This will bring you gladness and delight, and many will rejoice over his birth.

Then Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is far advanced in years."

The angel answered him, "I am Gabriel; I stand in the very presence of God. I have been sent to talk with you and to tell you this good news.

Now you will keep silent and be unable to talk until the day when this takes place, because you did not believe what I told you, for it will be fulfilled at the proper time."

So after this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant, and she kept herself in seclusion for five months, saying,

"This is what the Lord has done for me when He smiled upon me to take away my disgrace among men."

But she was agitated at what he said, and began to ponder what this greeting meant.

But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?"

And listen! your relative, Elizabeth, has herself too become pregnant, although she is old, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

Why is this privilege mine, to have the mother of my Lord come to me?

for He has smiled upon His slave in her lowly station, for from this day all ages will count me happy!

and all who heard them kept them in their hearts, and said, "What then is this child to be?" for the hand of the Lord was with him.

This, the first census, was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

And this is proof for you: You will find a baby wrapped up and lying in a manger."

Then when the angel left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has told us."

When they saw this, they informed them of the story that had been told about this child.

Then Symeon gave them his blessing, and said to Mary, the child's mother, "This child is destined to bring the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign continuously disputed --

So the crowds were asking him this question, "What then ought we to do?"

added this on top of it all, that he put John in prison.

Then the devil said to Him, "If you are God's Son, order this stone to turn to a loaf of bread."

And the devil said to Him, "I will give you all this power and all their splendor, for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.

Then He began to speak to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled here in your hearing."

He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote this proverb to me, 'Doctor, cure yourself! Do the things here in your hometown that we hear you did in Capernaum.'"

Amazement then seized them all and they continued to talk it over among themselves, and to say, "What does this message mean? For with authority and power He gives orders to foul spirits, and they come out."

But the scribes and the Pharisees began to argue, saying, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

After this He went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi in his seat at the tax-collector's desk, and He said to him, "Follow me."

Burst into joy on that day and leap for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way your forefathers used to treat the prophets.

A curse on you when everyone speaks well of you, for this is the way their forefathers used to treat the false prophets.

So they went to Jesus and continued to urge Him earnestly, saying, "He deserves that you do this for him,

For I too am under authority of others, and have soldiers under me, and I order one to go, and he goes, another to come, and he comes, my slave to do this, and he does it."

When Jesus heard this, He was astounded at him, and turning to the crowd that was following Him He said, "I tell you, I have not found, in a single case among the Jews, so great faith as this!"

This story about Him spread all over Judea and all the surrounding country.

This is the man of whom the Scripture says: "'Attention! I send my messenger on before you. He will prepare the road ahead of you.'

So to what can I compare the men of this age, and what are they like?

And turning face to face with the woman He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came to your house; you did not give me any water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair.

The men at the table began to say to themselves, "Who is this man, who even forgives sins?"

And another portion fell in rich soil and grew and yielded a crop of a hundredfold." As He said this, He exclaimed, "Let him who has ears to hear with, listen!"

His disciples were asking Him what this story meant.

This is what the story means: The seed is God's message.

So Herod said, "John I beheaded, but who can this be about whom I hear such reports?" So he was trying to see Him.

But He particularly warned, yea, even commanded, them not to tell this to anybody,

Now about eight days after Jesus said this, He took Peter, John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.

But as he was saying this, a cloud came and was circling over them, and they were frightened as the two visitors entered into the cloud.

Then a voice came out of the cloud and said, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; continue to listen to Him!"

But they remained ignorant of what this meant; indeed, it had been hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

Then He said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child on my account is welcoming me, and whoever welcomes me is welcoming Him who sent me; for the one who is lowliest among you all is really great."

When the disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?"

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on before Him, two by two, to every town or place which He was going to visit.

Whenever you go to a house for headquarters, first say, 'Peace to this household.'

'We are wiping off against you the very dust from your town that has stuck to our feet. But understand this, the kingdom of God is close by.'

He said to him, "You have answered correctly. Continue to do this, and you will live."

Just as He was saying this, a woman in the crowd lifted her voice and said, "Blessed is the mother who bore you and nursed you!"

Now as the crowds continued to throng upon Him, He began to say: "This is a wicked age. It is looking for a spectacular sign, but none will be given it but the sign of Jonah.

For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this age.

The queen of the south will rise at the judgment with the men of this age and will condemn them, for she came from the very ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom; and yet, One who is more than Solomon is here.

The men of Nineveh will rise at the judgment with the men of this age and will condemn them, for they turned to the message preached by Jonah, and yet One who is more than Jonah is here.

When He had said this, a Pharisee asked Him to lunch at his house, and He went in and took His place at table.

Then an expert in the law interrupted Him and said, "Teacher, in saying this you are insulting us, too."

This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will persecute';

so that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the creation of the world may be charged against the men of this age --

from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against the men of this age.

Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and in them I will store all my grains and my goods.

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is to be demanded of you. Then who will have all that you have prepared?'

So if you cannot do this very little thing, why should you worry about the rest?

But be sure of this, that if the master of the house had known what time the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

Peter said to Him, "Lord, do you mean this story for us, or is it for everybody?"

Then He answered them, "Do you think, because these Galileans suffered like this, that they were worse sinners than all the rest of the Galileans?

Then He told them this story: "A man had a fig tree planted by his vineyard, and he kept going and looking for figs on it, but did not find any.

So he said to the vine-dresser, 'Look here! for three years I have been coming to look for figs on this fig tree, and have not found any. Cut it down. Why waste the ground with it?'

And so was it not right for this woman, a descendant of Abraham, whom Satan has for eighteen years kept bound, to be freed from this bond on the Sabbath?"

Even while He was saying this, His opponents were blushing with shame, but all the people were rejoicing over all the glorious things that were being done by Him.

But they could make no reply to this.

so that your host may not come and say to you, 'Make room for this man'; and then in embarrassment you will proceed to take and keep the lowest place.

But one of the fellow-guests heard this, and said to Him, "Happy will be the man who is fortunate enough to be at the feast in the kingdom of God."

and say, 'This fellow started to erect a building but could not complete it!'

And so the Pharisees and scribes continually grumbled, and said, "This fellow is welcoming notorious sinners, and even eating with them."

because this son of mine was dead and has come to life, was lost and has been found!' So they began to celebrate.

Then he called one of the servant-boys and asked him what this meant.

But when this son of yours arrives, who has eaten up your property with immoral women, you have killed for him the fattening calf.'

But we just had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life, was lost and has been found.'"

So he called the manager to him and said, 'What is this that I am hearing about you? Balance your accounts and show how you are conducting my affairs, for you cannot be manager any longer.'

Now the Pharisees who were lovers of money had been listening to all this, and they began to ridicule Him.

So he called and said, 'Father Abraham, take pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am ceaselessly tortured in this flame.'

Besides all this, between you and us there stands fixed a great chasm, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot, nor can they cross from your side to us.'

Then he said, 'For this reason, I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house

(for I have five brothers) to warn them, that they too may not come to this place of torture.'

Then the Lord said to them, "If you had faith that grows like a mustard seed, you might have been saying to this mulberry tree, 'Pull yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea,' and it would have obeyed you!

Were none found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"

But first He has to endure much suffering, and be disowned by this age.

Then they asked Him, "Where, Lord, will this be?" And He said to them, "Wherever there is carrion the vultures will flock."

yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will give her justice and protection, so that she may not finally wear me out by her continual coming."

The Pharisee stood and said this self-centered prayer, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, robbers, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector.

I tell you, this man, and not the other, went back home forgiven and accepted by God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted."

When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell everything you have, and distribute the money among the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me."

who will not receive in return many times more in this world, and in the next eternal life."

But they did not understand about these things, and this statement was an insoluble riddle to them; they did not even begin to grasp what He meant.

Then Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this home, for he too is a real descendant of Abraham.

But his citizens continued to hate him, and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We do not want this man to become king over us.'

But when the tenants saw him, they argued among themselves, 'This is the heir; let us kill him, so that what he inherits may be ours.'

He will come and put those tenants to death and give the vineyard to others." When they heard this, they said, "May it never be so!"