Now the birth of Christ Jesus occurred under these conditions: After His mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, but before they had lived together, she was found to be an expectant mother through the influence of the Holy Spirit.

But just as this thought occurred to him, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for it is through the influence of the Holy Spirit that she has become an expectant mother.

And she will have a son, and you must name Him Jesus, for it is He who is to save His people from their sins."

Now all this occurred to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

After listening to the king, they started on their journey, and the star which they had seen rise led them on until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.

and went into the house and saw the child with His mother, Mary; and they fell at His feet and worshiped Him. They opened up their treasure sacks and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Then, as they had been divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they set out to their own country by another route.

After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Wake up! Tenderly take the child and His mother, and escape to Egypt; stay there until I further direct you, for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy Him."

Then he awoke and tenderly took the child and His mother by night and made their escape to Egypt;

he stayed there until Herod's death, so as to fulfill what the Lord had said by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my Son."

But because he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in the place of his father, Herod, he was afraid to go there; and because he was divinely warned in a dream, he set out for the region of Galilee.

He went to a town called Nazareth and made his home there, so that the saying of the prophet was fulfilled: "He shall be called a Nazarene."

and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, as one by one they continued to confess their sins.

and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the Scripture says: "'He will give His angels directions about you, And they will bear you up on their hands, so you will never strike your foot against a stone.'"

Again the devil took him up on a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their splendor,

And as He was going on from that point, He saw two others, brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, getting their nets in order; and He called them.

And at once they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Then He went all over Galilee, as He continued teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and curing any disease or malady among the people.

leave your grit right there at the altar, and first go and make peace with your brother, and then come back and present your gift.

So whenever you do your deeds of charity, never blow your own horn in public, as the hypocrites are in the habit of doing in the synagogues and on the street corners, to be praised by the people. I solemnly say to you, they already have their reward.

"Also, whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, to attract the attention of people. I solemnly say to you, they already have their reward.

And whenever you pray, you must not keep on repeating set phrases, as the heathen do, for they suppose that they will be heard in accordance with the length of their prayers,

"For if you forgive others their shortcomings your heavenly Father will forgive you, too.

"Also whenever you fast, you must not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a gloomy countenance, to let people see them fasting. I solemnly say to you, they already have their reward.

For wherever your treasure is, there too your heart will be.

How can you say to your brother, 'Let me get that tiny speck out of your eye,' while all the time there is a girder in your own?

"You must never give the things that are sacred to dogs, and you must never throw your pearls before hogs, for fear they might trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces.

You must recognize them by their fruits. People do not pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles, do they?

So you must recognize them by their fruits.

"So everyone who listens to my words and practices their teaching, will be like a prudent man who built his house on a rocky foundation.

And anyone who listens to my words and does not practice their teaching, will be like an imprudent man who built his house on sand.

for He was teaching them as one who had authority to teach, and not as their scribes did.

I tell you, many will come from the east and from the west and take their seats at the feast with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, 'in the kingdom of heaven,

while the heirs of the kingdom will be turned out into the darkness outside, where they will be weeping and grinding their teeth."

And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

And He said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you with little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

When He reached the other side, in the district of Gadara, there faced Him two men, who were under the power of demons, who were just coming out from the tombs. They were such terrors that nobody could pass that way.

Now there was not far from there a large drove of hogs feeding.

And suddenly all the town turned out to meet Jesus, and as soon as they saw Him, they begged Him to move on and leave their neighborhood.

And all at once some men were bringing to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a couch. And because He saw their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "Cheer up, my child, your sins are forgiven."

And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said, "Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts?

And as He was passing along from there, He saw a man named Matthew in his seat at the tax-collector's desk, and He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed Him.

While He was at table in the house many tax-collectors and notorious sinners came in and took their seats at table with Jesus and His disciples.

As Jesus was passing along from there, two blind men followed Him, shouting, "Do pity us, O Son of David!"

Then He touched their eyes, and said, "In accordance with your faith it must be done for you."

And their eyes received strength to see. Then Jesus sternly charged them, "See that nobody knows it."

Jesus kept visiting all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and curing every sort of sickness and ailment.

Be on your guard against men, for they will turn you over to the courts and will flog you in their synagogues,

For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father that is speaking through you.

One brother will turn another over to death, and a father his child, and children will take a stand against their parents, and will have them put to death.

So you must never be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, nor a secret that will not be known.

When Jesus had closed this charge to His disciples, He left there to teach and preach in their towns.

If not, what did you go out there to see? A man dressed in silks and satins? No, people who dress in that way are found in the palaces of kings.

If not, why did you go out there? To see a prophet?

"But to what can I compare the leaders of this age? They are like little children sitting in the market places and calling to their fellows in the game,

At that time Jesus walked one sabbath through the wheat fields, and His disciples became hungry, and began to pull the heads of wheat and eat them.

But I tell you, there is something greater than the temple here!

And on leaving there He went into their synagogue.

Now there was a man there with one hand withered. And, to get a charge against Him, they asked Him, "Is it right to cure people on the sabbath?"

But He said to them, "What man is there among you, if he has only one sheep and it falls into a ditch on the sabbath, will not lay hold on it and lift it out?

But because Jesus knew it, He left there. And many people followed Him, and He cured them all,

On His name the heathen will set their hopes."

But because He knew their thoughts, He said to them, "Any kingdom that is not united is in the process of destruction, and any city or family that is not united cannot last.

For as Jonah was in the whale's stomach for three days and nights, the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth.

The men of Nineveh will rise with the leaders of this age at the judgment and condemn them, for they turned to the message preached by Jonah, and there is more than Jonah here!

The queen of the south will rise with the leaders of this age at the judgment and condemn them, for she came from the farthest limits of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and there is more than Solomon here!

"Then it goes and gets seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there, and so the end of that man is worse than the beginning. This is the way it will be with the wicked leaders of this age."

While He was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and His brothers had taken their stand outside, trying hard to get to speak to Him.

and some fell upon rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and at once they sprang up, because there was no depth of soil,

For this people's soul has grown dull, and with their ears they can scarcely hear, and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they will never see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn to me, so that I may cure them!'

And when the wheat plants grew up and yielded their ripened grain, the wild wheat plants appeared too.

and will throw them into the furnace of torturing punishment; there they will wail and grind their teeth.

Then the upright will shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears listen!

which, when it was full, the fishermen drew up on the shore, and sat down and picked out the good fish for their baskets and threw the bad away.

and will throw them into the furnace of torturing punishment. There they will wail and grind their teeth.

When Jesus had finished these stories, He left there.

He went to His own home town, and kept teaching in their synagogue in such a way that they were dumbfounded, and said, "Where did He get this wisdom and this power to do such wonder-works?

He did not do many wonder-works there, because of their lack of faith.

and said to his attendants, "This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, and that is why the powers are at work through him."

When Jesus heard it, He left there in a boat for a quiet place, to be alone. And when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him on foot from the towns.

So when He got out of the boat and saw a great crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them, and He cured their sick people.

After He had dismissed the crowds, He went up the hill alone to pray. And after the evening came on, He was there alone,

"Why do your disciples break the rules handed down by our forefathers? For they do not practice washing their hands when they take their meals."

"'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me;

Their worship of me is an empty show; the things they teach are only men's precepts.'"

Then Jesus left there and slipped away to the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.

He answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the house dogs."

She said, "Yes, Lord, and yet the house dogs usually eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table."

Then Jesus left there and went to the shore of the sea of Galilee. Then He went up the hill and kept sitting there,

Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for it is now three days they have been staying with me, and they have nothing at all left to eat, and I fear they might give out on the way home."

And in their presence His appearance was changed and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes turned as white as light.

And Peter interrupted, and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here! If you consent, I will put up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

When the disciples heard it, they fell upon their faces, for they were terribly frightened.

But I say to you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but treated him as they pleased. Just so the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."

He answered, "Yes." When Jesus reached home -- He got there ahead of Simon -- He asked him, "What do you think about it, Simon? From whom do civil rulers collect duties or taxes, from their own citizens or from aliens?"

He answered, "From aliens." Jesus said to him, "So their own citizens are exempt,

but still, that we may not influence them to do anything wrong, go down to the sea and throw over a hook. Pull in the first fish that bites, open its mouth and you will find in it a dollar. Take it and pay the tax for both of us."

"Be careful not to look with scorn on a single one of these little children, for I tell you that in heaven their angels have uninterrupted access to my Father in heaven.

But if he does not listen to you, take along with you one or two others, so as to have every word confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, report it to the church.

For wherever two or three have met as my disciples, I am right there with them."