Now they had no child, for Elizabeth was barren, and both were far advanced in years.

And as he saw him Zachariah was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

"For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, "He shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, "He shall be filled with the Holy Spirit from the hour of his birth,

"He shall go before Him in the wisdom and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and so to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him."

"How shall I be sure of this?" said Zachariah to the Angel. "For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years."

Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zachariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the sanctuary.

"This has the Lord done for me. He has now deigned to take the away my reproach among men."

when the angel said to her. "Fear not Mary, for you have found grace with God.

And Mary said to the angel. "How can this be? For I have no husband?"

"For no word of God shall be void of power."

"For behold when the sound of your salutation reached my ears, the babe leaped with joy within my womb.

"For he has regarded the humiliation of his slave, And from this hour all ages will count me blessed.

"For he who is mighty has done great things for me; And holy is his name.

So he asked for a writing tablet and wrote down, "His name is John."

And there came a great fear upon all in the neighborhood; and throughout the hill country of Judea all these sayings were much talked about.

All the story laid it up in their hearts, saying "What, then, will this child be?" For the Lord's hands was with him.

"Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, For he has visited and redeemed his people,

"And has raised up a mighty Deliverer for us In the house of his servant David,

"That he we should be delivered out of the Hand of our enemies, And should serve him without fear,

"And thou, child, shalt be called the Prophet of the Most High, For thou shalt go before the Lord to prepare the way

In those days Augustus Caesar issued an edict for a census of the whole inhabited world.

But while they were there the days were fulfilled for her delivery.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

When suddenly an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them; and they feared with a great fear. The angel said to them.

"Have no fear, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all the people.

"For unto you born this day in there is born in David's town a Saviour, who is the Anointed Lord.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying God and praising him for all those things that they had seen and heard, even as it was told to them.

And when the days for purification according to the law of Moses had passed, they took him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord,

Now there was in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon. He was righteous and devout, and was waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him.

And he came into the Temple, led by the Spirit. and when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law,

"A light for the unveiling of the Gentiles And the glory of thy people Israel."

"Behold this child is set for the falling and rising up of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.

and then being a widow even for fourscore and four years. She departed not from the temple, but worshiped with the fasting and prayer, night and day.

She came up at that very hour, and gave thanks to God, and spoke of the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

but supposed that he was in the company, and went a days journey. Then they hunted for him among his kinsfolk and acquaintance;

and when they did not find him they returned to Jerusalem, making anxious inquiry for him.

When they saw him they were astonished, and his mother said to him "Child, why have you treated us so? Behold your father and I have been looking for you in anguish."

He answered, "Why is it that you have been looking for me, did you not realize that I had to be in my Father's house?"

And John went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

As it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah. The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare the way for God, make straight paths for him.

And now truly the axe is already laid at the root of the trees. So every tree which is not bearing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

whether perhaps he were the Christ, John answered, saying to all of them. "I indeed am baptizing you in water, but One is coming after me, mightier than I, whose shoe-latchet I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost and in fire.

He has his fan in his hand to cleanse his threshing-floor thoroughly, and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff will he burn with unquenchable fire."

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, came back from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, all the time tempted by the devil.

"To you will I give all this authority and this glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

for it is written, "He shall give his angels charge of thee, to guard thee safely;

So, after exhausting on him every kind of temptation, the devil left him for a time.

In very truth I tell you there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were closed for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

All were amazed, and began to ask one another, saying. "What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out."

Now when he rose and left the synagogue, he entered into the house of Simon, where Simon's mother-in-law lay sick of a great fever. And they kept entreating him for her.

But he said to them. "I must preach the gospel of the kingdom of God to the other towns also; for that is what I was sent to do."

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Push out into deep water, and let down your nets for a haul."

When Simon Peter saw this he fell down at the knees of Jesus, exclaiming, "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man!"

(For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the haul of fish which they had made;

and so were Simon's partners, James and John, sons of Zebedee.) But Jesus answered Simon. "Fear not; from this time on, you will be catching men."

And instantly the leprosy left him. Jesus ordered him to tell no one, "But be off," he said, "show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them."

"And no man after drinking old wine, wishes for new; for he says, "The old is better.""

Then raising his eyes upon his disciples he began to say to them. "Blessed are you poor, For the kingdom of God is yours.

"Blessed are you who are hungry now, For you shall be filled. "Blessed are you who are wailing now, For you shall laugh.

"Rejoice in that day and exult, For your reward is great in heaven; For even so did their fathers to the prophets.

"But woe to you rich! For you already have received your consolation.

"Woe unto you who are full now! For you shall suffer hunger. "Woe to you who are laughing now! For you shall wail and weep.

"Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you! For even so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Bless those who curse you, pray for those who calumniate you.

"But you must love even your enemies and be kind to them, And lend, despairing of no man. Then your reward will be great, And you will be the sons of the Most High; For he is kind even to the ungrateful and to the evil.

"Pardon, and you shall be pardoned; Give, and gifts shall be given to you; Full measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they shall pour into your bosom. For with what measure you measure, they will measure back to you."

"For there is not good tree which bears worthless fruit, nor again any worthless tree which bears good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit.

"The good man out of the good treasure-house of his heart brings forth good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure-house of his heart brings forth evil; for the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart.

"for he loves our nation, and himself has built a synagogue for us."

So Jesus started to go with them, but while he was not far from the house, the captain sent friends to him with a message. "Lord do not trouble yourself, for I am not fit that you should come under my roof,

"For I also am a man obedient to authority, and have soldiers under me. And I say to one 'come,' and he comes, and to my slave 'do this or that,' and he does it."

but the Pharisees and lawyers who had refused his baptism, frustrated God's purpose for themselves.

"For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'

"You have rightly judged." answered Jesus, and turning to the woman, he said to Simon. "Do you see this woman? When I came into your house you gave me no water for my feet; but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

"This is why I tell you that her sins, many as they are, are forgiven, for her love is great; but he who is forgiven little, loves but little.

"Those on the rock are people who, upon hearing, receive the word with joy; but they have no root. For a time indeed they all believe, but in time of temptation they fall away.

"For is nothing hidden that shall not be disclosed; there is nothing secret which shall not be made known and come to the light.

"Take heed, then, how you listen. for he who has, to him shall it be given, but from him who has not, shall be taken away even what he has."

When he landed here he was met by a certain townsman who was possessed by demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes and nor lived in any house, but in tombs.

For Jesus was already commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For many times it had seized him and held him, and they again and again kept him under guard, and put him in chains and fetters. But he would break his bonds asunder, as he was driven by the demon in to the desert.

So Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he answered, "Legion" (for many demons had entered into him).

And the whole populace of Gadarenes and the surrounding territory besought Jesus to go away from them; for they were terror-stricken. So he entered a boat and returned.

"Return to your home, and tell them all that God has done for you." So he went away and throughout the whole city he published how much Jesus had done for him.

for they were all waiting for him. Just then there came a man named Jarius, and he was ruler in the synagogue. He fell down at Jesus' feet and begged him to come into his house;

for he had only one daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay dying. But as he went the crowds continued to press in on him.

And a woman who for twelve years had had a hemorrhage, and had spent on doctors all that she had, but none had cured her,

But Jesus said: "Some one did touch me; for I perceived that the power was proceeding out of me."

Then the woman, who saw that she had not escaped notice, came trembling, and falling down before him, stated before the people for what reason she had touched him, and how she had been instantly healed.

But Jesus heard and answered. "Have no fear. Only believe, and she shall be restored."

The people were weeping and bewailing her, but he said: "Stop your wailing; for she is not dead, but asleep."

And he said to them. "Take nothing for your journey, neither staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money, and do not have two tunics.

But now the day began to decline, and the twelve came to him and said: "Send away the crowd so that they may go into the villages and surrounding the country to lodge and buy provisions; for here we are on a solitary place."

"Do you yourselves give them food," he answered. "We have nothing," they replied "Except five loaves, and a couple fish, unless you mean for us to go and buy provisions for all the crowd."

(For there were about five thousand men.) "Make them sit down in table-companies, of about fifty each," he said to his disciples.

"For whoever wills to save his life shall lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake shall save it.

"For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose or forfeit himself?

"For whoever is ashamed of me and of my teachings, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in his own and in his Father's glory, and in that of the holy angels.

And when they were preparing to depart from him Peter said to Jesus. "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"??ot knowing what he was saying.

and a man called out of the crowd saying. "Teacher, I beg you to look upon my son; for he is my only boy,

"Let these words sink into your ears; for the son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."