it has seemed right to me also, after careful investigation of the facts from their commencement, to write for you, most noble Theophilus, a connected account,

There was in the time of Herod, the king of Judaea, a priest of the name of Zechariah, belonging to the class of Abijah. He had a wife who was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense;

Many of the descendants of Israel will he turn to the Lord their God;

And now you will be dumb and unable to speak until the day when this has taken place; because you did not believe my words--words which will be fulfilled at their appointed time."

and He will be King over the House of Jacob for the Ages, and of His Kingdom there will be no end."

He has manifested His supreme strength. He has scattered those who were haughty in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has cast monarchs down from their thrones, And exalted men of low estate.

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

"There is not one of your family," they said, "who has that name."

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 give to His People a knowledge of salvation In the forgiveness of their sins,

Through the tender compassion of our God, Through which the daybreak from on high will come to us,

But while they were there, her full time came,

and she gave birth to her first-born son, and wrapped Him round, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in the same part of the country, keeping watch over their sheep by night in the open fields,

And immediately there was with the angel a multitude of the army of Heaven praising God and saying,

And when the days for their purification appointed by the Law of Moses had passed, they took Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord--

Now there was a man in Jerusalem of the name of Symeon, an upright and God-fearing man, who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

and a sword will pierce through your own soul also; that the reasonings in many hearts may be revealed."

There was also Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, belonging to the tribe of Asher. She was of a very great age, having had after her maidenhood seven years of married life,

Then, as soon as they had accomplished all that the Law required, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.

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;

There came also a party of tax-gatherers to be baptized, and they asked him, "Rabbi, what are we to do?"

And while the people were in suspense and all were debating in their minds whether John might possibly be the Anointed One,

now added this to crown all the rest, that he threw John into prison.

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,

and 'On their hands they shall bear thee up, Lest at any moment thou shouldst strike thy foot against a stone.'"

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

And He proceeded to teach in their synagogues, winning praise from all.

And there was handed to Him the book of the Prophet Isaiah, and, opening the book, He found the place where it was written,

But I tell you in truth that there was many a widow in Israel in the time of Elijah, when there was no rain for three years and six months and there came a severe famine over all the land;

And there was also many a leper in Israel in the time of the Prophet Elisha, and yet not one of them was cleansed, but Naaman the Syrian was."

They rose, hurried Him outside the town, and brought Him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, to throw Him down the cliff;

but He passed through the midst of them and went His way.

But in the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of a foul demon. In a loud voice he cried out,

This they did, and enclosed a vast number of fish; and their nets began to break.

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.

Then, after bringing their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.

On another occasion, when He was in one of the towns, there was a man there covered with leprosy, who, seeing Jesus, threw himself at His feet and implored Him, saying, "Sir, if only you are willing, you are able to make me clean."

But all the more the report about Him spread abroad, and great multitudes crowded to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases;

but Jesus Himself constantly withdrew into the Desert and there prayed.

One day He was teaching, and there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting there who had come from every village in Galilee and Judaea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present for Him to cure people.

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."

Well aware of their reasonings, Jesus answered their questions by asking in turn, "What is this that you are debating in your hearts?

Instantly he stood up in their presence, took up the mattress on which he had been lying, and went away to his home, giving glory to God.

Amazement seized them all. "Glory to God!" was the abiding feeling. Yet fear flashed through their minds and they said, "We have seen strange things to-day."

Levi also gave a great entertainment at his house in honour of Jesus, and there was a large party of tax-gatherers and others at table with them.

This led the Pharisees and Scribes of their party to expostulate with His disciples and ask, "Why are you eating and drinking with these tax-gatherers and notorious sinners?"

Now on the second-first Sabbath while He was passing through the wheatfields, His disciples were plucking the ears and rubbing them with their hands to eat the grain.

On another Sabbath He had gone to the synagogue and was teaching there; and in the congregation was a man whose right arm was withered.

He knew their thoughts, and said to the man with the withered arm, "Rise, and stand there in the middle." And he rose and stood there.

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.

"Be glad at such a time, and dance for joy; for your reward is great in Heaven; for that is just the way their forefathers behaved to the Prophets!

"Alas for you when men shall all have spoken well of you; for that is just the way their forefathers behaved to the false Prophets!

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.

There is no disciple who is superior to his teacher; but every one whose instruction is complete will be like his teacher.

"There is no good tree that yields unsound fruit, nor again any unsound tree that yields good fruit.

And the report of what Jesus had done spread through the whole of Judaea and in all the surrounding districts.

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?"

The men came to Jesus and said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you with this question: 'Are you the Coming One, or is there another that we are to expect?'"

"I tell you that among all of women born there is not one greater than John. Yet one who is of lower rank in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.

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

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!'

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,

"There were once two men in debt to one money-lender," said Jesus; "one owed him five hundred shillings and the other fifty.

Those by the way-side are those who have heard, and then the Devil comes and carries away the Message from their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

That which fell among the thorns means those who have heard, but as they go on their way, the Message is stifled by the anxieties, wealth and gaieties of time, and they yield nothing in perfection.

There is nothing hidden, which shall not be openly seen; nor anything secret, which shall not be known and come into the light of day.

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.

Now there was a great herd of swine there feeding on the hill-side; and the demons begged Him to give them leave to go into them, and He gave them leave.

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.

Just then there came a man named Jair, a Warden of the Synagogue, who threw himself at the feet of Jesus, and entreated Him to come to his house;

The people were all weeping aloud and beating their breasts for her; but He said, "Leave off wailing; for she is not dead, but asleep."

The Apostles, on their return, related to Jesus all they had done. Then He took them and withdrew to a quiet retreat, to a town called Bethsaida.

I tell you truly that there are some of those who stand here who will certainly not taste death till they have seen the Kingdom of God."

And suddenly there were two men conversing with Him, who were Moses and Elijah.

Now Peter and the others were weighed down with sleep; but, keeping themselves awake all through, they saw His glory, and the two men standing with Him.

And when they were preparing to depart from Him, Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we are thankful to you that we are here. Let us put up three tents--one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He did not know what he was saying.

But while he was thus speaking, there came a cloud which spread over them; and they were awe-struck when they had entered into the cloud.

Then there came a voice from within the cloud: "This is My Son, My Chosen One: listen to Him."

Now there arose a dispute among them, which of them was to be the greatest.

And Jesus, knowing the reasoning that was in their hearts, took a young child and made him stand by His side

But the people there would not receive Him, because He was evidently going to Jerusalem.

And, as they proceeded on their way, a man came to Him and said, "I will follow you wherever you go."

"Leave the dead," Jesus rejoined, "to bury their own dead; but you must go and announce far and wide the coming of the Kingdom of God."

And if there is a lover of peace there, your peace shall rest upon it; otherwise come back upon you.

And in that same house stay, eating and drinking at their table; for the labourer deserves his wages. Do not move from one house to another.

"Go to the Law," said Jesus; "what is written there? how does it read?"

"Which of those three seems to you to have acted like a fellow man to him who fell among the robbers?"

As they pursued their journey He came to a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed Him to her house.

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him in the middle of the night and say, "'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;

And what father is there among you, who, if his son asks for a slice of bread, will offer him a stone? or if he asks for a fish, will instead of a fish offer him a snake?

And, knowing their thoughts, He said to them, "Every kingdom in which civil war rages goes to ruin: family attacks family and is overthrown.

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more malignant than itself, and they enter and dwell there; and in the end that man's condition becomes worse than it was at first.

There will stand up men of Nineveh at the Judgement together with the present generation, and will condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and mark! One greater than Jonah is here.