An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the incense altar.

When Zechariah saw him, he was startled, and fear overwhelmed him.

But the angel told him, "Stop being afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John.

The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. I have been sent to speak to you and to announce this good news to you.

When the days of his service were over, he went home.

Listen! You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus.

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

She went into Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth.

His mercy lasts from generation to generation for those who fear him.

Now Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months and then went back home.

On the eighth day they went to circumcise the child. They were going to name him Zechariah after his father,

So they motioned to the baby's father to see what he wanted to name him.

Everyone who heard about it kept thinking what had happened and asked, "What will this child become?" because it was obvious that the hand of the Lord was with him.

He granted us deliverance from our enemies' grip so that we could serve him without fear

and be holy and righteous before him all of our days.

He went there to be registered with Mary, who had been promised to him in marriage and was pregnant.

and she gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no place for them in the guest quarters.

After eight days had passed, the infant was circumcised and named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,

Now a man named Simeon was in Jerusalem. This man was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the one who would comfort Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah.

Led by the Spirit, he went into the Temple. When the parents brought the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the Law,

Jesus' father and mother kept wondering at the things being said about him.

Meanwhile, the child continued to grow and to become strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God's favor rested upon him.

When the days of the festival were over, they left for home. The young man Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.

They thought that he was in their group of travelers. After traveling for a day, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.

When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching desperately for him.

Three days later, they found him in the Temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and posing questions to them.

All who heard him were amazed at his intelligence and his answers.

When Jesus' parents saw him, they were shocked. His mother asked him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been worried sick looking for you!"

John would say to the crowds that were coming out to be baptized by him, "You children of serpents! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

The crowds kept asking him, "What, then, should we do?"

Even some tax collectors came to be baptized. They asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?"

Even some soldiers were asking him, "And what should we do?" He told them, "Never extort money from anyone by threats or blackmail, and be satisfied with your pay."

and the Holy Spirit descended on him, appearing in the form of a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "You are my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with you!"

The Devil told him, "Since you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread."

Jesus answered him, "It is written, "One must not live on bread alone, but on every word of God.'"

The Devil also took him to a high place and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant.

But Jesus answered him, "It is written, "You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'"

The Devil also took him into Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the Temple. He told Jesus, "Since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

Jesus answered him, "It has been said, "You must not tempt the Lord your God.'"

After the Devil had finished tempting Jesus in every possible way, he left him until another time.

Then Jesus returned to Galilee by the power of the Spirit. Meanwhile, the news about him spread throughout the surrounding country.

the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. While the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him,

All the people began to speak well of him and to wonder at the gracious words that flowed from his mouth. They said, "This is Joseph's son, isn't it?"

They got up, forced Jesus out of the city, and led him to the edge of the hill on which their city was built, intending to throw him off.

But Jesus rebuked him. "Be quiet," he said, "and come out of him!" At this, the demon threw the man down in the middle of the synagogue and came out of him without hurting him.

So news about him spread to every place in the surrounding region.

When the sun was setting, everyone who had any friends suffering from various diseases brought them to him. He placed his hands on each of them and began healing them.

At daybreak he left and went to a deserted place, while the crowds kept looking for him. When they came to him, they tried to keep him from leaving them.

One day, as the crowd was pressing in on him to listen to God's word, Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret.

So Jesus got into one of the boats (the one that belonged to Simon) and asked him to push out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and began to teach the crowds from the boat.

because Simon and all the people who were with him were amazed at the number of fish they had caught,

One day, while Jesus was in one of the cities, a man covered with leprosy saw Jesus and fell on his face, begging him, "Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean."

So Jesus reached out his hand and touched him, saying, "I do want to. Be clean!" Instantly the leprosy left him.

Then Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone. Instead, go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as proof to the authorities."

But the news about Jesus spread even more, and many crowds began gathering to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.

Some men were bringing a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to take him into the house and place him in front of Jesus.

When they couldn't find a way to get him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down on his stretcher through the tiles into the middle of the room, right in front of Jesus.

But so you'll know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"." he told the paralyzed man, "I say to you: Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home!"

So the man immediately stood up in front of them and picked up what he had been lying on. Then he went home, praising God.

After that, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax collector's desk. He told him, "Follow me!"

So Levi left everything behind, got up, and followed him.

Later, Levi gave a large banquet at his home for Jesus. A large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.

Then they told him, "John's disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do those of the Pharisees. But your disciples keep right on eating and drinking."

The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Jesus closely to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, in order to find a way of accusing him of doing something wrong.

They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Even those who were being tormented by unclean spirits were being healed.

The entire crowd was trying to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing all of them.

If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other one as well, and if someone takes your coat, don't keep back your shirt, either.

When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come and save his servant's life.

So they went to Jesus and begged him repeatedly, "He deserves to have this done for him,

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found this kind of faith!"

Soon afterwards, Jesus went to a city called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were going along with him.

The man who had been dead sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

John's disciples told him about all these things. So John called two of his disciples

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. So he went to the Pharisee's home and took his place at the table.

There was a woman who was a notorious sinner in that city. When she learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's home, she took an alabaster jar of perfume

and knelt at his feet behind him. She was crying and began to wash his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair. Then she kissed his feet over and over again, anointing them constantly with the perfume.

Now the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and told himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who is touching him and what kind of woman she is. She's a sinner!"

Jesus told him, "Simon, I have something to ask you." "Teacher," he replied, "ask it."

"Two men were in debt to a moneylender. One owed him 500 denarii, and the other 50.

When they couldn't pay it back, he generously canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?"

Simon answered, "I suppose the one who had the larger debt canceled." Jesus told him, "You have answered correctly."

After this, Jesus traveled from one city and village to another, preaching and spreading the good news about God's kingdom. The Twelve were with him,

Then his disciples began to ask him what this parable meant.

So pay attention to how you listen, because to the one who has something, more will be given. However, from the one who doesn't have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him."

His mother and his brothers came to him, but they couldn't get near him because of the crowd.

So his disciples went to him, woke him up, and kept telling him, "Master! Master! We're going to die!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves. They stopped, and there was calm.

Then he asked the disciples, "Where's your faith?" Frightened and amazed, they asked one another, "Who is this man? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!"

When Jesus stepped out on the shore, a man from the city met him. This man was controlled by demons and had not worn clothes for a long time. He did not live in a house but in the tombs.

When he saw Jesus, he screamed, fell down in front of him, and cried out in a loud voice, "What do you want from me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torture me!"

He answered, "Legion," because many demons had gone into him. Then the demons began begging Jesus not to order them to go into the bottomless pit.

Now the man from whom the demons had gone out kept begging Jesus to let him go with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,

"Go home and tell what God has done for you." So the man left and kept proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

When Jesus came back, the crowd welcomed him, because everyone was expecting him.

Just then a synagogue leader by the name of Jairus arrived. He fell at Jesus' feet and kept begging him to come to his home,

because his only daughter, who was about twelve years old, was dying. While Jesus was on his way, the crowds continued to press in on him.

Jesus asked, "Who touched me?" While everyone was denying it, Peter and those who were with him said, "Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing in on you."

When the woman saw that she couldn't hide, she came forward trembling. Bowing down in front of him, she explained in the presence of all the people why she had touched Jesus and how she had been instantly healed.