And you Bethlehem, in Judah's land, You are not least among the rulers of Judah: For a ruler will come from you, Who will shepherd Israel my people."

A cry was heard in Rama, weeping and sore lamentation ??Rachel weeping for her children, and inconsolable because they are no more.

saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."

So the tempter came up and said to him, "If you are God's son, tell these stones to become loaves."

said to him, "If you are God's son, throw yourself down; for it is written, He will give his angels charge of you; they will bear you on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone."

"Blessed are those who feel poor in spirit! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

Blessed are the mourners! they will be consoled.

Blessed are the humble! they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for goodness! they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful! they will find mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart! they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers! they will be ranked sons of God.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of goodness! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

Blessed are you when men denounce you and persecute you and utter all manner of evil against you for my sake;

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes insipid, what can make it salt again? After that it is fit for nothing, fit only to be thrown outside and trodden by the feet of men.

You are the light of the world. A town on the top of a hill cannot be hidden.

Be quick and make terms with your opponent, so long as you and he are on the way to court, in case he hands you over to the judge, and the judge to the jailer, and you are thrown into prison;

But I tell you, you are not to resist an injury: whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well;

When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they look woebegone to let men see they are fasting; I tell you truly, they do get their reward.

Therefore I tell you, do not trouble about what you are to eat or drink in life, nor about what you are to put on your body; surely life means more than food, surely the body means more than clothes!

Look at the wild birds; they sow not, they reap not, they gather nothing in granaries, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than birds?

Do not be troubled, then, and cry, 'What are we to eat?' or 'what are we to drink?' or 'how are we to be clothed?'

But the road that leads to life is both narrow and close, and there are few who find it.

Beware of false prophets; they come to you with the garb of sheep but at heart they are ravenous wolves.

Then Jesus told him, "See, you are not to say a word to anybody; away and show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, to notify men."

So the disciples went and woke him up, saying, "Help, Lord, we are drowning!"

He said to them, "Why are you afraid? How little you trust God!" Then he got up and checked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

so the daemons begged him saying, "If you are going to cast us out, send us into that drove of swine."

There a paralytic was brought to him, lying on a pallet; and when Jesus saw the faith of the bearers he said to the paralytic, "Courage, my son! your sins are forgiven."

Which is the easier thing, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'?

When Jesus heard it he said, "Those who are strong have no need of a doctor, but those who are ill.

nor do men pour fresh wine into old wineskins, otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine is spilt, the wineskins are ruined. They put fresh wine into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."

Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is rich, but the labourers are few;

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedaeus and John his brother,

you are not to take gold or silver or coppers in your girdle,

Now, when they bring you up for trial, do not trouble yourselves about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will come to you at the moment,

for you are not the speakers, it is the Spirit of your Father that is speaking through you.

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unless your Father wills it.

The very hairs on your head are all numbered;

fear not, then, you are worth far more than sparrows!

to ask him, "Are you the Coming One? Or are we to look out for someone else?"

the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised.

Come, what did you go out to see? A man arrayed in soft raiment? The wearers of soft raiment are in royal palaces.

Come to me, all who are labouring and burdened, and I will refresh you.

When the Pharisees noticed it, they said to him, "Look at your disciples, they are doing what is not allowed on the sabbath."

Have you not read in the Law that the priests in the temple are not guilty when they desecrate the sabbath?

Besides, if you had known what this meant, I care for mercy not for sacrifice, you would not have condemned men who are not guilty.

You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil? For the mouth utters what the heart is full of.

But he replied to the man who told him this, "Who is my mother? and who are my brothers?"

Stretching out his hand towards his disciples he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!

For the heart of this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy of hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them.

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears, for they hear!

the field is the world; the good seed means the sons of the Realm; the weeds are the sons of the evil one;

the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are angels.

Well then, just as the weeds are gathered and burnt in the fire, so will it be at the end of the world;

the Son of man will despatch his angels, and they will gather out of his Realm all who are hindrances and who practise iniquity,

Are not his sisters settled here among us? Then where has he got all this?"

And he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead. That is why miraculous powers are working through him."

and the men in the boat worshipped him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son."

vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts."

Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind, and if one blind man leads another, both of them will fall into a pit."

He said, "And are you totally ignorant?

The disciples said to him, "Where are we to get loaves enough in a desert to satisfy such a crowd?"

So Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus answered him, "You are a blessed man, Simon Bar-jona, for it was my Father in heaven, not flesh and blood, that revealed this to you.

But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, you Satan! You are a hindrance to me! Your outlook is not God's but man's."

I tell you truly, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death till they see the Son of man coming himself to reign."

So Peter addressed Jesus and said, "Lord, it is a good thing we are here; pray let me put up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

"From aliens," he said. Then Jesus said to him, "So their own people are exempt.

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What God has joined, then, man must not separate."

There are eunuchs who have been eunuchs from their birth, there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Realm of heaven. Let anyone practice it for whom it is practicable."

Then Peter replied, "Well, we have left our all and followed you. Now what are we to get?"

Many who are first shall be last, and many who are last shall be first.

"We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be betrayed to the high priests and scribes; they will sentence him to death

He said to her, "What do you want?" She said, "Give orders that my two sons are to sit at your right hand and at your left in your Realm."

Jesus replied, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" They said to him, "We can."

they said to him, "Do you hear what they are saying?" "Yes," said Jesus, "have you never read Thou hast brought praise to perfection from the mouth of babes and sucklings?"

And if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet."

Which of the two did the will of the father?" They said, "The last." Jesus said to them, "I tell you truly, the taxgatherers and harlots are going into the Realm of God before you.

Once more he sent some other servants, saying, 'Tell the invited guests, here is my supper all prepared, my oxen and fat cattle are killed, everything is ready; come to the marriage-banquet.'

For many are invited but few are chosen.'"

They sent him their disciples with the Herodians, who said, "Teacher, we know you are sincere and that you teach the Way of God honestly and fearlessly; you do not court human favour.

At the resurrection people neither marry nor are married, they are like the angels of God in heaven.

they are fond of the best places at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues;

But you are not to be called 'rabbi,' for One is your teacher, and you are all brothers;

you are not to call anyone 'father' on earth, for One is your heavenly Father;

Woe to you, you impious scribes and Pharisees! you shut the Realm of heaven in men's faces; you neither enter yourselves, nor will you let those enter who are on the point of entering.

Woe to you, blind guides that you are! you say, 'Swear by the sanctuary, and it means nothing; but swear by the gold of the sanctuary, and the oath is binding.'

You are senseless and blind! for which is the greater, the gold or the sanctuary that makes the gold sacred?

You are blind! for which is the greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

Blind guides that you are, filtering away the gnat and swallowing the camel!

Woe to you, you irreligious scribes and Pharisees! you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are filled with your rapacity and self-indulgence.

Woe to you, you irreligious scribes and Pharisees! you are like tombs white-washed; they look comely on the outside, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all manner of impurity.

So to men you seem just, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

So you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are sons of those who killed the prophets!

then let those who are in Judaea fly to the hills;

The stupid said to the sensible, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'

But Jesus was aware of what they said, and he replied, "Why are you annoying the woman? It is a beautiful thing she has done to me.

Peter answered, "Supposing they are all disconcerted over you, I will not be disconcerted."

Jesus said nothing. Then the high priest addressed him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!"