Jesse was the father of David the king.David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.

Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”

He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.

Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,

Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee;

Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;

Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs.

But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak;

But when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.

Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.

It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household!

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities.

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.

But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.

But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”

When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there.

For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.

For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

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

After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.

And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread.

Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.

But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.

So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.

Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’

When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan;

When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,

The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them,

When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?”

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant

“But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’

And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.

In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”

But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together.

and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.

Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.

In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.

But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’

“Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’

“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.

And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples,

a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table.

The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;

Those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were gathered together.

and said, “Prophesy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit You?”

When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and *said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the sons of Israel;

For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over.

And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head.

After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots.

And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.

The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;

Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him.

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.

and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away.

And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it.

Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened.

And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,

And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.

Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,