They were both of them upright before God, blamelessly obeying all the Lord's precepts and ordinances.

Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were surprised that he stayed so long in the Sanctuary.

to a maiden betrothed to a man of the name of Joseph, a descendant of David. The maiden's name was Mary.

So Gabriel went into the house and said to her, "Joy be to you, favoured one! the Lord is with you."

And see, your relative Elizabeth--she also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

"I am the Lord's maidservant," Mary replied; "may it be with me in accordance with your words!" And then the angel left her.

and as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the babe leapt within her. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

So Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned home.

Now when Elizabeth's full time was come, she gave birth to a son;

So he asked for a writing-tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all wondered.

All who heard the story treasured it in their memories. "What then will this child be?" they said. For the lord's hand was indeed with him.

To grant us to be rescued from the power of our foes And so render worship to Him free from fear,

So Joseph went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judaea, to David's town of Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

Then, as soon as the angels had left them and returned to Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go over as far as Bethlehem and see this that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."

So they made haste and came and found Mary and Joseph, with the babe lying in the manger.

And when they saw the child, they told what had been said to them about Him;

To him it had been revealed by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord's Anointed One.

And while the child's father and mother were wondering at the words of Symeon concerning Him,

but supposing Him to be in the travelling company, they proceeded a day's journey. Then they searched up and down for Him among their relatives and acquaintances;

When they saw Him, they were smitten with amazement, and His mother said to Him, "My child, why have you behaved thus to us? Your father and I have been searching for you in anguish."

"Why is it that you have been searching for me?" He replied; "did you not know that it is my duty to be engaged upon my Father's business?"

and then shall all mankind see God's salvation.'"

Accordingly John used to say to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, "O vipers' brood, who has warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Live lives which shall prove your change of heart; and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our forefather,' for I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones.

And even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees, so that every tree which fails to yield good fruit will quickly be hewn down and thrown into the fire."

But Herod the Tetrarch, being repeatedly rebuked by him about Herodias his brother's wife, and about all the wicked deeds that he had done,

Then the Devil said to Him, "If you are God's Son, tell this stone to become bread."

The Devil next led Him up and caused Him to see at a glance all the kingdoms of the world.

Then he brought Him to Jerusalem and caused Him to stand on the roof of the Temple, and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down from here; for it is written,

So the Devil, having fully tried every kind of temptation on Him, left Him for a time.

Then Jesus returned in the Spirit's power to Galilee; and His fame spread through all the adjacent districts.

Then He proceeded to say to them, "To-day is this Scripture fulfilled in your hearing."

And they all spoke well of Him, wondering at the sweet words of kindness which fell from His lips, while they asked one another, "Is not this Joseph's son?"

So He came down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, where He frequently taught the people on the Sabbath days.

"Ha! Jesus the Nazarene, what have you to do with us? I know who you are--God's Holy One!"

Now when He rose and left the synagogue He went to Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from an acute attack of fever; and they consulted Him about her.

On one occasion the crowd was pressing on Him and listening to God's Message, while He was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.

He, however, saw two fishing-boats drawn up on the beach (for the men had gone away from them and were washing the nets)

and going on board one of them, which was Simon's He asked him to push out a little from land. Then He sat down and taught the crowd of people from the boat.

So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came, and they filled both the boats so that they almost sank.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at the knees of Jesus, and exclaimed, "Master, leave my boat, for I am a sinful man."

and so were Simon's partners James and John, the sons of Zabdi.)

But when they could find no way of doing so because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiling--bed and all--into the midst, in front of Jesus.

He saw their faith and said to him, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

Which is easier? --to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?

Again they said to Him, "John's disciples fast often and pray, as do also those of the pharisees; but yours eat and drink."

"Can you compel the bridal party to fast," replied Jesus, "so long as they have the bridegroom among them?

"Have you never read so much as this," answered Jesus--"what David did when he and his followers were hungry;

The Scribes and the Pharisees were on the watch to see whether He would cure him on the Sabbath that they might be able to bring an accusation against Him.

And looking round upon them all He said to the man, "Stretch out your arm." He did so, and the arm was restored.

James's relative Judas, and Judas Iscariot who proved to be a traitor.

With these He came down till He reached a level place, where there was a great crowd of His disciples, and a multitude of people from every part of Judaea, from Jerusalem, and from the sea-side district of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases;

"Blessed are you when men shall hate you and exclude you from their society and insult you, and spurn your very names as evil things, for the Son of Man's sake.

"But to you who are listening to me I say, Love your enemies; seek the welfare of those who hate you;

And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is it to you? Even bad men lend to their fellows so as to receive back an equal amount.

"And why look at the splinter in your brother's eye instead of giving careful attention to the beam in your own?

How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take that splinter out of your eye,' when all the while you yourself do not see the beam in your own eye? Vain pretender! take the beam out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly to take the splinter out of your brother's eye.

For I too am a man obedient to authority, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this or that,' and he does it."

Jesus listened to the Captain's message and was astonished at him, and He turned and said to the crowd that followed Him, "I tell you that not even in Israel have I found faith like that."

And just as He reached the gate of the town, they happened to be bringing out for burial a dead man who was his mother's only son; and she was a widow; and a great number of the townspeople were with her.

The Lord saw her, was moved with pity for her, and said to her, "Do not weep."

John's disciples brought him an account of all these things;

so John called two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord. "Are you the Coming One?" he asked, "or is there another that we are to expect?"

When John's messengers were gone, He proceeded to say to the multitude concerning John, "What did you go out into the Desert to gaze at? A reed waving in the wind?

But what did you go out to see? A man wearing luxurious clothes? People who are gorgeously dressed and live in luxury are found in palaces.

But what did you go out to see? A Prophet? Aye, I tell you, and far more than a Prophet.

John is the man about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending My messenger before thy face, and he shall make ready thy way before thee.'

And all the people, including the tax-gatherers, when they listened to him upheld the righteousness of God, by being baptized with John's baptism.

But the Pharisees and expounders of the Law have frustrated God's purpose as to their own lives, by refusing to be baptized.

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, there is a man who is overfond of eating and drinking--he is a friend of tax-gatherers and notorious sinners!'

Now one of the Pharisees repeatedly invited Him to a meal at his house; so He entered the house and reclined at the table.

And there was a woman in the town who was a notorious sinner. Having learnt that Jesus was at table in the Pharisee's house she brought a flask of perfume,

In answer to his thoughts Jesus said to him, "Simon, I have a word to say to you." "Rabbi, say on," he replied.

But neither of them could pay anything; so he freely forgave them both. Tell me, then, which of them will love him most?"

Then turning towards the woman He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house: you gave me no water for my feet; but she has made my feet wet with her tears, and then wiped the tears away with her hair.

Then the other guests began to say to themselves, "Who can this man be who even forgives sins?"

and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many other women, all of whom contributed to the support of Jesus and His Apostles.

"The sower," He said, "goes out to sow his seed; and as he sows, some of the seed falls by the way-side, and is trodden upon, or the birds of the air come and peck it up.

"To you," He replied, "it is granted to know the secrets of the Kingdom of God; but all others are taught by parables, in order that they may see and yet not see, and may hear and yet not understand.

The meaning of the parable is as follows. The seed is God's Message.

"When any one lights a lamp, he does not cover it with a vessel or hide it under a couch; he puts it on a lampstand, that people who enter the room may see the light.

But He was told, "Your mother and brothers are standing on the edge of the crowd, and want to see you."

"My mother and my brothers," He replied, "are these who hear God's Message and obey it."

One day He went on board a boat--both He and his disciples; and He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the Lake." So they set sail.

During the passage He fell asleep, and there came down a squall of wind on the Lake, so that the boat began to fill and they were in deadly peril.

So they came and woke Him, crying, "Rabbi, Rabbi, we are drowning." Then He roused Himself and rebuked the wind and the surging of the water, and they ceased and there was a calm.

When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of God Most High? Do not torture me, I beseech you."

whereupon the people came out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were terrified.

Then the whole population of the Gerasenes and of the adjacent districts begged Him to depart from them; for their terror was great. So He went on board and returned.

"Return home," He said, "and tell there all that God has done for you." So he went and published through the whole town all that Jesus had done for him.

"Who is it touched me?" Jesus asked. And when all denied having done so, Peter and the rest said, "Rabbi, the crowds are hemming you in and pressing on you."

So He came to the house, but allowed no one to go in with Him but Peter and John and James and the girl's father and mother.

So they departed and visited village after village, spreading the Good News and performing cures everywhere.

They did so, making them all, without exception, sit down.

So they ate and were fully satisfied, all of them; and what they had remaining over was gathered up, twelve baskets of fragments.

One day when He was praying by Himself the disciples were present; and He asked them, "Who do the people say that I am?"

"John the Baptist," they replied; "but others say Elijah; and others that some one of the ancient Prophets has come back to life."

"But you," He asked, "who do you say that I am?" "God's Anointed One," replied Peter.

And He said to all, "If any one is desirous of following me, let him ignore self and take up his cross day by day, and so be my follower.