But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid Zacharias, for your earnest prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a son and you will name him John.

And Zacharias said to the angel, "How will I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is [also] very old."

The angel came to her and said, "Greetings, you are someone greatly favored [i.e., by God]; the Lord is with you."

But she became very troubled by what he said and wondered what such a greeting could mean.

Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid Mary, for you have received favor from God.

And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have never had sex with a man?"

And consider this, your relative Elizabeth is also pregnant with a son in spite of her old age, and [even though] she was said to be unable to have children, she is now six months along.

And Mary said, "Here I am, the Lord's slave-girl; let it happen to me according to what you say." Then the angel left her.

Then she spoke out in a loud voice and said, " [Mary], you are [truly] blessed [from] among [all] women, and the child you will bear [i.e., Jesus] is blessed [as well].

Then Mary said, "My soul lifts up the Lord,

(As He said to our forefathers), He has helped His servants, the Israelites, [showing] that He remembered to be merciful

And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for look, I am bringing good news that will cause great joy to all people.

And it happened when the angels left them and returned to heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go to Bethlehem now and see what all happened that the Lord told us about."

And when they saw this, they told [everyone] what the angel had said about this baby.

Simeon took Jesus in his arms, praised God and said,

"Master, you may now allow your servant to be released [i.e., die] in peace, according to what you said.

And Jesus' [step-] father and His mother were amazed at the things said about Him.

Then Simeon [asked God to] bless them and said to Jesus' mother Mary, "Look, many Israelites will be caused to fall [i.e., into spiritual ruin] or rise [i.e., to spiritual renewal] because of Him. And [He will be] a 'sign' [for people] to speak against,

But they did not understand what He meant when He said that to them.

He said to the crowds of people that went out [to the desert] to be immersed by him, "You children of snakes, who warned you to run away from the coming wrath [of God]?

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 full authority [over them] and their splendor, for it has [all] been granted to me and to whom I want to give it.

Then the devil led Jesus to Jerusalem and placed Him on the elevated wing 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 [Deut. 6:16], 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

So, everyone spoke well of Him and marvelled at the gracious words coming from His mouth. They said, "Is he not Joseph's son?"

And He said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is acceptable in his own home town.

And when He had finished talking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into deeper water and lower your nets for a catch [of fish]."

Simon's partners James and John, sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. So, Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will catch people."

And when He saw the evidence of their faith, He said, "Man, your sins are forgiven."

But so you will know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins, (He then said to the paralyzed man), 'I say to you, get up, pick up your cot and go home.'"

Then after these things happened, Jesus went out [i.e., probably walking along a street] and saw a publican [Note: This was a person with a bad reputation for dishonest tax collecting activities] named Matthew [i.e., the same as Levi. See Mark 2:14] sitting at the toll booth [collecting taxes] and said, "Become my follower."

Then they said to Jesus, "John [the Immerser's] disciples fast frequently [i.e., going without food and/or drink for religious reasons] and they offer earnest prayer requests, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same things. But your disciples eat and drink."

But certain Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is against the law of Moses on the Sabbath day?"

Then He said to them, "The Son of man is lord [i.e., has authority over] the Sabbath day."

But He knew what they were thinking. Then He said to the man with the deformed hand, "Get up, step forward in front of everyone." So, he got up and stepped forward.

Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it permitted by the law of Moses to do something good or to do something harmful on the Sabbath day? To save a life or to destroy it?"

Then He looked around at all of them [there] and said to the man, "Reach out your hand." And [when] he did this, his hand was restored [to normal use].

Then He looked at His disciples and said, "Those of you who have a [sense of personal] need are blessed, because the kingdom of God belongs to you.

It is too bad for you people when everyone speaks well about you, because the forefathers said the same thing about the false prophets.

And when Jesus heard these things, He was amazed and said to the crowd that was following Him, "I tell you, I have never found [anyone with] such great faith, not [even] among the Israelites."

Now when the Lord saw her, He felt very sorry for her and said to her, "Do not cry."

Then He went near the casket and touched it; [immediately] the pallbearers stopped. Jesus said, "Young man, I tell you, get up."

And when these men came to Jesus they said, "John the Immerser has sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?'"

For when John the Immerser came, he did not eat bread or drink wine [on festive occasions] and you said, 'He is dominated by an evil spirit.'

[Then] the Son of man came eating and drinking [at festive occasions] and you said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and worldly people.'

Now when the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who touched him and what kind of a woman she was --- a sinner."

Then Jesus said to him, "Simon [See verse 43], I have something to say to you." And he replied, "Teacher, [go ahead and] say it."

Simon answered, "The one who had the largest debt canceled, I suppose." Jesus said to him, "You are right."

Then Jesus turned to the woman [who had just poured the perfume on Him] and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house and you did not give me any water for [washing] my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them dry with her hair.

Then Jesus said to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven."

Then Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you [i.e., from condemnation]. Go [away] in peace."

And [still] other [seed] fell into fertile soil; it grew and produced a crop of one hundred times [as much as was planted]. As He said these things, He called out, "The person who has ears to hear with ought to listen [to this] carefully."

And He said to them, "You [disciples] are being given an understanding of the secrets of the kingdom of God, but the rest of the people [are being told] in parables, so that [even though they appear to be] seeing, they will not [actually] see; and [even though they seem to] hear, they will not understand.

Now it happened on one of those days that Jesus entered a boat with His disciples. He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side" [i.e., the east side of Lake Galilee]; so they launched out.

Then He said to the disciples, "Where is your faith?" They became afraid and were amazed, saying to one another, "Who can this [man] be, that he can even command the winds and the water and they obey him?"

Jesus said, "Who touched me?" And when everyone denied [doing it], Peter and the disciples said, "Master, many people are pressing in on you and crowding you."

Then Jesus said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace."

But when Jesus heard this, He said [to the man], "Do not be afraid. Just believe [i.e., in my power to restore your daughter] and she will be made well [i.e., restored to life]."

And all the people [in the house] were crying and beating their chests in mourning, so Jesus said [to them], "Do not cry, for the girl is not [really] dead but [only] sleeping."

He said to them, "Do not take anything with you during your travels; not [even] a walking stick [Note: By comparing this and the restriction in Matt. 10:10, with the permission given in Mark 6:8, the harmony seems to be "if you do not already have a walking stick, do not get one"], or a traveling bag [for personal belongings], or food, or money, or [even] two coats [Note: Mark 6:9 says, "take only one coat" confirming the idea that Jesus was saying, in effect, "do not take anything extra, go just as you are"].

Then Herod said, "I had John decapitated, so who is this person about whom I hear such things?" And he became eager to see Jesus.

Then late in the day the twelve apostles came and said to Jesus, "Send the crowd away so they can go into the villages and the surrounding countryside to find lodging and food because this place is deserted."

But He said to the apostles, "You men give them something to eat." But they replied, "We have only five loaves of [barley] bread [See John 6:9] and two [probably smoked] fish, unless we go and buy [more] food for all these people."

For there were about five thousand men [there]. So, He said to His disciples, "Have these people recline [on the grass. See Matt. 14:19] in groups of about fifty each."

Then Jesus said to them, "But who do you men say that I am?" And Peter answered, " [You are] the Christ of God [i.e., God's specially chosen one]."

Then He said to everyone, "If anyone wants to be my follower, he should deny self [i.e., of always having its own way] and accept his cross [i.e., his responsibilities, with all their difficulties] everyday, and [then he can] become my follower.

And it happened about eight days after Jesus said these things that He took Peter, John and James with Him and went up in the mountain to pray. [Note: This was probably Mt. Tabor, which was nearby].

And it happened, as the two men were leaving Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is [so] good for us to be here. Let us make three [small] shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." [But] he did not realize what he was saying. [See note at Matt. 17:4]

And everyone was amazed at [seeing] the greatness of God. But while they were all amazed at everything Jesus was doing, He said to His disciples,

But they did not understand what He was talking about, for it was hidden from them, so that they would not understand its meaning. And they were afraid to ask Him about what He had said.

and said to the disciples, "The person who welcomes this little child in my name [i.e., because he belongs to me], welcomes me [also]. And the person who welcomes me [i.e., into his life ?] welcomes God, who sent me. For that person who is the least [significant] among you men is the one who is the greatest [in importance]."

Then [the apostle] John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone driving out evil spirits by [using] your name, so we told him not to, because he was not following [you] with us."

But Jesus said to him, "Do not try to stop him, for the person who is not against you is for you."

And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said [to Him], "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to burn them up?"

And as they were going along the road, a certain man [i.e., an expert in the law of Moses. See Matt. 8:19] said to Him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

And [then] He said to another person, "Become my follower." But he replied, "Lord, allow me to go and bury my father first."

Then another person said [to Jesus], "Lord, I will become your follower, but first let me say goodbye to my family." [Note: There was the likelihood that family members might try to dissuade him from his commitment to follow the Lord].

But Jesus said to him, "Nobody who begins plowing [a field] and then looks back [i.e., in regret for beginning such an arduous task] is suited for [serving in] the kingdom of God."

And He said to them, "There is certainly plenty to harvest, but there are [too] few people to do the work. You should pray to the Lord of the harvest to send [more] workers out into the field to gather His crop.

And Jesus said to them, "I saw Satan falling from heaven as lightning.

At that very time Jesus rejoiced in [the power of] the Holy Spirit, and said [in prayer], "I praise you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you concealed these things [i.e., His divine revelations] from those [claiming to be] wise and intelligent and have revealed them to babies [i.e., to simple, sincere, common people]. Yes, Father, this was pleasing to you.

Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said privately, "The eyes that see the things you see are [truly] blessed,

And Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law of Moses? How do you read it?"

Then Jesus said to him, "You have answered correctly; [if] you do this, you will live" [i.e., forever. See verse 25].

And the teacher of the law of Moses said, "The person who showed pity on him." Then Jesus replied, "You go and do the same thing."

And she had a sister named Mary who was also sitting at the Lord's feet, listening to what He said.

But Martha was preoccupied with all the preparations [i.e., for entertaining her beloved guest] and came up to Jesus and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Ask her to help me."

And it happened as Jesus finished praying at a certain place that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us [how] to pray, just like John [the Immerser] taught his disciples."

And He said to them, "When you pray you should say, 'Father, may your name be highly honored. May your kingdom come [to earth].

And Jesus said to His disciples, "Suppose one of you who has a friend would go to him at midnight and say to him, ' [Please] lend me three loaves of bread,

But some of the people said, "He is driving out evil spirits by [the power of] Beelzebub, the chief of evil spirits."

But, knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, "Every kingdom [plagued] with internal division will end in ruin. And a household divided from within will fall.

And it happened as He said these things that a certain woman called out to Him from the crowd, saying, "The woman who gave you birth and nursed you is [certainly] blessed."

But Jesus said, "Yes, but those who listen to God's message and obey it are [more] blessed."

And the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees [meticulously] clean the outside of the cup and the dish [i.e., this was an allusion to their lives], but you are filled with greed for wealth and [other] evils on the inside.

Therefore, the wisdom of God said, [Note: Is this a reference to Jesus? See I Cor. 1:30 and Matt. 23:34-36], 'I will send prophets and apostles to them [i.e., the Jewish people] and they will kill and persecute some of them,

Therefore, whatever you have said in the darkness [i.e., in obscurity] will be heard in the light [i.e., openly]. And what you have whispered in someone's ear in a back room, will be declared from the housetops.

Then someone out of the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the [family] inheritance with me."

But He said to him, "Man, who appointed me to judge or [decide on how] to divide [the property] between you two?"

And [then] He said to them, "Be careful and guard yourselves against [practicing] all forms of greed, for a person's life does not consist of having a lot of possessions."