exactly as these have been handed down to us by the original eyewitnesses who were in the service of the Gospel Message,

They were both just in the sight of God, blameless in their obedience to all the commands and regulations of God;

but they had no child, for Elizabeth was barren. Both of them were advanced in years.

Now the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering that he stayed so long inside the sanctuary.

and on the eighth day came to circumcise the child. They were going to call it by the name of its father Zechariah,

Then fear fell on all their neighbours, and all these events were talked of through the whole of the hill-country of Judaea.

and while they were there the days elapsed for her delivery;

There were some shepherds in the district who were out in the fields keeping guard over their flocks by night;

and an angel of the Lord flashed upon them, the glory of the Lord shone all round them. They were terribly afraid,

all who heard it were astonished at the story of the shepherds,

His father and mother were astonished at these words about him,

Now at that very hour she came up, and she offered praise to God and spoke of him to all who were on the outlook for the redemption of Jerusalem.

till all his hearers were amazed at the intelligence of his own answers.

When his parents saw him they were astounded, and his mother said to him, "My son, why have you behaved like this to us? Here have your father and I been looking for you anxiously!"

Now as people's expectations were roused and as everybody thought to himself about John, "Can he be the Christ,"

and for forty days he was led by the Spirit in the desert, while the devil tempted him. During these days he ate nothing, and when they were over he felt hungry.

Then, folding up the book, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him,

I tell you for a fact, In Israel there were many widows during the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land:

And in Israel there were many lepers in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet none of these was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian."

When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage;

they were astounded at his teaching, for his word came with authority.

From many people daemons were also driven out, clamouring aloud, "You are God's son!" But he checked them and refused to let them say anything, as they knew he was the Christ.

Now as the crowd were pressing on him to listen to the word of God, he saw, as he stood beside the lake of Gennesaret,

two boats on the shore of the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.

as was the case with James and John, the sons of Zebedaeus, who were partners of Simon. Then said Jesus to Simon, "Have no fear; from now your catch will be men."

Conscious that they were arguing to themselves, Jesus addressed them, saying, "Why argue in your hearts?

And all were seized with astonishment; they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen incredible things to-day."

Levi held a great banquet for him in his house; there was a large company present of taxgatherers and others who were guests along with them.

But Jesus answered them, "And have you never read what David did when he and his men were hungry?

Those who were annoyed with unclean spirits also were healed.

Just as he was near the gate of the town, there was a dead man being carried out; he was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the town were with her.

All were seized with awe and glorified God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said, "God has visited his people."

As they were unable to pay, he freely forgave them both. Tell me, now, which of them will love him most?"

As a large crowd was gathering and as people were resorting to him from town after town, he addressed them in a parable.

His mother and brothers reached him but they were unable to join him for the crowd.

During the voyage he fell asleep. But when a gale of wind came down on the lake and they were being swamped and in peril,

and the daemons came out of the man and went into the swine; the drove rushed down the steep slope into the lake and were suffocated.

and then all the inhabitants of the surrounding country of the Gergesenes asked him to leave them, they were so seized with terror. He embarked in the boat and went back.

On his return Jesus was welcomed by the crowd; they were all looking out for him.

Her parents were amazed, but he charged them not to tell anyone what had happened.

(There were about five thousand men of them.) He said to his disciples, "Make them lie down in rows of about fifty."

Now it happened that while he was praying by himself his disciples were beside him. So he inquired of them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"

There were two men conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,

Now Peter and his companions had been overpowered with sleep, but on waking up they saw his glory and the two men who were standing beside him.

When they were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is a good thing we are here; let us put up three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" (not knowing what he was saying).

As he spoke, a cloud came and overshadowed them. They were awestruck as they passed into the cloud,

And all were astounded at this grand display of God. But while all marvelled at all he did, he said to his disciples,

But they did not understand this saying ??indeed it was kept a secret from them, to prevent them from fathoming it ??and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

He knew what they were thinking about, so he said to them, "Any realm divided against itself comes to ruin, house after house falls down;

As the crowds were thronging to him, he proceeded to say, "This is an evil generation: it demands a Sign, but no Sign will be given to it except the Sign of Jonah;

Woe to you jurists! you have taken the key that unlocks the door of knowledge; you have not entered yourselves, and you have stopped those who were entering."

I have come to throw fire on earth. Would it were kindled already!

But he replied to them, "Do you think, because they suffered this, that these Galileans were worse sinners than the rest of the Galileans?

Or those eighteen men killed by the fall of the tower at Siloam? do you think they were worse offenders than the rest of the residents in Jerusalem?

As he said this, all his opponents were put to shame, but all the crowd rejoiced over all his splendid doings.

For I tell you that not one of those who were invited shall taste my supper.'"

There were large crowds travelling with him; so he turned and said to them,

Now the tax gatherers and sinners were all approaching him to listen to him,

And he was fain to fill his belly with the pods the swine were eating; no one gave him anything.

Now the Pharisees who were fond of money heard all this, and they sneered at him.

But Abraham said, 'Remember, my son, you got all the bliss when you were alive, just as Lazarus got the ills of life; he is in comfort now, and you are in anguish.

Noticing them he said, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went away they were cleansed.

So Jesus said, "Were all the ten not cleansed? Where are the other nine?

they were eating, drinking, marrying and being married, till the day Noah entered the ark ??then came the deluge and destroyed them all.

Or just as it was in the days of Lot; they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting and building,

He also told the following parable to certain persons who were sure of their own goodness and looked down upon everybody else.

As they were untethering it, the owners said to them, "Why are you untethering the colt?"

But he replied, "I tell you, if they were to keep quiet, the very stones would shout."

Then he went into the temple and proceeded to drive out those who were selling.

At that hour the scribes and high priests tried to lay hands on him, but they were afraid of the people. They knew he had meant this parable for them.

Well, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife and died childless.

Some were speaking of the temple with its ornamentation of splendid stones and votive gifts, but he said,

The high priests and scribes were trying how to get him put to death (for they were afraid of the people),

They were delighted and agreed to pay him for it.

and sat down among some people who had lit a fire in the courtyard and were sitting round it.

Two criminals were also led out with him to be executed,

As for his acquaintances, they were all standing at a distance to look on, with the women who had accompanied him from Galilee.

They were puzzling over this, when two men flashed on them in dazzling raiment.

They were terrified and bent their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look among the dead for him who is alive?

That very day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem.

They were conversing about all these events,

though they were prevented from recognizing him.

Though some women of our number gave us a surprise; they were at the tomb early in the morning

Now they approached the village to which they were going. He pretended to be going further on,

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.

Just as they were speaking He stood among them [and said to them, "Peace to you!"]

They were scared and terrified, imagining it was a ghost they saw;

Even yet they could not believe it for sheer joy; they were lost in wonder. So he said to them, "Have you any food here?"