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

This will bring you gladness and delight, and many will rejoice over his birth.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must drink no wine nor strong drink, and so he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his birth.

And he will turn many of Israel's descendants to the Lord their God.

He will go before Him in the spirit and the power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the upright, to make ready for the Lord a people perfectly prepared."

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."

Listen! You will become pregnant and bear a son, and you must name Him Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His forefather David,

and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His reign will have no end."

Then the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and so your child will be called holy, the Son of God.

Blessed is she who has believed, for what is promised to her by the Lord will be fulfilled."

for He has smiled upon His slave in her lowly station, for from this day all ages will count me happy!

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to make ready His ways,

Because the heart of our God is merciful. And so the day will dawn upon us from on high,

And this is proof for you: You will find a baby wrapped up and lying in a manger."

"Now, Master, you will let your slave go free in peace, as you have promised;

yea, a sword will pierce your heart -- so that the secret purposes of many hearts will be revealed."

John expressly answered them all, "I am baptizing you in water only, but there is coming the One who is stronger than I am, whose shoestrings I am not fit to untie. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire;

His winnowing-fork is in His hand, and He will clean out His threshing-floor, and store His wheat in His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with fire inextinguishable."

And the devil said to Him, "I will give you all this power and all their splendor, for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.

So if you will worship before me just once, it shall all be yours."

for the Scripture says, 'He will give His angels directions about you, to protect you,'

and, 'They will bear you up on their hands, so that you will never strike your foot against a stone.'"

He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote this proverb to me, 'Doctor, cure yourself! Do the things here in your hometown that we hear you did in Capernaum.'"

Simon answered, "We have toiled all night and caught nothing, but since you tell me to do so, I will set the nets again."

as well as James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Stop being afraid; from now on you will be catching men."

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

Then He told them a short story: "No one tears a piece from a new coat and puts it on an old one; or if he does, he will tear the new one too, and the patch from the new coat will not match the old one.

So no one puts fresh wine into old wine bottles; or, if he does, the fresh wine will burst the bottles, the wine will run out, and the bottles will be ruined.

Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be completely satisfied! Blessed are you who are weeping now, for you will laugh!

Burst into joy on that day and leap for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way your forefathers used to treat the prophets.

A curse on you who live in luxury now, for you will be hungry. A curse on you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

But you must practice loving your enemies, doing good to them, and lending to them, despairing of nothing; so that your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Then stop criticizing others, and you will never be criticized; stop condemning others, and you will never be condemned.

Practice forgiving others, and you will be forgiven. Practice giving to others, and they will give to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, people will pour into your lap. For the measure you use with others they in turn will use with you."

Then He told them a story: "Can one blind man lead another? Will they not both fall into the ditch?

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.

Everyone who comes to me and continues to listen to my words and practices their teachings, I will show you whom he is like.

This is the man of whom the Scripture says: "'Attention! I send my messenger on before you. He will prepare the road ahead of you.'

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

"A sower went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some of the seed fell along the path, and were trodden down, and the wild birds ate them up.

So take care how you listen, for whoever gets more will have more given to him, and whoever does not get more will have even what he thinks he has taken away from him."

But Jesus heard it and said to him, "Do not be afraid; just have faith, and she will get well."

For whoever chooses to save his lower life will lose his higher life, but whoever gives up his lower life for my sake will save his higher life.

For what benefit will it be to a man to gain the whole world and lose or forfeit himself?

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.

I solemnly say to you, some of you who stand here will certainly live to see the kingdom of God."

While they were going along the road, a man said to Him, "I will follow you wherever you go."

But Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, even wild birds have roosts, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

Still another man said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say 'Goodbye' to the homefolks."

And if anyone there loves peace, your peace will come upon him; but if not, it will come back to you.

I tell you, on that day the punishment will be lighter for Sodom than for that town.

But at the judgment the punishment will be lighter for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

Listen! I have given you power to tread on snakes and scorpions, and to trample on all the power of the enemy, and nothing at all will ever harm you.

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

The next day he took out a half dollar and handed it to the innkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him, and on my way back I will repay you.'

I tell you, although he will not get up and give you any because he is your friend, yet because of your persistence he will get up and give you all your needs.

So I tell you, keep on asking, and the gift will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and the door will open to you.

For everyone who keeps on asking, receives; and the one who keeps on seeking, finds; and to the one who keeps on knocking, the door will open.

Now is there a father among you who, if his son asks him for a fish, will give him a snake instead?

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

So if you, in spite of your being bad, know how to give your children what is good, how much more surely will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who continue to ask Him?"

"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.'

Now as the crowds continued to throng upon Him, He began to say: "This is a wicked age. It is looking for a spectacular sign, but none will be given it but 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 age.

The queen of the south will rise at the judgment with the men of this age and will condemn them, for she came from the very ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom; and yet, One who is more than Solomon is here.

The men of Nineveh will rise at the judgment with the men of this age and will condemn them, for they turned to the message preached by Jonah, and yet One who is more than Jonah is here.

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."

But dedicate once for all your inner self, and at once you will have everything clean.

This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will persecute';

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

There is nothing covered up that will not be uncovered, nor secret that will not be made known;

because what you have spoken in darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in people's ears, behind closed doors, will be proclaimed from the housetops.

But I will show you whom to fear. Fear Him who, after killing you, has power to hurl you down to the pit; yes, I tell you, fear Him.

I tell you, everyone who owns me before men the Son of Man will own before the angels of God;

but anyone who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.

And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but no one who speaks abusively about the Holy Spirit will be forgiven.

for at that very moment the Holy Spirit will teach you what you ought to say."

Then he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and in them I will store all my grains and my goods.

Then I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Go on taking your ease; continue to eat, drink, and enjoy yourself."'

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is to be demanded of you. Then who will have all that you have prepared?'

Then He said to His disciples: "Stop worrying, then, about life, as to what you will have to eat, or about your body, as to what you will have to wear.

Now if God so gorgeously dresses the wild grass which today is green but tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, how much more surely will He clothe you, O you with little faith?

But continue to seek His will, and these things will be yours besides.

Sell your property and give to charity. Provide for yourselves purses that will never wear out, riches that never fail in heaven, where a thief cannot come near nor a moth destroy,

For wherever your treasure is, there too your heart will be.

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.

So you, too, must always be ready, for at an hour that you are not expecting, the Son of Man will come."

And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful, thoughtful manager whom his master will put in charge of his household, to give out the supplies at the proper time?

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

I tell you truly, he will put him in charge of all his property.

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.

That slave who knows his master's wishes and does not get ready or act upon them will be severely punished.

But the one who does wrong without knowing it will be lightly punished. Much will be demanded from anyone to whom much has been given; yea, people will demand much more from anyone to whom they have entrusted much.

For from now on, five in a house will be divided, three against two, and two against three.

Father will be against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

I tell you, you will never get out of it until you have paid the last penny!"

By no means, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.

By no means, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did."