exactly as these have been handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses who were in the service of the Gospel Message,

"The Lord has done this for me," she said, "he has now deigned to remove my reproach among men."

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazaret,

In those days Mary started with haste for the hill-country, for a town of Judah;

What have I done to have the mother of my Lord come to me?

for He who is Mighty has done great things for me. His name is holy,

He has done a deed of might with his arm, he has scattered the proud with their purposes,

and he asked for a writing-tablet and wrote down, "His name is John," to the astonishment of all.

by the tender mercy of our God, who will make the Dawn visit us from on high,

So everyone went to be registered, each at his own town,

and as Joseph belonged to the house and family of David he went up from Galilee to Judaea, from the town of Nazaret to David's town called Bethlehem,

To-day you have a saviour born in the town of David, the Lord messiah.

When they had finished all the regulations of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazaret.

Then he went down along with them to Nazaret, and did as they told him. His mother treasured up everything in her heart.

The axe is lying all ready at the root of the trees; any tree that is not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

Then he brought him to Jerusalem and placing him on the pinnacle of the temple said to him, "If you are God's son, throw yourself down from this;

Then, folding up the book, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him,

they rose up, put him out of the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, in order to hurl him down.

Then he went down to Capharnahum, a town of Galilee, and on the sabbath he taught the people;

But Jesus checked it, saying, "Be quiet, come out of him." And after throwing him down before them the daemon did come out of him without doing him any harm.

So he entered one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to push out a little from the land. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

but when they could not find any means of getting him in, on account of the crowd, they climbed to the top of the house and let him down through the tiles, mattress and all among the people in front of Jesus.

With them he came down the hill and stood on a level spot. There was a great company of his disciples with him, and a large multitude of people from all Judaea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to get cured of their diseases.

give, and you will have ample measure given you ??they will pour into your lap measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over; for the measure you deal out to others will be dealt back to yourselves."

He is like a man engaged in building a house, who dug deep down and laid his foundation on the rock; when a flood came, the river dashed against that house but could not shake it, for it had been well built.

It was shortly afterwards that he made his way to a town called Nain, accompanied by his disciples and a large crowd.

Just as he was near the gate of the town, there was a dead man being carried out; he was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the town were with her.

Now there was a woman in the town who was a sinner, and when she found out that Jesus was at table in the house of the Pharisee, she brought an alabaster flask of perfume

Shortly afterwards he went travelling from one town and village to another preaching and telling the good news of the Reign of God; he was accompanied by the twelve

As a large crowd was gathering and as people were resorting to him from town after town, he addressed them in a parable.

"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the road and was trampled down, and the wild birds ate it up;

During the voyage he fell asleep. But when a gale of wind came down on the lake and they were being swamped and in peril,

As he stepped out on land he was met by a man from the town who had daemons in him; for a long while he had worn no clothing, and he stayed not in a house but among the tombs.

and the daemons came out of the man and went into the swine; the drove rushed down the steep slope into the lake and were suffocated.

When the herdsmen saw what had occurred they fled and reported it to the town and the hamlets.

"Go home and describe all that God has done for you." So he went off to proclaim through the whole town all that Jesus had done for him.

So when the woman saw she had not escaped notice, she came trembling, and falling down before him she told before all the people why she had touched him and how she had been instantly cured.

Whoever will not receive you, leave that town and shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."

Then the apostles came back and described all they had done to Jesus. He took them and retired in private to a town called Bethsaida,

(There were about five thousand men of them.) He said to his disciples, "Make them lie down in rows of about fifty."

They did so, and made them all lie down.

Next day, when they came down the hill, a large crowd met him.

Before the boy could reach Jesus, the daemon dashed him down and convulsed him, but Jesus checked the unclean spirit, cured the boy, and handed him back to his father.

So when the disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, will you have us bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?"

After that the Lord commissioned other seventy disciples, sending them in front of him two by two to every town and place that he intended to visit himself.

Wherever you are received on entering any town, eat what is provided for you,

heal those in the town who are ill, and tell them, 'The Reign of God is nearly on you.'

But wherever you are not received on entering any town, go out into the streets of the town and cry,

'The very dust of your town that clings to us, we wipe off from our feet as a protest. But mark this, the Reign of God is near!'

I tell you, on the great Day it will be more bearable for Sodom than for that town.

I have indeed given you the power of treading on serpents and scorpions and of trampling down all the power of the Enemy; nothing shall injure you.

Jesus rejoined, "A man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho fell among robbers who stripped and belaboured him and then went off leaving him half-dead.

Now it so chanced that a priest was going down the same road, but on seeing him he went past on the opposite side.

And suppose he answers from the inside, 'Don't bother me; the door is locked by this time, and my children are in bed with me. I can't get up and give you anything.'

He knew what they were thinking about, so he said to them, "Any realm divided against itself comes to ruin, house after house falls down;

When he finished speaking, a Pharisee asked him to take a meal in his house; so he went in and lay down at table.

from the blood of Abel down to the blood of Zechariah who was slain between the altar and the House of God ??yes, I tell you, it will all be charged upon this generation.

And he said, 'This is what I will do. I will pull down my granaries and build larger ones, where I can store all my produce and my goods.

So he said to the vinedresser, 'Here have I come for three years in search of fruit on this fig tree without finding any; cut it down, why should it take up space?'

Then it may bear fruit next year. If not, you can have it cut down.'"

But the president of the synagogue was annoyed at Jesus healing on the sabbath, and he said to the crowd, "There are six days for work to be done; come during them to get healed, instead of on the sabbath."

On he went, teaching from one town and village to another, as he made his way to Jerusalem.

"When anyone invites you to a marriage-banquet," he said, "never lie down in the best place, in case a more distinguished guest than yourself has been invited;

The servant went and reported this to his master. Then the master of the house was enraged, and said to his servant, 'Quick, go out to the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the maimed, the blind, and the lame.'

For which of you wants to build a tower and does not first sit down to calculate the expense, to see if he has enough money to complete it? ??29 in case, after he has laid the foundation and then is unable to finish the building, all the spectators start to make fun of him,

Or what king sets out to fight against another king without first sitting down to deliberate whether with ten thousand men he can encounter the king who is attacking him with twenty thousand?

Or again, suppose a woman has ten shillings. If she loses one of them, does she not light a lamp and scour the house and search carefully till she finds it?

I don't deserve to be called your son any more; only make me like one of your hired men."'

The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I don't deserve to be called your son any more.'

'A hundred barrels of oil,' he said. The factor told him, 'Here is your bill; sit down at once and enter fifty barrels.'

Well, it is the same with you; when you have done all you are bidden, say, 'We are but servants; we have only done our duty.' "

On entering one village he was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance

So Jesus said, "Were all the ten not cleansed? Where are the other nine?

On that day, if a man is on the housetop and his goods inside the house, he must not go down to fetch them out; nor must a man in the field turn back

"In a certain town," he said, "there was a judge who had no reverence for God and no respect even for man.

And in that town there was a widow who used to go and appeal to him for 'Justice against my opponent!'

still, as this widow is bothering me, I will see justice done to her ??not to have her for ever coming and pestering me.'

And will not God see justice done to his elect who cry to him by day and night? Will he be tolerant to their opponents?

I tell you, he will quickly see justice done to his elect! And yet, when the Son of man does come, will he find faith on earth?"

He also told the following parable to certain persons who were sure of their own goodness and looked down upon everybody else.

But when Jesus reached the spot he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down at once, for I must stay at your house to-day."

He came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

He first called his ten servants, giving them each a five-pound note, and telling them, 'Trade with this till I come back.'

However he secured the royal power and came home. Then he ordered the servants to be called who had been given the money, that he might find out what business they had done.

'Capital,' he said, 'you excellent servant! because you have proved trustworthy in a trifle, you are placed over ten towns.'

for I was afraid of you, you are such a hard man ??picking up what you never put down, and reaping what you never sowed.'

He replied, 'You rascal of a servant, I will convict you by what you have said yourself. You knew, did you, that I was a hard man, picking up what I never put down, and reaping what I never sowed!

"It is written," he told them, "my house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers."

but they could not discover what was to be done, for the whole of the people hung upon his lips.

"As for what you see, there are days coming when not a stone will be left upon another, without being torn down."

saying, "Father, if it please thee, take this cup away from me. But thy will, not mine, be done."

and sat down among some people who had lit a fire in the courtyard and were sitting round it.

No, nor has Herod, for he has remitted him to us. He has done nothing, you see, that calls for death;

And we suffer justly; we are getting what we deserve for our deeds. But he has done no harm."

who had not voted for their plan of action; he belonged to Arimathaea, a Jewish town, and he was on the outlook for the Reign of God.

He then took it down, wrapped it in linen, and put it in a tomb cut out of the rock, where no one had yet been buried.

On the sabbath they rested in obedience to God's command, but on the first day of the week at early dawn they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

And I will send down on you what my Father has promised; wait in the city till you are endued with power from on high."