He shall be to you a joy and a delight; and many shall rejoice over his birth.

For, as soon as your greeting reached my ears, the child moved within me with delight!

Now, when the angels had left them and gone back to Heaven, the shepherds said to one another: "Let us go at once to Bethlehem, and see this thing that has happened, of which the Lord has told us."

And, when they saw it, they told of all that had been said to them about this child.

While Mary treasured up all that they said, and dwelt upon it in her thoughts.

And the shepherds went back, giving glory and praise to God for all that they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

And so with many different exhortations John told his Good News to the people.

And the Holy Spirit descended, in a visible form, like a dove, upon him, and from the heavens came a voice--"Thou art my Son, the Beloved; in thee I delight."

So his answer to the question was: "Go and report to John what you have witnessed and heard--the blind recover their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the Good News is told to the poor.

Those who had seen it told them how the possessed man had been delivered;

Then the woman, when she saw that she was discovered, came forward trembling, and threw herself down before him; and, in the presence of all the people, she told him her reason for touching him, and that she had been cured instantly.

He told them that the Son of Man must undergo much suffering, and be rejected by the Councillors, and Chief Priests, and Teachers of the Law, and be put to death, and rise on the third day.

And, as the voice ceased, Jesus was found alone. The Apostles kept silence, and told no one about any of the things that they had seen.

Alas for you Pharisees! You delight to have the front seat in the Synagogues, and to be greeted in the markets with respect.

Then Jesus told them this parable-- "There was once a rich man whose land was very fertile;

And Jesus told them this parable-- "A man, who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, came to look for fruit on it, but could not find any.

Observing that the guests were choosing the best places for themselves, Jesus told them this parable--

On his return the servant told his master all these answers. Then in anger the owner of the house said to his servant 'Go out at once into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in here the poor, and the crippled, and the blind, and the lame.'

So Jesus told them this parable--

'Your brother has come back,' the servant told him, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has him back safe and sound.'

The Law and the Prophets sufficed until the time of John. Since then the Good News of the Kingdom of God has been told, and everybody has been forcing his way into it.

Does he feel grateful to his servant for doing what he is told?

And so with you--when you have done all that you have been told, still say 'We are but useless servants; we have done no more than we ought to have done.'"

Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never despair.

Another time, speaking to people who were satisfied that they were religious, and who regarded every one else with scorn, Jesus told this parable--

And, when people told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing,

He called ten of his servants and gave them ten pounds each, and told them to trade with them during his absence.

So the two who were sent went and found it as Jesus had told them.

"Be on your guard against the Teachers of the Law, who delight to walk about in long robes, and like to be greeted in the streets with respect, and to have the best seats in the Synagogues, and places of honor at dinner.

As soon as they shoot, you know, as you look at them, without being told, that summer is near.

So Peter and John went on, and found everything just as Jesus had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

He released the man who had been put in prison for riot and murder, as they demanded, and gave Jesus up to be dealt with as they pleased.

And, on returning from the tomb, they told all this to the Eleven and to all the rest.

And, not finding the body of Jesus there, came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he was alive.

Who told them that the Master had really risen, and had appeared to Simon.

"This is what I told you," he said, "when I was still with you--that everything that had been written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, must be fulfilled."