When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and overcome with fear.

There will be joy and delight for you,
and many will rejoice at his birth.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord
and will never drink wine or beer.
He will be filled with the Holy Spirit
while still in his mother’s womb.

And he will go before Him
in the spirit and power of Elijah,
to turn the hearts of fathers
to their children,
and the disobedient
to the understanding of the righteous,
to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.

“How can I know this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “For I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary.

After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and kept herself in seclusion for five months. She said,

“The Lord has done this for me. He has looked with favor in these days to take away my disgrace among the people.”

Then the angel told her:

Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.

And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless.

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me!

because the Mighty One
has done great things for me,
and His name is holy.

His mercy is from generation to generation
on those who fear Him.

Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she had a son.

He asked for a writing tablet and wrote:

HIS NAME IS JOHN.

And they were all amazed.

Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.

Fear came on all those who lived around them, and all these things were being talked about throughout the hill country of Judea.

All who heard about him took it to heart, saying, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the Lord’s hand was with him.

Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because He has visited
and provided redemption for His people.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of His servant David,

since we have been rescued
from our enemies’ clutches,
to serve Him without fear

And child, you will be called
a prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord
to prepare His ways,

While they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

Then she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him snugly in cloth and laid Him in a feeding trough—because there was no room for them at the lodging place.

But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people:

Today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.

This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a feeding trough.”

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, just as they had been told.

When the eight days were completed for His circumcision, He was named Jesus—the name given by the angel before He was conceived.

Guided by the Spirit, he entered the temple complex. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform for Him what was customary under the law,

For my eyes have seen Your salvation.

a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and glory to Your people Israel.

and was a widow for 84 years. She did not leave the temple complex, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers.

Every year His parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival.

Assuming He was in the traveling party, they went a day’s journey. Then they began looking for Him among their relatives and friends.

When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him.

When His parents saw Him, they were astonished, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”

“Why were you searching for Me?” He asked them. “Didn’t you know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,

as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:

A voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
Prepare the way for the Lord;
make His paths straight!

Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

John answered them all, “I baptize you with water, but One is coming who is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing shovel is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with a fire that never goes out.”

for 40 days to be tempted by the Devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, He was hungry.

For it is written:

He will give His angels orders concerning you,
to protect you,

After the Devil had finished every temptation, he departed from Him for a time.

The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
because He has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me
to proclaim freedom to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed,

But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land.

Amazement came over them all, and they kept saying to one another, “What is this message? For He commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!”

When it was day, He went out and made His way to a deserted place. But the crowds were searching for Him. They came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them.

But He said to them, “I must proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.”

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they took,

Then He ordered him to tell no one: “But go and show yourself to the priest, and offer what Moses prescribed for your cleansing as a testimony to them.”

Then Levi hosted a grand banquet for Him at his house. Now there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others who were guests with them.

how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat? He even gave some to those who were with him.”

“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! Take note—your reward is great in heaven, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.

bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Give to everyone who asks you, and from one who takes your things, don’t ask for them back.

Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.

But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is gracious to the ungrateful and evil.

Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs aren’t gathered from thornbushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush.

A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.

When they reached Jesus, they pleaded with Him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this,

Jesus went with them, and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell Him, “Lord, don’t trouble Yourself, since I am not worthy to have You come under my roof.

For I too am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under my command. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

Then fear came over everyone, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited His people.”

and sent them to the Lord, asking, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?”

When the men reached Him, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask You, ‘Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?’”

What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet.

But since the Pharisees and experts in the law had not been baptized by him, they rejected the plan of God for themselves.)

They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other:

We played the flute for you,
but you didn’t dance;
we sang a lament,
but you didn’t weep!

For John the Baptist did not come eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

Turning to the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she, with her tears, has washed My feet and wiped them with her hair.

So He said, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you to know, but to the rest it is in parables, so that

Looking they may not see,
and hearing they may not understand.

And the seed on the rock are those who, when they hear, welcome the word with joy. Having no root, these believe for a while and depart in a time of testing.

As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.

For nothing is concealed that won’t be revealed, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known and come to light.

Therefore take care how you listen. For whoever has, more will be given to him; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him.”

When He got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met Him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs.

For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was guarded, bound by chains and shackles, he would snap the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.

Then all the people of the Gerasene region asked Him to leave them, because they were gripped by great fear. So getting into the boat, He returned.

“Go back to your home, and tell all that God has done for you.” And off he went, proclaiming throughout the town all that Jesus had done for him.

When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they were all expecting Him.

A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years, who had spent all she had on doctors yet could not be healed by any,

Everyone was crying and mourning for her. But He said, “Stop crying, for she is not dead but asleep.”

“Take nothing for the road,” He told them, “no walking stick, no traveling bag, no bread, no money; and don’t take an extra shirt.

“You give them something to eat,” He told them.

“We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

(For about 5,000 men were there.)

Then He told His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each.”

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it.

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and that of the Father and the holy angels.

As the two men were departing from Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it’s good for us to be here! Let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

He told them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in My name welcomes Me. And whoever welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me. For whoever is least among you—this one is great.”

“Don’t stop him,” Jesus told him, “because whoever is not against you is for you.”

When the days were coming to a close for Him to be taken up, He determined to journey to Jerusalem.

He sent messengers ahead of Him, and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for Him.

When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”