In the days when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the division of Abijah. His wife was also a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

while all the throng of people was outside, praying at the hour of the incense offering.

And the angel went into the town and said to her, "Good morning, favored woman! The Lord be with you!"

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have gained God's approval.

And your relative, Elizabeth, although she is old, is going to give birth to a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was said to be barren.

And Mary said, "I am the Lord's slave. Let it be as you say." Then the angel left her.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the babe stirred within her. And Elizabeth was filled with the holy Spirit

Blessed is she who has believed, For what the Lord has promised her will be fulfilled!"

For he has noticed his slave in her humble station, For from this time all the ages will think me favored!

So Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned home.

Her neighbors and relatives heard of the great mercy the Lord had shown her, and they came and congratulated her.

They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who bears that name."

While they were there, the time came for her child to be born,

and she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped him up, and laid him in a manger, for there was no room for them at the inn.

There was also a prophetess there named Hannah, the daughter of Phanuel, who belonged to the tribe of Asher. She was very old, for after her girlhood she had been married for seven years,

When his parents saw him they were amazed, and his mother said to him. "My child, why did you treat us like this? Here your father and I have been looking for you, and have been very anxious."

And he went back with them to Nazareth and obeyed them. And his mother treasured all these things up in her mind.

And he took him to Jerusalem, and made him stand on the summit of the Temple, and said to him, "If you are God's son, throw yourself down from here,

And he began by saying to them, "This passage of Scripture has been fulfilled here in your hearing today!"

He said to them, "No doubt you will quote this proverb to me: 'Doctor, cure yourself! Do the things here in your own country that we hear you did at Capernaum.'

When he got up and left the synagogue, he went to Simon's house. And Simon's mother-in-law was suffering with a severe attack of fever, and they asked him about her.

And he stood over her and reproved the fever and it left her, and she got up and waited on them.

Once as the crowd was pressing about him to hear God's message, he happened to be standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,

Yet the news about him spread more and more, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be cured of their diseases.

And he came down with them and took his stand on a level place with a great throng of his disciples, and a large number of people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and the seacoast district of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be cured of their diseases.

"But I tell you who hear me, love your enemies, treat those who hate you well,

As he came up to the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out; he was his mother's only son, and she was a widow. A crowd of the townspeople was with her.

And when the Master saw her, he pitied her, and said to her, "Do not weep."

And he answered them, "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard. The blind are regaining their sight, the lame can walk, the lepers are being cured and the deaf can hear, the dead are being raised and good news is being preached to the poor.

This is the man of whom the Scripture says, " 'Here I send my messenger on before you, He will prepare the road ahead of you!'

and came and stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with her hair, and kissed them, and put the perfume on them.

And turning to the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came to your house; you did not give me any water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair.

Therefore, I tell you, her sins, many as they are, are forgiven, for she has loved me so much. But the man with little to be forgiven loves me but little."

And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven!"

And some fell on good soil, and grew up and yielded a hundred fold!" As he said this he called out, "Let him who has ears to hear with, listen!"

And he said, "You are permitted to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God, but they are given to others in the form of figures, so that they may look and yet not see, and hear and yet not understand.

The ones by the path are those who hear, and then the devil comes and carries off the message from their hearts, so that they may not believe it and be saved.

The ones on the rock are those who receive the message joyfully when they first hear it, but it takes no real root. They believe for a little while, and then in the time of trial they draw back.

And he said to her, "My daughter, it is your faith that has cured you. Go in peace."

And they were all wailing and beating their breasts for her. But he said, "Stop wailing! For she is not dead, she is asleep."

But he grasped her hand and called out, "Get up, my child!"

And her spirit returned and she stood up immediately, and he directed them to give her something to eat.

And her parents were amazed, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

But Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who can this be about whom I hear such reports?" And he endeavored to see him.

When the day began to decline, the Twelve came up and said to him, "Send the crowd away to the villages and farms around to find food and shelter, for we are in a lonely place here."

I tell you, some of you who stand here will certainly live to see the Kingdom of God!"

Just as they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, how good it is that we are here! Let us put up three huts, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah!" For he did not know what he was saying.

Jesus answered, "O you unbelieving, obstinate people! How long must I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here!"

Now go. Here I send you out like lambs among wolves.

Here I have given you the power to tread on snakes and scorpions, and to trample on all the power of the enemy. Nothing will hurt you at all.

For I tell you, many prophets and kings have wished to see what you see, and could not see it, and to hear what you hear, and could not hear it!"

As they continued their journey, he came to a certain village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him to her house.

But Martha was worried with all she had to do for them, and she came up and said, "Master, does it make no difference to you that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me."

indeed there is only one thing we need. For Mary has chosen the right thing, and it must not be taken away from her."

As he said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, "Blessed is the mother who bore you and nursed you!"

But he said, "You might better say, 'Blessed are those who hear God's message and observe it!' "

The queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation at the Judgment and will condemn them, for she came from the very ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and there is more than Solomon here!

Men of Nineveh will rise with this generation at the Judgment and will condemn it, for they repented at Jonah's preaching, and there is more than Jonah here.

Which of you with all his worry can add a single hour to his life?

Father will be against son, and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

And he said to the gardener, 'Here I have come three years to look for fruit on this fig tree, without finding any. Cut it down. Why should it waste the ground?'

When Jesus saw her he called to her, "You are freed from your sickness!"

And he laid his hands on her, and she instantly became erect, and praised God.

But the leader of the synagogue, in his vexation because Jesus had cured her on the Sabbath, spoke out and said to the crowd, "There are six days on which it is right to work. Come on them and be cured, but not on the Sabbath day."

Just then some Pharisees came up and said to him, "Go! Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you!"

He said to them, "Go and say to that fox, 'Here I am, driving out demons and performing cures, today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will be through.

O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! murdering the prophets, and stoning those who are sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children around me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you refused!

and when the dinner hour came, he sent around his slave, to say to those who were invited, 'Come! for it is now ready!'

So the slave went back, and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house was angry and said to his slave, 'Hurry out into the streets and squares of the city, and bring the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame in here!'

It is fit neither for the ground nor the manure heap; people throw it away. Let him who has ears to hear with, listen!"

All the tax-collectors and irreligious people were crowding up to hear him.

And when she finds it, she calls in her friends and neighbors, and says to them, 'Congratulate me, for I have found the coin that I lost!'

When he came to himself he said, 'How many hired men my father has, who have more than enough to eat, and here I am, dying of hunger!

for my son here was dead, and he has come to life; he was lost, and he is found!' So they began to celebrate.

And he said to his father, 'Here I have served you all these years, and have never disobeyed an order of yours, and you have never given me a kid, so that I could entertain my friends.

But when your son here came, who has eaten up your property with women of the street, for him you killed the calf you have been fattening!'

So he called him in and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Make an accounting for your conduct of my affairs, for you cannot be manager any longer!'

He said, 'Eight hundred gallons of oil.' And he said to him, 'Here is your agreement; sit right down and write four hundred!'

Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He answered, 'Fifteen hundred bushels of wheat.' He said to him, 'Here is your agreement; write twelve hundred.'

Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced from her husband commits adultery.

And he called to him and said, 'Father Abraham! take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in torment, here in the flames!'

And Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus had his misfortunes in his; and now he is being comforted here, while you are in anguish.

and people will not say, 'Look! here it is!' or 'There it is!' for the Kingdom of God is within you."

Men will say to you, 'Look! There he is!' or, 'Look! Here he is!' Do not go off in pursuit of him,

yet because this widow bothers me, I will protect her, so that she may not finally wear me out with her coming.' "

Peter said, "Here we have left home and followed you."

And the other one came in and said, 'Here is your twenty dollars, sir. I have kept it put away in a handkerchief,

But bring those enemies of mine here who did not want me made king over them, and slaughter them in my presence!' "

and said to them, "Go to the village that lies in front of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

But when the tenants saw him, they argued with one another, 'This is his heir! Let us kill him, so that the property will belong to us!'

And the second married her,

and the third, and all the seven married her and died without leaving any child.

Now at the resurrection, which one's wife will the woman be? For all seven of them married her."

For they all gave from what they had to spare, but she in her want has put in all she had to live on."

"As for all this that you are looking at, the time is coming when not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down!"

But when you hear of wars and outbreaks, do not be alarmed. These have to come first, but the end does not follow immediately."

There will be great earthquakes, and pestilence and famine here and there. There will be horrors and great signs in the sky.

Yet not a hair of your head will perish!

But when you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, then you must understand that her devastation is at hand.

But they said, "See, Master, here are two swords!" And he said to them, "Enough of this!"