In the days when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest whose name was Zechariah, who belonged to the division of Abijah. His wife was also a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

Once when he was acting as priest before God, when his division was on duty, it fell to his lot,

When Zechariah saw him, he was agitated, even overwhelmed with fear.

Now you will keep silent and be unable to talk until the day when this takes place, because you did not believe what I told you, for it will be fulfilled at the proper time."

But when he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. Meanwhile he kept on making signs to them, and remained dumb.

But when the period of his service was over, he went back to his home.

"This is what the Lord has done for me when He smiled upon me to take away my disgrace among men."

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped within her. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

Now the child continued to grow and to gain strength in the Spirit, and he lived in the desert until the day when he announced himself to Israel.

Then when the angel left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has told us."

When they saw this, they informed them of the story that had been told about this child.

When He was eight days old and it was time to circumcise Him, He was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before Mary had conceived Him.

Now when the period of their purification ended, in accordance with the law of Moses, they took Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, to do as it is written in the law of the Lord,

So under the Spirit's guidance he went into the temple, and when the parents brought the child Jesus there to do for Him as the custom of the law required,

Now when they had completed everything that was in accordance with the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

And when He was twelve years old, they went up as usual to the feast

and stayed the usual time. When they returned, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were not aware of it.

When His parents saw Him, they were utterly amazed, and yet His mother said to Him, "My child, why did you treat us so? Just see how your father and I, in agony of mind, have been searching for you!"

In the fifteenth year of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was governor of Galilee, and his brother Philip was governor of the territory of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was governor of Abilene,

Now when all the people had been baptized, and when Jesus had been baptized and was still praying, heaven opened

Now Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His work; He was the son, as was supposed, of Joseph, the son of Eli,

But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the heaven was closed for three years and a half, and there was a great famine over all the land,

When He stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Push out into deep water, and set your nets for a haul."

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' feet and said, "Leave me, Lord, because I am a sinful man."

When He saw their faith, He said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

But a time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; at that time they will fast."

Jesus answered them, "Did you never read what David did, when he and his soldiers became hungry?

When day came, He called His disciples to Him, and selected from them twelve whom He also named apostles:

Blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you and denounce you, and spurn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

A curse on you when everyone speaks well of you, for this is the way their forefathers used to treat the false prophets.

A pupil is not better than his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher.

How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me get that tiny speck out of your eye,' when you cannot see the girder in your own eye? You hypocrite! First get the girder out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to get out the tiny speck in your brother's eye.

He is like a man who was building a house, who dug deep, and laid its foundation upon the rock; and when a flood came, the torrent burst upon that house but it could not shake it, because it was well built.

When He had finished all these sayings in the hearing of the people, He went into Capernaum.

When the captain heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Him, to ask Him to come and bring his slave safe through the illness.

Then Jesus started to go with them. But when He was not far from the house, the captain sent friends to say to Him, "My Lord, stop troubling yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.

When Jesus heard this, He was astounded at him, and turning to the crowd that was following Him He said, "I tell you, I have not found, in a single case among the Jews, so great faith as this!"

Now when the Lord saw her, His heart was moved with pity for her, and so He said to her, "Stop weeping."

But when John's messengers had gone, He began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the desert to gaze at? A reed that is tossed to and fro by the wind?

And all the people, even the tax-collectors, when they heard him, vindicated the righteous requirements of God by submitting to John's baptism,

There was a woman in the town who was a social outcast, and when she learned that He was taking dinner at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster bottle of perfume

So when the Pharisee who invited Him saw it, he said to himself, "If He were really a prophet, He would know who and of what character the woman is who is clinging to Him -- that she is a social outcast."

The portion of them on the rock illustrates those who accept the message, bubbling over with joy when they first hear it, but it takes no real root. They believe for awhile, but in the time of testing they fall away.

When he saw Jesus, he screamed and flung himself down before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What do you want of me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torture me!"

When the men who fed them saw what had taken place, they fled and spread the news in the town and in the country around.

Still Jesus said, "Somebody touched me, for I felt it when the power passed from me."

When the woman saw that she had not escaped His notice, she came forward trembling, and falling down before Him she told in the presence of all the people why she had touched Him and how she had been cured at once.

When He reached the house, He let no one go in with Him but Peter, James, and John, and the child's father and mother.

And when you leave that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a protest against all the people who do not welcome you."

For whoever is ashamed of me and my teaching, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him, when He comes back in all the splendor of His Father and of the holy angels.

When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found to be alone. And they kept silence and told no one anything that they had seen at that time.

The next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met Him.

Now as the time was coming to a head when He should be taken up to heaven, He firmly set His face to continue His journey to Jerusalem;

When the disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?"

Then He turned to His disciples when they were alone, and said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you are seeing.

Now a priest happened to be going that way, but when he saw him, he went by on the other side of the road.

So a Levite likewise came down to the place, but when he saw him, he went by on the other side.

But a Samaritan, while on a journey, came down to him, and when he saw him, his heart was moved with pity for him.

Once He was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

Now He was driving a dumb demon out of a man, and when the demon went out of him, the dumb man spoke. The crowds were astonished.

When a strong man well armed keeps guard over his dwelling, his property is secure.

But when a man stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he strips him of all his arms on which he relied, and distributes his goods as spoils.

"When the foul spirit goes out of a man, it wanders about in deserts in search for rest, and since it finds none, it says, 'I will go back to my house which I left.'

Your eye is the very lamp of your body. When your eye is sound, your whole body is full of light. But if your eye is unsound, your body is full of darkness.

If then your whole body is full of light with no part of it in darkness, it will all be as light for you as it is when a lamp makes it light for you by its shining."

When He had said this, a Pharisee asked Him to lunch at his house, and He went in and took His place at table.

Now when they are bringing you before the synagogues or the magistrates or the authorities, never worry about how to defend yourselves, or what to say,

and be like men waiting for their master when he comes home from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they at once may open the door for him.

Happy are those slaves whom the master, when he comes, will find on the watch for him. I solemnly say to you, he will tighten his belt and have them sit at table, and he will go around and wait on them.

Happy is that slave whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.

his master will come back some day when he is not expecting him, and at an hour of which he is not aware, and will cut him in two, and give him his share with the unfaithful.

And He said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, at once you say, 'It is going to rain,' and it does.

And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, 'It is going to be very hot,' and so it is.

For instance, when you are on the way to court with your opponent, take the utmost pains on the way to get entirely rid of him, so that he may not rush you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the sheriff, and the sheriff put you in prison.

when once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand on the outside and to knock on the door again and again and say, 'Lord, open it for us'; but He will answer, 'I do not know where you come from.'

There you will weep and grind your teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves being driven away on the outside.

One Sabbath, when He went to take a meal at the house of a Pharisee who was a member of the council, they continued to watch Him closely.

When He noticed how the guests were picking out the best places, He told them the following story:

"When you are invited by anyone to a wedding supper, never take the best place, for someone of greater distinction than you may have been invited,

But when you are invited anywhere, go and take the lowest place, so that when your host comes in, he may say to you, 'My friend, come up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow-guests.

Then He proceeded to say to the man who invited Him: "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, stop the social custom of inviting your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, for they may invite you in return and so you will be repaid.

But when you give a reception, make it your habit to invite people that are poor, maimed, crippled, or blind.

"Or what king, when he is going to make an attack on another king, does not first sit down and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand soldiers to meet the other king who is coming against him with twenty thousand?

And when he finds it, with joy he puts it on his shoulders,

and when he reaches home he calls in his friends and neighbors, and says to them, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!'

And when she finds it, she calls in her friends and neighbors, and says, 'Rejoice with me, because I have found the coin which I lost!'

But when this son of yours arrives, who has eaten up your property with immoral women, you have killed for him the fattening calf.'

I know what I will do -- I will ask them to take me into their homes when I am removed from my position.

So I tell you, make friends by the right use of your money, which so easily tends to wrongdoing, so that when it fails, your friends may welcome you to the eternal dwellings.

"What man among you, if he has a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he comes in from the field, 'Come at once and take your seat at the table,'

So you too, when you do all that you are ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done.'"

But one of them, when he saw that he was cured, came back, praising God with a loud voice,

Now, when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with visible display,

Then He said to His disciples, "The time will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.

for just as when the lightning flashes, it shines from one end of the sky to the other, so will the Son of Man be when He comes.

People continued to eat, drink, marry, and be married, right up to the day when Noah went into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all.

It will be so on the day when the Son of Man appears

I tell you, He will give them justice and protection, and that without delay. But when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?"

Now some people were bringing even their babies to Him to have Him touch them, but the disciples, when they saw it, reproved them for it.

When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell everything you have, and distribute the money among the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me."