Forasmuch as many took in hand to arrange in order a narrative concerning the facts that have been fully confirmed among us,

even as those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us;

And Zacharias said to the angel, "By what shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife is far advanced in her days."

to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.

And, the angel, coming in to her, said, "Hail, highly favored one, the Lord is with you."

But she was troubled at the saying, and was deliberating as to what kind of salutation this might be.

And the angel, answering, said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; wherefore also the Holy Thing that is begotten shall be called the Son of God.

And, behold, Elizabeth, your kinswoman, she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren;

And it came to pass that, as Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit:

and she lifted up her voice, with a loud cry, and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me!

For, behold, as the voice of your salutation came into my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy!

And happy is she who believed, because there shall be a fulfillment of the things spoken to her from the Lord!"

because the Mighty One did great things for me; and Holy is His name!

And His mercy is unto generations and generations to those who fear Him.

(as He spake to our fathers), to Abraham and to his seed forever."

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

And, asking for a writing tablet, he wrote, saying, "John is his name." And they all marveled.

and raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant;

(as He spake through the mouth of His holy prophets from of old),

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

to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear,

because of the tender compassions of the mercy of our God, wherein the day-spring from on high shall visit us,

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;

because there was born to-day, in the city of David, a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord.

And this is the sign to you: ye will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger."

And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into Heaven, that the shepherds were saying one to another, "Let us go over at once to Bethlehem, and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord made known to us."

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they heard and saw, as it was spoken to them.

(as it has been written in the law of the Lord??Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord"");

and to offer sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord

as it has been written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight His paths.

Produce, therefore, fruits worthy of repentance; and begin not to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'; for I say to you, that God is able out of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.

And already the axe also is lying at the root of the trees; every tree, therefore, not producing good fruit, is cut down, and cast into the fire."

And, as the people were in expectation, and all were reasoning in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he himself were the Christ,

John answered, saying to them all, "I, indeed, immerse you in water; but He is coming, Who is mightier than I??he latchet of Whose sandals I am not worthy to loose??e will immerse you in the Holy Spirit and in fire;

Whose fan is in His hand, thoroughly to cleanse His threshing-floor, and to gather the wheat into His granary; but the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire."

Therefore, indeed, exhorting them as to many and various things, he was proclaiming the good news to the people;

Now it came to pass, when all the people were immersed, that as Jesus also was immersed, and was praying, Heaven was opened,

and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form, as a dove; and a voice came out of Heaven, "Thou art My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I delighted."

And Jesus Himself, when beginning His ministry, was about thirty years old, being, as was supposed, the Son of Joseph, the son of Heli,

And there was given to Him a book of the prophet Isaiah; and, opening the book, He found the place where it had been written,

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me; because He anointed Me to publish good tidings to the poor; He hath sent Me to proclaim release to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send away the crushed in freedom.

And all were bearing witness to Him, and were wondering at the words of grace which proceeded out of His mouth; and they said, "Is not this Joseph's Son?"

And He said to them, "Ye will doubtless say to Me this parable, 'Physician, heal Thyself: whatsoever we heard of as done in Capernaum, do also here in Thy own country.'"

And He said, "Verily I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country.

"Ha! what is there to us and to Thee, Jesus, Nazarene! Didst Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee, Who Thou art, the Holy One of God!"

And amazement came upon all; and they were talking together, one with another, saying, "What is this word, that with authority and power He commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out!"

And, as the sun was setting, all, as many as had any ailing with divers diseases, brought them to Him; and He, laying His hands on each one of them, was healing them.

And He said to them, "It is needful that I proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also; because for this I was sent forth."

Now it came to pass, as the multitude was pressing upon Him, and hearing the word of God, that He was standing by the lake Gennesaret;

And He charged him to tell no one; but, "Departing, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony to them."

And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is This that is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God only?"

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

And Jesus said to them, "Can ye make the sons of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them?

And no one, having drunk old wine, wishes new; for he says, 'The old is mellow.'

But some of the Pharisees said, "Why are ye doing that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath?"

how he entered into the house of God, and taking the showbread, ate, and gave to those with him; which it is not lawful to eat, except for the priests only?"

And He said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath."

And Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbath to do good, or to do evil??o save a soul, or to destroy it?"

But they were filled with madness, and were conferring one with another as to what they should do to Jesus.

and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon who is called Zelotes,

And He, lifting up His eyes on His disciples, said, "Happy, ye poor; because yours is the Kingdom of God.

"Happy are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from themselves, and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

"Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy; for, behold, your reward is great in Heaven; for, after the same manner, were their fathers wont to do to the prophets.

"And as ye wish that men should do to you, do ye also to them in like manner.

"And, if ye lend to those from whom ye hope to receive, what charm have you? even the sinners lend to sinners, that they may receive back as much.

"But love your enemies; and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and ye will be sons of the Most High; because He is kind to the unthankful and evil.

"Be ye merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

A disciple is not above the teacher; but every one, when perfected, shall be as his teacher.

"And why do you behold the mote that is in your brother's eye, but consider not the beam that is in your own eye?

Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, suffer me to cast out the mote that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the beam in your own eye? Hypocrite! cast first the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to cast out the mote that is in your brother's eye.

"For there is no good tree that bears corrupt fruit; nor again a corrupt tree that bears good fruit;

for each tree is known by its own fruit; for they do not gather figs of thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.

"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and the evil, out of the evil treasure brings forth that which is evil; for out of the abundance of the heart does his mouth speak.

"Every one who comes to Me, and hears My words, and does them, I will show you to whom he is like:

he is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock; and, a flood coming, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it; because it was well built.

But he who heard and did not, is like a man who built a house upon the earth without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and straightway it collapsed; and the ruin of that house was great."

And they, coming to Jesus, were earnestly beseeching Him, saying, "He is worthy for whom Thou shalt do this;

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

And, as He came near to the gate of the city, behold, also there was being carried out one dead, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd of the city was with her.

And fear seized on all; and they were glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet was raised up among us," and "God did visit His people."

And, coming near to Him, the men said, "John, the Immerser, sent us to Thee, saying, 'Art Thou the Coming One, or are we to expect another?'"

And happy is he, whosoever shall find no cause of stumbling in Me."

This is he concerning whom it has been written, 'Behold, I send forth My messenger before Thy face, who will prepare Thy way before Thee.'

I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; but the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he."

But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God as to themselves, not having been immersed by him.

But, seeing it, the Pharisee who invited Him, spake in himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what sort of woman this is that is touching Him, because she is a sinner."

Wherefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; because she loved much; but he, to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

And those reclining with Him began to say in themselves, "Who is This That even forgiveth sins!"

and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary who is called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

Now this is the parable: The seed is the word of God.

"And that in the good ground, these are such as, in a good and honest heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bear fruit with patience.

for nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; nor hidden, that shall not be known, and become manifest.

Now it came to pass on one of the days, that both He and His disciples entered into a boat; and He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." And they set forth.

But, as they were sailing, He fell asleep. And there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were being filled full of water, and were in peril.

And He said to them, "Where is your faith?" And, struck with fear, they marvelled, saying one to another, "Who, then, is This, that He commandeth even the winds and the water, and they obey Him!"

And they sailed down into the country of the Gerasenes, which is over against Galilee.

And, seeing Jesus, he, crying out, fell down before Him, and, with a loud voice, said, "What is there to me and to Thee, Jesus, Son of God Most High? I beg of Thee, do not torment me!"

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

And, as Jesus returned, the multitude welcomed Him; for they were all expecting Him.