It happened that in the days of Herod, king of Judea, [there was] a certain priest, Zechariah by name, of the division of Abijah. And {he had a wife} from the daughters of Aaron, and her name [was] Elizabeth.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob {forever}, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

And blessed [is] she who believed that [there] will be a fulfillment to what was spoken to her from the Lord!"

And they said to her, "There is no one of your relatives who is called by this name."

And it happened that while they were there, {the time came} for her to give birth.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And there were shepherds in the same region, living out of doors and keeping watch, guarding over their flock by night.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying,

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem {whose name was} Simeon, and this man [was] righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher (she was advanced {in years}, having lived with [her] husband seven years {after her marriage},

But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months while a great famine took place over all the land.

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was made clean except Naaman the Syrian."

And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

and he saw two boats there beside the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them [and] were washing their nets.

And it happened that while he was in one of the towns, {there was} a man {covered with leprosy}. And [when he] saw Jesus, he fell down on [his] face [and] begged him, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, you are able to make me clean."

And it happened that on one of the days as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting [there] who {had come} from every village of Galilee and Judea and [from] Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was [there] in order [for] him to heal.

And Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were reclining for the meal with them.

Now it happened that on another Sabbath he entered into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there, and his right hand was withered.

But he knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Get up and stand in the middle," and he got up [and] stood there.

"For there is no good tree that produces bad fruit, nor on the other hand a bad tree that produces good fruit,

I tell you, there is no one greater among [those] born of women than John, but the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

"There were two debtors [who owed] a certain creditor. One owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty.

Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding there on the hill, and they implored him that he would permit them to enter into those [pigs]. And he permitted them.

So they went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting [there] clothed and in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus, and they were afraid.

And into whatever house you enter, stay there and depart from there.

(For there were about five thousand men.) So he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each."

But I tell you truly, there are some of those standing here who will never experience death until they see the kingdom of God."

And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him. But if not, it will return to you.

Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and [they] go in [and] live there. And the last [state] of that person becomes worse than the first!"

And [when] he departed from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly hostile, and to question him closely about many [things],

And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will gather in there all my grain and possessions.

Consider the ravens, that they neither sow nor reap; to them there is neither storeroom nor barn, and God feeds them. How much more are you worth than the birds?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

For from now on there will be five in one household, divided three against two and two against three.

And when [you see] the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be burning heat,' and it happens.

I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid back even the last cent!"

And behold, a woman [was there] who had a spirit {that had disabled her} [for] eighteen years, and she was bent over and not able to straighten herself up completely.

But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, answered [and] said to the crowd, "There are six days on which it is necessary to work. Therefore come [and] be healed on them, and not on the day of the Sabbath!"

And someone said to him, "Lord, {are there only} a few who are saved?" And he said to them,

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside!

And the slave said, 'Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.'

I tell you that in the [same] way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

In the [same] way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

And after not many days, the younger son gathered everything [and] went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth [by] living wastefully.

And [after] he had spent everything, there was a severe famine throughout that country, and he began to be in need.

And in [addition to] all these [things], a great chasm has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross over from here to you are not able [to do so], nor can they cross over from there to us.'

nor will they say, 'Behold, here [it is]!' or 'There!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst."

And they will say to you, 'Behold, there!' 'Behold, here!' Do not go out or run after [them]!

I tell you that in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.

There will be two [women] grinding at the same [place]; one will be taken and the other will be left."

And they answered [and] said to him, "Where, Lord?" So he said to them, "Where the dead body [is], there also the vultures will be gathered."

saying, "There was a certain judge in a certain town who did not fear God and did not respect people.

And there was a widow in that town, and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Grant me justice against my adversary!'

And he said to them, "Truly I say to you that there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children on account of the kingdom of God,

And {there was} a man {named} Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector, and he [was] rich.

Now some of the Sadducees--who deny {that there is a resurrection}--came up [and] asked him,

Now there were seven brothers, and the first took a wife [and] died childless,

and he saw a certain poor widow putting in there two small copper coins.

There will be great earthquakes and famines and plagues in [various] places. There will be terrible sights and great signs from heaven.

Woe to those {who are pregnant} and to those who are nursing [their babies] in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people,

"And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity from the noise of the sea and [its] surging,

And he will show you a large furnished upstairs room. Make preparations there."

[While] he was still speaking, behold, [there came] a crowd, and the one named Judas, one of the twelve, leading them. And he approached Jesus to kiss him.

And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there vehemently accusing him.

And when they came to the place that is called "The Skull," there they crucified him, and the criminals, the one on [his] right and the other on [his] left.

And the people stood there watching, but the rulers also ridiculed [him], saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if this [man] is the Christ of God, the Chosen One!"

And there was also an inscription over him, "This [is] the king of the Jews."

And one of the criminals who were hanged there reviled him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself--and us!"

And [while] they were saying these [things], he himself stood there among them.