As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word,

So that you might have certain knowledge of those things about which you were given teaching.

They were upright in the eyes of God, keeping all the rules and orders of God, and doing no wrong.

And they were without children, because Elisabeth had never given birth, and they were at that time very old.

And all the people were offering prayers outside, at the time of the burning of perfumes.

But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John.

For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord; he will not take wine or strong drink; and he will be full of the Spirit of God from his birth.

Now, see, you will be without voice or language till the day when these things come about, because you had not faith in my words, which will have effect at the right time.

And the people were waiting for Zacharias and were surprised because he was in the Temple for such a long time.

And when the days of his work in the Temple were ended, he went back to his house.

The Lord has done this to me, for his eyes were on me, to take away my shame in the eyes of men.

Even now Elisabeth, who is of your family, is to be a mother, though she is old: and this is the sixth month with her who was without children.

And she said with a loud voice: May blessing be on you among women, and a blessing on the child of your body.

For, truly, when the sound of your voice came to my ears, the baby in my body made a sudden move for joy.

As he gave his word to our fathers.

And they said, Not one of your relations has that name.

And he sent for writing materials and put down: His name is John; and they were all surprised.

And fear came on all those who were living round about them: and there was much talk about all these things in all the hill-country of Judaea.

Salvation from those who are against us, and from the hands of those who have hate for us;

To do acts of mercy to our fathers and to keep in mind his holy word,

The oath which he made to Abraham, our father,

That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship,

In righteousness and holy living before him all our days.

Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us,

To give light to those in dark places, and in the shade of death, so that our feet may be guided into the way of peace.

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

And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house.

And in the same country there were keepers of sheep in the fields, watching over their flock by night.

And this is the sign to you: you will see a young child folded in linen, in the place where the cattle have their food.

And they came quickly, and saw Mary and Joseph, and the child in the place where the cattle had their food.

And all those to whose ears it came were full of wonder at the things said by the keepers of the sheep.

And to make an offering, as it is ordered in the law of the Lord, of two doves or other young birds.

Now you are letting your servant go in peace, O Lord, as you have said;

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

A light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.

And his father and mother were full of wonder at the things which were said about him.

(And a sword will go through your heart;) so that the secret thoughts of men may come to light.

And coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, talking of him to all those who were waiting for the freeing of Jerusalem.

And when they had done all the things which were ordered by the law of the Lord, they went back to Galilee, to Nazareth, the town where they were living.

And every year his father and mother went to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.

And when the days of the feast came to an end and they were going back, the boy Jesus was still in Jerusalem, but they had no knowledge of it:

And after three days they came across him in the Temple, seated among the wise men, giving ear to their words and putting questions to them.

And all to whose ears it came were full of wonder at his knowledge and the answers which he gave.

And when they saw him they were surprised, and his mother said to him, Son, why have you done this to us? see, your father and I have been looking for you with sorrow.

And he said to them, Why were you looking for me? was it not clear to you that my right place was in my Father's house?

Now in the fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being ruler of Judaea, and Herod being king of Galilee, his brother Philip king of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias king of Abilene,

When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land.

And he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed.

So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism: You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come?

Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham.

And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you.

And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not,

The Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove, and a voice came from heaven, saying, You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

The son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

And the Evil One said to him, If you are the Son of God, give orders to this stone to become bread.

And Jesus in answer said to him, It has been said in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God, and be his servant only.

And he took him to Jerusalem and put him on the highest point of the Temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, let yourself go down from here; for it is said in the Writings,

And, In their hands they will keep you up, so that your foot may not be crushed against a stone.

And Jesus made answer and said to him, It is said in the Writings, You may not put the Lord your God to the test.

And when all these tests were ended the Evil One went away from him for a time.

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been as a child, and he went, as his way was, into the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and got up to give a reading.

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and, opening the book, he came on the place where it is said,

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,

To give knowledge that the year of the Lord's good pleasure is come.

And shutting the book he gave it back to the servant and took his seat: and the eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on him.

Then he said to them, Today this word has come true in your hearing.

And they were all giving witness, with wonder, to the words of grace which came from his mouth: and they said, Is not this the son of Joseph?

And he said to them, Without doubt you will say to me, Let the medical man make himself well: the things which to our knowledge were done at Capernaum, do them here in your country.

Truly I say to you, There were a number of widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months and there was no food in the land;

And there were a number of lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and not one of them was made clean, but only Naaman the Syrian.

And all who were in the Synagogue were very angry when these things were said to them.

And they were surprised at his teaching, for his word was with authority.

Let us be! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? have you come to put an end to us? I have knowledge who you are, the Holy One of God.

And wonder came on them all and they said to one another, What are these words? for with authority and power he gives orders to the evil spirits and they come out.

And evil spirits came out of a number of them, crying out and saying, You are the Son of God. But he gave them sharp orders not to say a word, because they had knowledge that he was the Christ.

And he saw two boats by the edge of the water, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

And when his talk was ended, he said to Simon, Go out into deep water, and let down your nets for fish.

And Simon, answering, said, Master, we were working all night and we took nothing: but at your word I will let down the nets.

And they made signs to their friends in the other boat to come to their help. And they came, and the two boats were so full that they were going down.

For he was full of wonder and so were all those who were with him, at the number of fish which they had taken;

And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were working with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from this time forward you will be a fisher of men.

And it came about that while he was in one of the towns, there was a leper there: and when he saw Jesus he went down on his face in prayer to him, saying, Lord, if it is your pleasure, you have power to make me clean.

And it came about that on one of these days he was teaching; and some Pharisees and teachers of the law were seated there, who had come from every town of Galilee and Judaea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him, to make those who were ill free from their diseases.

And seeing their faith he said, Man, you have forgiveness for your sins.

And the scribes and Pharisees were having an argument, saying, Who is this, who has no respect for God? who is able to give forgiveness for sins, but God only?

But Jesus, who had knowledge of their thoughts, said to them, Why are you reasoning in your hearts?

Which is the simpler: to say, You have forgiveness for your sins; or to say, Get up and go?

But so that you may see that on earth the Son of man has authority for the forgiveness of sins, (he said to the man who was ill,) I say to you, Get up, and take up your bed, and go into your house.

And wonder overcame them all, and they gave glory to God; and they were full of fear, saying, We have seen strange things today.

And after these things he went out, and saw Levi, a tax-farmer, seated at the place where taxes were taken, and said to him, Come after me.

And Levi made a great feast for him in his house: and a great number of tax-farmers and others were seated at table with them.

And Jesus, answering, said to them, Those who are well have no need of a medical man, but those who are ill.

And they said to him, The disciples of John frequently go without food, and make prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your disciples take food and drink.

And Jesus said, Are you able to make the friends of the newly-married man go without food when he is with them?

And Jesus said, Have you not seen in the Writings what David did when he was in need of food, he, and those who were with him;

How he went into the house of God and took for food the holy bread, which only the priests may take, and gave it to those who were with him?

And the scribes and Pharisees were watching him to see if he would make him well on the Sabbath, so that they might be able to say something against him.

And Jesus said, I put the question to you, Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? to give life or to take it away?

And looking round on all of them, he said to him, Put out your hand. And he did so: and his hand was made well.

But they were full of wrath, and were talking together about what they might do to Jesus.