it has seemed right to me also, after careful investigation of the facts from their commencement, to write for you, most noble Theophilus, a connected account,

that you may fully know the truth of the things which you have been taught by word of mouth.

"By what proof," asked Zechariah, "shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is far advanced in years."

And now you will be dumb and unable to speak until the day when this has taken place; because you did not believe my words--words which will be fulfilled at their appointed time."

"Thus has the Lord dealt with me," she said, "now that He has graciously taken away my reproach among men."

"I am the Lord's maidservant," Mary replied; "may it be with me in accordance with your words!" And then the angel left her.

But why is this honour done me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the babe within me leapt for joy.

Then Mary said: "My soul extols the Lord,

And my spirit triumphs in God my Saviour;

Because He has not turned from His maidservant in her lowly position; For from this time forward all generations will account me happy,

Because the mighty One has done great things for me--Holy is His name!--

and a sword will pierce through your own soul also; that the reasonings in many hearts may be revealed."

When they saw Him, they were smitten with amazement, and His mother said to Him, "My child, why have you behaved thus to us? Your father and I have been searching for you in anguish."

"Why is it that you have been searching for me?" He replied; "did you not know that it is my duty to be engaged upon my Father's business?"

he answered the question by saying to them all, "As for me, I am baptizing you with water, but One mightier than I is coming, whose very sandal-strap I am not worthy to unfasten: He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and with fire.

and the Holy Spirit came down in bodily shape, like a dove, upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven, which said, "Thou art My Son, dearly loved: in Thee is My delight."

And the Devil said to Him, "To you will I give all this authority and this splendour; for it has been handed over to me, and on whomsoever I will I bestow it.

If therefore you do homage to me, it shall all be yours.'

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the poor; He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners of war and recovery of sight to the blind: to send away free those whom tyranny has crushed,

"Doubtless," said He, "you will quote to me the proverb, 'Physician, cure yourself: all that we hear that you have done at Capernaum, do here also in your native place.'"

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at the knees of Jesus, and exclaimed, "Master, leave my boat, for I am a sinful man."

On another occasion, when He was in one of the towns, there was a man there covered with leprosy, who, seeing Jesus, threw himself at His feet and implored Him, saying, "Sir, if only you are willing, you are able to make me clean."

After this He went out and noticed a tax-gatherer, Levi by name, sitting at the Toll office; and He said to him, "Follow me."

"But to you who are listening to me I say, Love your enemies; seek the welfare of those who hate you;

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 why do you all call me 'Master, Master' and yet not do what I tell you?

Every one who comes to me and listens to my words and puts them in practice, I will show you whom he is like.

Then Jesus went with them. But when He was not far from the house, the Captain sent friends to Him with the message: "Sir, do not trouble to come. I am not worthy of having you come under my roof;

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

For I too am a man obedient to authority, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this or that,' and he does it."

And blessed is every one who does not stumble and fall because of my claims."

John is the man about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending My messenger before thy face, and he shall make ready thy way before thee.'

But neither of them could pay anything; so he freely forgave them both. Tell me, then, which of them will love him most?"

Then turning towards the woman He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house: you gave me no water for my feet; but she has made my feet wet with her tears, and then wiped the tears away with her hair.

No kiss did you give me; but she from the moment I came in has not left off tenderly kissing my feet.

No oil did you pour even on my head; but she has poured perfume upon my feet.

"To you," He replied, "it is granted to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God; but all others are taught by parables, in order that they may see and yet not see, and may hear and yet not understand.

"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.

"My mother and my brothers," He replied, "are these who hear God's Message and obey it."

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."

"Who is it touched me?" Jesus asked. And when all denied having done so, Peter and the rest said, "Rabbi, the crowds are hemming you in and pressing on you."

"Some one has touched me," Jesus replied, "for I feel that power has gone out from me."

Now when the day began to decline, the Twelve came to Him and said, "Send the people away, that they may go to the villages and farms round about and find lodging and a supply of food; because here we are in an uninhabited district."

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.

For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it.

For whoever shall have been ashamed of me and my teachings, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own and the Father's glory and in that of the holy angels.

Then there came a voice from within the cloud: "This is My Son, My Chosen One: listen to Him."

and a man from the crowd called out, "Rabbi, I beg you to pity my son, for he is my only child.

"O unbelieving and perverse generation!" replied Jesus; "how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here to me."

"As for you, store these my sayings in your memory; for, before long, the Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men."

and said to them, "Whoever for my sake receives this little child, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives Him who sent me. For the lowliest among you all--he is the greatest."

"Follow me," He said to another. "Master," the man replied, "allow me first to go and bury my father."

"Master," said yet another, "I will follow you; but allow me first to go and say good-bye to my friends at home."

"He who listens to you listens to me; and he who disregards you disregards me, and he who disregards me disregards Him who sent me."

All things are delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is but the Father, nor who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son may choose to reveal Him."

But he, desiring to justify himself, said, "But what is meant by my 'fellow man'?"

The next day he took out two shillings and gave them to the innkeeper. "'Take care of him,' he said, 'and whatever further expense you are put to, I will repay it you at my next visit.'

Martha meanwhile was busy and distracted in waiting at table, and she came and said, "Master, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do all the waiting? Tell her to assist me."

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

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him in the middle of the night and say, "'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;

for a friend of mine has just come to my house from a distance, and I have nothing for him to eat'?

"And he from indoors shall answer, "'Do not pester me. The door is now barred, and I am here in bed with my children. I cannot get up and give you bread.'

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever is not gathering with me is scattering abroad.

"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.

so that the blood of all the Prophets, that is being shed from the creation of the world onwards, may be required from the present generation.

"But to you who are my friends I say, "'Be not afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do nothing further.

"And I tell you that every man who shall have acknowledged me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.

But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.

"Moreover every one who shall speak against the Son of Man, may obtain forgiveness; but he who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never obtain forgiveness.

Just then a man in the crowd appealed to Him. "Rabbi," he said, "tell my brother to give me a share of the inheritance."

"Man," He replied, "who has constituted me a judge or arbitrator over you?"

and he debated within himself, saying, "'What am I to do? for I have no place in which to store my crops.'

"And he said to himself, "'This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and in them I will store up all my harvest and my wealth;

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.'

and be yourselves like men waiting for their master--on the look-out till he shall return from the wedding feast--that, when he comes and knocks, they may open the door instantly.

But if that servant should say in his heart, 'My Master is a long time in coming,' and should begin to beat the menservants and the maids, and to eat and drink, drinking even to excess;

"I came to throw fire upon the earth, and what is my desire? Oh that it were even now kindled!

For when, with your opponent, you are going before the magistrate, on the way take pains to get out of his power; for fear that, if he should drag you before the judge, the judge may hand you over to the officer of the court, and the officer lodge you in prison.

"But He will reply, "'I tell you that you are no friends of mine. Begone from me, all of you, wrongdoers that you are.'

"Go," He replied, "and take this message to that fox: "'See, to-day and to-morrow I am driving out demons and effecting cures, and on the third day I finish my course.'

"Yet I must continue my journey to-day and to-morrow and the day following; for it is not conceivable that a Prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.

See, your house is left to you. But I tell you that you will never see me again until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

"When any one invites you to a wedding banquet, do not take the best seat, lest perhaps some more honoured guest than you may have been asked,

On the contrary, when you are invited go and take the lowest place, that when your host comes round he may say to you, 'My friend, come up higher.' This will be doing you honour in the presence of all the other guests.

"But they all without exception began to excuse themselves. The first told him, "'I have purchased a piece of land, and must of necessity go and look at it. Pray hold me excused.'

"A second pleaded, "'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and am on my way to try them. Pray hold me excused.'

"Another said, "'I am just married. It is impossible for me to come.'

"'Go out,' replied the master, 'to the high roads and hedge-rows, and compel the people to come in, so that my house may be filled.

For I tell you that not one of those who were invited shall taste my dinner.'"

"If any one is coming to me who does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and his own life also, he cannot be a disciple of mine.

No one who does not carry his own cross and come after me can be a disciple of mine.

Then coming home he calls his friends and neighbours together, and says, 'Congratulate me, for I have found my sheep--the one I had lost.'

And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, and says, "'Congratulate me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.'

The younger of them said to his father, "'Father, give me the share of the property that comes to me.' "So he divided his wealth between them.

"But on coming to himself he said, "'How many of my father's hired men have more bread than they want, while I here am dying of hunger!

I will rise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you:

I no longer deserve to be called a son of yours: treat me as one of your hired men.'

for my son here was dead and has come to life again: he was lost and has been found.' "And they began to be merry.

"'All these years,' replied the son, 'I have been slaving for you, and I have never at any time disobeyed any of your orders, and yet you have never given me so much as a kid, for me to enjoy myself with my friends;