Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah happened in this way. When his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, before they lived together she was discovered to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

Now all this happened to fulfill what was declared by the Lord through the prophet when he said,

"O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, because from you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

"A voice was heard in Ramah: wailing and great mourning. Rachel was crying for her children. She refused to be comforted, because they no longer existed."

But Jesus answered him, "Let it be this way for now, because this is the proper way for us to fulfill all righteousness."

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he went back to Galilee.

Instead, let your message be "Yes' for "Yes' and "No' for "No.' Anything more than that comes from the evil one."

And if you greet only your relatives, that's no great thing you're doing, is it? Even the unbelievers do the same, don't they?

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people in order to be noticed by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

"No one can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches!"

Now if that is the way God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and thrown into an oven tomorrow, won't he clothe you much better you who have little faith?

So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who keep on asking him!

You will know them by their fruit. Grapes aren't gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles, are they?

So by their fruit you will know them."

Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you who practice evil!'"

Jesus told him, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest."

When Jesus arrived on the other side in the region of the Gerasenes, two demon-possessed men met him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could travel on that road.

Now a large herd of pigs was grazing some distance away from them.

Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs ran away, they came into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men.

But so you will know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"" he told the paralyzed man, "Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home!"

"No one patches an old garment with a piece of unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results.

Nor do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill out, and the skins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

If no one welcomes you or listens to your words, as you leave that house or town, shake its dust off your feet.

"Pay attention, now! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves.

Now when John heard in prison about the activities of the Messiah, he sent a message by his disciples

I tell all of you with certainty, among those born of women no one has appeared who is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least important person in the kingdom from heaven is greater than he.

All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one fully knows the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows the Father except the Son and the person to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

He will not quarrel or shout, and no one will hear him shouting in the streets.

He knew what they were thinking and told them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

But he replied to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign. Yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah,

"He said, "No! If you pull out the weeds, you might pull out the wheat with them.

Then he told them, "That is why every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom from heaven is like the master of a household who brings both new and old things out of his treasure chest."

Now those who had eaten were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.

Don't you know that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then is expelled as waste?

Now those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children.

You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, yet you can't interpret the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation craves a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." Then he left them and went away.

When they raised their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus all by himself.

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must never separate."

They told him, "Because no one has hired us.' He told them, "You go into the vineyard as well.'

But Jesus called the disciples and said, "You know that the rulers of the unbelievers lord it over them and their superiors act like tyrants over them.

Now this happened to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet when he said,

So they told Jesus, "We don't know." He in turn told them, "Then I won't tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

Now when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those farmers?"

When the high priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was talking about them.

But they paid no attention to this and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.

They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. They said, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere and that you teach the way of God truthfully. You don't favor any individual, because you pay no attention to external appearance.

That same day some Sadducees, who claim there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him,

"Teacher, Moses said, "If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for his brother.'

Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his widow to his brother.

Now in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be, since all of them had married her?"

Jesus answered them, "You are mistaken because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power,

No one could answer him at all, and from that day on no one dared to ask him another question.

Then you say, "If we had been living in the days of our ancestors, we would have had no part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'

Jesus answered them, "See to it that no one deceives you,

because at that time there will be great suffering, the kind that hasn't happened from the beginning of the world until now and certainly won't ever happen again.

If those days hadn't been limited, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be limited.

"Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches become tender and it produces leaves, you know that summer is near.

In the same way, when you see all these things, you'll know that the Son of Man is near, right at the door.

"No one knows when that day or hour will come not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father,

because just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.

In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage right up to the day when Noah went into the ark.

"So keep on watching, because you don't know on what day your Lord is coming.

that servant's master will come on a day when he doesn't expect him and at an hour that he doesn't know.

Now five of them were foolish, and five were wise,

"But the wise ones replied, "No! There will never be enough for us and for you. You'd better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'

"But he replied, "I tell all of you with certainty, I don't know you!'

So keep on watching, because you don't know the day or the hour."

"Then the one who had received one talent came forward and said, "Master, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you haven't planted and gathering where you haven't scattered any seed.

"His master answered him, "You evil and lazy servant! So you knew that I harvested where I haven't planted and gathered where I haven't scattered any seed?

"You know that the Passover will take place in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."

because this is my blood of the new covenant that is being poured out for many people for the forgiveness of sins.

Now the betrayer personally had given them a signal, saying, "The one I kiss is the man. Arrest him."

Don't you think that I could call on my Father, and he would send me more than twelve legions of angels now?

Jesus told him, "You have said so. Nevertheless I tell you, from now on you will see "the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power' and "coming on the clouds of heaven.'"

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard when a servant girl came up to him and said, "You, too, were with Jesus the Galilean."

But he denied it in front of them all. "I don't know what you're talking about!" he exclaimed.

Again he denied it and swore with an oath, "I don't know the man!"

Then he began to curse violently. "I don't know the man!" he swore solemnly. Just then a rooster crowed.

While Jesus was being accused by the high priests and elders, he made no reply.

He did this because he knew that they had handed him over out of jealousy.

"He saved others but can't save himself! He is the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him.

He trusts in God. Let God rescue him, if he wants to do so now. After all, he said, "I am the Son of God.'"

Now many women were also there, watching from a distance. They had accompanied Jesus from Galilee and had ministered to him.

Then he placed it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out of the rock. After rolling a large stone across the door of the tomb, he left,

Pilate told them, "You have a military guard. Go and make the tomb as secure as you know how."

Responding to the women, the angel said, "Stop being frightened! I know you're looking for Jesus, who was crucified.

Now John was dressed in camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist. He ate grasshoppers and wild honey.

Now after John had been arrested, Jesus went to Galilee and proclaimed the gospel about the kingdom of God.

He said, "The time is now! The kingdom of God is near! Repent, and keep believing the gospel!"

"What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are the Holy One of God!"

All the people were so stunned that they kept saying to each other, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He tells even the unclean spirits what to do, and they obey him!"

Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying in bed, sick with a fever, so they promptly told Jesus about her.

He healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. However, he wouldn't allow the demons to speak because they knew who he was.

But when the man left, he began to proclaim it freely. He spread the news so widely that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly, but had to stay out in deserted places. Still, people kept coming to him from everywhere.

Now some scribes were sitting there, arguing among themselves,

At once, Jesus knew in his spirit what they were saying to themselves. "Why are you arguing about such things among yourselves?" he asked them.

But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"" Then he told the paralyzed man,

Now John's disciples and the Pharisees would fast regularly. Some people came and asked Jesus, "Why do John's disciples and the Pharisees' disciples fast, but your disciples don't fast?"

"No one patches an old garment with a piece of unshrunk cloth. If he does, the patch pulls away from it the new from the old and a worse tear is made.