But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, descendant 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 behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them [continually leading the way] until it came and stood over the place where the young Child was.

But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod [the Great], he was afraid to go there. Then being warned by God in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee,

And he said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You [to serve, care for, protect and watch over You]’;

and

‘They will lift you up on their hands,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

So whoever breaks one of the least [important] of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least [important] in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

“You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.’

But I say to you that everyone who continues to be angry with his brother or harbors malice against him shall be guilty before the court; and whoever speaks [contemptuously and insultingly] to his brother, ‘Raca (You empty-headed idiot)!’ shall be guilty before the supreme court (Sanhedrin); and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of the fiery hell.

Come to terms quickly [at the earliest opportunity] with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way [to court], so that your opponent does not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you are thrown into prison.

“It has also been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife is to give her a certificate of divorce’;

but I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except on grounds of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who has been divorced commits adultery.

“And when you pray, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

Whoever does not welcome you, nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust [of it] off your feet [in contempt, breaking all ties].

But the one who denies and rejects Me before men, that one I will also deny and reject before My Father who is in heaven.

Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].

And whoever gives to one of these little ones [these who are humble in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water to drink because he is my disciple, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”

Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit [by attributing the miracles done by Me to Satan] will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven [by believing in Me, and following Me] is My brother and sister and mother.”

For whoever has [spiritual wisdom because he is receptive to God’s word], to him more will be given, and he will be richly and abundantly supplied; but whoever does not have [spiritual wisdom because he has devalued God’s word], even what he has will be taken away from him.

He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and worked into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is an isolated place and the hour is already late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up twelve full baskets of the leftover broken pieces.

When they had crossed over [the sea], they went ashore at Gennesaret.

And they all ate and were satisfied, and they gathered up seven full baskets of the broken pieces that were left over.

For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].

When they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed and handed over to men [who are His enemies];

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

Whoever receives and welcomes one child like this in My name receives Me;

but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

And if it turns out that he finds it, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost.

And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (jailers) until he paid all that he owed.

I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

“Listen carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), and they will [judicially] condemn Him and sentence Him to death,

and will hand Him over to the Gentiles (Roman authorities) to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and He will be raised [to life] on the third day.”

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles have absolute power and lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them].

It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,

and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your [willing and humble] slave;

And Jesus entered the temple [grounds] and drove out [with force] all who were buying and selling [birds and animals for sacrifice] in the temple area, and He turned over the tables of the moneychangers [who made a profit exchanging foreign money for temple coinage] and the chairs of those who were selling doves [for sacrifice].

And he who falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces; but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be raised to honor.

“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte (convert to Judaism), and when he becomes a convert, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

And [you scribes and Pharisees say], ‘Whoever swears [an oath] by the altar, that is nothing (non-binding), but whoever swears [an oath] by the offering on it, he is obligated [as a debtor to fulfill his vow and keep his promise].’

Therefore, whoever swears [an oath] by the altar, swears both by it and by everything [offered] on it.

And whoever swears [an oath] by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

“Then they will hand you over to [endure] tribulation, and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.

I assure you and most solemnly say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, I will put you in charge of many things; share in the joy of your master.’

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little, I will put you in charge of many things; share in the joy of your master.’

and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Jesus over to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane (olive-press), and He told His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

so they bound Him, and led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate the governor [of Judea, who had the authority to condemn prisoners to death].

For Pilate knew that it was because of jealousy that the chief priests and elders had handed Jesus over to him.

And when they had crucified Him, they divided His clothes among them by casting lots.

Then sitting down there, they began to keep watch over Him [to guard against any rescue attempt].

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

Now from the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).

Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, they were terribly frightened and filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

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

saying to him, “See that you tell no one anything [about this]; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your purification what Moses commanded, as proof to them [that you are really healed].”

but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit and His power [by attributing the miracles done by Me to Satan] never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin [a sin which is unforgivable in this present age as well as in the age to come]”—

For whoever does the will of God [by believing in Me, and following Me], he is My brother and sister and mother.”

On that [same] day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side [of the Sea of Galilee].”

And He called the twelve [disciples] and began to send them out [as His special messengers] two by two, and gave them authority and power over the unclean spirits.

When they had crossed over [the sea], they reached the land of Gennesaret and anchored at the shore.

And the people ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.

For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake and the gospel’s will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].

For whoever is ashamed [here and now] of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

“Whoever receives and welcomes one child such as this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives not [only] Me, but Him who sent Me.”

For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he will not lose his reward.

“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe and trust in Me to stumble [that is, to sin or lose faith], it would be better for him if a heavy millstone [one requiring a donkey’s strength to turn it] were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

And He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her;

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever does not receive and welcome the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

saying, “Listen very carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed and handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles (Romans).

Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their powerful men exercise authority over them [tyrannizing them].

But this is not how it is among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,

and whoever wishes to be first and most important among you must be slave of all.

He said to it, “No one will ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening [to what He said].

I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!’ and does not doubt in his heart [in God’s unlimited power], but believes that what he says is going to take place, it will be done for him [in accordance with God’s will].

“But be on your guard; they will turn you over to courts, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand [as accused] before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.

Brother will betray brother to [be put to] death, and a father [will hand over] his child; and children will rise up and take a stand against parents and have them put to death.

While He was in Bethany [as a guest] at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster vial of very costly and precious perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured the perfume over His head.

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve [disciples], went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them.

Early in the morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes and the whole Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), immediately consulted together; and they bound Jesus, they took Him away [violently] and handed Him over to Pilate.

So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, set Barabbas free for them; and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over [to his soldiers] to be crucified.

When the sixth hour (noon) came, darkness covered the whole land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).

You will have great joy and delight, and many will rejoice over his birth,

and He will reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.”

For with God nothing [is or ever] shall be impossible.”

In the same region there were shepherds staying out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying one to another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem, and see this [wonderful] thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”

and [they came also] to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord [to be appropriate for a family of modest means], “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this realm and its glory [its power, its renown]; because it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

for it is written and forever remains written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard and protect You,’

But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to hurl Him down the cliff.

Standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and immediately she got up and began serving them [as her guests].

Then they said to Him, “The disciples of John [the Baptist] often practice fasting and offer prayers [of special petition], and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but Yours eat and drink.”

Then Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a vast multitude of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon,

Whoever strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other one also [simply ignore insignificant insults or losses and do not bother to retaliate—maintain your dignity]. Whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.

Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over [with no space left for more]. For with the standard of measurement you use [when you do good to others], it will be measured to you in return.”