Then, as they had been divinely warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another way.

Then Herod saw that he had been tricked by the astrologers, and he was very angry, and he sent and made away with all the boys in Bethlehem and in all that neighborhood who were two years old or under, for that was the tune he had learned from the astrologers by his inquiries.

But when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he retreated to Galilee.

Word went all through Syria about him, and people brought to him all who were suffering with any kind of disease, or who were in great pain??emoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics??nd he cured them.

But from the time of John the Baptist until now men have been taking the Kingdom of Heaven by storm and impetuously crowding into it.

Then he began to reproach the towns in which his numerous wonders had been done, because they did not repent.

"Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the wonders that have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago!

And you, Capernaum! Are you to be exalted to the skies? You will go down among the dead! For if the wonders that have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have stood until today.

Everything has been handed over to me by my Father, and no one understands the Son but the Father, nor does anyone understand the Father but the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

When anyone hears the teaching of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and robs him of the seed that has been sown in his mind. That is what was sown along the path.

to fulfil what was said by the prophet, "I will open my mouth in figures, I will utter things that have been hidden since the creation."

But he answered, "Why do you too break God's command for the sake of what has been handed down to you?

But you say, 'Whoever tells his father or mother, "Anything of mine that might have been of use to you is given to God,"

does not have to provide for his father.' So you have nullified what God has said, for the sake of what has been handed down to you.

Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, "I pity these people for they have been staying with me three days now and they have nothing left to eat, and I do not mean to send them away hungry, for they may give out on the way."

And I brought him to your disciples and they have not been able to cure him."

For some are incapable of marriage from their birth, and some have been made so by men, and some have made themselves so for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let him accept it who can."

About five he went out and found others standing about and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing about here all day doing nothing?'

And he sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the banquet, and they would not come.

He sent other slaves a second time, and said to them, 'Tell those who have been asked, "Here I have my banquet all ready, my bullocks and fat cattle are killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!" '

and say, 'If we had been living in the times of our fathers, we would not have joined them in the murder of the prophets.'

for there will be greater misery then than there has ever been from the beginning of creation until now, or ever will be again.

If those days had not been cut short, nobody would have escaped, but for the sake of God's people those days will be cut short.

But you may be sure of this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch, and would not have let his house be broken into.

His master said to him, 'Well done, my excellent, faithful slave! you have been faithful about a small amount; I will put a large one into your hands. Come, share your master's enjoyment!'

His master said to him, 'Well done, my excellent, faithful slave! you have been faithful about a small amount; I will put a large one into your hands. Come! share your master's enjoyment.'

Then the king will say to those at his right, 'Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take possession of the kingdom which has been destined for you from the creation of the world.

It might have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor."

The Son of Man is to go away as the Scriptures say of him, but alas for the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!"

Then Judas who had betrayed him, when he saw that he had been condemned, in his remorse brought back the thirty silver pieces to the high priests and elders,

For this reason that piece of ground has ever since been called the Field of Blood.

So the words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver pieces, the price of the one whose price had been fixed, on whom some of the Israelites had set a price,

And the captain and the men with him who were watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, were dreadfully frightened and said, "He surely must have been a son of God!"

In the evening a rich man named Joseph, from Arimathea, who had himself been a disciple of Jesus, came.

So they took the money and did as they were told. And this story has been current among the Jews ever since.

And Jesus came up to them and said, "Full authority in heaven and on the earth has been given to me.

And he said to them, "To you has been intrusted the secret of the reign of God, but to those outsiders, everything is offered in figures,

The ones by the path are those into whose hearts the message falls, and as soon as they hear it Satan comes and carries off the message that has been sown in their hearts.

for he had often been fastened with fetters and chains and had snapped the chains and broken the fetters; and there was no one strong enough to master him,

When they came to Jesus and found the demoniac sitting quietly with his clothes on and in his right mind??he same man who had been possessed by Legion??hey were frightened.

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed begged to be allowed to go with him.

and had had a great deal of treatment from various doctors and had spent all that she had and had not been benefited at all but had actually grown worse,

"How skilful you are," he said to them, "in nullifying what God has commanded in order to observe what has been handed down to you.

But you say, 'If a man says to his father or mother, "Anything of mine that might have been of use to you is Korban," ' that is, consecrated to God,

"I pity these people, for they have been staying with me three days now, and they have nothing left to eat.

Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" And he said,

But they made no answer, for on the way they had been discussing with one another which of them was the greatest.

and said to them, "Go to the village that lies in front of you, and as soon as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

Therefore I tell you, whenever you pray or ask for anything, have faith that it has been granted you, and you shall have it.

And he called his disciples to him and said, "I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all these others who have been putting money into the treasury.

for there will be such misery in those days as there has never been since the beginning of God's creation until now, and never will be again.

It might have been sold for more than sixty dollars, and the money have been given to the poor."

For the Son of Man is indeed to go away as the Scriptures say of him, but alas for the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born."

I have been among you day after day in the Temple teaching, and you never seized me. But let the Scriptures be fulfilled!"

And he bought a linen sheet and took him down from the cross and wrapped him in the sheet, and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the doorway of the tomb.

And they looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled back, for it was very large.

And they fled out of the tomb, for they were all trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing about it to anyone, for they were afraid to do so. AN ANCIENT APPENDIX But they reported briefly to Peter and his companions all they had been told. And afterward Jesus himself sent out by them from the east to the west the sacred and incorruptible message of eternal salvation. \b ANOTHER ANCIENT APPENDIX

Still later he appeared to the Eleven themselves when they were at table, and reproached them for their obstinacy and want of faith, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.

so that you may be reliably informed about the things you have been taught.

And the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John.

The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the very presence of God. I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.

for today, in the town of David, a Savior for you has been born who is your Messiah and Lord.

When they saw this, they told what had been said to them about this child.

And the shepherds went back glorifying God and praising him for all that they had heard and seen in fulfilment of what they had been told.

It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not die without seeing the Lord's Messiah.

There was also a prophetess there named Hannah, the daughter of Phanuel, who belonged to the tribe of Asher. She was very old, for after her girlhood she had been married for seven years,

and she had been a widow until she was now eighty-four. She never left the Temple, but worshipped night and day with fasting and prayer.

When his parents saw him they were amazed, and his mother said to him. "My child, why did you treat us like this? Here your father and I have been looking for you, and have been very anxious."

And the devil said to him, "I will give you all this power and their splendor, for it has been turned over to me, and I can give it to anyone I please.

Jesus answered, "We have been told, 'You shall not try the Lord your God.' "

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath he went to the synagogue, as he was accustomed to do, and stood up to read the Scriptures.

And he began by saying to them, "This passage of Scripture has been fulfilled here in your hearing today!"

And he got up at once before them all, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, praising God.

and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and sickness??ary, who was called Mary of Magdala, out of whom seven demons had been driven,

For he was commanding the foul spirit to get out of the man. For it had often seized him, and though he had been fastened with chains and fetters, and was closely watched, he would snap his bonds and the demon would drive him away to the desert.

And those who had seen it told them how the man who had been possessed was cured.

And a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and whom nobody had been able to cure,

When the woman saw that she had not escaped his notice, she came forward trembling, and fell down before him, and before all the people told why she had touched him, and how she had been cured at once.

Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but waking up they saw his glorious appearance and the two men standing by him.

Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the wonders that have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes!

Everything has been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is but the Father, nor who the Father is but the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send prophets and apostles to them, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute'??50 so that this age may be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the creation of the world,

But you may be sure of this, that if the master of the house had known what time the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch, and would not have let his house be broken into.

But one who does wrong without knowing them will be lightly punished. From anyone who has been given much, much will be required, and of the man to whom people have intrusted much, they will demand even more.

Then you will go on to say, 'We have been entertained with you, and you have taught in our streets!'

"When someone invites you to a wedding supper, do not take the best place, for someone more distinguished than you are may have been invited,

And the slave said, 'What you ordered, sir, has been done, and there is still room.'

He said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the calf he has been fattening, because he has gotten him back alive and well.'

But when your son here came, who has eaten up your property with women of the street, for him you killed the calf you have been fattening!'

But he said to him, 'My child, you have been with me all the time, and everything I have is yours.

And if you have been untrustworthy about what belonged to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you?

Until John came, it was the Law and the Prophets. From that time the Kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone has been crowding into it.

Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Is he grateful to the slave for doing what he has been ordered to do?

So you also, when you do all you have been ordered to do, must say, 'We are good-for-nothing slaves! We have done only what we ought to have done!' "

and said to them, "Go to the village that lies in front of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.

For the Son of Man is going his way, as it has been decreed, but alas for the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!"

And Herod and Pilate became friends that day, for they had been at enmity before.

(He was a man who had been put in prison for a riot that had taken place in the city and for murder.)

He released the man they asked for, who had been put in prison for riot and murder, and handed Jesus over to their will.