But while he was thinking of doing this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary, your wife, to your home, for it is through the influence of the holy Spirit that she is to become a mother.

She will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for it is he who is to save his people from their sins."

and asked, "Where is the newly born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star rise and we have come to do homage to him."

They said, "At Bethlehem in Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:

" 'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are by no means least important among the leading places of Judah, For from you will come a leader Who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' "

Then Herod secretly sent for the astrologers, and found out from them the exact time when the star appeared.

When they were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said, "Wake up! Take the child and his mother and make your escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave. For Herod is going to look for the child in order to make away with him."

Then Herod saw that he had been tricked by the astrologers, and he was very angry, and he sent and made away with all the boys in Bethlehem and in all that neighborhood who were two years old or under, for that was the tune he had learned from the astrologers by his inquiries.

"A cry was heard in Ramah! Weeping and great lamenting! Rachel weeping for her children, And inconsolable because they were gone."

and said, "Wake up! Take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."

"Repent!" he said, "for the Kingdom of Heaven is coming!"

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of snakes! Who warned you to escape from the wrath that is coming?

Do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather,' for I tell you God can produce descendants for Abraham right out of these stones!

But the axe is already lying at the roots of the trees. Any tree that fails to produce good fruit is going to be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I am baptizing you in water in token of your repentance, but he who is coming after me is stronger than I am, and I am not fit to carry his shoes. He will baptize you in the holy Spirit and in fire.

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clean up his threshing-floor, and store his wheat in his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with inextinguishable fire."

But Jesus answered, "Let it be so this time, for it is right for us to do everything that God requires." Then John consented.

and said to him, "If you are God's son, throw yourself down, for the Scripture says, " 'He will give his angels orders about you, And they will lift you up with their hands So that you may never strike your foot against a stone!' "

Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! For the Scripture says, 'You must do homage to the Lord your God, and worship him alone!' "

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent! for the Kingdom of Heaven is coming!"

As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was afterward called Peter, and his brother, Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

He said to them, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fish for men!"

"Blessed are those who feel their spiritual need, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them!

"Blessed are the mourners, for they will be consoled!

"Blessed are the humble-minded, for they will possess the land!

"Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for uprightness, for they will be satisfied!

"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy!

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God!

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called God's sons!

"Blessed are those who have endured persecution for their uprightness, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them!

Be glad and exult over it, for you will be richly rewarded in heaven, for that is the way they persecuted the prophets who went before you!

"You are the salt of the earth! But if salt loses its strength, how can it be made salt again? It is good for nothing but to be thrown away and trodden underfoot.

For I tell you, as long as heaven and earth endure, not one dotting of an i or crossing of a t will be dropped from the Law until it is all observed.

For I tell you that unless your uprightness is far superior to that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never even enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

But I tell you that anyone who gets angry with his brother will have to answer to the court, and anyone who speaks contemptuously to his brother will have to answer to the great council, and anyone who says to his brother 'You cursed fool!' will have to answer for it in the fiery pit!

But if your right eye makes you fall, tear it out and throw it away, for you might better lose one part of your body than have it all thrown into the pit!

If your right hand makes you fall, cut it off and throw it away, for you might better lose one part of your body than have it all go down to the pit!

But I tell you not to swear at all, either by heaven, for it is God's throne,

or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king.

You must not swear by your own head, for you cannot make one single hair white or black.

"You have heard that they were told, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

and if anyone wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat too.

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for your persecutors,

so that you may show yourselves true sons of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on bad and good alike, and makes the rain fall on the upright and the wrongdoers.

For if you love only those who love you, what reward can you expect? Do not the very tax-collectors do that?

"But take care not to do your good deeds in public for people to see, for, if you do, you will get no reward from your Father in heaven.

"When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they like to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the squares, to let people see them. I tell you, that is the only reward they will get!

And when you pray, do not repeat empty phrases as the heathen do, for they imagine that their prayers will be heard if they use words enough.

You must not be like them. For God, who is your Father, knows what you need before you ask him.

Give us today bread for the day,

For if you forgive others when they offend you, your heavenly Father will forgive you too.

But if you do not forgive others when they offend you, your heavenly Father will not forgive you for your offenses.

"When you fast, do not put on a gloomy look, like the hypocrites, for they neglect their personal appearance to let people see that they are fasting. I tell you, that is all the reward they will get.

For wherever your treasure is, your heart will be also.

No slave can belong to two masters, for he will either hate one and love the other, or stand by one and make light of the other. You cannot serve God and money.

For these are all things the heathen are in pursuit of, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need all this.

So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries of its own. Let each day be content with its own ills.

For you will be judged by the standard you judge by, and men will pay you back with the same measure you have used with them.

Ask, and what you ask will be given you. Search, and you will find what you search for. Knock, and the door will open to you.

For it is always the one who asks who receives, and the one who searches who finds, and the one who knocks to whom the door opens.

Which of you men when his son asks him for some bread will give him a stone?

Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake?

So if you, bad as you are, know enough to give your children what is good, how much more surely will your Father in heaven give what is good to those who ask him for it!

Therefore, you must always treat other people as you would like to have them treat you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

"Go in at the narrow gate. For the road that leads to destruction is broad and spacious, and there are many who go in by it.

And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew, and beat about that house, and it did not go down, for its foundations were on rock.

for he taught them like one who had authority and not like their scribes.

For I am myself under the orders of others and I have soldiers under me, and I tell one to go, and he goes, and another to come, and he comes, and my slave to do something, and he does it."

And the men were amazed and said, "What kind of man is this? For the very winds and sea obey him!"

For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'?

And when the crowd saw it, they were filled with awe, and praised God for giving such power to men.

You must go and learn what the saying means, 'It is mercy, not sacrifice, that I care for.' I did not come to invite the pious but the irreligious."

But no one sews a patch of unshrunken cloth on an old coat, for the patch will tear away from the coat, and make the hole worse than ever.

And a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel of his cloak.

For she said to herself, "If I can just touch his cloak, I will get well."

he said, "You must go away, for the girl is not dead; she is asleep." And they laughed at him.

But the sight of the crowds of people filled him with pity for them, because they were bewildered and dejected, like sheep that have no shepherd.

and do not take a bag for your journey, nor two shirts, nor shoes, nor a staff, for the workman deserves his food!

Whatever town or village you come to, inquire for some suitable person, and stay with him till you leave the place.

I tell you, the land of Sodom and Gomorrah will fare better on the Day of Judgment than that town.

But be on your guard against men, for they will give you up to their courts, and have you flogged in their synagogues,

But when they give you up, you must have no anxiety about how to speak or what to say, for you will be told at the very moment what you ought to say,

for it is not you who will speak, it is the Spirit of your Father that will speak through you.

But when they persecute you in one town, make your escape to another, for I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man arrives.

So do not be afraid of them. For there is nothing covered up that is not going to be uncovered, nor secret that is not going to be known.

Have no fear of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. You had better be afraid of one who can destroy both soul and body in the pit.

Do not sparrows sell two for a cent? And yet not one of them can fall to the ground against your Father's will!

For I have come to turn a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,

Whoever gains his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will gain it.

and said to him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we look for someone else?"

Then why did you go out there? Was it to see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet!

For up to the time of John all the Prophets and the Law itself prophesied about it,

" 'We have played the flute for you, and you would not dance! We have wailed and you would not beat your breasts!'

For when John came, he neither ate nor drank, and people said, 'He has a demon!'

"Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the wonders that have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago!

But I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will fare better on the Day of Judgment than you will!

And you, Capernaum! Are you to be exalted to the skies? You will go down among the dead! For if the wonders that have been done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have stood until today.

But I tell you that the land of Sodom will fare better on the Day of Judgment than you will!"

At that same time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding all this from the learned and intelligent and revealing it to children.

Yes, I thank you, Father, for choosing to have it so.