but after he had planned this, there appeared an angel of the Lord to him in a dream saying, "Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary your wife home, for what is begotten in her comes from the holy Spirit.

She will bear a son, and you will call him 'Jesus,' for he will save his people from their sins."

All this happened for the fulfilment of what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

They told him, "In Bethlehem belonging to Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet:

And you Bethlehem, in Judah's land, You are not least among the rulers of Judah: For a ruler will come from you, Who will shepherd Israel my people."

He also sent them to Bethlehem, telling them, "Go and make a careful search for the child, and when you have found him report to me, so that I may go and worship him too."

After they had gone, there appeared an angel of the Lord to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt; stay there till I tell you. For Herod is going to search for the child and destroy him."

A cry was heard in Rama, weeping and sore lamentation ??Rachel weeping for her children, and inconsolable because they are no more.

saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."

(This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah: The voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him.')

But when he noticed a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who told you to flee from the coming Wrath?

instead of presuming to say to yourselves, 'We have a father in Abraham.' I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

The axe is lying all ready at the root of the trees; any tree that is not producing good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier, and I am not fit even to carry his sandals; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing-fan is in his hand, he will clean out his threshing-floor, his wheat he will gather into the granary, but the straw he will burn with fire unquenchable."

said to him, "If you are God's son, throw yourself down; for it is written, He will give his angels charge of you; they will bear you on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone."

for the fulfilment of what had been said by the prophet Isaiah:

As he was walking along the sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew, casting a net in the sea ??for they were fishermen;

so he said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for men."

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for goodness! they will be satisfied.

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of goodness! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

Blessed are you when men denounce you and persecute you and utter all manner of evil against you for my sake;

rejoice and exult in it, for your reward is rich in heaven; that is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes insipid, what can make it salt again? After that it is fit for nothing, fit only to be thrown outside and trodden by the feet of men.

Nor do men light a lamp to put it under a bowl; they put it on a stand and it shines for all in the house.

For I tell you, unless your goodness excels that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the Realm of heaven.

You have heard how the men of old were told, 'Murder not: whoever murders must come up for sentence,

whoever maligns his brother must come before the San hedrin, whoever curses his brother must go to the fire of Gehenna.' But I tell you, whoever is angry with his brother [without cause] will be sentenced by God.

If your right eye is a hindrance to you, pluck it out and throw it away: better for you to lose one of your members than to have all your body thrown into Gehenna.

And if your right hand is a hindrance to you, cut it off and throw it away: better for you to lose one of your members than to have all your body thrown into Gehenna.

But I tell you, anyone who divorces his wife for any reason except unchastity makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

But I tell you, you must not swear any oath, neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God,

nor by earth, for it is the footstool of his feet, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King;

nor shall you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

You have heard the saying, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

whoever wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well;

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

For if you love only those who love you, what reward do you get for that? do not the very taxgatherers do as much?

Also, when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they like to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street-corners, so as to be seen by men; I tell you truly, they do get their reward.

Do not pray by idle rote like pagans, for they suppose they will be heard the more they say;

give us to-day our bread for the morrow,

For if you forgive men their trespasses, then your heavenly Father will forgive you;

When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they look woebegone to let men see they are fasting; I tell you truly, they do get their reward.

Store up no treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust corrode, where thieves break in and steal:

store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrode, where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure lies, your heart will lie there too.

(pagans make all that their aim in life) for your heavenly Father knows quite well you need all that.

So do not be troubled about to-morrow; to-morrow will take care of itself. The day's own trouble is quite enough for the day.

for as you judge so you will be judged, and the measure you deal out to others will be dealt out to yourselves.

for every one who asks receives, the seeker finds, the door is opened to anyone who knocks.

Why, which of you, when asked by his son for a loaf, will hand him a stone?

Well, if for all your evil you know to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?

Enter by the narrow gate: for [the gate] is broad and the road is wide that leads to destruction, and many enter that way.

[Relocated to follow vs 20] Any tree that does not produce sound fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

The rain came down, the floods rose, the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, for it was founded on rock.

for he taught them like an authority, not like their own scribes.

For though I am a man under authority myself, I have soldiers under me; I tell one man to go, and he goes, I tell another to come, and he comes, I tell my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

When Jesus saw crowds round him he gave orders for crossing to the other side.

The crowds who saw it were awed and glorified God for giving such power to men.

Go and learn the meaning of this word, I care for mercy not for sacrifice. For I have not come to call just men but sinners."

No one sews a piece of undressed cloth on an old coat, for the patch breaks away from it, and the tear is made worse:

Now a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel of his robe;

As he saw the crowds he was moved with pity for them; they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.

nor a wallet for the road, nor two shirts, nor sandals, nor stick ??the workman deserves his rations.

I tell you truly, on the day of judgment it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorra than for that town.

and you will be haled before governors and kings for my sake ??it will be a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

Now, when they bring you up for trial, do not trouble yourselves about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will come to you at the moment,

for you are not the speakers, it is the Spirit of your Father that is speaking through you.

enough for the scholar to fare like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If men have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they miscall his servants!

Fear them not: ??nothing is veiled that shall not be revealed, or hidden that shall not be known;

Have no fear of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul: rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unless your Father wills it.

fear not, then, you are worth far more than sparrows!

He who has found his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.

to ask him, "Are you the Coming One? Or are we to look out for someone else?"

Come, why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet.

This is he of whom it is written, Here I send my messenger before your face to prepare the way for you.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied of it until John: ??14 if you care to believe it, he is the Elijah who is to come.

For John has come neither eating nor drinking, and men say, 'He has a devil';

I tell you this, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

And you, O Capharnahum! Exalted to heaven? No, you will sink to Hades! ??for if the miracles performed in you had been performed in Sodom, Sodom would have lasted to this day.

I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

At that time Jesus spoke and said, "I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding all this from the wise and learned and revealing it to the simpleminded;

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find your souls refreshed;

Besides, if you had known what this meant, I care for mercy not for sacrifice, you would not have condemned men who are not guilty.

For the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath."

charging them strictly not to make him known ??17 it was for the fulfilment of what had been said by the prophet Isaiah,

I tell you therefore, men will be forgiven any sin and blasphemy, but they will not be forgiven for blaspheming the Spirit.

Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree rotten and its fruit rotten; for the tree is known by its fruit.

You brood of vipers, how can you speak good when you are evil? For the mouth utters what the heart is full of.

I tell you, men will have to account on the day of judgment for every light word they utter;

for by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so the Son of man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The men of Ninive will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for when Jonah preached they did repent, and here is One greater than Jonah.

The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and here is One greater than Solomon.

For he who has, to him shall more be given and richly given, but whoever has not, from him shall be taken even what he has.

This is why I speak to them in parables, because for all their seeing they do not see and for all their hearing they do not hear or understand.

For the heart of this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy of hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them.

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears, for they hear!

As for him who is sown 'on stony soil,' that is the man who hears the word and accepts it at once with enthusiasm;