During the reign of Herod king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and he had a wife named Elizabeth, who was a descendant of Aaron.

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.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

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 all who heard it were astonished at what the shepherds said.

But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering in her heart what they might mean.

So the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told.

And all who heard Jesus were astonished at his understanding and his answers.

Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. But his mother kept all these things in her heart.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,

But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the evil deeds that he had done,

Herod added this to them all: He locked up John in prison.

Then he began to tell them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read."

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.'"

When they heard this, all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage.

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

The good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, for his mouth speaks from what fills his heart.

When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him. He turned and said to the crowd that followed him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith!"

So he answered them, "Go tell John what you have seen and heard: The blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news proclaimed to them.

(Now all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God's justice, because they had been baptized with John's baptism.

and Joanna the wife of Cuza (Herod's household manager), Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their own resources.

Those along the path are the ones who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

But as for the seed that landed on good soil, these are the ones who, after hearing the word, cling to it with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with steadfast endurance.

Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and the demonic spirits begged Jesus to let them go into them. He gave them permission.

So the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd of pigs rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned.

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

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was happening, and he was thoroughly perplexed, because some people were saying that John had been raised from the dead,

Herod said, "I had John beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?" So Herod wanted to learn about Jesus.

"Take these words to heart, for the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men."

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.

The expert answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself."

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

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.

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

At that time, some Pharisees came up and said to Jesus, "Get away from here, because Herod wants to kill you."

When one of those at the meal with Jesus heard this, he said to him, "Blessed is everyone who will feast in the kingdom of God!"

So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him.

"Now his older son was in the field. As he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.

The Pharisees (who loved money) heard all this and ridiculed him.

Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was extremely wealthy.

When Jesus noticed this, he said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!

Those who heard this said, "Then who can be saved?"

When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was going on.

He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others." When the people heard this, they said, "May this never happen!"

Then they said, "Why do we need further testimony? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!"

Now when Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.

When he learned that he was from Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who also happened to be in Jerusalem at that time.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some miraculous sign.

So Herod questioned him at considerable length; Jesus gave him no answer.

Even Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, dressing him in elegant clothes, Herod sent him back to Pilate.

That very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other, for prior to this they had been enemies.

Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing deserving death.

So he said to them, "You foolish people -- how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!