Now the birth of Jesus Christ occurred in this way. His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, [but] before they came together, she was found {to be pregnant} by the Holy Spirit.

Now all this happened in order that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,

For this is the one who was spoken about by the prophet Isaiah, saying, "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

But Jesus answered [and] said to him, "Permit [it] now, for in this way it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted him.

And behold, [there was] a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

Therefore whoever abolishes one of the least of these commandments and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever keeps [them] and teaches [them], this person will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore you pray in this way: "Our Father who is in heaven, may your name be treated as holy.

"For this [reason] I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, and not for your body, what you will wear. Is your life not more than food and your body [more than] clothing?

But if God dresses the grass of the field in this way, [although it] is [here] today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not [do so] much more [for] you, you of little faith?

Therefore [in] all [things], whatever you want that people should do to you, thus also you do to them. For this is the law and the prophets.

For I also am a man under authority who has soldiers under me, and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another one, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does [it]."

Now [when] Jesus heard [this], he was astonished, and said to those who were following [him], "Truly I say to you, I have found such great faith with no one in Israel.

And the men were astonished, saying, "What sort of [man] is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"

And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is blaspheming!"

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

And this report went out into that whole region.

And [when he] came into the house, the blind men approached him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord."

And [after] the demon had been expelled, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were astonished, saying, "{This has never been seen before} in Israel!"

and you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end--this one will be saved.

And whenever they persecute you in this town, flee to another, for truly I say to you, you will never finish [going through] the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

It is this man about whom it is written: 'Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'

"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another,

But he said to them, "What man will there be among you who will have one sheep and if this one fell into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift [it] out?

And all the crowds were amazed and began saying, "Perhaps this one is the Son of David!"

But the Pharisees, [when they] heard [it], said, "This man does not expel demons except by Beelzebul the ruler of demons!"

And if I expel demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons expel [them]? For this [reason] they will be your judges!

For this [reason] I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven!

And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him either in this age or in the coming one!

The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the proclamation of Jonah, and behold, [something] greater than Jonah [is] here!

The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, [something] greater than Solomon [is] here!

Then it goes and brings along with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and [they] go in [and] live there. And the last [state] of that person becomes worse than the first. So it will be for this evil generation also!"

But other [seed] fell on the good soil and produced grain, this one a hundred [times as much] and this one sixty and this one thirty.

For this [reason] I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand,

For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they hear with difficulty, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them."

[When] anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand [it], the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is what was sown on the side of the path.

And what was sown on the rocky ground--this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

And what was sown into the thorn plants--this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of this world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and it becomes unproductive.

But what was sown on the good soil--this is the one who hears the word and understands [it], who indeed bears fruit and produces, this one a hundred [times as much], and this one sixty, and this one thirty."

And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' So the slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go [and] gather them?'

And he said to them, "For this [reason] every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of the house who brings out of his storeroom new [things] and old [things]."

And he came to his hometown [and] began to teach them in their synagogue, so that they were amazed and said, "From where did this man [get] this wisdom and these miracles?

Is not this one the son of the carpenter? Is not his mother called Mary and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

And are not all his sisters with us? From where then did this man [get] all these [things]?"

and he said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist! He has been raised from the dead, and for this [reason] miraculous powers are at work in him."

'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far, far away from me,

It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth--this defiles a person."

Then the disciples came [and] said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended [when they] heard this saying?"

But Peter answered [and] said to him, "Explain this parable to us."

And the disciples said to him, "Where in [this] desolate place {can we get} so much bread that such a great crowd could be satisfied?"

So they were discussing [this] among themselves, saying, "[It is] because we did not take bread."

But knowing [this], Jesus said, "Why are you discussing among yourselves that you did not take bread, [you] of little faith?

And Jesus answered [and] said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal [this] to you, but my Father [who is] in heaven.

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it!

And Peter took him aside [and] began to rebuke him, saying, {God forbid}, Lord! This will never happen to you!"

[While] he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

And [when] the disciples heard [this], they fell down on their faces and were extremely frightened.

And he said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I say to you, if you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here [to] there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."

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

and whoever welcomes one child such as this in my name welcomes me.

"For this [reason] the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man--a king--who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.

and said, 'On account of this a man will leave his father and his mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?

He said to them, "Moses, with reference to your hardness of heart, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not like this.

The disciples said to him, "If this is the case of a man with his wife, it would be better not to marry!"

But he said to them, "Not everyone can accept this saying but [those] to whom it has been given.

For there are eunuchs who were born as such from [their] mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves [eunuchs] for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept [this], let him accept [it]."

So [when] the disciples heard [this], they were extremely amazed, saying, "Then who can be saved?"

But Jesus looked at [them] [and] said to them, "With human beings this is impossible, but with God all [things] [are] possible."

Take [what is] yours and go! But I want to give to this last [person] [the same] as [I gave] to you also.

And [when] the ten heard [this], they were indignant concerning the two brothers.

It will not be like this among you! But whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,

Now this took place so that what was spoken through the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,

And [when] he entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?"

And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee!"

And Jesus answered [and] said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will do not only [what was done to] the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea," it will happen!

And [after] he arrived at the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him [while he] was teaching, saying, "By what authority are you doing these [things]? And who gave you this authority?"

From where was the baptism of John--from heaven or from men?" And they began to discuss [this] among themselves, saying, "If we say 'From heaven,' he will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'

But [when] the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance!'

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures, 'The stone which the builders rejected, this has become {the cornerstone}. This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

For this [reason], I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a people who produce its fruits.

And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and [the one] on whom it falls--it will crush him!"

But they paid no attention [and] went away--this one to his own field, that one to his business.

And he said to them, "Whose image and inscription [is] this?"

And [when they] heard [this], they were astonished, and they left him [and] went away.

And [when] the crowds heard [this], they were amazed at his teaching.

This is the greatest and first commandment.

For this [reason], behold, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and scribes. [Some] of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and will pursue from town to town,

Truly I say to you, all these [things] will come upon this generation!

And you are going to hear about wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is not yet.

But the one who endures to the end--this person will be saved.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Truly I say to you that this generation will never pass away until all these [things] take place!

But understand this: that if the master of the house had known what watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.

For this [reason] you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think [he will come].

And [when] the disciples saw [it] they were indignant, saying, "{Why} this waste?

For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor!"

But Jesus, knowing [this], said to them, "Why do you cause trouble for the woman? For she has done a good deed for me.

For [when] this woman poured this ointment on my body, she did [it] in order to prepare me for burial.

Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her."

And he answered [and] said, "The one who dips his hand in the bowl with me--this one will betray me.

Now [while] they were eating Jesus took bread and, [after] giving thanks, he broke [it], and giving [it] to the disciples, he said, "Take, eat, this is my body."