But the angel said to him:

Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
because your prayer has been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son,
and you will name him John.

After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and kept herself in seclusion for five months. She said,

And the angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.”

“I am the Lord’s slave,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

And Mary said:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

Then they said to her, “None of your relatives has that name.”

But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:

When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

Simeon took Him up in his arms, praised God, and said:

His father and mother were amazed at what was being said about Him.

When His parents saw Him, they were astonished, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”

But they did not understand what He said to them.

He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Some soldiers also questioned him: “What should we do?”

He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation; be satisfied with your wages.”

The Devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

The Devil said to Him, “I will give You their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want.

So he took Him to Jerusalem, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.

And Jesus answered him, “It is said: Do not test the Lord your God.”

They were all speaking well of Him and were amazed by the gracious words that came from His mouth, yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

Then He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. So all we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown also.’”

He also said, “I assure you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown.

But Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet and come out of him!”

And throwing him down before them, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all.

But He said to them, “I must proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.”

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”

Seeing their faith He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”

Then everyone was astounded, and they were giving glory to God. And they were filled with awe and said, “We have seen incredible things today!”

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!”

Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”

Jesus said to them, “You can’t make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you?

But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

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

Then looking up at His disciples, He said:

You who are poor are blessed,
because the kingdom of God is yours.

Jesus heard this and was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, “I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel!”

When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Don’t cry.”

Then He came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And He said, “Young man, I tell you, get up!”

When the men reached Him, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask You, ‘Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?’”

When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him—she’s a sinner!”

Jesus replied to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

“Teacher,” he said, “say it.”

Turning to the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she, with her tears, has washed My feet and wiped them with her hair.

Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

As a large crowd was gathering, and people were flocking to Him from every town, He said in a parable:

Still other seed fell on good ground; when it sprang up, it produced a crop: 100 times what was sown.” As He said this, He called out, “Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!”

So He said, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you to know, but to the rest it is in parables, so that

Looking they may not see,
and hearing they may not understand.

He said to them, “Where is your faith?”

They were fearful and amazed, asking one another, “Who can this be? He commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey Him!”

When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What do You have to do with me, Jesus, You Son of the Most High God? I beg You, don’t torment me!”

“What is your name?” Jesus asked him.

“Legion,” he said—because many demons had entered him.

The man from whom the demons had departed kept begging Him to be with Him. But He sent him away and said,

“Who touched Me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are hemming You in and pressing against You.”

“Someone did touch Me,” said Jesus. “I know that power has gone out from Me.”

“Daughter,” He said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

Everyone was crying and mourning for her. But He said, “Stop crying, for she is not dead but asleep.”

Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was going on. He was perplexed, because some said that John had been raised from the dead,

“I beheaded John,” Herod said, “but who is this I hear such things about?” And he wanted to see Him.

Late in the day, the Twelve approached and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a deserted place here.”

“You give them something to eat,” He told them.

“We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

As the two men were departing from Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it’s good for us to be here! Let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”

As they were traveling on the road someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go!”

Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

“Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.”

Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.”

But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a lightning flash.

In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure.

Then turning to His disciples He said privately, “The eyes that see the things you see are blessed!

Jesus took up the question and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead.

The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’

“The one who showed mercy to him,” he said.

Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said.

He was praying in a certain place, and when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say:

Father,
Your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.

He also said to them: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!”

As He was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “The womb that bore You and the one who nursed You are blessed!”

He said, “Even more, those who hear the word of God and keep it are blessed!”

But the Lord said to him: “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil.

Then He said: “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, yet you yourselves don’t touch these burdens with one of your fingers.

Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’

they were lying in wait for Him to trap Him in something He said.

Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what must be said.”

Someone from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

“Friend,” He said to him, “who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”

I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there.

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’

Then He said to His disciples: “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear.

The Lord said: “Who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time?

He also said to the crowds: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, right away you say, ‘A storm is coming,’ and so it does.

But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you untie his ox or donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead it to water?

When He had said these things, all His adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things He was doing.

He said, therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like, and what can I compare it to?

Again He said, “What can I compare the kingdom of God to?

“Lord,” someone asked Him, “are there few being saved?”

He said to them,

He said to them, “Go tell that fox, ‘Look! I’m driving out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will complete My work.’

And to them, He said, “Which of you whose son or ox falls into a well, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?”

He also said to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers, your relatives, or your rich neighbors, because they might invite you back, and you would be repaid.

When one of those who reclined at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed!”