most excellent Theophilus, that thou mayst know the certainty of the things wherein thou hast been instructed.

according to the custom of dividing the office of the priests, that it fell to his lot to burn incense, entring into the temple of the Lord:

And the angel answering said to him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God, and I am sent to speak to thee, and to tell thee this good news:

and now shalt thou be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass; because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled at their season.

but when he came out he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he made signs to them, and continued speechless:

And when the angel came in to the room to her, he said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured; the Lord is with thee;

thy cousin Elisabeth also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren;

and whence is this honor to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

and blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a performance of the things that were told her from the Lord.

for He that is mighty hath done great things for me,

and his name is holy, and his mercy is on them that fear Him, unto all generations.

He hath wrought powerfully with his arm; He hath confounded those that were proud in the imagination of their heart.

and her neighbours and kindred heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her, and they congratulated her;

And an awe fell upon all that dwelt round about them; and all these things were divulged through the whole hill-country of Judea.

And all that heard them, laid them up in their hearts, saying, What a child will this be? And the hand of the Lord was with him.

even salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us,

to grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him,

to enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace."

Now in those days an edict was published by Augustus Cesar, that all the world should be enrolled or taxed,

that this day is born, in the city of David, your Saviour Christ the Lord.

and all that heard it, were amazed at the things which were related to them by the shepherds.

(as it is written in the law of the Lord, That every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord:) and to offer a sacrifice,

And it was revealed to him by the holy Spirit, that he should not die before he had seen the Anointed of the Lord.

And Joseph and his mother were amazed at the things that were spoken concerning Him.

(and a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also) that the thoughts of many hearts may be discovered.

And coming in at the very same time, gave thanks unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all that were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.

And all that heard Him were astonished at his understanding and his answers.

And He said to them, Why did ye so seek me? Did not ye know that I ought to be in my Father's house?

Therefore said he to the multitudes that came to be baptised by him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Bring forth therefore fruits becoming penitents, and do not say within yourselves, "We have Abraham for our father," for I tell you that God can of these stones raise up children to Abraham.

And he saith unto them, Let him that hath two coats, give one to him that hath none, and let him that hath food do the like.

And He said unto them, Exact no more than what is appointed you.

John answered and said to them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but a mightier than I is coming, whose shoes I am not worthy to untie: He will baptize you with the holy Spirit, and with fire;

added this likewise to all the rest, that he shut up John in prison.

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, that man shall not live by bread only, but on every word of God.

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me to the end, for which He hath anointed me: He hath sent me to publish good tidings to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to release them that are bruised,

But, said He, indeed I must tell you, that no prophet is well received in his own country.

And at sun-set all that had any persons sick of any diseases, brought them to Him: and He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

And demons also came out from many, crying out, Thou art the Messiah the Son of God. And He rebuked them, and suffered them not to say, that they knew Him to be the Christ.

And when the day was coming on, He went out and retired into a solitary place; and the people sought for Him, and came to Him, and would fain have detained Him, that He might not go from them.

And they beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship, to come and help them; and they came, and filled both the ships, so that they were even sinking: and when Simon Peter saw it,

for he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of fishes which they had taken;

And when He was in one of the cities of that country, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus, fell prostrate to Him, and besought Him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst cleanse me.

and behold, some men bringing on a couch a man that was paralytic; and they endeavoured to bring him in, and lay him before Him:

And the scribes and pharisees began to cavil, saying, Who is this that talketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God?

but that ye may know, that the Son of man hath power even on earth to forgive sins, (He spake to the paralytic) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go to thine house.

And Jesus answered and said unto them, They that are in health have no need of a physician, but they that are sick: I am not come to call the righteous,

Then He spake a parable to them, That no one putteth a piece of new cloth upon an old garment: otherwise, the new maketh a rent, and doth not match the old:

And no one that has been drinking old wine, immediately desireth new; for he saith, the old is better.

And it came to pass on the second-sabbath after the first, that as He was passing through the corn-fields, his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and rubbed them in their hands and ate them.

And some of the pharisees said to them, Why do ye do that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath-days?

And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read what David did, when he himself was hungry and those that were with him? how he went into the house of God,

And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that He went into a synagogue and taught; and there was a man there, whose right hand was withered.

And the scribes and pharisees watched Him to see if He would work a cure on the sabbath: that they might find an accusation against Him.

But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man that had the withered hand, Rise, and stand in the midst: and he rose up and stood forth.

even those that were tormented by impure spirits: and they were healed.

Blessed are ye that hunger now; for ye shall be satisfied. Blessed are ye that weep now; for ye shall laugh.

Rejoice in that day, and be exceeding glad; for behold, your reward is great in heaven: for thus did their fathers to the prophets.

But wo unto you that are rich; for ye have received your consolation.

Wo unto you that are full; for ye shall be hungry. Wo unto you that laugh now: for ye shall mourn and weep.

But I say unto you my hearers, Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you,

bless them that curse you, and pray for them that abuse you;

to him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other; and let him that taketh away thy cloke, have thy coat too rather than strive with him:

give to him that asketh thee, and from him that taketh thy goods on loan demand nothing.

And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them in like manner.

If ye love only them that love you, what thanks are due to you? for even the wicked love those that love them:

and if ye do good offices to them that do good to you, what thanks are due to you? for even wicked men do the same.

And if ye lend to those from whom ye expect to receive, what thanks are due to you? for sinners also lend to sinners that they may receive an equivalent.

But why dost thou look at the chaff in thy brother's eye, and takest no notice of the beam that is in thine own?

or how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother let me take out the splinter that is in thine eye, when thou thyself seest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first take out the beam from thine own eye, and then thou wilt see distinctly how to take out the chaff that is in thy brother's eye.

For that is not a good tree which produceth bad fruit, nor is the tree bad, which produceth good fruit:

A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

he is like a man who in building an house digged deep, and laid the foundation upon a rock; and when a flood came, the torrent beat violently against that house, but could not shake it, for it was founded upon a rock.

But he that heareth and observeth not, is like a man that built an house upon the ground without any foundation, which the flood beat violently upon, and immediately it fell down, and the ruin of that house was great.

and having heard of Jesus, he sent unto Him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that He would come and heal his servant.

So Jesus went with them. And when He was now not far from the house, the centurion sent some of his friends to Him, saying Lord, trouble not thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof:

And when Jesus heard these things, He marvelled, and turning about, said to the multitude that followed Him, I declare unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel.

And when they that were sent, returned to the house, they found the servant well, that had been sick.

and sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou He that was to come, or are we to expect another?

And the men came to Him, and said, John the baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou He that was to come, or are we to expect another?

(Now at that very time He cured many of their diseases and plagues, and of evil spirits, and gave sight to many that were blind.)

And Jesus answering said unto them, Go and tell John what ye have seen and heard: that the blind recover sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them,

a reed shaken by the wind? but what did ye go out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that are dressed in fine clothes and live delicately, are in palaces, not in deserts: but what went ye out to see?

a prophet? yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.

for I tell you that among the sons of men there is not a greater prophet than John the baptist: (though the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he:)

---and all the people that heard him, even the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John;

And behold a woman in the city, that was a sinner, when she knew that He was at table in the pharisee's house,

But when the pharisee that invited Him saw it, he said within himself, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what sort of a woman this is that toucheth Him; for she is a notorious sinner.

And they that sat at table with Him, said within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

And it came to pass afterwards that He went through every city and village, preaching and declaring the good tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with Him;

and some women that had been cured of evil spirits and other infirmities, as Mary Magdalene, out of whom were cast seven demons,

And when a great multitude was gathered together, of those that came to Him out of every city, He spake a parable saying,

But some fell on good ground, and sprang up and yielded fruit an hundred-fold. And as He said these things He cried out, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

And He said, To you it is granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but I speak to others in parables, that in seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

And that which fell among thorns, are those who when they have heard the word go away and are choked with the cares and riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

But that on the good ground, are those who having heard the word, retain it in a good and honest heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.

No man when he hath lighted a candle covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a couch; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they who come in may see the light.

(For there is nothing secret, that shall not be made manifest: nor any thing concealed, which shall not be made known and come to light.)

And He answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these that hear the word of God and do it.

And it came to pass on one of the days that He went into a ship, Himself and his disciples, and He said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the lake.