And they were both righteous in the sight of God, living blamelessly in all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

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 will call his name John.

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 the angel answered [and] said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news.

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

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

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

And the angel answered [and] said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the one to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

So Mary said, "Behold, the Lord's female slave! May it happen to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Now in those days Mary set out [and] traveled with haste into the hill country, to a town of Judah,

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

And Mary said, "My soul exalts the Lord,

And his mother answered [and] said, "No, but he will be named John."

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

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace."

And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring good news to you of great joy which will be for all the people:

And all who heard [it] were astonished concerning what had been said to them by the shepherds.

he took him in [his] arms and praised God and said,

And his father and mother were astonished at what was said about 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 [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!"

And he said to them, "{Why} were you searching for me? Did you not know that it was necessary [for] me to be in the [house] of my Father?"

And he answered [and] said to them, "The one who has two tunics must share with the one who does not have [one], and the one who has food must do likewise."

And tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what should we do?"

And he said to them, "Collect no more than {what you are ordered to}."

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."

So the devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, order this stone that it become bread!"

And the devil said to him, "I will give you all this domain and their glory, because it has been handed over to me, and I can give it to whomever I want.

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

And he brought him to Jerusalem, and had him stand on the highest point of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

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

"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 he rolled up the scroll [and] gave [it] back to the attendant [and] sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were looking intently at him.

And he said to them, "Doubtless you will tell me this parable: 'Physician, heal yourself!' Whatever we have heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in your hometown also!"

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

And [after he] set out from the synagogue, he went into Simon's house. And Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a high fever, and they asked him on behalf of her.

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 got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, [and] asked him to put out from the land a little. And he sat down [and] began to teach the crowds from the boat.

And when he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."

And Simon answered [and] said, "Master, [although we] worked hard through the whole night, we caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets."

and so also [were] James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were business partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid! From now on you will be catching people!"

And [when he] saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you."

But Jesus, perceiving their thoughts, answered [and] said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?

But in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," he said to the one who was paralyzed, "I say to you, 'Get up and pick up your stretcher [and] go to your home.'"

And after these [things], he went out and saw a tax collector {named} Levi sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me!"

And Jesus answered [and] said to them, "Those who are healthy do not have need of a physician, but those {who are sick}.

And they said to him, "The disciples of John fast often and make prayers--likewise also the [disciples] of the Pharisees--but yours are eating and drinking!"

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

And Jesus answered [and] said to them, "Have you not read this, what David did when he and those [who were] with him were hungry--

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

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 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 [after] looking around at them all, he said to him, "Stretch out your hand," and he did, and his hand was restored.

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

And [when] Jesus heard these [things], he marveled at him, and turning around to the crowd that was following him, he said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith!"

And [when] the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep!"

And he came up [and] touched the bier, and those who were carrying [it] stopped. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!"

And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and he gave him to his mother.

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?'"

In that hour he healed many [people] of diseases and suffering and evil spirits, and he granted sight to many blind [people].

And he answered [and] said to them, "Go [and] tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear; the dead are raised, the poor have good news announced to [them].

And Jesus answered [and] said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he said, "Teacher, say [it]."

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."

And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered into your house. You did not give me water for [my] feet, but she wet my feet with [her] tears and wiped [them] with her hair.

And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

"The sower went out to sow his seed, and while he was sowing, {some seed} fell on the side of the path and was trampled under foot, and the birds of the sky devoured it.

And other [seed] fell on the rock, and [when it] came up, it withered, because it did not have moisture.

And other [seed] fell in the midst of the thorn plants, and the thorn plants grew up with [it] [and] choked it.

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!"

And he said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest [they are] in parables, so that 'Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'

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.

But the [seed] on the good soil--these are the ones who, [after] hearing the word, hold fast to [it] with a noble and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.

But he answered [and] said to them, "These are my mother and my brothers--the ones who hear the word of God and do [it].

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 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 [when he] saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, "{What do I have to do with you}, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!"

So Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered into him.

And the man from who the demons had gone out was begging him to stay with him, but he sent him away, saying,

And Jesus said, "Who [is] the one who touched me?" And [when they] all denied [it], Peter said, "Master, the crowds are pressing you hard and crowding [you]!"

But Jesus said, "Someone touched me, because I know power has gone out from me."

And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

And they were all weeping and mourning for her, but he said, "Do not weep! For she is not dead, but is sleeping."

And he said to them, "Take along nothing for the journey--neither a staff, nor a traveler's bag, nor bread, nor money, nor to have two tunics apiece.

And into whatever house you enter, stay there and depart from there.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was greatly perplexed, because it was said by some that John has been raised from the dead,

And Herod said, "John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?" And he was wanting to see him.

Now the day began to be far spent, and the twelve came up [and] said to him, "Send away the crowd so that they can go into the surrounding villages and farms to obtain lodging and find provisions, because we are here in a desolate place.

But he said to them, "You give them [something] to eat!" And they said, "{We have no} more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go [and] purchase food for all these people."

(For there were about five thousand men.) So he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each."

And they did so, and had [them] all sit down.

And taking the five loaves and the two fish, [and] looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them and began giving [them] to the disciples to set before the crowd.

And they answered [and] said, "John the Baptist, but others, Elijah, and others, that one of the ancient prophets has risen."

And he said to them, "But who do you say [that] I am?" And Peter answered [and] said, "The Christ of God."

And he said to [them] all, "If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross every day and follow me.

And it happened that as they were going away from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good [for] us to be here. And let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah," not knowing what he was saying.