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of altar of incense.

And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear came on him.

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord and he will not drink any wine or intoxicating drinks [Note: This restriction suggests that John may have taken the special vow of consecration making him a "Nazarite"]. And he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the time he is born.

And through him great numbers of the children of Israel will be turned to the Lord their God.

And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him .

And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings.

blessed art thou among women! and when she saw him, she was confused at what he said, and pondered in her mind what sort of salutation this could be.

And now, you shall be with child and give birth to a son, and you shall give him the name Jesus.

He will be great, and will be named the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his father:

His mercy is for all generations in whom is the fear of him.

“He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,

And on the eighth day they came to see to the circumcision of the child, and they would have given him the name of Zacharias, his father's name;

And they made signs to his father, to say what name was to be given to him.

And all who had word of them kept them in their minds and said, What will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship,

In righteousness and holy living before him all our days.

And you moreover, O child, shall be called Prophet of the Most High; For you shall go on in front before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,

And the child grew and became strong in character, and lived in the Desert till the time came for him to appear publicly to Israel.

to enrol himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child.

And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house.

and by this sign shall you know him; you will find the babe swathed, lying in a manger.

"Glory to God in the highest, And in earth peace among men who please him"

And, having seen Him, they made known concerning the saying spoken to them about this Child.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying God and praising him for all those things that they had seen and heard, even as it was told to them.

And when, after eight days, the time came for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given to him before his birth.

And when the necessary days for making them clean by the law of Moses had come to an end, they took him to Jerusalem to give him to the Lord

And there was then in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon; and he was an upright man, fearing God and waiting for the comfort of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was on him.

And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

And full of the Spirit he came into the Temple; and when the father and mother came in with the child Jesus, to do with him what was ordered by the law,

Then he took him in his arms and gave praise to God and said,

And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.

And his father and mother were full of wonder at the things which were said about him.

Then Simeon [asked God to] bless them and said to Jesus' mother Mary, "Look, many Israelites will be caused to fall [i.e., into spiritual ruin] or rise [i.e., to spiritual renewal] because of Him. And [He will be] a 'sign' [for people] to speak against,

Indeed, as a result of him the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed -- and a sword will pierce your own soul as well!"

And coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, talking of him to all those who were waiting for the freeing of Jerusalem.

And the child became tall and strong and full of wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

And in the belief that he was with some of their number, they went a day's journey; and after looking for him among their relations and friends,

And seeing that he was not there, they went back to Jerusalem, to make search for him.

And after three days they came across him in the Temple, seated among the wise men, giving ear to their words and putting questions to them.

and all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

And when they saw him they were surprised, and his mother said to him, Son, why have you done this to us? see, your father and I have been looking for you with sorrow.

Then he went down along with them to Nazaret, and did as they told him. His mother treasured up everything in her heart.

and he went into all the Jordan-district preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ??4 as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah, The voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him.

As it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah. The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare the way for God, make straight paths for him.

So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism: You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come?

And the people put questions to him, saying, What have we to do?

And he made answer and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has not even one; and he who has food, let him do the same.

Then tax-farmers came to him for baptism and said to him, Master, what have we to do?

And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you.

but Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother's wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done,

Now it happened when all the people had been immersed [by John], that Jesus was also immersed [by him]. And while Jesus was praying, heaven was opened

and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

and for forty days he was led by the Spirit in the desert, while the devil tempted him. During these days he ate nothing, and when they were over he felt hungry.

And the Evil One said to him, If you are the Son of God, give orders to this stone to become bread.

And Jesus made answer to him, It has been said in the Writings, Bread is not man's only need.

And he took him up and let him see all the kingdoms of the earth in a minute of time.

And the devil said unto him, To thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them: for it hath been delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

And Jesus in answer said to him, It has been said in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God, and be his servant only.

And he took him to Jerusalem and put him on the highest point of the Temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, let yourself go down from here; for it is said in the Writings,

And Jesus made answer and said to him, It is said in the Writings, You may not put the Lord your God to the test.

And when all these tests were ended the Evil One went away from him for a time.

And Jesus came back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news of him went through all the country round about.

And he was teaching in their Synagogues and all men gave him praise.

And He came into Nazareth, where He was brought up: and according to the custom to Him, He came into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, and stood up to read.

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and, opening the book, he came on the place where it is said,

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,

And shutting the book he gave it back to the servant and took his seat: and the eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on him.

The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him, and he began to say to them, "Today is this scripture fulfilled in your hearing."

And all bare him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth: and they said, Is not this Joseph's son?

upon hearing this, the whole synagogue were incensed against him.

And they got up and took him out of the town to the edge of the mountain on which their town was, so that they might send him down to his death.

In the Synagogue there was a man with the spirit of a foul demon in him, who called out loudly:

And Jesus said to him, Be quiet, and come out of him. And when the evil spirit had put him down on the earth in the middle of them, he came out of him, having done him no damage.

And there was much talk about him in all the places round about.

And he rose up from the synagogue, and entered into the house of Simon. And Simon's wife's mother was holden with a great fever; and they besought him for her.

And at sundown all those who had anyone ill with any sort of disease, took them to him, and he put his hands on every one of them and made them well.

And demons also came out from many, crying out, Thou art the Messiah the Son of God. And He rebuked them, and suffered them not to say, that they knew Him to be the Christ.

And when it was day, he came out and went to a waste place; and great numbers of people came looking for him, and they came to him and would have kept him from going away.

Now it came about that while the people came pushing to be near him, and to have knowledge of the word of God, he was by a wide stretch of water named Gennesaret;

And he got into one of the boats, the property of Simon, and made a request to him to go a little way out from the land. And being seated he gave the people teaching from the boat.

And Simon answered and said unto Him, Master, we have been toiling all the night, and have caught nothing; however at thy word I will cast the net.

And he made signs to his companions in the other ship to come and help him; and they came, and filled both ships, so that they began to sink.

For he was full of wonder and so were all those who were with him, at the number of fish which they had taken;

And when they had got their boats to the land, they gave up everything and went after him.

And it came about that while he was in one of the towns, there was a leper there: and when he saw Jesus he went down on his face in prayer to him, saying, Lord, if it is your pleasure, you have power to make me clean.

And he put out his hand to him and said, It is my pleasure; be clean. And straight away his disease went from him.

And he gave him orders: Say nothing to any man, but let the priest see you and give an offering so that you may be made clean, as the law of Moses says, and for a witness to them.

But news of him went out all the more, in every direction, and great numbers of people came together to give hearing to his words and to be made well from their diseases.

And it came about that on one of these days he was teaching; and some Pharisees and teachers of the law were seated there, who had come from every town of Galilee and Judaea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him, to make those who were ill free from their diseases.

And some men had with them, on a bed, a man who was ill, without power of moving; and they made attempts to get him in and put him before Jesus.

And because of the mass of people, there was no way to get him in; so they went up on the top of the house and let him down through the roof, on his bed, into the middle in front of Jesus.

who seeing their faith said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (he said unto him that was palsied), I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go unto thy house.

After these things He went out and saw a publican named Levi, sitting at the custom-house, and said to him, Follow me:

and he left all, rose up, and followed Him.

And Levi made Him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great number of publicans, and others at table with them.

I came not to call saints, but sinners to repentance. Then they ask'd him, how comes it that John's disciples,

And they said unto Him, Why do the disciples of John frequently fast and pray, and likewise those of the pharisees; but thine eat and drink?