Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us,

even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning wer eyewitnesses and ministers of the word,

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.

to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee.

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God.

And behold, Elisabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren.

and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me?

And blessed is'she that believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord.

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; And holy is his name.

And his mercy is unto generations and generations On them that fear him.

(As he spake unto our fathers) Toward Abraham and his seed for ever.

And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.

And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.

And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of his servant David

(As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old),

Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies Should serve him without fear,

Because of the tender mercy of our God, Whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us,

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;

for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.

And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.

Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased.

And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them.

(as it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord),

and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

and Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against;

and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not;

And when they saw him, they were astonished; and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing.

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be in my Father's house?

as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight.

Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

And even now the axe also lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

And he said unto them, Extort no more than that which is appointed you.

And as the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether haply he were the Christ;

John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but there cometh he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire:

whose fan is in his hand, thoroughly to cleanse his threshing-floor, and to gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.

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 Jesus himself, when he began to teach , was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the'son of Heli,

And Jesus answered unto him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.

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

for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to guard thee:

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and he entered, as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read.

And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And he opened the book, and found the place where it was written,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised,

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?

And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is acceptable in his own country.

And they were all filled with wrath in the synagogue, as they heard these things;

Ah! what have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Nazarene? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

And amazement came upon all, and they spake together, one with another, saying, What is this word? for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

And he charged him to tell no man: but go thy way, and show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this that speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

Which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Arise and walk?

And Jesus said unto them, Can ye make the sons of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?

And no man having drunk old wine desireth new; for he saith, The old is good.

But certain of the Pharisees said, Why do ye that which it is not lawful to do on the sabbath day?

how he entered into the house of God, and took and ate the showbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat save for the priests alone?

And he said unto them, The Son of man is lord of the sabbath.

And Jesus said unto them, I ask you, Is it lawful on the sabbath to do good, or to do harm? to save a life, or to destroy it?

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed are ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company , and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy : for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? even sinners lend to sinners, to receive again as much.

But love your enemies, and do them good, and lend, never despairing; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High: for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil.

Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

The disciple is not above his teacher: but every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher.

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me cast out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

For there is no good tree that bringeth forth corrupt fruit; nor again a corrupt tree that bringeth forth good fruit.

For each tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Every one that cometh unto me, and heareth my words, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like:

he is like a man building a house, who digged and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock: and when a flood arose, the stream brake against that house, and could not shake it: because it had been well builded.

But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that built a house upon the earth without a foundation; against which the stream brake, and straightway it fell in; and the ruin of that house was great.

And they, when they came to Jesus, besought him earnestly, saying, He is worthy that thou shouldest do this for him;

for he loveth our nation, and himself built us our synagogue.

And fear took hold on all: and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet is arisen among us: and, God hath visited his people.

And when the men were come unto him, they said, John the Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?

And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me.

This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee.

I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there is none greater than John: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

For John the Baptist is come eating no bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a demon.

The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold, a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!

And wisdom is justified of all her children.

Now when the Pharisee that had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, that she is a sinner.

Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that even forgiveth sins?

The sower went forth to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it.

And other fell on the rock; and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

And other fell into the good ground, and grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. As he said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to the rest in parables; that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

And that which fell among the thorns, these are they that have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

And that in the good ground, these are such as in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bring forth fruit with patience.