But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, because your petition [in prayer] was heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.

And Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I be certain of this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in age.”

And coming to her, the angel said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

But she was greatly perplexed at what he said, and kept carefully considering what kind of greeting this was.

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin and have no intimacy with any man?”

Then the angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a cloud]; for that reason the holy (pure, sinless) Child shall be called the Son of God.

Then Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel left her.

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies and exalts the Lord,

And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by that name.”

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying one to another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem, and see this [wonderful] thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”

and [they came also] to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord [to be appropriate for a family of modest means], “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Simeon took Him into his arms, and blessed and praised and thanked God, and said,

And His [legal] father and His mother were amazed at what was said about Him.

Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Listen carefully: this Child is appointed and destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that is to be opposed—

When they saw Him, they were overwhelmed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Listen, Your father and I have been [greatly distressed and] anxiously looking for You.”

And He answered, “Why did you have to look for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

So he began saying to the crowds who were coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath [of God that is] to come?

Even some tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked, “Teacher, what are we to do?”

And he told them, “Collect no more than the fixed amount you have been ordered to [collect].”

Then the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to turn into bread.”

And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this realm and its glory [its power, its renown]; because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

Then he led Jesus to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple, and said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here;

And [as He continued on] they all were speaking well of Him, and were in awe and were wondering about the words of grace which were coming from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

So He said to them, “You will no doubt quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal Yourself! Whatever [miracles] that we heard were done [by You] in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown as well.’”

Then He said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

They were all astonished and in awe, and began saying to one another, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out!”

But He said, “I must preach [the good news of] the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because I was sent for this purpose.”

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon [Peter], “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch [of fish].”

and so were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon [Peter]. Jesus said to Simon, “Have no fear; from now on you will be catching men!”

Jesus ordered him to tell no one [that he might happen to meet], “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your purification, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony (witness) to them [that this is a work of Messiah].”

When Jesus saw their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], He said, “Man, your sins are forgiven.”

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.”

After this Jesus went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi (Matthew) sitting at the tax booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me [as My disciple, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk].”

Then they said to Him, “The disciples of John [the Baptist] often practice fasting and offer prayers [of special petition], and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but Yours eat and drink.”

Jesus said to them, “Can you make the wedding guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?

Jesus was saying to them, “The Son of Man (the Messiah) is Lord [even] of the Sabbath.”

But He was aware of their thoughts, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward.” So he got up and stood there.

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?”

After looking around at them all, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did, and his hand was [fully] restored.

And looking toward His disciples, He began speaking: “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are you who are poor [in spirit, those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for the kingdom of God is yours [both now and forever].

Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith [as this man’s].”

When the Lord saw her, He felt [great] compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.”

And He came up and touched the bier [on which the body rested], and the pallbearers stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise [from death]!”

So the men came to Jesus and said, “John the Baptist sent us to You to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One (the Messiah), or should we look for someone else?’”

Now when [Simon] the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this Man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching Him, that she is a [notorious] sinner [an outcast, devoted to sin].”

Jesus, answering, said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Teacher, say it.”

Simon answered, “The one, I take it, for whom he forgave more.” Jesus said to him, “You have decided correctly.”

Then turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house [but you failed to extend to Me the usual courtesies shown to a guest]; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair [demonstrating her love].

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

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith [in Me] has saved you; go in peace [free from the distress experienced because of sin].”

When a large crowd was gathering together, and people from city after city were coming to Him, He spoke [to them] using a parable:

And some fell into good soil, and grew up and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”

And He said, “To you [who have been chosen] it has been granted to know and recognize the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that though seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake (Sea of Galilee).” So they set out.

And He said to them, “Where is your faith [your confidence in Me]?” They were afraid and astonished, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey Him?”

Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” While they all were denying it, Peter [and those who were with him] said, “Master, the people are crowding and pushing against You!”

But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, because I was aware that power [to heal] had gone out of Me.”

He said to her, “Daughter, your faith [your personal trust and confidence in Me] has made you well. Go in peace (untroubled, undisturbed well-being).”

While He was still speaking, someone from the synagogue official’s house came and said [to Jairus], “Your daughter is dead; do not inconvenience the Teacher any further.”

Now they were all weeping loudly and mourning for her; but He said, “Do not weep, for she is not dead, but is sleeping.”

And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey [that might encumber you]—neither a walking stick, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece.

Now Herod [Antipas] the tetrarch [who governed a portion of Palestine including Galilee and Perea] heard about all that was being done [by Jesus], and he was thoroughly perplexed, because it was said by some that John [the Baptist whom he had ordered beheaded] had been raised from the dead,

Herod said, “I personally had John beheaded. Who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see Jesus.

Now the day was ending, and the twelve [disciples] came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging, and get provisions; because here we are in an isolated place.”

But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.”

(For there were about 5,000 men.) And He said to His disciples, “Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each.”

And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “The Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) of God!”

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross daily [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].

And as these [men, Moses and Elijah] were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is delightful and good for us to be here; we should make three [sacred] tents; one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying.

They were all amazed [practically overwhelmed] at the [evidence of the] greatness of God and His majesty and His wondrous work.

But while they were still awed by everything Jesus was doing, He said to His disciples,

John replied, “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in Your name; and we tried to stop him because he does not follow along with us.”

When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and destroy them?”

But He turned and rebuked them [and He said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are;

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

He said to another, “Follow Me [accepting Me as Master and Teacher].” But he said, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.”

But He said to him, “Allow the [spiritually] dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and spread the news about the kingdom of God.”

Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord [as Your disciple]; but first let me say goodbye to those at my home.”

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

He was saying to them, “The harvest is abundant [for there are many who need to hear the good news about salvation], but the workers [those available to proclaim the message of salvation] are few. Therefore, [prayerfully] ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.

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

In that very hour He was overjoyed and rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and He said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things [relating to salvation] from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to infants [the childlike and untaught]. Yes, Father, for this way was [Your gracious will and choice, and was] well-pleasing in Your sight.

Then turning to His disciples, Jesus said privately, “Blessed [joyful, spiritually enlightened, and favored by God] are the eyes which see what you see,

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

Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this habitually and you will live.”

But he, wishing to justify and vindicate himself, asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

He answered, “The one who showed compassion and mercy to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and constantly do the same.”

But Martha was very busy and distracted with all of her serving responsibilities; and she approached Him and said, “Lord, is it of no concern to You that my sister has left me to do the serving alone? Tell her to help me and do her part.”

It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after 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,

“When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.

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

But some of them said, “He drives out demons by [the power of] Beelzebul (Satan), the ruler of the demons.”

But He, well aware of their thoughts and purpose, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is doomed to destruction; and a house divided against itself falls.

Now while Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed (happy, favored by God) is the womb that gave birth to You and the breasts at which You nursed!”

But He said, “On the contrary, blessed (happy, favored by God) are those who hear the word of God and continually observe it.”

But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate [as required by tradition]; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well, because you weigh men down with burdens [man-made rules, unreasonable requirements] which are hard to bear, and you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers [to lighten the load].

For this reason also the wisdom of God said [in the Scriptures], ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will put to death and some they will persecute,

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