it fell to his lot--according to the custom of the priesthood--to go into the Sanctuary of the Lord and burn the incense;

and uttered a loud cry of joy. "Blest among women are you," she said, "and the offspring of your body is blest!

and she gave birth to her first-born son, and wrapped Him round, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Then, as soon as the angels had left them and returned to Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go over as far as Bethlehem and see this that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."

Led by the Spirit he came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do with regard to Him according to the custom of the Law,

A light to shine upon the Gentiles, And the glory of Thy people Israel."

"Let the man who has two coats," he answered, "give one to the man who has none; and let the man who has food share it with others."

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led about by the Spirit in the Desert for forty days,

The Devil next led Him up and caused Him to see at a glance all the kingdoms of the world.

But in the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of a foul demon. In a loud voice he cried out,

At sunset all who had friends suffering from any illness brought them to Him, and He laid His hands on them all, one by one, and cured them.

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Push out into deep water, and let down your nets for a haul."

"Rabbi," replied Peter, "all night long we have worked hard and caught nothing; but at your command I will let down the nets."

But when they could find no way of doing so because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiling--bed and all--into the midst, in front of Jesus.

This led the Pharisees and Scribes of their party to expostulate with His disciples and ask, "Why are you eating and drinking with these tax-gatherers and notorious sinners?"

He also spoke to them in figurative language. "Can a blind man lead a blind man?" He asked; "would not both fall into the ditch?

How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take that splinter out of your eye,' when all the while you yourself do not see the beam in your own eye? Vain pretender! take the beam out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother's eye.

and therefore I did not deem myself worthy to come to you. Only speak the word, and let my young man be cured.

"When any one lights a lamp, he does not cover it with a vessel or hide it under a couch; he puts it on a lampstand, that people who enter the room may see the light.

There is nothing hidden, which shall not be openly seen; nor anything secret, which shall not be known and come into the light of day.

One day He went on board a boat--both He and his disciples; and He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the Lake." So they set sail.

When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of God Most High? Do not torture me, I beseech you."

And He said to all, "If any one is desirous of following me, let him ignore self and take up his cross day by day, and so be my follower.

And when they were preparing to depart from Him, Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we are thankful to you that we are here. Let us put up three tents--one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what he was saying.

So He said to them, "When you pray, say, 'Father may Thy name be kept holy; let Thy Kingdom come;

As He thus spoke a woman in the crowd called out in a loud voice, "Blessed is the mother who carried you, and the breasts that you have sucked."

"When any one lights a lamp, he never puts it in the cellar or under the bushel, but on the lampstand, that people who come in may see the light.

Consider therefore whether the light that is in you is anything but mere darkness.

If, however, your whole body is penetrated with light, and has no part dark, it will be so lighted, all of it, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light."

"Alas too for you expounders of the Law!" replied Jesus, "for you load men with cumbrous burdens which you yourselves will not touch with one of your fingers.

Whatever therefore you have said in the dark, will be heard in the light; and what you have whispered within closed doors will be proclaimed from the house-tops.

and I will say to my life, "'Life, you have ample possessions laid up for many years to come: take your ease, eat, drink, enjoy yourself.'

"Have your girdles on, and let your lamps be alight;

that servant's Master will come on a day when he is not expecting Him and at an hour that he knows not of, and will punish him severely, and make him share the lot of the unfaithful.

But the Lord's reply to him was, "Hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his bullock or his ass from the stall and lead him to water?

This led Jesus to ask the lawyers and Pharisees, "Is it allowable to cure people on the Sabbath?"

lest perhaps, when he has laid the foundation and is unable to finish, all who see it shall begin to jeer at him,

and this led the Pharisees and the Scribes indignantly to complain, saying, "He gives a welcome to notorious sinners, and joins them at their meals!"

"Or what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully till she finds it?

Fetch the fat calf and kill it, and let us feast and enjoy ourselves;

He called him and said, "'What is this I hear about you? Render an account of your stewardship, for I cannot let you hold it any longer.'

"And the master praised the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for, in relation to their own contemporaries, the men of this age are shrewder than the sons of Light.

For I have five brothers. Let him earnestly warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'

"'They have Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham; 'let them hear them.'

"'If they are deaf to Moses and the Prophets,' replied Abraham, 'they would not be led to believe even if some one should rise from the dead.'"

In loud voices they cried out, "Jesus, Rabbi, take pity on us."

One of them, seeing that he was cured, came back, adoring and praising God in a loud voice,

The same was true in the time of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building;

but on the day that Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from the sky and destroyed them all.

"On that day, if a man is on the roof and his property indoors, let him not go down to fetch it; and, in the same way, he who is in the field, let him not turn back.

Remember Lot's wife.

Jesus however called the infants to Him. "Let the little children come to me," He said; "do not hinder them; for it is to those who are childlike that the Kingdom of God belongs.

"What shall I do for you?" "Sir," he replied, "let me recover my sight."

And when He was now getting near Jerusalem, and descending the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began in their joy to praise God in loud voices for all the mighty deeds they had witnessed.

Then He proceeded to speak a parable to the people. "There was a man," He said, "who planted a vineyard, let it out to vine-dressers, and went abroad for a considerable time.

"But when the vine-dressers saw him, they discussed the matter with one another, and said, "'This is the heir: let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.'

Then let those who shall be in Judaea escape to the hills; let those who are in the city leave it, and those who are in the country not enter in.

With you it is not so; but let the greatest among you be as the younger, and the leader be like him who serves.

"But now," said He, "let the one who has a purse take it, and he who has a bag must do the same. And let him who has no sword sell his outer garment and buy one.

And they arrested Him and led Him away, and brought Him to the High Priest's house, while Peter followed a good way behind.

I will therefore give him a light punishment and release him."

A third time he appealed to them: "Why, what crime has the man committed? I have discovered in him nothing that deserves death. I will therefore give him a light punishment and release him."

As soon as they led Him away, they laid hold on one Simon, a Cyrenaean, who was coming in from the country, and on his shoulders they put the cross, for him to carry it behind Jesus.

and the people stood looking on. The Rulers, too, repeatedly uttered their bitter taunts. "This fellow," they said, "saved others: let him save himself, if he is God's Anointed, the Chosen One."

and Jesus cried out in a loud voice, and said, "Father, to Thy hands I entrust my spirit." And after uttering these words He yielded up His spirit.

Then, taking it down, he wrapped it in a linen sheet and laid it in a tomb in the rock, where no one else had yet been put.