Now the birth of Christ Jesus occurred under these conditions: After His mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, but before they had lived together, she was found to be an expectant mother through the influence of the Holy Spirit.

But her husband, Joseph, because he was an upright man and did not want to disgrace her, decided to break the engagement by secretly divorcing her.

So he called together all the high priests and scribes of the people, and anxiously asked them where the Christ was to be born.

Then, as they had been divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they set out to their own country by another route.

Then he awoke and tenderly took the child and His mother by night and made their escape to Egypt;

he stayed there until Herod's death, so as to fulfill what the Lord had said by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my Son."

Then Herod, because he saw that a trick had been played on him by the stargazers, was very angry, and sent and slaughtered all the boy babies in Bethlehem and in all that neighborhood, from two years down, in accordance with the time which he had found out from the stargazers.

Then the saying was fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

"A sob was heard in Ramah, weeping and great wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be comforted, because they were gone."

He went to a town called Nazareth and made his home there, so that the saying of the prophet was fulfilled: "He shall be called a Nazarene."

This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, when he said: "Here is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; Make the paths straight for him.'"

and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, as one by one they continued to confess their sins.

Now the axe is already lying at the roots of the trees. Every tree then that fails to bear good fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire.

His winnowing-fork is in His hand, and He will clean out His threshing-floor and store His wheat in His barn, but He will burn up the chaff with fire that never can be put out."

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.

But John tried to prevent Him, by saying, "I have need to be baptized by you, and you come to me!"

But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for this is the fitting way for both of us to do our full duty to God." Then he yielded to Him.

Then Jesus was guided by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil.

Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For the Scripture says, 'You must worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone.'"

But He left Nazareth and made His home in Capernaum, by the sea, in the district of Zebulon and Naphtali,

to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

As He was walking by the shore of the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was summed Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

"Blessed are the mourners, for they will be comforted.

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for being and doing right, for they will be completely satisfied.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called God's sons.

Keep on rejoicing and leaping for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way they persecuted the prophets who lived before you.

"You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its strength, what can make it salt again? It is good for nothing but to be thrown away and trodden under foot.

You are the light of the world. A city that is built upon a hill cannot be hidden.

Whoever, therefore, breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others so to do, will be ranked as least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices them and teaches others so to do, will be ranked as great in the kingdom of heaven.

But I say to you: "Everyone who harbors malice against his brother, will have to answer to the court, and whoever speaks contemptuously to his brother, will have to answer to the supreme court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You cursed fool? will have to pay the penalty in the pit of torture.

Be quick to come to terms with your opponent while you are on the road to court with him, so that he may not turn you over to the judge and the judge turn you over to the officer, and you be put in prison.

But I tell you not to swear at all, either by heaven, for it is God's throne,

or by the earth, for it is His footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.

Never swear by your own head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

But your way of speaking must be a simple 'Yes' or 'No.' Anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

If anyone, whoever he may be, keeps on begging you, give to him; if anyone wants to borrow from you, do not turn him away.

So you, my followers, ought to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is."

So whenever you do your deeds of charity, never blow your own horn in public, as the hypocrites are in the habit of doing in the synagogues and on the street corners, to be praised by the people. I solemnly say to you, they already have their reward.

so that your deed of charity may be secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

"Also, whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, to attract the attention of people. I solemnly say to you, they already have their reward.

And whenever you pray, you must not keep on repeating set phrases, as the heathen do, for they suppose that they will be heard in accordance with the length of their prayers,

So then you must not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

So this is the way you must pray: Our Father in heaven, Your name be revered.

Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.

And do not let us be subjected to temptation, but save us from the evil one.

so that your fasting may be seen, not by men but by your Father who is unseen, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

For wherever your treasure is, there too your heart will be.

"The eye is the very lamp of the body. If then your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.

But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very source of light in you is darkness, how dense is that darkness!

No one can be a slave to two masters, for either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and money.

But which of you by worrying can add a single minute to his life?

But as your first duty keep on looking for His standard of doing right, and for His will, and then all these things will be yours besides.

"Stop criticizing others, so that you may not be criticized yourselves.

For exactly as you criticize others, you will be criticized, and in accordance with the measure that you give to others, it will be measured back to you.

Why do you keep watching the tiny speck in your brother's eye, but pay no attention to the girder in your own?

"Keep on asking, and the gift will be given you; keep on seeking, and you will find; keep on knocking, and the door will open to you.

"Go in by the narrow gate, for broad and roomy is the road that leads to destruction, and many are going in by it.

You must recognize them by their fruits. People do not pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles, do they?

So you must recognize them by their fruits.

"So everyone who listens to my words and practices their teaching, will be like a prudent man who built his house on a rocky foundation.

And anyone who listens to my words and does not practice their teaching, will be like an imprudent man who built his house on sand.

Then He put out His hand and touched him, and said, "I do choose to; be cured." And at once his leprosy was cured.

"Lord, my servant-boy is at home bedridden with paralysis and suffering terrible tortures!"

But the captain answered, "I am not fit for you to come under my roof, but simply speak the word, and my servant-boy will be cured.

For I, too, am under authority of others, and have soldiers under me, and I order this one to go, and he goes, another to come, and he comes, my slave-boy to do this, and he does it."

while the heirs of the kingdom will be turned out into the darkness outside, where they will be weeping and grinding their teeth."

Then Jesus said to the captain, "Go; it must be done for you as you have believed." And his servant-boy was cured that very hour.

and so fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, "He took our sicknesses and bore away our diseases."

And suddenly a furious storm came up, so that the boat was being covered over by the bursting billows, but He kept on sleeping.

And He said to them, "Be gone!" And they went out of the men and got into the hogs, and suddenly the whole drove, in a stampede, rushed over the cliff into the sea, and died in the water.

Jesus said to them, "The wedding guests cannot mourn, can they, as long as they have the bridegroom with them? But a time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

Nobody sews a patch of brand-new goods on an old coat, for such a patch would tear away from the coat, and the hole would be bigger than ever.

Then He touched their eyes, and said, "In accordance with your faith it must be done for you."

But the Pharisees kept on saying, "It is by the help of the prince of the demons that He drives them out."

Keep on curing the sick, raising the dead, healing lepers, and driving out demons. You received and gave no pay; you must give and take none.

I tell you, the punishment on the day of judgment will be lighter for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

"Listen! I am sending you out as sheep surrounded by wolves. So you must be sensible like serpents and guileless like doves.

Be on your guard against men, for they will turn you over to the courts and will flog you in their synagogues,

and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness to them and the heathen.

But when they turn you over to the courts, you must not worry at all about how or what you ought to speak, for it will be given you at that hour what you ought to speak.

And you will be hated by all men, because you bear my name, but whoever bears up to the end will be saved.

The pupil should be satisfied to become like his teacher, and the slave should be satisfied to become like his master. If men have called the Head of the house Beelzebub, how much worse names will they heap upon the members of His family!

So you must never be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, nor a secret that will not be known.

You must never be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. But rather you must keep on fearing Him who can destroy both soul and body in the pit.

Even the very hairs on your head have all been counted by God.

and a man's enemies will be members of his own family.

Now when John in prison heard of the doings of the Christ, he sent this message by his disciples:

But as they were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the desert to gaze at? A reed that is tossed to and fro by the wind?

And from the days of John the Baptist until the present moment the kingdom of heaven has been continuously taken by storm, and those who take it by storm are seizing it as a precious prize.

The Son of Man came eating and drinking with others, and they say, 'Just look at Him! A glutton and a wine-drinker, a chum of tax-collectors and notorious sinners!' And yet wisdom is vindicated by her doings!"

Moreover, I tell you, on the day of judgment the punishment will be lighter for Tyre and Sidon than for you!

And you, Capernaum, are you to be exalted to heaven? No, you belong to the regions of the dead! For if the wonder-works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued until today.

But I tell you, on the day of judgment the punishment will be lighter for the land of Sodom than for you!"

All things have been entrusted to me by my Father, and no one but the Father perfectly knows the Son, and no one but the Son perfectly knows the Father, and the one to whom the Son chooses to make Him known.

and in this way fulfilled the saying spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

And all the crowds of people were dumbfounded, and began to say, "He is by no means the Son of David, is He?"

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man is not driving out demons except by the help of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons."

And if I am driving out demons by the help of Beelzebub, by whose help are your sons driving them out? So they must be your judges.

But if I by the Spirit of God am driving the demons out, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

So I tell you, every sin and all abusive speech will be forgiven men, but abuse against the Spirit cannot be forgiven.