Since many have attempted to compile an account concerning the events that have been fulfilled among us,

just as those who were eyewitnesses and servants of the word from the beginning passed on to us,

And it happened that [while] he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division,

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he must never drink wine or beer, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit [while he is] still in his mother's womb.

And Zechariah said to the angel, "By what will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced {in years}!"

And he came to her [and] said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord [is] with you."

And behold, your relative Elizabeth--she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren.

And she cried out with a loud shout and said, "Blessed [are] you among women, and blessed [is] the fruit of your womb!

And why [is] this [granted] to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

And blessed [is] she who believed that [there] will be a fulfillment to what was spoken to her from the Lord!"

because the Mighty [One] has done great [things] for me, and holy [is] his name.

And his mercy [is] for generation after generation to those who fear him.

just as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants {forever}."

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

and he asked for a writing tablet [and] wrote, saying, "John is his name." And they were all astonished.

and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,

just as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times--

salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us,

the oath that he swore to Abraham our father, to grant us

because of the merciful compassion of our God by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high,

So Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David,

that today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people {with whom he is pleased}!"

And it happened that when the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began to say to one another, "Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has revealed to us!"

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

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

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem {whose name was} Simeon, and this man [was] righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed--

and herself [as] a widow up to eighty-four years) who did not depart from the temple with fastings and prayers, serving night and day.

And [when they] saw him, they were astounded and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have been searching for you anxiously!"

as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!

Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham [as] father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

And even now the ax is positioned at the root of the trees; therefore every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

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

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

And Jesus, [when he] began [his ministry], was himself about thirty years [old], being the son (as it was believed) of Joseph the [son] of Eli,

And Jesus replied to him, "It is written, 'Man will not live on bread alone.'"

And Jesus answered [and] said to him, "It is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

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

And Jesus answered [and] said to him, "It is said, 'You are not to put to the test the Lord your God.'"

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll he found the place where it was written,

"The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because of which he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send out in freedom those who are oppressed,

And they were all speaking well of him, and were astonished at the gracious words that were coming out of his mouth. And they were saying, "Is this man not the son of Joseph?"

And he said, "Truly I say to you that no prophet is acceptable in his [own] hometown.

"Ha! {Leave us alone}, Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!"

And amazement came upon [them] all, and they began to talk with one another, saying, "What word [is] this? For he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!"

Now [as] the sun was setting, all who had those who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and placing [his] hands on every one of them, he healed them.

But he said to them, "It is necessary [for] me to proclaim the good news [of] the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this [purpose].

And he ordered him, "Tell no one, but go [and] show yourself to the priest and bring [the offering] for your cleansing just as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.

And it happened that on one of the days as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting [there] who {had come} from every village of Galilee and Judea and [from] Jerusalem, and the power of the Lord was [there] in order [for] him to heal.

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?"

Which is easier to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Get up and walk?'

So he said to them, "You are not able to make the {bridegroom's attendants} fast as long as the bridegroom is with them, [are you]?

But days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days."

And he also told a parable to them: "No one tears a patch from a new garment [and] puts [it] on an old garment. Otherwise, he will have torn the new also, and the old will not match the patch [that is] from the new.

And no one [after] drinking old [wine] wants new, because he says, 'The old is [just] fine!'"

But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are you doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?

how he entered into the house of God and took the bread of the presentation, which it is not permitted to eat (except the priests alone), [and] ate [it] and gave [it] to those with him?"

And he said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

And Jesus said to them, "I ask you whether it is permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy [it]?"

And he lifted up his eyes to his disciples [and] said, "Blessed [are] the poor, because yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and revile [you] and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward [is] great in heaven. For their fathers used to do the same [things] to the prophets.

And just as you want people {to do} to you, do {the same} to them.

"And if you love those who love you, what kind of credit is [that] to you? For even sinners love those who love them!

And if you do good to those who do good to you, what kind of credit is [that] to you? Even the sinners do the same!

And if you lend [to those] from whom you expect to receive [back], what kind of credit is [that] to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, so that they may get back an equal [amount]!

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

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful!

A disciple is not superior to [his] teacher, but everyone, [when he] is fully trained, will be like his teacher.

And why do you see the speck [that is] in your brother's eye, but do not notice the beam of wood [that is] in your own eye?

How are you able to say to your brother, "Brother, allow [me] to remove the speck [that is] in your eye," [while] you yourself do not see the beam of wood in your [own] eye? Hypocrite! First remove the beam of wood from your [own] eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck [that is] in your brother's eye!

"For there is no good tree that produces bad fruit, nor on the other hand a bad tree that produces good fruit,

for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn plants, nor are grapes harvested from thorn bushes.

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

he is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And [when] a flood came, the river burst against that house and was not able to shake it, because it had been built well.

But the one who hears [my words] and does not do [them] is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, which the river burst against, and immediately it collapsed--and the collapse of that house was great!"

And [when they] came to Jesus, they began imploring him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy [that] you grant this for him,

because he loves our nation and he himself built the synagogue for us."

And as he approached the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, his mother's only son, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

And fear seized [them] all, and they began to glorify God, saying, "A great prophet has appeared among us!" and "God has visited to help his people!"

sent [them] to the Lord, saying, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?"

And [when] the men came to him, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you, saying, 'Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?'"

And whoever is not offended by me is blessed."

It is this man about whom it is written: 'Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'

I tell you, there is no one greater among [those] born of women than John, but the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold, a man [who is] a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'

And wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

Now [when] the Pharisee who invited him saw [this], he spoke to himself, saying, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman [this is] who is touching him, that she is a sinner."

Simon answered [and] said, "I suppose that [it is the one] to whom he forgave more." And he said to him, "You have judged correctly."

{For this reason} I tell you, her sins--[which were] many--have been forgiven, for she loved much. But [the one] to whom little is forgiven loves little."

And those who were reclining at the table with [him] began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

And other [seed] fell on the good soil, and [when it] came up, it produced a hundred times as much grain." [As he] said these [things], he called out, "The one who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Now the parable means this: the seed is the word of God,

And the [seed] that fell into the thorn plants--these are the ones who hear and [as they] go along are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of life, and they do not bear fruit to maturity.

For nothing is secret that will not become evident, and nothing hidden that will never be known and come to light.

Now it happened that on one of the days both he and his disciples got into a boat, and he said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they set sail,

and [as] they were sailing, he fell asleep. And a storm of wind came down on the lake, and they were being swamped and were in danger.

And he said to them, "Where [is] your faith?" But they were afraid [and] were astonished, saying to one another, "Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water and they obey him?"

And they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.