Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

And as he saw him Zachariah was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

But the Angel said to him. "Do not be afraid, Zachariah, because your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.

"He shall go before Him in the wisdom and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and so to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him."

"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High. "And the Lord God will give him the throne of his forefather David,

"His mercy is unto generations and generations on those who reverence him.

and came on the eighth day to circumcise the child. They were about to call him "Zachariah," after his father,

All the story laid it up in their hearts, saying "What, then, will this child be?" For the Lord's hands was with him.

"That he we should be delivered out of the Hand of our enemies, And should serve him without fear,

"In holiness and righteousness before him All our days.

He went to be registered along with Mary, who was espoused to him, and was pregnant.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

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

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.

When eight days had passed, and the time had come to circumcise him, he was called Jesus, the name given him by the angel before his conception in the womb.

And when the days for purification according to the law of Moses had passed, they took him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord,

Now there was in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon. He was righteous and devout, and was waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him.

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

And he came into the Temple, led by the Spirit. and when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law,

he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

And while his father and mother were marveling at the words that were spoken concerning him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother.

And the child grew and became strong, becoming full of wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

but supposed that he was in the company, and went a days journey. Then they hunted for him among his kinsfolk and acquaintance;

and when they did not find him they returned to Jerusalem, making anxious inquiry for him.

On the third day they found him sitting in the Temple, among the Rabbis, both listening to them and asking questions.

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

When they saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him "Child, why have you treated us so? Behold your father and I have been looking for you in anguish."

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 John used to say to the crowd of those who were going out to be baptized by him. "You breed of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

And the crowd began to ask him questions. "What shall we do then?" they asked. In reply he said to them.

"If you have two shirts share with him who has none; and let him who has food do the same."

There came to him publicans also to be baptized, and they said to him, "Master, what must we do?"

The soldiers also repeatedly questioned him, saying, "And we, what shall we do?" "Do not intimidate any one," he replied, "nor lay false charges, and be content with your pay."

but Herod, the Tetrarch, when reproved by him because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the wicked deeds that he had done,

heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form like a dove, descended upon him. and a voice came out of heaven, saying. "Thou art my Son, dearly beloved; in thee is my delight."

The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God tell this stone to become bread."

And Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written that not by bread alone shall man live."

And the devil led him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the inhabited earth in an instant of time, and the devil said to him.

"It is written," answered Jesus, "Thou shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

Then he brought him to Jerusalem, and caused him to stand upon the Temple roof, and said to him. "If you really are the Son of God throw yourself down here;

So, after exhausting on him every kind of temptation, the devil left him for a time.

And there was handed him the roll of the prophet Isaiah; and unrolling it he found the place where it was written,

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 they all spoke well of him, and marveled at the words of charm that fell from his lips. "Is not this the son of Joseph?" they asked.

they rose, hurried him outside the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, intending to cast him down headlong.

And Jesus rebuked him, saying. "Be quiet! Come out of him." And when the demon had thrown the man down before them, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

And the talk about him spread into every locality in the surrounding country.

Now when he rose and left the synagogue, he entered into the house of Simon, where Simon's mother-in-law lay sick of a great fever. And they kept entreating him for her.

At sunset all they who had any sick with any sort of disease brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

And when it was daybreak he left the town, and went away to a solitary place; and the crowd kept seeking him. Coming at length upon him, they attempted to detain him so that he should not leave them.

On one occasion when he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, the crowd pressed upon him to listen to the word of God.

He went on board one of the boats which belonged to Simon, and asked him to push out a little way from land. Then he sat down and continued to teach the crowd from the boat.

(For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the haul of fish which they had made;

So when they had brought their boats to land they left everything and followed him.

Another time when he was in one of their cities, there was a man there full of leprosy. And he, upon seeing Jesus, fell on his face and implored him. "Lord," he said, "if only you choose you can make me clean."

And he stretched out his hand and touching him, said: "I do choose; be made clean."

And instantly the leprosy left him. Jesus ordered him to tell no one, "But be off," he said, "show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them."

But all the more the report about him continued to spread; and great crowds began to come together to hear him, and to be healed of their infirmities.

One day he was teaching, and near to him were seated Pharisees and teachers of the Law, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

And behold there came men carrying a paralytic on a bed; and they tried to bring him and lay him before Jesus, but they could not because of the crowd.

So they went up on the roof, and let him down through the tiling, with his bed, into the crowd, before Jesus.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you!"

After this he went forth and noticed a tax-gatherer, named Levi, sitting at the tax-office, and said to him, "Follow me."

He rose, left everything, and followed him.

Levi also made him a great reception at his house. There was a large party of tax-gatherers and others who were dining with them.

Again they said unto him. "Why do the disciples of John fast frequently, and make supplications, as also do the disciples of the Pharisees, but your disciples are eating and drinking?"

Now the Scribes and Pharisees kept watching to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might be able to bring on accusations to him.

Then he looked round about on them in anger, and said to him, "Stretch out your hand!"

With these he came down till he reached a level place, where there was a great crowd of his disciples and a great many people from all Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. These came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases.

The whole crowd were trying to touch him, because power emanated from him and cured them all.

To him who gives you a blow on the jaw Turn the other jaw also; And from him who is robbing you of your cloak Withhold not your coat also.

Give to every one who asks you; And do not demand your goods back from him who is taking them away.

So when the captain heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to ask him to come and save his slave.

And they, when they reached Jesus, asked him earnestly to do this. "He deserves that you should do this," they said,

So Jesus started to go with them, but while he was not far from the house, the captain sent friends to him with a message. "Lord do not trouble yourself, for I am not fit that you should come under my roof,

But when Jesus heard this he was astonished and he turned and said to the crowd that was following him, "I tell you that not even in Israel have I found faith like that."

And he who was dead sat up and began to speak; and he gave him to his mother.

John's disciples brought him word of all these things

and, calling a certain two disciples to him, he sent them to Jesus, to say, "Are you 'the coming one,' or if we are to expect another?"

One of the Pharisees kept urging him to dine, so he entered the house and reclined at table.

When he noticed this the Pharisee, who had invited him, said to himself, "If this man were really a prophet he would have perceived who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, and would know that she is a sinner."

Jesus then spoke to him. "Simon, I have a word to say to you." "Rabbi, say on," he replied.

"There were once to men," said Jesus, "in debt to one money-lender. One owed him fifty pounds; the other five.

"When they had nothing pay he forgave them with such charm. "Tell me, then, which of these will love him most?"

The twelve were with him, and certain women whom he had delivered from evil spirits and various diseases. Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven demons have been driven,

and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many other women, who used to minister to him out of their substance.

As a great crowd was gathering, and men of town after town kept restoring to him, he spoke a parable to them.

"But some fell on good soil, and grew up, and brought forth fruit, a hundredfold." When he said this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear with, let him listen."

Then his disciples began to interrupt him, saying, "What does this parable mean?"

"Take heed, then, how you listen. for he who has, to him shall it be given, but from him who has not, shall be taken away even what he has."

There came to him his mother and his brothers, and they could not reach him because of the crowd.

But some one told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you."

Now it happened that one of these days he got into a boat, And him his disciples, and he said to them, "Let us cross to the other side of the lake."

Then they came to him and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we are lost!" Then he awoke, and rebuked the winds and the raging of the sea. They ceased, and there was a calm.

"Where is your faith?" he asked them, In their terror they were filled with amazement, and said to one another, "Who is this who commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?"

When he saw Jesus he cried out, and fell down before him, and in a loud voice exclaimed. "What have we to do with you, Jesus, you son of God Most High? I implore you to torment me not!"

For Jesus was already commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For many times it had seized him and held him, and they again and again kept him under guard, and put him in chains and fetters. But he would break his bonds asunder, as he was driven by the demon in to the desert.

So Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he answered, "Legion" (for many demons had entered into him).

Now there was a great herd of swine feeding on the hillside, and the demons begged him to give them leave to enter them. He gave them leave.

But the man out of whom the demons had gone kept begging him that he might be with him. But Jesus sent him away saying,