The ancestry of Jesus Christ, who was descended from David, who was descended from Abraham.

and Jacob of Joseph, the husband of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus called Christ.

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 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 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.

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."

It was he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, when he said, "Hark! Someone is shouting in the desert, 'Get the Lord's way ready! Make his paths straight!' "

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?

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.

The people that were living in darkness Have seen a great light, And on those who were living in the land of the shadow of death A light has dawned!"

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.

And he went on a little farther and saw two other men who were brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother, John, in the boat with Zebedee, their father, putting their nets in order, and he called them.

Word went all through Syria about him, and people brought to him all who were suffering with any kind of disease, or who were in great pain??emoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics??nd he cured them.

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

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

"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!

Anyone, therefore, who weakens one of the slightest of these commands, and teaches others to do so, will be ranked lowest in the Kingdom of Heaven; but anyone who observes them and teaches others to do so will be ranked high in 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 I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman with desire has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

"They were told, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.'

But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife on any ground, except unfaithfulness, makes her commit adultery, and anyone who marries her after she is divorced commits adultery.

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

so that your charity may be secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

But when you pray, go into your own room, and shut the door, and pray to your Father who is unseen, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

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

so that no one may see that you are fasting, except your Father who is unseen, and your Father who sees what is secret, will reward you.

But if God so beautifully dresses the wild grass, which is alive today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more surely clothe you, you who have so little faith?

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.

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!

"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.

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you disguised as sheep but are ravenous wolves underneath.

It is not everyone who says to me 'Lord! Lord!' who will get into the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father in heaven.

Then I will say to them plainly, 'I never knew you! Go away from me, you who do wrong!'

"Everyone, therefore, who listens to this teaching of mine and acts upon it, will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.

And anyone who listens to this teaching of mine and does not act upon it, will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

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

In the evening they brought to him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove the spirits out with a word, and cured all who were sick,

And the men who tended them ran away and went off to the town and told it all, and the news about the men possessed by demons.

Some people came bringing to him on a bed a man who was paralyzed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, "Courage, my son! Your sins are forgiven."

But he heard it, and said, "It is not well people but the sick who have to have the doctor!

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

But just as they were going out, some people brought to him a dumb man who was possessed by a demon,

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James the son of Zebedee and his brother John,

Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot who afterward betrayed him.

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

You will be hated by everybody on my account, but the man who holds out to the very end will be saved.

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.

Therefore everyone who will acknowledge me before men I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven,

but anyone who disowns me before men, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

No one who loves father or mother more than he loves me is worthy of me, and no one who loves son or daughter more than he loves me is worthy of me,

and no one who will not take up his cross and follow me is worthy of me.

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes him who has sent me.

And no one who will give the humblest of my disciples even a cup of cold water because he is my disciple, I tell you, can ever fail of his reward."

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

And blessed is the man who finds nothing that repels him in me."

Then what did you go out there to see? A man luxuriously dressed? Men who dress in that way you find in the palaces of kings.

This is the man of whom the Scripture says, " 'Here I send my messenger on before you; He will prepare the road ahead of you.'

"I tell you, among men born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has ever appeared. And yet those who are of little importance in the Kingdom of Heaven are greater than he.

and, if you are ready to accept the idea, he is himself Elijah who was to come.

Let him who has ears listen!

Everything has been handed over to me by my Father, and no one understands the Son but the Father, nor does anyone understand the Father but the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Come to me, all of you who toil and are burdened, and I will let you rest.

But if you knew what the saying means, 'It is mercy, not sacrifice, that I care for,' you would not have condemned men who are not guilty.

But he said to them, "Who among you if he has even a single sheep and it falls into a hole on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?

"Here is my servant whom I have selected, My beloved, who delights my heart! I will endow him with my Spirit, And he will announce a judgment to the heathen.

At that time some people brought to him a man blind and dumb, who was possessed by a demon, and he cured him, so that the dumb man could speak and see.

Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not join me in gathering, scatters.

But he said to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"

Let him who has ears listen!"

For people who have will have more given to them, and will be plentifully supplied, and from people who have nothing even what they have will be taken away.

And what was sown upon the rocky soil means the man who hears the message and at once accepts it joyfully,

And what was sown among the thorns means the man who listens to the message, and then the worries of the time and the pleasure of being rich choke the message out, and it yields nothing.

And what was sown in good ground means the man who listens to the message and understands it, and yields one a hundred, and another sixty, and another thirty-fold."

Another figure which he used in speaking to them was this: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,

He answered, "The sower who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels.

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

He said to them, "Then remember that every scribe who has become a disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven must be like a householder who can supply from his storeroom new things as well as old."

And the king was sorry, but because he had sworn to do it, and because of the guests who were present, he ordered it to be given to her.

There were about five thousand men who were fed, besides women and children.

And the men of the place recognized him, and sent all over that district and brought to him all who were sick,

and they begged him to let them touch just the tassel of his cloak, and all who touched it were cured.

For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'He who abuses his father or mother must be put to death.'

Then great crowds came to him bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, or dumb, and many others. And they laid them down at his feet, and he cured them,

There were four thousand men who were fed, besides women and children.

When Jesus reached the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

I tell you, some of you who stand here will certainly live to see the Son of Man come to reign!"

He said, "Yes." But when he went home, Jesus spoke of it first and said, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect duties and taxes? From their own people, or from aliens?"

Just at that time the disciples came up and asked Jesus, "Who is really greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"

Anyone, therefore, who is as unassuming as this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven,

and anyone who welcomes one child like this on my account welcomes me.

But whoever hinders one of these children who believe in me might better have a great millstone hung around his neck and be sunk in the open sea.

Alas for the world for such hindrances! They have to come, but alas for the man who causes them!

For this reason the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king, who resolved to settle accounts with his slaves.

And when he set about doing so, a man was brought in who owed him ten million dollars.

But when the slave went out he met a fellow-slave of his who owed him twenty dollars, and he caught him by the throat and began to choke him, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'

He said to them, "It is not everyone who can accept that, but only those who have a special gift.

For some are incapable of marriage from their birth, and some have been made so by men, and some have made themselves so for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let him accept it who can."