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

In the reign of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the Division called after Abijah. His wife, whose name was Elizabeth, was also a descendant of Aaron.

They were both righteous people, who lived blameless lives, guiding their steps by all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.

But the angel said to him: " Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth shall bear you a son, whom you shall call by the name John.

He is the one who will go before the Lord with the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and to prepare the people to be ready for the Lord."

And the angel answered and said to him: I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God; and I am sent to speak to you, and to announce to you this good news.

Now the people who waited [outside] for Zacharias were very surprised that he was staying in the Temple so long.

it is the Lord, said she, who has thus favour'd me, at the time when he took care to remove the reproach I was under among men.

To a virgin who was to be married to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.

And the angel came in to her and said, Peace be with you, to whom special grace has been given; the Lord is with you.

you shall be now pregnant, and be delivered of a son, whom you shall name JESUS.

The angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God.

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 who am I that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me?

Happy will she be who had faith that the things which the Lord has said to her will be done.

"My spirit exults in the God, who is my Saviour,

For he who is strong has done great things for me; and holy is his name.

His mercy is for all generations in whom is the fear of him.

With his arm he has done acts of power; he has put to flight those who have pride in their hearts.

“He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.

Those who had no food he made full of good things; the men of wealth he sent away with nothing in their hands;

And they said to her, "There is no one of your kindred who is called by this name."

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.

And all who had word of them kept them in their minds and said, What will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

"Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, Who has visited his people and wrought their deliverance,

as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began;

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

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

by the tender mercy of our God, who will make the Dawn visit us from on high,

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, by guiding our feet in the way of peace.

To be put on the list with Mary, his future wife, who was about to become a mother.

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

For on this day, in the town of David, a Saviour has come to birth, who is Christ the Lord.

Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a large number of the heavenly "army" [i.e., of angels], who were praising God and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased.

And they went hurrying and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.

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

And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, who was so named by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

(as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord"),

And there was a man at Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and he was a just and a religious man, who expected the consolation of Israel; and the holy Spirit was upon him.

whom thou hast provided for all mankind, a light to lighten the Gentiles,

And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser; who was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her first marrying,

and she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years), who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day.

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 all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers.

and he went into all the Jordan-district preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ??4 as it is written in the book of the sayings of the prophet Isaiah, The voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him.

This was according to what is written in the book containing the words of Isaiah, the prophet [Isa. 40:3ff], "The voice of a man who speaks out in the desert [urging people] to make the road for the Lord ready [for Him to travel]; to make a straight pathway for Him [to walk on].

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?

And he made answer and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has not even one; and he who has food, let him do the same.

And those who served in the army were also asking him, saying, "What should we also do?" And he said to them, "Extort from no one, and do not blackmail [anyone], and be content with your pay."

John made answer, saying to them all, Truly, I give you baptism with water, but one is coming who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:

But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias his brother's wife as well as for all the wickedness that he, Herod, had committed,

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.

And Jesus himself was, when he began, about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, who was the son of Heli,

who was the son of Matthath, who was the son of Levi, who was the son of Melchi, who was the son of Jannai, who was the son of Joseph,

who was the son of Mattathias, who was the son of Amos, who was the son of Nahum, who was the son of Esli, who was the son of Naggai,

who was the son of Maath, who was the son of Mattathias, who was the son of Shimei, who was the son of Josech, who was the son of Joda,

who was the son of Joanan, who was the son of Rhesa, who was the son of Zerubbabel, who was the son of Shealtiel, who was the son of Neri,

who was the son of Melchi, who was the son of Addi, who was the son of Kosam, who was the son of Elmadam, who was the son of Er,

who was the son of Jesus, who was the son of Eliezer, who was the son of Jorim, who was the son of Matthath, who was the son of Levi,

who was the son of Simeon, who was the son of Judah, who was the son of Joseph, who was the son of Jonam, who was the son of Eliakim,

who was the son of Melea, who was the son of Menna, who was the son of Mattatha, who was the son of Nathan, who was the son of David,

who was the son of Jesse, who was the son of Obed, who was the son of Boaz, who was the son of Salma, who was the son of Nahshon,

who was the son of Amminadab, who was the son of Admin, who was the son of Arni, who was the son of Hezron, who was the son of Pharez, who was the son of Judah,

who was the son of Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham, who was the son of Terah, who was the son of Nahor,

who was the son of Serug, who was the son of Reu, who was the son of Peleg, who was the son of Eber, who was the son of Shelah,

who was the son of Cainan, who was the son of Arphaxad, who was the son of Shem, who was the son of Noah, who was the son of Lamech,

who was the son of Methuselah, who was the son of Enoch, who was the son of Jared, who was the son of Mahalaleel, who was the son of Cainan,

who was the son of Enos, who was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam, who was the son of God.

"I will give you all this power, and the splendor of them; for it has been given into my hands and I give it to whom I wish.

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,

And rolling up the volume, he gave it to the attendant officer, and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were attentively fixed on him.

All who were present spoke well of him, and were astonished at the beautiful words that fell from his lips. "Is not he Joseph's son?" they asked.

But Elijah was not sent to one of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the Prophet Elisha, yet it was not one of them who was made clean, but Naaman the Syrian."

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

And there was a man in the Synagogue who had an unclean spirit; and he gave a loud cry and said,

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 at sundown all those who had anyone ill with any sort of disease, took them to him, and he put his hands on every one of them and made them well.

many were dispossess'd of the demons, who cried aloud, you are the Messiah, the son of God. but he rebuked them, and would not suffer them to declare, that they knew him to be the Messiah.

and they beckoned to their partners who were in the other ship, to come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

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 when He was in one of the cities of that country, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus, fell prostrate to Him, and besought Him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst cleanse me.

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 some men had with them, on a bed, a man who was ill, without power of moving; and they made attempts to get him in and put him before Jesus.

who seeing their faith said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

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?

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 Levi made him a great feast at his own house; and there was a great multitude of publicans and others, who reclined 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.

I did not come to call those who are doing right to repent [i.e., to change their hearts and lives], but [only those who are] sinners."

No one who has been drinking old wine wants new wine, because he says, "The old wine is good enough!'"

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?

Another sabbath he happened to go into the synagogue and teach. Now a man was there who had his right hand withered,

But he knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Get up and stand in the middle," and he got up [and] stood there.

And when it was day, He called his disciples to Him: and chose out twelve from among them, whom He also named his apostles:

Simon, to whom he gave the name of Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew