it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus;

Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division,

And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering.

You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.

It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple.

But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute.

But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah,

And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”

And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father.

And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called.

And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God.

All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.

And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),

and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,

And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.

and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.

At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it,

And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.

So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?”

And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”

And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”

Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

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

for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry.

And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”

Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

for it is written,
‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You,’

And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

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

And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’”

and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.

and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.

In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

“Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.”

And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them.

Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Christ.

Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by the lake of Gennesaret;

and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets.

And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat.

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

But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

And He stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him.

Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.

After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.”

And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.

The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”

And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.

And they said to Him, “The disciples of John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”

And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined.

Now it happened that He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain.

But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him,

how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”

But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And he got up and came forward.

And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”

After looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored.

But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and 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.”

Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”