Whereas several have undertaken to draw up a narrative of those transactions, which pass'd among us;

according as they were delivered to us by persons, who were all along eye-witnesses, and had a share in the transactions themselves:

In the time of Herod, the king of Judea, there was a certain priest, named Zacharias, of the family of Abia, whose wife; nam'd Elizabeth, was of the race of Aaron:

but the angel said to Zacharias, don't be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard: and your wife Elizabeth shall bear you a son, whom you shall name John:

he shall appear as a divine messenger. he shall drink neither wine, nor any other strong liquor: he shall be filled with the holy spirit, even from his infancy:

But Zacharias said to the angel, by what sign shall I know this? for I am old, and my wife is of a great age.

it is the Lord, said she, who has thus favour'd me, at the time when he took care to remove the reproach I was under among men.

to a virgin contracted to a man; whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. and the virgin's name was Mary.

the angel, upon his arrival, said to her; "Hail, favorite of heaven, the Lord is with thee: thou happiest of thy sex."

even your cousin Elizabeth, as old as she is, is become pregnant with a son: she, who was stiled barren, is now in her sixth month;

for nothing is impossible to God."

"Blessed mother of the most blessed offspring! what an honour is this, that I should be visited by the mother of our Lord!

blessed is she that has believed; for what she has heard from the Lord, shall be accomplished."

his mercy is on them that fear him, from generation to generation.

they answered her, there is not any of your family of that name.

then he made signs for a writing-book, and writ these words, "his name is John:" at which they were all surprized.

immediately he had the use of his speech: and he uttered himself in praises to God.

he hath rais'd up a powerful saviour for us, in the family of his servant David,

to deliver us from our enemies, and from the power of all that hate us:

the oath which he made to our father Abraham, to grant us this favour,

through the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun has visited us from on high,

for the Lord Messiah your saviour is this day born, in the city of David:

As soon as the angels retired back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us go to Bethlehem, to see the fact, of which the Lord inform'd us.

glorifying and praising God, for having heard and seen every thing exactly as the angel inform'd them.

At length the time appointed by the law of Moses for the purification of women being accomplish'd, they carried the infant to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, according as his law directs,

by the divine direction he came into the temple, just as the parents of Jesus were bringing in the child to perform what the law required in his behalf.

when Jesus therefore was twelve years old they went thither, as was customary at the time of that festival.

when Joseph and his mother saw him, great was their surprize: and his mother said to him, son, why did you leave us thus? your father and I have been looking for you with great concern.

as it is written in the book of the prophecies of Esaias, "the voice of one crying in the desart, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths clear.

let your actions therefore show your repentance, and don't pretend to say within yourselves, "we have Abraham for our father:" for I tell you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

the ax is already laid to the root of the trees: every tree then, which does not produce good fruit, shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire.

As the people were in suspence, every man imagining in his own mind that John might be the Messiah;

he address'd himself to them all, saying, I indeed baptize you with water; but there is one coming, who is superiour to me, whose shoes I am unworthy to untie: he shall baptize you with the holy spirit, under the appearance of fire.

Jesus was then about thirty years of age, being, as was suppos'd, the son of Joseph,

but Jesus answered him, it is written, "man shall not live by bread alone, but by every thing that God appoints."

but Jesus answered him, avant, satan, for it is written, "thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

for it is written, "he shall charge his angels to watch for your preservation:

but Jesus replied, it is said, "thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

they delivered to him the book of the prophet Esaias, and upon opening the book, that passage occurr'd, where it is written,

"the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

then he closed the book, and returning it to the minister, he sat down: and as the eyes of the whole synagogue were fix'd with attention upon him,

They all applauded him, and were surprized, that what he said, was delivered with so much grace. but they objected, is not this the son of Joseph?

now there was in the synagogue a man possess'd with the spirit of an impure demon, who roar'd out, in these words, let us alone;

what business have you with us, Jesus of Nazareth? are you come to destroy us? I know who you are; the saint of God.

When Jesus came out of the synagogue, he went to Simon's house, whose mother-in-law was seized with a violent fever, and they desired him to relieve her.

As soon as the sun was set, all sorts of diseased persons were brought before him by their friends, and he healed them all, by laying his hands upon them.

When it was day, he retired into a desart place, where the people searching for him, found him out, and as they earnestly press'd him not to leave them,

One day, as the people press'd after him to hear his divine preaching, he came near the lake of Gennesereth,

at sight of this, Simon Peter fell on his knees before Jesus, and said, Lord, withdraw from such a sinful man as I:

As he was going to one of the cities in that country, a man cover'd all over with leprosy happen'd to meet Jesus, and prostrating himself before him, thus address'd him, Lord, if you will, you can cure me.

At another time, as he was teaching, it happened that some Pharisees, and doctors of the law were sitting by, who came from the several towns of Galilee and Judea, and from Jerusalem: when the power of the Lord appear'd in their relief.

upon which the Scribes and Pharisees objected among themselves, saying, what a man is this to blaspheme thus? who can forgive sins but God alone?

which is easier, to say, your sins are forgiven you, or to say, rise up, and walk?

to which he answered, would you have the bridemen fast, while the bridegroom is with them?

so no-body that has been drinking old wine, will immediately call for new: for 'tis his maxim, "the old is best."

On the second-prime sabbath, as Jesus was passing through the corn-fields, his disciples happen'd to pluck the ears, and rubbing out the corn with their hands began to eat.

upon which some of the Pharisees said to them, why do you do what is not allowed to be done on the sabbath-day?

but as he knew their thoughts, he said to the man, whose hand was paralytic, rise up, and stand there in the middle. and he arose, and stood before him.

then said Jesus to them, I will ask you one question, which is the most allowable on the sabbath-day, to do good, or to neglect it? to save a man's life, or to let him perish?

then casting his eyes round the company, he said to the man, stretch out your hand. and he did so: and that hand was as sound as the other.

Then directing himself to his disciples, he said, blessed are ye, that are poor: for the divine kingdom is yours.

blessed are you, when men shall hate you, discard you, reproach you, and treat you as infamous, for your attachment to the son of man.

But as for you, who hear me, love your enemies: do good to those, who hate you: bless those, who curse you:

behave to others in the same manner, as you desire they would behave to you.

if you return one kind office by another, where's the obligation? the heathen themselves do as much.

but as for you, love your enemies, do good, and lend without expecting any advantage from it: so shall your reward be great, in acting like the children of the most high: for he is kind to the most ungrateful wretches.

be ye therefore merciful, as your father is merciful.

The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

How comes it, that you can see the mote in your brother's eye, and not see the beam that is in your own eye?

or how can you say to your brother, brother, let me take out the mote, that is in your eye, when you your self don't discern the beam that is in your own eye? hypocrite, first remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the mote out of your brother's eye.

for every tree is known by its fruit: it is not on thorns that men gather figs, nor do they gather grapes on a bramble bush.

a good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces what is good: and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart produces what is evil: for 'tis from the abundance of the heart, that the mouth speaketh.

I will show you, who that man is like, who comes to me, and practises what I prescribe.

he is like a man who in building a house, digg'd deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: an inundation came, the current beat impetuously upon that house, but could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

but he that does not practise what he hears, is like a man who built his house upon the loose earth without any foundation: the current beat impetuously against it: in the instant down it fell, and great were its ruins.

and hath built us a synagogue at his own charge.

as he drew near the gate of the city, there was a dead man just then carrying out to be buried, who was his mother's only son, and she a widow: and many people of the town came with her.

all that were present were seized with dread, and glorified God, saying, a great prophet is risen up among us, and God has visited his people.

accordingly they came to Jesus, and said, John the Baptist sent us to enquire, if you are he that was to come, or must we look for another?

then he gave them this answer, go, and tell John what you have seen, and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the gospel is proclaim'd to the poor.

and blessed is he, who does not make me the occasion of his fall.

he it is, of whom it is written, "behold, I send my messenger before you, who shall prepare the way for you."

I declare unto you, among the whole race of mankind, there is not a prophet, who is superiour to John the Baptist: yet he that is most inferiour in the kingdom of the Messiah, is greater than he.

for John the Baptist, when he came, abstain'd from bread and wine; yet you say, he is possess'd with a demon.

the son of man appears indifferent to any kind of meat or drink: yet you say, he is a glutton and a tipler, a friend of publicans and loose people.

"but wisdom is justified by all her different followers."

which the Pharisee, who had invited him, observing, he thus argued with himself, if this man were a prophet, he could not but know that the woman, who is so busy with him, is a person of a loose character.

wherefore, I tell you, her sins, which are numerous, are forgiven; and that is the reason of all this love: but his love is less, to whom less is forgiven.

but they who sat at table with him, began to ask one another, who is this, that pretends even to forgive sins?

a husbandman went out to sow his corn: and as he was sowing, some fell upon the beaten road, which was crush'd under foot, or devoured by the birds.

now the meaning of the parable is this: the seed sown signifies the word of God.

by the beaten road is meant, they who only hear: the word, by the lurking wiles of the devil, being hinder'd from taking root in their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

by the stony ground is understood such persons as receive indeed the doctrines they hear, with joy: but for want of resolution, believe only occasionally, and desert when the trial comes.

the ground over-run with thorns denotes such as have embraced the doctrine, but are so immerst in the business, enjoyments, and pleasures of life, as not to improve it to any real advantage.

but by the good ground is meant such persons as have received the doctrine with simplicity and sincerity, abide by it, and practise it with perseverance.

whatever is now obscure, shall hereafter be made clear; whatever is now conceal'd, shall then be publickly known.

The same day Jesus went on board a vessel with his disciples, and said to them, let us pass over to the other side of the lake: and so they put off to sea.

while they were rowing, Jesus fell asleep: when there blew such a storm of wind upon the lake, as fill'd the boat with water, and endanger'd their lives.

but to his disciples he said, where is your faith? while they, seiz'd with fear and admiration, said to one another, who can this man be, that he commands even the winds, and the waves, and they obey?

upon Jesus's saying to him, what is your name? he answer'd, legion, (for many demons were enter'd into him.)