it seemed fitting for me as well, [and so I have decided] after having carefully searched out and investigated all the events accurately, from the very beginning, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus;

And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous [which is to seek and submit to the will of God]—in order to make ready a people [perfectly] prepared [spiritually and morally] for the Lord.”

And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished.

In holiness [being set apart] and righteousness [being upright] before Him all our days.

Even now the axe [of God’s judgment] is swinging toward the root of the trees; so every tree that does not produce good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.”

So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

But, in order that you may know that the Son of Man (the Messiah) has authority and power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralyzed man, “I say to you, get up, pick up your stretcher and go home.”

Jesus replied to them, “Have you not even read [in the Scriptures] what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him—

On another Sabbath He went into the synagogue and taught, and a man was present whose right hand was withered.

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you directly: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?”

When John’s messengers left, Jesus began speaking to the crowds about John: “What did you go out to the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

Those beside the road are the people who have heard; then the devil comes and takes the message [of God] away from their hearts, so that they will not believe [in Me as the Messiah] and be saved.

Those on the rocky soil are the people who, when they hear, receive and welcome the word with joy; but these have no firmly grounded root. They believe for a while, and in time of trial and temptation they fall away [from Me and abandon their faith].

And people came out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind (mentally healthy); and they were frightened.

As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.”

Jesus said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

Now by coincidence a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

Likewise a Levite also came down to the place and saw him, and passed by on the other side [of the road].

“And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right?

And Jesus asked the lawyers and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

He said, ‘A hundred measures of [olive] oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’

Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

the people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, [they were indifferent to God] until the day that Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and were confident that they were righteous [posing outwardly as upright and in right standing with God], and who viewed others with contempt:

I tell you, this man went to his home justified [forgiven of the guilt of sin and placed in right standing with God] rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself [forsaking self-righteous pride] will be exalted.”

As He rode along, people were spreading their coats on the road [as an act of homage before a king].

At harvest time he sent a servant [as his representative] to the tenants, so that they would give him his share of the fruit of the vineyard; but the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed.

They asked Him, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and that You show no partiality to anyone, but teach the way of God truthfully.

and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us [a law that] if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife and no children, his brother should marry the wife and raise children for his brother.

For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

‘The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (the Son, the Messiah),
“Sit at My right hand,

And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”

(He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection that happened in the city, and for murder.)

And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he handed over Jesus to their will.

When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.

A man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), a good and honorable man

They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was talking with us on the road and opening the Scriptures to us?”

They began describing in detail what had happened on the road, and how Jesus was recognized by them when He broke the bread.