and inasmuch as I have gone carefully over them all myself from the very beginning, I have decided, O Theophilus, to write them out in order for your excellency,

They were both just in the sight of God, blameless in their obedience to all the commands and regulations of God;

Now while he was officiating before God in the due course of his division,

the mass of the people all remaining in prayer outside at the hour of incense.

but the angel said to him, "Fear not, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard; your wife Elizabeth will bear a son to you, and you must call his name John.

It will be joy and gladness for you, and many will rejoice over his birth:

for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, he will drink neither wine nor strong drink, he will be filled with the holy Spirit from his very birth;

he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God,

he will go in front of Him with the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers to their children, turning the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make a people ready and prepared for the Lord."

But you will be silent and unable to speak till the day this happens, because you have not believed what I told you; it will be accomplished, for all that, in due time."

He will be great, he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father;

he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and to his reign there will be no end."

The angel answered her, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you; hence what is born will be called holy, Son of God.

for he has considered the humiliation of his servant. From this time forth all generations will call me blessed,

and he asked for a writing-tablet and wrote down, "His name is John," to the astonishment of all.

Then fear fell on all their neighbours, and all these events were talked of through the whole of the hill-country of Judaea.

All who heard of it bore it in mind; they said, "Whatever will this child become?" For the hand of the Lord was indeed with him.

to save us from our foes and from the hand of all who hate us,

in holiness and uprightness all our days within his presence.

by the tender mercy of our God, who will make the Dawn visit us from on high,

Now in those days an edict was issued by Caesar Augustus for a census of the whole world.

and while they were there the days elapsed for her delivery;

and an angel of the Lord flashed upon them, the glory of the Lord shone all round them. They were terribly afraid,

but the angel said to them, "Have no fear. This is good news I am bringing you, news of a great joy that is meant for all the People.

And here is a proof for you: you will find a baby wrapped up and lying in a stall for cattle."

all who heard it were astonished at the story of the shepherds,

and as for Mary, she treasured it all up and mused upon it.

Then the shepherds went away back, glorifying and extolling God for all they had heard and seen as they had been told they would.

which thou hast prepared before the face of all the peoples,

but Symeon blessed them, and to his mother Mary he said, "This child is destined for the downfall as well as for the rise of many a one in Israel; destined to be a Sign for man's attack ??35 to bring out the secret aims of many a heart. And your own soul will be pierced by a spear."

Now at that very hour she came up, and she offered praise to God and spoke of him to all who were on the outlook for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had finished all the regulations of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazaret.

till all his hearers were amazed at the intelligence of his own answers.

and he went into all the Jordan-district preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ??4 as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah, The voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him.

so shall all flesh see the saving power of God.'

The axe is lying all ready at the root of the trees; any tree that is not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

John said to them all, "I baptize you with water, but after me one who is mightier will come, and I am not fit to untie the string of his sandals; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.

But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias his brother's wife as well as for all the wickedness that he, Herod, had committed,

crowned all by shutting John up in prison.

Now when all the people had been baptized and when Jesus had been baptized and was praying, heaven opened

and for forty days he was led by the Spirit in the desert, while the devil tempted him. During these days he ate nothing, and when they were over he felt hungry.

Then he lifted Jesus up and showed him all the realms of the universe in a single instant;

and the devil said to him, "I will give you all their power and grandeur, for it has been made over to me and I can give it to anyone I choose.

If you will worship before me, then it shall all be yours."

for it is written, He will give his angels charge of you,

and They will bear you on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone."

Then Jesus came back in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and the news of him spread over all the surrounding country.

He taught in their synagogues and was glorified by all.

Then, folding up the book, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him,

All spoke well of him and marvelled at the gracious words that came from his lips; they said, "Is this not Joseph's son?"

So he said to them, "No doubt you will repeat to me this proverb, 'Doctor, cure yourself!' 'Do here in your own country all we have heard you did in Capharnahum.'"

I tell you for a fact, In Israel there were many widows during the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land:

When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage;

Then amazement came over them all; they talked it over among themselves, saying, "What does this mean? He orders the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!"

And a report of him spread over all the surrounding country.

At sunset all who had any people ill with any sort of disease brought them to him; he laid his hands on everyone and healed them.

He answered them, "I must preach the glad news of the Reign of God to the other towns as well, for that is what I was sent to do."

Simon replied, "Master, we worked all night and got nothing! However, I will lower the nets at your command."

For amazement had seized him and all his companions at the take of fish they had caught;

as was the case with James and John, the sons of Zebedaeus, who were partners of Simon. Then said Jesus to Simon, "Have no fear; from now your catch will be men."

Then they brought the boats to land, and leaving all they followed him.

while he kept in lonely places and prayed.

One day he was teaching, and near him sat Pharisees and doctors of the Law who had come from every village of Galilee and Judaea as well as from Jerusalem. Now the power of the Lord was present for the work of healing.

but when they could not find any means of getting him in, on account of the crowd, they climbed to the top of the house and let him down through the tiles, mattress and all among the people in front of Jesus.

And all were seized with astonishment; they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen incredible things to-day."

Jesus replied to them, "Healthy people have no need of a doctor, but those who are ill:

Jesus said to them, "Can you make friends at a wedding fast while the bride groom is beside them?

A time will come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and then they will fast at that time."

He also told them a parable: "No one tears a piece from a new cloak and sews it on an old cloak; otherwise he will tear the new cloak, and the new piece will not match with the old.

No one pours fresh wine into old wineskins; otherwise the fresh wine will burst the wineskins, the wine will be spilt and the wineskins ruined.

He went into the house of God, took the loaves of the Presence and ate them, giving them to his men as well ??bread that no one is allowed to eat except the priests."

And glancing round at them all in anger he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was quite restored.

It was in these days that he went off to the hillside to pray. He spent the whole night in prayer to God,

With them he came down the hill and stood on a level spot. There was a great company of his disciples with him, and a large multitude of people from all Judaea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to get cured of their diseases.

Indeed the whole of the crowd made efforts to touch him, for power issued from him and cured everybody.

Blessed are you when men will hate you, when they will excommunicate you and denounce you and defame you as wicked on account of the Son of man;

But woe to you rich folk! you get all the comforts you will ever get.

Woe to you who have your fill to-day! you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh to-day! you will wail and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you! that is just what their fathers did to the false prophets.

If a man strikes you on the one cheek, offer him the other as well: if anyone takes your coat, do not deny him your shirt as well;

No, you must love your enemies and help them, you must lend to them without expecting any return; then you will have a rich reward, you will be sons of the Most High for he is kind even to the ungrateful and the evil.

Also, judge not, and you will not be judged yourselves: condemn not, and you will not be condemned: pardon, and you will be pardoned yourselves:

give, and you will have ample measure given you ??they will pour into your lap measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over; for the measure you deal out to others will be dealt back to yourselves."

He also told them a parabolic word: "Can one blind man lead another? will they not both fall into a pit?

A scholar is not above his teacher: but if he is perfectly trained he will be like his teacher.

How dare you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,' and you never notice the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite! take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see properly to take out the splinter in your brother's eye.

Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like.

He is like a man engaged in building a house, who dug deep down and laid his foundation on the rock; when a flood came, the river dashed against that house but could not shake it, for it had been well built.

Now there was an army-captain who had a servant ill whom he valued very highly. This man was at the point of death;

so, when the captain heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and make his servant well.

Then the messengers went back to the house and found the sick servant was quite well.

All were seized with awe and glorified God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said, "God has visited his people."

And this story of Jesus spread through the whole of Judaea and all the surrounding country.

John's disciples reported all this to him.

(On hearing this all the people and the taxgatherers acknowledged the justice of God, as they had been baptized with the baptism of John;

Nevertheless, Wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

As they were unable to pay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, now, which of them will love him most?"

Then turning to the woman he said to Simon, "You see this woman? When I came into your house, you never gave me water for my feet, while she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair;

you never gave me a kiss, while ever since she came in she has kept pressing kisses on my feet;

you never anointed my head with oil, while she has anointed my feet with perfume.