which means, "God with us." When Joseph got up from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary as his wife.

After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt," he said. "Stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and kill him."

So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left at night for Egypt.

"Get up," he said. "Take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead."

So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went into the land of Israel.

Don't think you can say to yourselves, "We have father Abraham!' because I tell you that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones!

The ax already lies against the roots of the trees. So every tree that isn't producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

At this, he permitted him to be baptized. When Jesus had been baptized, he immediately came up out of the water. Suddenly, the heavens opened up for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him.

Then the tempter came. "Since you are the Son of God," he said, "tell these stones to become loaves of bread."

But he answered, "It is written, "One must not live on bread alone, but on every word coming out of the mouth of God.'"

He told Jesus, "Since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, because it is written, "God will put his angels in charge of you,' and, "With their hands they will hold you up, so that you will never hit your foot against a rock.'"

Jesus responded to him, "It is also written, "You must not tempt the Lord your God.'"

Then Jesus told him, "Go away, Satan! Because it is written, "You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'"

"How blessed are those who are pure in heart, because it is they who will see God!

"How blessed are those who make peace, because it is they who will be called God's children!

"You are the salt of the world. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty again? It's good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled on by people.

In the same way, let your light shine before people in such a way that they will see your good actions and glorify your Father in heaven."

I tell you with certainty, you will not get out of there until you pay back the last dollar!"

And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you. It is better for you to lose one of your body parts than to have your whole body go into hell."

But I tell you not to swear at all, neither by heaven, because it is God's throne,

If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat as well.

so that you will become children of your Father in heaven, because he makes his sun rise on both evil and good people, and he lets rain fall on the righteous and the unrighteous.

"No one can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches!"

Now if that is the way God clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and thrown into an oven tomorrow, won't he clothe you much better you who have little faith?

But first be concerned about God's kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be provided for you as well.

So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who keep on asking him!

"Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the road is spacious that leads to destruction, and many people are entering by it.

How narrow is the gate and how constricted is the road that leads to life, and there aren't many people who find it!"

In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit.

A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a rotten tree cannot produce good fruit.

Every tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire.

"Not everyone who keeps saying to me, "Lord, Lord,' will get into the kingdom from heaven, but only the person who keeps doing the will of my Father in heaven.

Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you who practice evil!'"

He touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began serving him.

When Jesus got into the boat, his disciples went with him.

He asked them, "Why are you afraid, you who have little faith?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

Suddenly, they screamed, "What do you want with us, Son of God? Did you come here to torture us before the proper time?"

Which is easier: to say, "Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, "Get up and walk'?

But so you will know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"" he told the paralyzed man, "Get up, pick up your stretcher, and go home!"

So the man got up and went home.

When the crowds saw this, they became frightened and glorified God for giving such authority to humans.

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's desk and told him, "Follow me." So he got up and followed him.

So Jesus got up and followed him, along with his disciples.

because she had been saying to herself, "If I just touch his robe, I will get well."

When the crowd had been driven outside, he went in, took her by the hand, and the young lady got up.

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

How is it that he went into the house of God and ate the Bread of the Presence, which was not lawful for him and his companions to eat but was reserved for the priests?

How much more is a human being worth than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on Sabbath days."

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

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten, because a tree is known by its fruit.

You children of serpents! How can you say anything good when you are evil? The mouth speaks about what overflows from the heart.

A good person brings good things out of a good treasure house, and an evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure house.

Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down, while the entire crowd stood on the shore.

But other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop, some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown.

But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word, understands it, and produces a crop that yields 100, 60, or 30 times what was sown."

He presented another parable to them: "The kingdom from heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

"The owner's servants came and asked him, "Master, you sowed good seed in your field, didn't you? Then where did these weeds come from?'

He answered, "The person who sowed good seed is the Son of Man,

while the field is the world. The good seed are those who belong to the kingdom, while the weeds are those who belong to the evil one.

When it was full, the fishermen hauled it ashore. Then they sat down, sorted the good fish into containers, and threw the bad ones away.

He went to his hometown and began teaching the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were amazed and asked, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miracles?

And his sisters are all with us, aren't they? So where did this man get all these things?"

When he got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them and healed their sick.

Jesus immediately had the disciples get into a boat and cross to the other side ahead of him, while he sent the crowds away.

Jesus said, "Come on!" So Peter got down out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came to Jesus.

As they got into the boat, the wind stopped blowing.

Then the men in the boat began to worship Jesus, saying, "You certainly are the Son of God!"

But he answered them, "Why do you also disregard the commandment of God because of your tradition?

Because God said, "You are to honor your father and your mother,' and, "Whoever curses father or mother must certainly be put to death.'

But you say, "Whoever tells his father or his mother, "Whatever support you might have received from me has been given to God,"

does not have to honor his father.' Because of your tradition, then, you have disregarded the authority of God's word.

As a result, the crowd was amazed to see those who were unable to talk speaking, the crippled healed, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel.

The disciples asked him, "Where in the wilderness are we to get enough bread to feed such a crowd?"

After he sent the crowds away, he got into a boat and went to the region of Magadan.

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!"

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God be merciful to you, Lord! This must never happen to you!"

But Jesus turned and told Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an offense to me, because you are not thinking God's thoughts but human thoughts!"

Then Peter told Jesus, "Lord, it's good that we're here! If you want, I'll set up three shelters one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

But Jesus came up to them and touched them, saying, "Get up, and stop being afraid."

Then he said, "I tell all of you with certainty, unless you change and become like little children, you will never get into the kingdom from heaven.

"So if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life injured or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, man must never separate."

Just then a man came up to Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what good deed should I do to have eternal life?"

Jesus asked him, "Why ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you want to get into that life, you must keep the commandments."

Then Jesus told his disciples, "I tell all of you with certainty, it will be hard for a rich person to get into the kingdom from heaven.

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into the kingdom of God."

Jesus looked at them intently and said, "For humans this is impossible, but for God all things are possible."

"Look!" Peter replied. "We have left everything and followed you. So what will we get?"

Jesus told them, "I tell all of you with certainty, tax collectors and prostitutes will get into God's kingdom ahead of you! John came to you living a righteous life, and you didn't believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. But even when you saw that, you didn't change your minds at last and believe him."

But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they told one another, "This is the heir. Come on, let's kill him and get his inheritance!'

That is why I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce fruit for it.

Those servants went out into the streets and brought in everyone they found, evil and good alike, and the wedding hall was packed with guests.

He asked him, "Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' But the man was speechless.

They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. They said, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere and that you teach the way of God truthfully. You don't favor any individual, because you pay no attention to external appearance.

They told him, "Caesar's." So he told them, "Then give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

Jesus answered them, "You are mistaken because you don't know the Scriptures or God's power,

As for the resurrection from the dead, haven't you read what was spoken to you by God when he said,

"I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

Jesus told him, ""You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'

And the one who swears an oath by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.