and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the period of the Babylonian captivity.

but after he had planned this, there appeared an angel of the Lord to him in a dream saying, "Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary your wife home, for what is begotten in her comes from the holy Spirit.

All this happened for the fulfilment of what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

Now when Jesus was born at Bethlehem, belonging to Judaea, in the days of king Herod, magicians from the East arrived at Jerusalem,

asking, "Where is the newly-born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose, and we have come to worship him."

They told him, "In Bethlehem belonging to Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet:

The magicians listened to the king and then went their way. And the star they had seen rise went in front of them till it stopped over the place where the child was.

where he stayed until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had said by the prophet: I called my Son from Egypt.

He went and settled in a town called Nazaret, so that what had been said by the prophets might be fulfilled: 'He shall be called a Nazarene.'

Then Jerusalem and the whole of Judaea and all the Jordan-district went out to him

The axe is lying all ready at the root of the trees; any tree that is not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

His winnowing-fan is in his hand, he will clean out his threshing-floor, his wheat he will gather into the granary, but the straw he will burn with fire unquenchable."

Then Jesus came on the scene from Galilee, to get baptized by John at the Jordan.

Now when Jesus had been baptized, the moment he rose out of the water, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove upon him.

He answered, "It is written, Man is not to live on bread alone, but on every word that issues from the mouth of God."

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."

Jesus said to him, "It is written again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God."

Then Jesus told him, "Begone, Satan! it is written, You must worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone."

At this the devil left him, and angels came up and ministered to him.

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee; ??13 he left Nazaret and settled at Capharnahum beside the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali

for the fulfilment of what had been said by the prophet Isaiah:

And they dropped their nets at once and followed him.

and they left the boat and their father at once, and went after him.

rejoice and exult in it, for your reward is rich in heaven; that is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

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.

Nor do men light a lamp to put it under a bowl; they put it on a stand and it shines for all in the house.

(I tell you truly, till heaven and earth pass away not an iota, not a comma, will pass from the Law until it is all in force.

Therefore whoever relaxes a single one of these commands, were it even one of the least, and teaches men so, he will be ranked least in the Realm of heaven; but whoever obeys them and teaches them, he will be ranked great in the Realm of heaven.)

So if you remember, even when offering your gift at the altar, that your brother has any grievance against you,

leave your gift at the very altar and go away; first be reconciled to your brother, then come back and offer your gift.

truly I tell you, you will never get out till you pay the last halfpenny of your debt.

You have heard how it used to be said, Do not commit adultery.

But I tell you, any one who even looks with lust at a woman has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

If your right eye is a hindrance to you, pluck it out and throw it away: better for you to lose one of your members than to have all your body thrown into Gehenna.

And if your right hand is a hindrance to you, cut it off and throw it away: better for you to lose one of your members than to have all your body thrown into Gehenna.

It used to be said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a divorce-certificate.

But I tell you, you must not swear any oath, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

nor by earth, for it is the footstool of his feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King;

nor shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

Let what you say be simply 'yes' or 'no'; whatever exceeds that springs from evil.

For if you love only those who love you, what reward do you get for that? do not the very taxgatherers do as much?

and if you only salute your friends, what is special about that? do not the very pagans do as much?

When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

so as to keep your alms secret; then your Father who sees what is secret will reward you openly.

Also, when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they like to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street-corners, so as to be seen by men; I tell you truly, they do get their reward.

When you pray, go into your room and shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

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

but if your Eye is selfish, the whole of your body will be darkened. And if your very light turns dark, then ??what a darkness it is!

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?

Which of you can add an ell to his height by troubling about it?

and yet, I tell you, even Solomon in all his grandeur was never robed like one of them.

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?'

for as you judge so you will be judged, and the measure you deal out to others will be dealt out to yourselves.

How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take out the splinter from your eye,' when there lies the plank in your own eye?

You hypocrite! take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see properly how to take the splinter out of your brother's eye.

Do not give dogs what is sacred and do not throw pearls before swine, in case they trample them under foot and turn to gore you.

Well, if for all your evil you know to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?

Enter by the narrow gate: for [the gate] is broad and the road is wide that leads to destruction, and many enter that way.

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.

It is not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord!', who will get into the Realm of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Many will say to me at that Day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? did we not cast out daemons in your name? did we not perform many miracles in your name?'

The rain came down, the floods rose, the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, for it was founded on rock.

The rain came down, the floods rose, the winds blew and beat upon that house, and down it fell ??with a mighty crash."

When Jesus finished his speech, the crowds were astounded at his teaching;

so he stretched his hand out and touched him, with the words, "I do choose, be cleansed." And his leprosy was cleansed at once.

saying, "Sir, my servant is lying ill at home with paralysis, in terrible agony."

For though I am a man under authority myself, I have soldiers under me; I tell one man to go, and he goes, I tell another to come, and he comes, I tell my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

Then Jesus said to the captain, "Go; as you have had faith, your prayer is granted." And the servant was cured at that very hour.

Now when evening came they brought him many demoniacs, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all the invalids ??17 that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled, He took away our sicknesses and he removed our diseases.

Now a heavy storm came on at sea, so that the boat was buried under the waves. He was sleeping.

Men marvelled at this; they said, "What sort of man is this? the very winds and sea obey him!"

When he reached the opposite side, the country of the Gadarenes, he was met by two demoniacs who ran out of the tombs; they were so violent that nobody could pass along the road there.

They shrieked, "Son of God, what business have you with us? Have you come here to torture us before it is time?"

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

He said to them, "Begone!" So out they came and went to the swine, and the entire drove rushed down the steep slope into the sea and perished in the water.

Then all the town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to move out of their district.

Jesus saw what they were thinking and said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?

The crowds who saw it were awed and glorified God for giving such power to men.

As Jesus passed along from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-office; he said to him, "Follow me"; and he rose and followed him.

Jesus was at table indoors, and many taxgatherers and sinners had come to be guests with him and his disciples.

So when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with taxgatherers and sinners?"

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

Jesus said to them, "Can friends at a wedding mourn so long as the bride groom is beside them? A time will come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and then they will fast.

No one sews a piece of undressed cloth on an old coat, for the patch breaks away from it, and the tear is made worse:

what she said to herself was this, "If I can only touch his robe, I will recover."

he said, "Be off with you; the girl is not dead but asleep." They laughed at him.

But after the crowd had been put out, he went in and took her hand, and the girl rose up.

But they went out and spread the news of him all over that country.

As they went out, a dumb man was brought to him, who was possessed by a daemon,

and when the daemon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke. Then the crowd marvelled; they said, "Such a thing has never been seen in Israel!"

[vs omitted but shown in footnote] But the Pharisees said, "He casts out daemons by the prince of daemons."

And summoning his twelve disciples he gave them power over unclean spirits, power to cast them out and also to heal every disease and every ailment.

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out daemons; give without paying, as you have got without paying;

Whatever town or village you go into, find out a deserving inhabitant and stay with him till you leave.

When you enter the house, salute it;

if the household is deserving, let your peace rest on it; but if the household is undeserving, let your peace return to you.

I tell you truly, on the day of judgment it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorra than for that town.

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be wise like serpents and guileless like doves.