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

Joy and gladness will come to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.

He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.

And he will go as forerunner before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him."

And now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will be silent, unable to speak, until the day these things take place."

Listen: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end."

Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?"

The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of God.

For nothing will be impossible with God."

because he has looked upon the humble state of his servant. For from now on all generations will call me blessed,

All who heard these things kept them in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the Lord's hand was indeed with him.

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

Because of our God's tender mercy the dawn will break upon us from on high

This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger."

(just as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male will be set apart to the Lord"),

Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "Listen carefully: This child is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected.

Indeed, as a result of him the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed -- and a sword will pierce your own soul as well!"

Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low, and the crooked will be made straight, and the rough ways will be made smooth,

and all humanity will see the salvation of God.'"

Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

John answered them all, "I baptize you with water, but one more powerful than I am is coming -- I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing fork is in his hand to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire."

And he said to him, "To you I will grant this whole realm -- and the glory that goes along with it, for it has been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish.

So then, if you will worship me, all this will be yours."

for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,'

and 'with their hands they will lift you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus said to them, "No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself!' and say, 'What we have heard that you did in Capernaum, do here in your hometown too.'"

Simon answered, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing! But at your word I will lower the nets."

and so were James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were Simon's business partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."

But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom is taken from them, at that time they will fast."

He also told them a parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old garment. If he does, he will have torn the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old.

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.

"Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

"Woe to you who are well satisfied with food now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to ungrateful and evil people.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Give, and it will be given to you: A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use will be the measure you receive."

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

"Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and puts them into practice -- I will show you what he is like:

This is the one about whom it is written, 'Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'

When they could not pay, he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds devoured it.

For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light.

So listen carefully, for whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him."

But when Jesus heard this, he told him, "Do not be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

But I tell you most certainly, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the kingdom of God."

As they were walking along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family."

And if a peace-loving person is there, your peace will remain on him, but if not, it will return to you.

I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town!

But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you!

And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to Hades!

Look, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and on the full force of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you.

On that same occasion Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.

Jesus said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."

The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.'

but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her."

Then he will reply from inside, 'Do not bother me. The door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.'

I tell you, even though the man inside will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man's sheer persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

"So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.

For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

What father among you, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?

Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

So if Satan too is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? I ask you this because you claim that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.

Now if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it passes through waterless places looking for rest but not finding any. Then it says, 'I will return to the home I left.'

As the crowds were increasing, Jesus began to say, "This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be a sign to this generation.

The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon -- and now, something greater than Solomon is here!

The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them -- and now, something greater than Jonah is here!

If then your whole body is full of light, with no part in the dark, it will be as full of light as when the light of a lamp shines on you."

But give from your heart to those in need, and then everything will be clean for you.

For this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,'

from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation.

Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known.

So then whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.

But I will warn you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

"I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before God's angels.

But the one who denies me before men will be denied before God's angels.

And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you must say."

Then he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

And I will say to myself, "You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!"'

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded back from you, but who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.

And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you people of little faith!

So do not be overly concerned about what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not worry about such things.

Instead, pursue his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Blessed are those slaves whom their master finds alert when he returns! I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, have them take their place at the table, and will come and wait on them!

You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions.

then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

That servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or do what his master asked will receive a severe beating.