And Jesse, of David the king. David (by Uriah's widow), was the father of Solomon;

Josiah, of Jechoniah and his brethren, at the time of the carrying away to Babylon.

"Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife home, for what is begotten in her is by the Holy Spirit; and she will bear a son, and you are to call him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

After the birth of Jesus, which took place at Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod, lo! certain Magi arrived in Jerusalem, saying.

And they told him. "At Bethlehem in Judea, as it is written in the prophet.

"And thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah, Thou are not least among the princes of Judah, For out of thee shall come a ruler Who shall shepherd my people, Israel."

Thereupon Herod sent secretly for the Magi, and found out from them the time when the star appeared.

The Magi listened to the king, and went on their way, and lo! the star which they had seen in the east led them until it came and stood over the place where the young child was.

There he remained until the death of Herod, in order that the word of the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, which says, Out of Egypt I called my son.

"Repent," said he, "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

This John it was of whom it was said through Isaiah, the prophet, The voice of one who cries aloud in the desert, "Prepare a way for the Lord, Make the paths straight for him."

Then Jerusalem began to go out to him, and all Judea, and the whole neighborhood of the Jordan,

And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'?? tell you that out of these very stones God is able to raise up descendants for Abraham.

And already the axe is lying at the roots of the trees. Any tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire.

His winnowing-fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse the threshing-floor. He will store his wheat in the granary, but will burn up the chaff in unquenchable fire."

At that very time Jesus was on his way from Galilee to the Jordan, to John, to be baptized by him.

But he tried to prevent him. "It is I," he said, "who need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to me?"

But Jesus answered, "Permit it now, for so it is fitting for us to fulfill every religious duty."

Then he consented. And after Jesus was baptized, as soon as he rose out of the water, lo! the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him,

Jesus answered him, "It is written, Not by bread alone shall man live, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."

and said to him. "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, "He will give his angels charge over thee; Upon their hands they will bear thee up, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone."

"It is written again," answered Jesus, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

"Begone, Satan!" answered Jesus, for it is written, "Thou must worship the Lord thy God, and Him only must thou serve."

And they dropped their nets at once, and followed him.

"Rejoice and exult in it, because your reward was great in the heavens; for so did they persecute the prophets before you.

"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt lose its savor, in what way shall it be salted? It is henceforth good for nothing but to be thrown out and trodden under foot of men.

"nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the bushel, but on the lamp-stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

"In solemn truth I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a comma, will pass from the Law until all has taken place.

"You have heard that it was said to the ancients, "Thou shall not commit murder, and "He who commits murder shall be liable to condemnation by the court;

"Come to terms with your opponent quickly, while you are yet with him on the way [to the court], to prevent your opponent from handing you over to the judge, and the judge to the jailer, and so you be thrown into prison.

"I tell you truly that you would certainly not get out from there until you had paid back the last cent.

"You have heard that it was said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery.

But I say to you that whoever looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

And if your eye, your right eye, entices you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to lose one of your bodily organs, than to have your whole body go down into the pit.

And if your right hand entices you into sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of your bodily organs, than to have your whole body go down into the pit.

"It was also said, "Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of separation.

"Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, "You must not forswear yourselves, but must perform your vows to the Lord.

"But I say to you, swear not at all; neither by the sky, for it is God's throne;

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

"Nor must you swear by your head, since you cannot make one hair white or black.

"You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

"You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."

"For if you love only those who love you, what reward have you?

"Even the tax-gatherers do that, do they not? And if you show courtesy to your brother only, what are you doing more than others? Even the Gentiles do that, do they not?

"But when you give alms, do not let your right hand know what your left is doing,

"Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

"When you fast, do not look downcast like the hypocrites; for they disfigure their faces so that it may be apparent to men that they are fasting. In solemn truth I tell you, they already have received their reward.

"For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious about your life, inquiring what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, inquiring what you shall wear. Is not your life more than its food, and your body than its clothing?

"Behold! the birds in the sky! They neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them; and are not you worth more than they?

"Which one of you by being anxious is able to add even one cubit to his stature?

"Then do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'"

"for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and in what measure you measure, others will measure to you.

"And why do you look at the mote in your brother's eye, and fail to notice the beam which is in your own eye?

"Hypocrite! First cast out the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to cast the mote out of your brother's eye.

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine; lest in turn they trample them under their feet, and then turn and attack you.

"Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.

"What man of you is there who, when his son asks a loaf, will give him a stone?

"Enter by the narrow gate; for broad is the gate and wide the road that leads to destruction, and many are they who go in by it;

"but the gate is narrow and the road is steep, which leads to life, and they are few who find it.

"Hence it is by their fruit you will know them.

"Many in that day will say to me, "'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name done many mighty works?'

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon the house, but it fell not, for it was founded upon the rock.

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

Now when Jesus had finished his discourse, the crowds were astounded at his teaching,

Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him "I do choose," he said, "become clean," and immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

saying, "Lord, my slave at home is lying ill with paralysis, in terrible agony."

"For I myself also am a man under authority, and I have soldiers under me. To one man I say 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."

"but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; there will be the wailing and the gnashing of teeth."

Then Jesus said to the captain. "Go! As you have believed, so be it unto you." And his slave was healed in that very hour.

At evening-time they brought to him many demoniacs. He cast out the demons with a word, and healed all who were ill,

But the men were amazed, saying, "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"

When he arrived on the other side, in the country of the Gadarenes, he was met by two demoniacs who were coming out of the tombs. They were so violently fierce that no one dared pass along that road.

"You Son of God," they shouted, "what have you to do with us? Are you come to torment us before the time?"

Now there was, at some distance from them, a herd of many swine feeding;

and the demons began entreating him. "If you are driving us out," they said, "send us into the herd of swine."

He answered, "Go!" So they came out of the men, and went into the swine, and behold! the entire herd rushed headlong down from the cliff into the sea, and perished in the water.

The swineherds fled. They went away into the city and told all about it, and what had befallen the demoniacs.

At once all the citizens came out to meet Jesus; and when they had seen him, they begged him to move away from their country.

As Jesus was passing thence, he saw a man called Mathew sitting at the tax-office, and said to him, "Follow me."

And he rose and followed him. And while he was at table in Matthew's house, there came many tax-gatherers and sinners, and they dined with Jesus and his disciples.

When the Pharisees saw it, they kept saying to his disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with the tax-gatherers and sinners?"

"It is not those who are well," said Jesus, when he heard this, "but the sick, who need a doctor.

"But go and learn what this means, "It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice; for I am come not to call just men, but sinners."

At that time the disciples of John came and asked him, "Why are we and the Pharisees always fasting, while your disciples are not?"

"Can the friends fast at a wedding-feast," said Jesus, "so long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom has been taken from them, and then they will fast.

"No one ever sews a piece of undressed cloth on an old cloak. If they did, the patch put on to fill it up would tear away from the cloak, and the rent be made worse.

"Nor do they put new wine into old wine-skins; if they did, the wine-skins would split, the wine would run out, and the skins be ruined. Instead, they put new wine into fresh wine-skins and both are preserved."

"Leave the room, for the little girl is not dead, she is sleeping." And they began laughing at him.

When, however, the crowd had been driven out, he went in and took her hand, and the little girl woke up.

Then he touched their eyes, saying "According to your faith be it unto you," and their eyes were opened.

Jesus charged them sternly, saying, "See to it that you let no one know."

and when he had driven out the demon, the dumb spoke. The crowds were amazed, saying, "Never was such a thing seen in Israel!"

But the Pharisees kept saying, "It is in the power of the Prince of the demons that he is casting out demons."

And when he had called his twelve disciples to him, he gave them power over evil spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and infirmity.

"As you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

"When you enter the house, salute it;

"and if the house is worthy let your blessing sit upon it; but if it be unworthy, let your blessing return to you.

"And whoever will not receive you or listen to your words, as you go out from that house or that city, shake off the very dust from your feet.

"I tell you solemnly it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment than for that town.