it seemed good to me also, having traced all things accurately from the first, to write to you an orderly account, most noble Theophilus;

Now it came to pass, that, while he was doing priestly service in the order of his course before God,

it fell to his lot, according to the custom of the priest's office, having gone into the temple of the Lord, to offer incense;

and all the multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of the incense-offering.

And you will have joy and gladness; and many will rejoice at his birth;

And Zacharias said to the angel, "By what shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife is far advanced in her days."

And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they were wondering at his tarrying in the temple.

And, having come out, he was not able to speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained dumb.

And it came to pass, when the days of his ministration were fulfilled, he departed to his house;

But she was troubled at the saying, and was deliberating as to what kind of salutation this might be.

And Mary said, "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; may it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

And it came to pass that, as Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit:

And it came to pass, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they were calling him Zacharias, after the name of his father.

And they were making signs to his father, what he wished him to be called.

and all who heard laid them up in their heart, saying, "What, then, shall this child be!" For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.

to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear,

Now it came to pass, in those days, that there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the inhabited earth should be enrolled.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;

And it came to pass, while they were there, that the days were fulfilled for her to give birth;

And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into Heaven, that the shepherds were saying one to another, "Let us go over at once to Bethlehem, and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord made known to us."

And all who heard wondered at the things spoken to them by the shepherds.

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they heard and saw, as it was spoken to them.

And, when eight days were fulfilled for circumcising Him, His name was called Jesus??hich was so called by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

(as it has been written in the law of the Lord??Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord"");

and to offer sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord

as it has been written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight His paths.

Produce, therefore, fruits worthy of repentance; and begin not to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'; for I say to you, that God is able out of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

And already the axe also is lying at the root of the trees; every tree, therefore, not producing good fruit, is cut down, and cast into the fire."

And the multitudes were asking him, saying, "What, then, shall we do?"

And there came also tax-collectors to be immersed, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"

And soldiers also were questioning him, saying, "And what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do violence to no one, neither accuse any one falsely, and be content with your wages."

Whose fan is in His hand, thoroughly to cleanse His threshing-floor, and to gather the wheat into His granary; but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire."

Now it came to pass, when all the people were immersed, that as Jesus also was immersed, and was praying, Heaven was opened,

and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form, as a dove; and a voice came out of Heaven, "Thou art My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I delighted."

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

forty days, being tempted by the Devil. And He ate nothing in those days; and, when they were completed, He hungered.

And the Devil said to Him, "If Thou art God's Son, command this stone, that it become bread."

And Jesus made answer to him, "It has been written, 'Not on bread alone shall man live.'"

And the Devil said to Him, "To Thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them; because to me it has been delivered, and to whomsoever I will I give it.

If Thou, therefore, wilt worship before me, it shall all be Thine."

And Jesus, answering, said to him, "It has been written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.'"

for it has been written, 'He will command His angels concerning you, to keep watch over you;

And Jesus, answering, said to him, "It has been said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God."

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and a report went out concerning Him through all the region round about.

And there was given to Him a book of the prophet Isaiah; and, opening the book, He found the place where it had been written,

And, having closed the book. He gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on Him.

And all were bearing witness to Him, and were wondering at the words of grace which proceeded out of His mouth; and they said, "Is not this Joseph's Son?"

and to no one of them was Elijah sent, except to Zarephath in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

and, rising up, they cast Him forth out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, to throw Him down headlong;

and they were astonished at His teaching, because His word was with authority.

And in the synagogue there was a man having a spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice,

"Ha! what is there to us and to Thee, Jesus, Nazarene! Didst Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee, Who Thou art, the Holy One of God!"

And Jesus rebuked it, saying, "Be silent, and come out from him." And the demon, hurling him into the midst, came out from him, having injured him naught.

And amazement came upon all; and they were talking together, one with another, saying, "What is this word, that with authority and power He commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out!"

And, rising up, He went out of the synagogue into the house of Simon. And the mother-in-law of Simon was afflicted with a great fever; and they besought Him concerning her.

And, standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and, immediately rising up, she was ministering to them.

And demons also came out from many, crying out, and saying, "Thou art the Son of God." And, rebuking them, He was not suffering them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.

And He said to them, "It is needful that I proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also; because for this I was sent forth."

Now it came to pass, as the multitude was pressing upon Him, and hearing the word of God, that He was standing by the lake Gennesaret;

and He saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen, having gone out of them, were washing their nets.

And, entering into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to put out a little from the land; and, having taken a seat, He was teaching the multitudes out of the boat.

And, when He ceased speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught."

And Simon, answering, said, "Master, having toiled through the whole night, we took nothing; but at Thy word I will let down the nets."

And Simon Peter, seeing it, fell down at the knees of Jesus, saying, "Depart from me; because I am a sinful man, O Lord;"

And it came to pass, while He was in one of the cities, behold, a man full of leprosy; and, when he saw Jesus, falling on his face, he besought Him, saying, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean."

And it came to pass, on one of the days, that He was teaching; and there were sitting by Pharisees and teachers of the law, who had come out of every village of Galilee, and Judea, and Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present with Him to heal.

And, not finding by what means they might bring him in because of the multitude, having gone up on the housetop, they let him down through the tiles with the couch, into the midst, before Jesus.

But Jesus, perceiving their reasonings, answering, said to them, "Concerning what are ye reasoning in your hearts?

And, after these things, He went forth, and beheld a tax-collector, Levi by name, sitting at the tax-office; and He said to him, "Follow Me."

And Levi made a great reception for Him in his house; and there was a great multitude of tax-collectors and of others who were reclining at table with them.

And He spake also a parable to them: "No one, rending a piece from a new garment, puts it on an old garment; else both the new will cause a rent, and the piece from the new will not agree with the old.

"And no one puts new wine into old wine-skins; else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be poured out, and the skins will perish.

And it came to pass on a sabbath, that He was going through grainfields; and His disciples were plucking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them with their hands.

how he entered into the house of God, and taking the showbread, ate, and gave to those with him; which it is not lawful to eat, except for the priests only?"

And it came to pass on another sabbath, that He entered into the synagogue, and taught. And there was a man there, and his right hand was withered.

And Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbath to do good, or to do evil??o save a soul, or to destroy it?"

But they were filled with madness, and were conferring one with another as to what they should do to Jesus.

And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into the mountain to pray; and He was spending the whole night in prayer to God.

And when it became day, He called His disciples; and, having selected twelve from them, (whom He also called apostles):

"Happy are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from themselves, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

"And, if ye love those who love you, what charm have you? for even the sinners love those who love them.

"And, if ye do good to those who do good to you, what charm have you? even the sinners do the same.

"And, if ye lend to those from whom ye hope to receive, what charm have you? even the sinners lend to sinners, that they may receive back as much.

"Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will they give into your bosom; for with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, suffer me to cast out the mote that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the beam in your own eye? Hypocrite! cast first the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to cast out the mote that is in your brother's eye.

"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and the evil, out of the evil treasure brings forth that which is evil; for out of the abundance of the heart does his mouth speak.

he is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock; and, a flood coming, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it; because it was well built.

But he who heard and did not, is like a man who built a house upon the earth without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and straightway it collapsed; and the ruin of that house was great."

for I also am a man set under authority, having soldiers under myself; and I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

And, hearing these things, Jesus marvelled at him; and, turning, He said to the multitude following Him, "I say to you, not even in Israel did I find such faith!"

And it came to pass soon afterwards that He went to a city called Nain; and there were going with Him His disciples, and a large multitude.

And, as He came near to the gate of the city, behold, also there was being carried out one dead, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd of the city was with her.

And, going forward, He touched the bier; and those bearing it stood still; and He said, "Young man, I say to you, Arise!"

And, answering, He said to them, "Going your way, announce to John what ye saw and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the Gospel proclaimed to them.

And, the messengers of John having gone away, He began to say to the multitudes concerning John, "What went ye forth into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken by the wind?

But what went ye forth to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those clothed in splendid apparel, and living in luxury, are in kingly courts!

But what went ye forth to see? a prophet? Yea, I say to you, and much more than a prophet.

This is he concerning whom it has been written, 'Behold, I send forth My messenger before Thy face, who will prepare Thy way before Thee.'

"To what, then, shall I liken the men of this generation? And to what are they like?

And one of the Pharisees was asking Him to eat with him; and, having entered into the Pharisee's house, He reclined at table.