So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen, from David to the Babylonian Exile fourteen, from the Babylonian Exile to Christ fourteen.

'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are not at all the least among the leading places of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

and said, "Wake up, tenderly take the child and His mother, and make the trip to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."

And the tempter came up and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn to bread."

and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the Scripture says: "'He will give His angels directions about you, And they will bear you up on their hands, so you will never strike your foot against a stone.'"

"Blessed are those who feel poor in spiritual things, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

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

"Blessed are the lowly in mind, for they will possess the land.

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

"Blessed are those who show mercy, for they will have mercy shown them.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

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

"Blessed are those who suffer persecution for being and doing right, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

"Blessed are you when people abuse you, and persecute you, and keep on falsely telling all sorts of evil against you for my sake.

"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.

People do not light a lamp and put it under a peck-measure but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all that are in the house.

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.

to prove that you are sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun rise on bad as well as good people, and makes the rain come down on doers of right and of wrong alike.

And if you say 'Good morning' to your brothers only, what more than others are you doing?

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.

Take a good look at the wild birds, for they do not sow or reap, or store up food in barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps on feeding them. Are you not worth more than they?

So never worry and say, 'What are we going to have to eat? What are we going to have to drink? What are we going to have to wear?'

For the heathen are greedily pursuing all such things; and surely your heavenly Father well knows that you need them all.

"You must never give the things that are sacred to dogs, and you must never throw your pearls before hogs, for fear they might trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces.

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

But narrow is the gate and hard is the road that leads to life, and few are they that find it.

"Look out for false prophets, who come to you under the guise of sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves.

So they went to Him and woke Him up, and said, "Lord, save us; we are going down!"

And He said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you with little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

And the demons kept begging Him and saying, "If you are going to drive us out, send us into the drove of hogs."

And all at once some men were bringing to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a couch. And because He saw their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "Cheer up, my child, your sins are forgiven."

For which is easier, to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or, to say 'Get up and go to walking'?

Nobody pours new wine into old wine-bottles; or, if they do, the bottles burst, the wine runs out, and the bottles are ruined. But people pour new wine into new wine-bottles, and so both are preserved."

Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the reapers are scarce.

Here are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who was named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John,

For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father that is speaking through you.

So stop being afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

"Are you the One who was to come, or should we keep on looking for a different one?"

the blind are seeing and the crippled are walking, the lepers are being healed and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised and the poor are having the good news preached to them.

If not, what did you go out there to see? A man dressed in silks and satins? No, people who dress in that way are found in the palaces of kings.

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.

and if you are willing to accept it, John himself is the Elijah who was to come.

"But to what can I compare the leaders of this age? They are like little children sitting in the market places and calling to their fellows in the game,

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.

And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Just look! Your disciples are doing something that it is against the law to do on the sabbath!"

Or, did you never read in the law that the priests in the temple break the sabbath, and yet are not guilty?

If you only knew what that saying means, 'It is mercy and not sacrifice that I want,' you would not have condemned men who are not guilty.

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.

You brood of vipers! How can you, wicked as you are, say anything that is good? For the mouth talks about the things that fill the heart.

But He answered the man who told Him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"

And with a gesture toward His disciples He said, "Here are my mother and my brothers.

He answered: "It is you and not they who are granted the privilege of knowing the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.

"But blessed are your eyes, for they are beginning to see, and your ears, for they are beginning to hear.

For I solemnly say to you, many prophets and upright men yearned to see what you are seeing, and did not see it, and to hear what you are hearing, and did not hear it.

And he said, 'No, never, for while you are gathering the wild wheat plants you might root up the good ones with them.

the field is the world; the good seed are the members of the kingdom; the wild wheat seed are the followers of the wicked one.

The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the close of the age, the reapers are angels.

Just as the wild wheat plants are gathered and burned up, so it will be at the close of the age.

Is He not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother's name Mary, are not His brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?

And are not His sisters all living here with us? Where then did He get all these things?"

and said to his attendants, "This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, and that is why the powers are at work through him."

And the men in the boat worshiped Him, and said, "You are certainly God's Son."

"'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me;

Their worship of me is an empty show; the things they teach are only men's precepts.'"

Let them alone. They are blind teachers! And if one blind man guides another, they will both fall into the ditch."

And He said, "Are you too, even yet, without understanding?

These are the things that make a man foul, but eating with unwashed hands does not make a man foul."

Jesus knew it and said, "Why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? Have you so little faith?

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

Then Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for it is not man that made this known to you, but my Father in heaven.

But He turned and said to Peter, "Get out of my way, you Satan! You are a hindrance to me, for this view of yours is not from God but from men."

He answered, "From aliens." Jesus said to him, "So their own citizens are exempt,

So they are no longer two but one. Therefore, what God has joined together man must stop separating."

For some are born incapable of marriage, 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."

Then Peter answered Him, "We have left everything we had and followed you. What then are we to get?"

But many who are first now will be last then, and many who are last now will be first then."

So those who are last now will be first then, and those first will be last."

"Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be turned over to the high priests and the scribes, and they will sentence Him to death,

But Jesus answered, "You do not realize what you are asking for. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They answered, "Yes, we can."

He said to them, "You will drink the cup that I am to drink, but seats at my right and at my left are not mine to give, but they will be given to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."

and asked Him, "Do you hear what they are saying?" Jesus answered them, "Yes. Did you never read this, 'Out of the mouths of little children, yea, of infants, you have perfect praise'?"

But if we say, 'From men,' we are afraid of the people, for they all consider John a prophet."

A second time he sent other slaves, and said to them, 'Tell the invited guests that I have my reception all ready, my bullocks and fatlings are butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding reception!'

For many are invited, but few are selected."

So they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, to say to Him, "Teacher, we know that you are in the habit of telling the truth and of teaching the way of God in honesty, and you do not care what anyone says, for you are not partial.

But Jesus saw their malicious plot, and so asked, "Why are you testing me so, you hypocrites?

Jesus answered them, "You are wrong in your views, because you do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God,

for after the resurrection men do not marry and women are not married, but continue to live together as the angels do in heaven.

But as for you, you must not seek for others to call you 'Teacher,' for you have but one who is 'Teacher,' and you are all brothers.

"A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees! For you bolt the doors of the kingdom of heaven in men's faces, for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you let those who are trying to do so go in.

A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees! For you scour land and sea to win a single convert, and when he is won you make him twice as fit for the pit as you are.

You blind leaders, who are straining out the gnat but gulping down the camel!

A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of your greed and self-indulgence.

"A curse on you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you are like white-washed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead people's bones and everything that is unclean!

So you, too, on the outside seem to people to be upright, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

So you are witnessing against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars; take care not to be scared out of your wits. They have to come, but that is not the end yet.

Alas for women who are expectant mothers and those who have nursing babies in those days!

So you, too, must continue to be ready, for at an hour you are not expecting Him the Son of Man will come.