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 they did not have a child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both very old.

Now while Zechariah was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty,

he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the holy place of the Lord and burn incense.

And Zechariah, visibly shaken when he saw the angel, was seized with fear.

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

Now the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they began to wonder why he was delayed in the holy place.

When he came out, he was not able to speak to them. They realized that he had seen a vision in the holy place, because he was making signs to them and remained unable to speak.

When his time of service was over, he went to his home.

In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.

But she was greatly troubled by his words and began to wonder about the meaning of this greeting.

"And look, your relative Elizabeth has also become pregnant with a son in her old age -- although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month!

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

And blessed is she who believed that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled."

Immediately Zechariah's mouth was opened and his tongue released, and he spoke, blessing God.

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.

Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,

And the child kept growing and becoming strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he was revealed to Israel.

This was the first registration, taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

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

He went to be registered with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him, and who was expecting a child.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

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

At the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon who was righteous and devout, looking for the restoration of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

So Simeon, directed by the Spirit, came into the temple courts, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law,

So the child's father and mother were amazed at what was said about him.

There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having been married to her husband for seven years until his death.

And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.

When he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.

But when the feast was over, as they were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it,

but (because they assumed that he was in their group of travelers) they went a day's journey. Then they began to look for him among their relatives and acquaintances.

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,

Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. And while he was praying, the heavens opened,

So Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years old. He was the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,

where for forty days he endured temptations from the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, he was famished.

He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by all.

Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read,

and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's days, when the sky was shut up three and a half years, and there was a great famine over all the land.

Yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, yet none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."

They got up, forced him out of the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.

Now in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her.

As the sun was setting, all those who had any relatives sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus. He placed his hands on every one of them and healed them.

Demons also came out of many, crying out, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

But Jesus said to them, "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, for that is what I was sent to do."

Now Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing around him to hear the word of God.

He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then Jesus sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came to him who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

Now on one of those days, while he was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting nearby (who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem), and the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

Then Levi gave a great banquet in his house for Jesus, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them.

Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples picked some heads of wheat, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them.

On another Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching. Now a man was there whose right hand was withered.

After looking around at them all, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." The man did so, and his hand was restored.

Now it was during this time that Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent all night in prayer to God.

Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot,

The whole crowd was trying to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing them all.

But the person who hears and does not put my words into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against that house, it collapsed immediately, and was utterly destroyed!"

A centurion there had a slave who was highly regarded, but who was sick and at the point of death.

So Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.

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!"

As he approached the town gate, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother (who was a widow), and a large crowd from the town was with her.

Then when a woman of that town, who was a sinner, learned that Jesus was dining at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfumed oil.

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from one town after another, he spoke to them in a parable:

"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled on, and the wild birds devoured it.

So he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you."

They came and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we are about to die!" So he got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they died down, and it was calm.

As Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man from the town met him who was possessed by demons. For a long time this man had worn no clothes and had not lived in a house, but among the tombs.

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.

Then a man named Jairus, who was a ruler of the synagogue, came up. Falling at Jesus' feet, he pleaded with him to come to his house,

because he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds pressed around him.

Now a woman was there who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years but could not be healed by anyone.

Then Jesus asked, "Who was it who touched me?" When they all denied it, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing against you!"

While he was still speaking, someone from the synagogue ruler's house came and said, "Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer."

And they began making fun of him, because they knew that she was dead.

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,

They all ate and were satisfied, and what was left over was picked up -- twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Once when Jesus was praying by himself, and his disciples were nearby, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"

As he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became very bright, a brilliant white.

They appeared in glorious splendor and spoke about his departure that he was about to carry out at Jerusalem.

Then as the men were starting to leave, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he was saying.

As he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. So they kept silent and told no one at that time anything of what they had seen.

As the boy was approaching, the demon threw him to the ground and shook him with convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

ThenBut while the entire crowd was amazed at everything Jesus was doing, he said to his disciples,

but the villagers refused to welcome him, because he was determined to go to Jerusalem.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town and place where he himself was about to go.

On that same occasion Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will.

Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him up, and went off, leaving him half dead.

Now by chance a priest was going down that road, but when he saw the injured man he passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan who was traveling came to where the injured man was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him.

But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she came up to him and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me."

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute began to speak, and the crowds were amazed.

The Pharisee was astonished when he saw that Jesus did not first wash his hands before the meal.