The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit.

See, the virgin will become pregnant
and give birth to a son,
and they will name Him Immanuel,

which is translated “God is with us.”

“In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet:

After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen in the east! It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure.

Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

After they were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him.”

A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
and she refused to be consoled,
because they were no more.

and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

He will give His angels orders concerning you,
and they will support you with their hands
so that you will not strike
your foot against a stone.”

As He was walking along the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen.

Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them.

Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

Then the news about Him spread throughout Syria. So they brought to Him all those who were afflicted, those suffering from various diseases and intense pains, the demon-possessed, the epileptics, and the paralytics. And He healed them.

Those who mourn are blessed,
for they will be comforted.

The gentle are blessed,
for they will inherit the earth.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed,
for they will be filled.

The merciful are blessed,
for they will be shown mercy.

The pure in heart are blessed,
for they will see God.

The peacemakers are blessed,
for they will be called sons of God.

“You are blessed when they insult and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me.

Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!

“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!

When you pray, don’t babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words.

“Whenever you fast, don’t be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!

Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?

And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread.

Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them with their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.

When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick,

When He had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met Him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.

Suddenly they shouted, “What do You have to do with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

“Go!” He told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs. And suddenly the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water.

Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything—especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed.

At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.

When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck and gave glory to God who had given such authority to men.

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests be sad while the groom is with them? The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”

“Leave,” He said, “because the girl isn’t dead, but sleeping.” And they started laughing at Him.

When He entered the house, the blind men approached Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they answered Him.

But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout that whole area.

Just as they were going out, a demon-possessed man who was unable to speak was brought to Him.

When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd.

But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you should speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour,

When they persecute you in one town, escape to another. For I assure you: You will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul,’ how much more the members of his household!

For John did not come eating or drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

Then He proceeded to denounce the towns where most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent:

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago!

But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”

how he entered the house of God, and they ate the sacred bread, which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests?

There He saw a man who had a paralyzed hand. And in order to accuse Him they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

But the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “The man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.”

And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, who is it your sons drive them out by? For this reason they will be your judges.

I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak.

The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at Jonah’s proclamation; and look—something greater than Jonah is here!

Then off it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that man’s last condition is worse than the first. That’s how it will also be with this evil generation.”

Others fell on rocky ground, where there wasn’t much soil, and they sprang up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep.

But when the sun came up they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered.

For this reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.

For this people’s heart has grown callous;
their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn back—
and I would cure them.

“But your eyes are blessed because they do see, and your ears because they do hear!

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness.

They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

and when it was full, they dragged it ashore, sat down, and gathered the good fish into containers, but threw out the worthless ones.

“Have you understood all these things?”

“Yes,” they told Him.

He went to His hometown and began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “How did this wisdom and these miracles come to Him?

And His sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does He get all these things?”

And they were offended by Him.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”

Though he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, since they regarded him as a prophet.

When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed Him on foot from the towns.

When evening came, the disciples approached Him and said, “This place is a wilderness, and it is already late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

“They don’t need to go away,” Jesus told them. “You give them something to eat.”

“But we only have five loaves and two fish here,” they said to Him.

Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces!

When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.

When they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

Once they crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.

When the men of that place recognized Him, they alerted the whole vicinity and brought to Him all who were sick.

They were begging Him that they might only touch the tassel on His robe. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well.

“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat!”

They worship Me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commands of men.”

Then the disciples came up and told Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this statement?”

Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

and large crowds came to Him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, those unable to speak, and many others. They put them at His feet, and He healed them.

So the crowd was amazed when they saw those unable to speak talking, the deformed restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they gave glory to the God of Israel.

Now Jesus summoned His disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry; otherwise they might collapse on the way.”

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked them.

“Seven,” they said, “and a few small fish.”

They all ate and were filled. Then they collected the leftover pieces—seven large baskets full.

The disciples reached the other shore, and they had forgotten to take bread.

And they discussed among themselves, “We didn’t bring any bread.”

Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the yeast in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

I assure you: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”