Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way: when his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit.

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel," which means, "God with us."

And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search diligently for the young child, and when you have found him, bring back word to me, so that I too may come and worship him."

When they had heard the king they went their way; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, until it came to rest over the place where the child was.

On coming into the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, and of frankincense, and of myrrh.

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Josnt in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."

When he rose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt,

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

And he rose and took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.

Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

For this people's heart has grown dull. And their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and they understand with their hearts, and turn so that I should heal them.'

He called to him a little child, and put him in the midst of them,

Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me.

So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

But he refused, and went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.

Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?'

And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

And he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they should crush him.

so that 'seeing they may see but not perceive, and hearing may hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven.'"

For there is nothing hidden, except to be revealed; nor is anything secret, but that it should come to light.

And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground,

and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.

And when he came in, he said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping."

And they laughed at him. But after he put them all outside, he took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.

He strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

So they went out and preached that people should repent.

She went home, and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, he commanded that these also should be set before them.

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"

And he took a little child, and put him in the midst of them. And taking him in his arms, he said to them,

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it."

Should we pay them, or should we not?" But knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why do you put me to the test? Bring me a denarius, and let me look at it."

"Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the wife, and raise up children for his brother.

Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

And when they crucified him, they divided his garments, casting lots for them to determine what each man should take.

But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.

But why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his father,

and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.

that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways,

And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of all the world.

to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

Now when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which had been told them concerning this child.

So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law,

Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that will be spoken against

And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

But he took her by the hand and called, saying, "Child, arise."

Then her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat.

And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, "Teacher, I beg you to look upon my son, for he is my only child.

Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by him,

and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great."

But I will show you whom you should fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear him!

Now when they bring you before the synagogues and rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you are to say;

So he said to the keeper of his vineyard, 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?'

Nevertheless I must journey today and tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.

It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.'"

He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.'"

It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it."

So Pilate gave sentence that their demand should be granted.

And he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,

and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day.

For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?

You do not understand that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish."

Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it, so that they might arrest him.

"He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them."

Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;

I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me should not remain in darkness.

For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him, "Buy what we need for the feast"; or, that he should give something to the poor.

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.

When a woman is in labor she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but as soon as she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child has been born into the world.

as you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to all those you have given him.

I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one.

Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingship is not from here."

But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?"

Therefore, because it was the day of Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

For these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of his bones shall be broken."

But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even though he had no child, he promised that he would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him.

And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

"Men, why are you doing this? We also are men, of like nature with you, and bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

Therefore it is my judgment that we should not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,

but that we should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.

But Paul kept insisting that they should not take along one who had deserted them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work.

But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote to them our decision that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication."

who ought to be here before you and to make accusation, if they should have anything against me.

but declared first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and perform deeds worthy of their repentance.

When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up among them and said, "Men, you should have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss.

We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

as it is written: "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, down to this very day."

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.