Her husband, Joseph, was a religious man and, being unwilling to expose her to contempt, resolved to put an end to their betrothal privately.

He had been dwelling upon this, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to take Mary for your wife, for her child has been conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.

He made Mary his wife, but did not live with her as her husband until after the birth of her son; and to this son he gave the name Jesus.

'A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and much lamentation; Rachel, weeping for her children, Refused all comfort because they were not.'

John wore clothing made of camels' hair, with a belt of leather round his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

I, however, say to you that any one who looks at a woman with an impure intention has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

It was also said--'Let any one who divorces his wife serve her with a notice of separation.'

I, however, say to you that any one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of her unchastity, leads to her committing adultery; while any one who marries her after her divorce is guilty of adultery.

Nor should you swear by your head, since you cannot make a single hair either white or black.

That is why I say to you, Do not be anxious about your life here--what you can get to eat or drink; nor yet about your body-- what you can get to wear. Is not life more than food, and the body than its clothing?

Jesus was surprised to hear this, and said to those who were following him: "Never I tell you, in any Israelite have I met with such faith as this!

Then Jesus said to the Captain: "Go now, and it shall be according to your faith." And the man was cured that very hour.

On his taking her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and began to wait upon him.

Suddenly they shrieked out: "What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before our time?"

While Jesus was saying this, a President of a Synagogue came up and bowed to the ground before him. "My daughter," he said, "Has just died; but come and place your hand on her, and she will be restored to life."

Turning and seeing her, Jesus said: "Courage, Daughter! your faith has delivered you." And the woman was delivered from her malady from that very hour.

For I have come to set--'a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

The answer of Jesus to the question was-- "Go and report to John what you hear and see--

The blind recover their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are made clean and the deaf hear, the dead, too, are raised to life, and the good news is told to the poor.

From the time of John the Baptist to this very hour, the Kingdom of Heaven has been taken by force, and men using force have been seizing it.

Let him who has ears hear.

And now that the Son of Man has come, eating and drinking, they are saying 'Here is a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and outcasts!' And yet Wisdom is vindicated by her actions."

Here, however, I tell you, there is something greater than the Temple!

He shall not contend, nor cry aloud, Neither shall any one hear his voice in the streets;

At the Judgment, the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation, and will condemn it, because they repented at Jonah's proclamation; and here is more than a Jonah!

At the Judgment the Queen of the South will rise up with the present generation, and will condemn it, because she came from the very ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and here is more than a Solomon!

Then, stretching out his hands towards his disciples, he said: "Here are my mother and my brothers!

Let him who has ears hear."

That is why I speak to them in parables, because, though they have eyes, they do not see, and though they have ears, they do not hear or understand.

And in them is being fulfilled that prophecy of Isaiah which says--'You will hear with your ears without ever understanding, And, though you have eyes, you will see without ever perceiving,

For the mind of this nation has grown dense, And their ears are dull of hearing, Their eyes also have they closed; Lest some day they should perceive with their eyes, And with their ears they should hear, And in their mind they should understand, and should turn--And I should heal them.'

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

For I tell you that many Prophets and good men have longed for the sight of the things which you are seeing, yet never saw them, and to hear the things which you are hearing, yet never heard them.

Then shall the righteous shine, like the sun, in the Kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears hear.

For John had said to him 'You have no right to be living with her.'

That he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.

Prompted by her mother, the girl said 'Give me here, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist.'

The king was distressed at this; yet, on account of his oath and of the guests at his table, he ordered it to be given her.

And his head was brought on a dish and given to the girl, and she took it to her mother.

"We have nothing here," they said, "except five loaves and two fishes."

"Bring them here to me," was his reply.

The boat was by this time some miles from shore, laboring in the waves, for the wind was against her.

But Jesus did not answer her a word; and his disciples came up and begged him to send her away. "She keeps calling out after us," they said.

"Your faith is great," was his reply to the woman; "it shall be as you wish!" And her daughter was cured that very hour.

Here the Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and, to test Jesus, requested him to show them some sign from the heavens.

I tell you, some of those who are standing here will not know death till they have seen the Son of Man coming into his Kingdom."

"Master," exclaimed Peter, interposing, "it is good to be here; if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and there was a voice from the cloud that said-- "This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I delight; him you must hear."

"O faithless and perverse generation!" Jesus exclaimed, "how long must I be among you? how long must I have patience with you? Bring the boy here to me."

Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy; and he was cured from that very hour.

"Why, then," they said, "did Moses direct that a man should 'serve his wife with a notice of separation and divorce her'?"

But I tell you that any one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of her unchastity, and marries another woman, is guilty of adultery."

For the Kingdom of Heaven is like an employer who went out in the early morning to hire laborers for his vineyards.

When he went out about five, he found some other men standing there, and said to them 'Why have you been standing here all day long, doing nothing?'

'These last,' they said, 'have done only one hour's work, and yet you have put them on the same footing with us, who have borne the brunt of the day's work, and the heat.'

Then the mother of Zebediah's sons came to him with her sons, bowing to the ground, and begging a favor.

"Go to the village facing you," he said, "and you will immediately find an ass tethered, with a foal by her side; untie her, and lead her here for me.

And said to him: "Do you hear what these boys are saying?" "Yes," answered Jesus; "but did you never read the words--'Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast called forth perfect praise'?"

But the tenants, on seeing his son, said to each other 'Here is the heir! Come, let us kill him, and get his inheritance.'

So he said to him 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding-robe?' The man was speechless.

At the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be out of the seven, all of them having had her?"

Jerusalem! Jerusalem! She who slays the Prophets and stones the messengers sent to her--Oh, how often have I wished to gather your children round me, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not came!

"Do you see all these things?" was his answer. "I tell you, not a single stone will be left here upon another, which will not be throne down,"

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; take care not to be alarmed, for such things must occur; but the end is not yet here.

And, at that time, if any one should say to you 'Look! here is the Christ!' or 'Here he is!', do not believe it;

Immediately after the distress of those days, 'the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light, the stars will fall from the heavens,' and 'the forces of the heavens will be convulsed.'

But about that Day and Hour, no one knows--not even the angels of Heaven, nor yet the Son--but only the Father himself.

That servant's master will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour of which he is unaware,

Therefore watch, since you know neither the Day nor the Hour.

And, in my fear, I went and hid your money in the ground; look, here is what belongs to you!'

"You know that in two days time the Festival of the Passover will be here; and that the Son of Man is to be given up to be crucified."

I tell you, wherever, in the whole world, this Good News is proclaimed, what this woman has done will be told in memory of her."

Then Jesus came with them to a garden called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples: "Sit down here while I go and pray yonder."

"I am sad at heart," he said, "sad even to death; wait here and watch with me."

Then he came to his disciples, and found them asleep. "What!" he said to Peter, "could none of you watch with me for one hour?

Then Pilate said to him: "Do not you hear how many accusations they are making against you?"

He is not here; for he has risen, as he said he would. Come, and see the place where he was lying;

John was clad in clothing of camels' hair, with a belt of leather round his waist, and lived on locusts and wild honey;

Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying ill with fever, and they at once told Jesus about her.

Jesus went up to her and, grasping her hand, raised her up; the fever left her, and she began to wait upon them.

But that you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins on earth"--here he said to the paralyzed man--

Then he looked around on the people sitting in a circle round him, and said: "Here are my mother and my brothers!

And Jesus said: "Let any one who has ears to hear with hear."

'Though they have eyes, they may see without perceiving; And though they have ears, they may hear without understanding; Lest some day they should turn and be forgiven.'

Those meant by the seed sown among the brambles are different; they are the people who hear the Message,

But the people meant by the seed sown on the good ground are those who hear the Message, and welcome it, and yield a return, thirty, sixty, and even a hundred fold."

Let all who have ears to hear with hear.

"My little daughter," he said, "is at the point of death; I beg you to come and place your hands on her, that her life may be spared."

At once the mischief was stopped, and she felt in herself that she was cured of her complaint.

Then the woman, in fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and threw herself down before him, and told him the whole truth.

Taking her hand, Jesus said to her: "Taleitha, koum!"--which means 'little girl, I am speaking to you--Rise!'

But Jesus repeatedly cautioned them not to let any one know of it, and told them to give her something to eat.

Is not he the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? And are not his sisters, too, living here among us?" This proved a hindrance to their believing in him;

For Herod himself had sent and arrested John, and put him in prison, in chains, to please Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because Herod had married her.

And he swore to her that he would give her whatever she asked him--up to half his kingdom.

The girl went out, and said to her mother 'What must I ask for?' 'The head of John the Baptizer,' answered her mother.

So she went in as quickly as possible to the King, and made her request. 'I want you,' she said, 'to give me at once, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist.'

The King was much distressed; yet, on account of his oath and of the guests at his table, he did not like to refuse her.

And, bringing his head on a dish, gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

But they had no sooner left her than the people, recognizing Jesus,