it seemed best to me also--[because I] have followed all [things] carefully from the beginning--to write [them] down in orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus,

so that you may know the certainty concerning the things about which you were taught.

And Zechariah said to the angel, "By what will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced {in years}!"

And behold, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day these [things] take place, {because} you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."

"Thus the Lord has done for me in the days in which he has concerned himself with [me], to take away my disgrace among people."

So Mary said, "Behold, the Lord's female slave! May it happen to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

And why [is] this [granted] to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy!

And Mary said, "My soul exalts the Lord,

and my spirit has rejoiced greatly in God my Savior,

because he has looked upon the humble state of his female slave, for behold, from now on all generations will consider me blessed,

because the Mighty [One] has done great [things] for me, and holy [is] his name.

For my eyes have seen your salvation

And he said to them, "{Why} were you searching for me? Did you not know that it was necessary [for] me to be in the [house] of my Father?"

and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

And the devil said to him, "I will give you all this domain and their glory, because it has been handed over to me, and I can give it to whomever I want.

So if you will worship before me, all [this] will be yours."

"The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because of which he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send out in freedom those who are oppressed,

And he said to them, "Doubtless you will tell me this parable: 'Physician, heal yourself!' Whatever we have heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in your hometown also!"

But he said to them, "It is necessary [for] me to proclaim the good news [of] the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this [purpose].

And [when he] saw [it], Simon Peter fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, Lord, because I am {a sinful man}!"

And it happened that while he was in one of the towns, {there was} a man {covered with leprosy}. And [when he] saw Jesus, he fell down on [his] face [and] begged him, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, you are able to make me clean."

But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," he said to the one who was paralyzed, "I say to you, 'Get up and pick up your stretcher [and] go to your home.'"

And after these [things], he went out and saw a tax collector {named} Levi sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me!"

And if you lend [to those] from whom you expect to receive [back], what kind of credit is [that] to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may get back an equal [amount]!

How are you able to say to your brother, "Brother, allow [me] to remove the speck [that is] in your eye," [while] you yourself do not see the beam of wood in your [own] eye? Hypocrite! First remove the beam of wood from your [own] eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck [that is] in your brother's eye!

"And why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell [you]?

"Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and does them--I will show you what he is like:

But the one who hears [my words] and does not do [them] is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, which the river burst against, and immediately it collapsed--and the collapse of that house was great!"

So Jesus went with them. Now by this time he was not far away from the house, [and] the centurion sent friends, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof.

For this reason neither did I consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word and my slave must be healed.

For I also am a man placed under authority, who has soldiers under me, and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another one, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does [it]."

And whoever is not offended by me is blessed."

It is this man about whom it is written: 'Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'

And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house. You did not give me water for [my] feet, but she wet my feet with [her] tears and wiped [them] with her hair.

You did not give me a kiss, but from the time I entered, she has not stopped kissing my feet.

You did not anoint my head with olive oil, but she anointed my feet with perfumed oil.

And he said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest [they are] in parables, so that 'Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'

and those beside the path are the ones who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they may not believe [and] be saved.

But he answered [and] said to them, "These are my mother and my brothers--the ones who hear the word of God and do [it].

And [when he] saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, "{What do I have to do with you}, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!"

And Jesus said, "Who [is] the one who touched me?" And [when they] all denied [it], Peter said, "Master, the crowds are pressing you hard and crowding [you]!"

But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, because I know power has gone out from me."

And he said to [them] all, "If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross every day and follow me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me, this person will save it.

For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of this person when he comes in his glory and the [glory] of the Father and of the holy angels.

And a voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, [my] Chosen One. Listen to him!"

And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, saying, "Teacher, I beg you to look with concern on my son, because he is my only [son]!

and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For the one who is least among you all--this one is great."

And he said to another, "Follow me!" But he said, "Lord, first allow me to go [and] bury my father."

And another [person] also said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first allow me to say farewell to those in my house."

The one who listens to you listens to me, and the one who rejects you rejects me. But the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

All [things] have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father and who the Father is except the Son, and [anyone] to whom the Son wants to reveal [him]."

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"

But Martha was distracted with much preparation, so she approached [and] said, "Lord, is it not a concern to you that my sister has left me alone to make preparations? Then tell her that she should help me!"

And he said to them, "When you pray, say, "Father, may your name be treated as holy. May your kingdom come.

And he said to them, "Who of you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves,

because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I do not have anything to set before him.'

And that one will answer from inside [and] say, 'Do not cause me trouble! The door has already been shut and my children are with me in bed! I am not able to get up to give you [anything].'

The one who is not with me is against me, and the one who does not gather with me scatters.

"Whenever an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it travels through waterless places searching for rest, and does not find [it]. It says, 'I will return to my house from which I came out.'

so that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,

"And I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after these [things] do not have anything more to do.

"And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before people, the Son of Man also will acknowledge him before the angels of God,

but the one who denies me before people will be denied before the angels of God.

Now someone from the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me!"

But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?"

And he reasoned to himself, saying, 'What should I do? For I do not have anywhere I can gather in my crops.'

And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will gather in there all my grain and possessions.

And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many possessions stored up for many years. Relax, eat, drink, celebrate!" '

But if that slave should say {to himself}, 'My master is taking a long time to return,' and he begins to beat the male slaves and the female slaves and to eat and drink and get drunk,

And he will reply, saying to you, 'I do not know where you are from! Go away from me, all [you] {evildoers}!'

And he said to them, "Go [and] tell that fox, 'Behold, I am expelling demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third [day] I will complete [my work].'

Nevertheless, it is necessary [for] me to be on the way today and tomorrow and on the next [day], because it is not possible [for] a prophet to perish outside Jerusalem.

Behold, your house has been left to you! And I tell you, you will never see me until [the time] will come when you say, 'Blessed [is] the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

And they all {alike} began to excuse themselves. The first said to him, 'I have purchased a field, and {I must} go out to look at it. I ask you, consider me excused.'

And another said, 'I have purchased five yoke of oxen, and I am going to examine them. I ask you, consider me excused.'

And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and hedges and press [them] to come in, so that my house will be filled!

For I say to you that none of those persons who were invited will taste my banquet!'"

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and furthermore, even his own life, {he cannot be} my disciple.

Whoever does not carry his own cross and {follow} me {cannot be} my disciple.

In the [same] way, therefore, every [one] of you who does not renounce all his own possessions {cannot be} my disciple.

And [when he] returns to [his] home, he calls together [his] friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost!'

And [when she] has found [it], she calls together [her] friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found the drachma that I had lost!'

And the younger of them said to [his] father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that is coming to [me].' So he divided [his] assets between them.

"But [when he] came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired workers have an abundance {of food}, and I am dying here from hunger!

I will set out [and] go to my father and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and {in your sight}!

I am no longer worthy to be called your son! Make me like one of your hired workers.'

But he answered [and] said to his father, 'Behold, so many years I have served you, and have never disobeyed your command! And you never gave me a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends!

But he said to him, 'Child, you are always with me, and {everything I have belongs to you}.

And the manager said to himself, 'What should I do, because my master is taking away the management from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.

I know what I should do, so that when I am removed from the management they will welcome me into their homes!'

And he summoned each one of his own master's debtors [and] said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'

And he called out [and] said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he could dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering pain in this flame!'

So he said, 'Then I ask you, father, that you send him to my father's house,

Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare something that I may eat, and dress yourself to serve me while I eat and drink, and after these [things] you will eat and drink.'

And there was a widow in that town, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Grant me justice against my adversary!'

yet because this widow is causing trouble for me, I will grant her justice, so that she does not wear me down in the end [by her] coming back!'"

But the tax collector, standing far away, did not want even to raise his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'

But Jesus called them to himself, saying, "Allow the children to come to me, and do not forbid them, {for to such belongs} the kingdom of God.