The king was deeply saddened, yet because of his oaths and his guests he was reluctant to refuse her.

When it was quite late, his disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and it's already late.

When evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, while he was alone on the land.

He saw that his disciples were straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he came to them, walking on the sea. He intended to go up right beside them,

but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and began to scream.

They ran all over the countryside and began carrying the sick on their mats to any place where they heard he was.

Wherever he went, whether into villages, towns, or farms, people would place their sick in the marketplaces and beg him to let them touch even the tassel of his garment, and everyone who touched it was healed.

(The Pharisees and indeed all the Jewish people don't eat unless they wash their hands properly, following the tradition of their elders.

He told them, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. As it is written, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Jesus left that place and went to the territory of Tyre and Sidon. He went into a house, not wanting anyone to know he was there. However, it couldn't be kept a secret.

So she went home and found her child lying in bed, and the demon was gone.

Then Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes again, and he saw clearly. His sight was restored, and he saw everything perfectly, even from a distance.

Then Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he was asking his disciples, "Who do people say I am?"

He was speaking about this matter quite openly.

Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain to be alone with him. His appearance was changed in front of them,

The whole crowd was very surprised to see Jesus and ran to welcome him.

Then Jesus asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" He said, "Since he was a child.

When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You spirit that won't let him talk or hear I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!"

The spirit screamed, shook the child violently, and came out. The boy was like a corpse, and many said that he was dead.

because he was teaching his disciples, "The Son of Man will be betrayed into human hands. They will kill him, but after being dead for three days he will be raised."

Then they came to Capernaum. While Jesus was at home, he asked the disciples, "What were you arguing about on the road?"

But they kept silent, because they had argued on the road with one another about who was the greatest.

John told Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name. We tried to stop him, because he wasn't a follower like us."

Then Jesus left that place and went into the territory of Judea on the other side of the Jordan. Crowds gathered around him as usual, and he began to teach them again as was his custom.

But Jesus told them, "It was because of your hardness of heart that he wrote this command for you.

As Jesus was setting out again, a man ran up to him, knelt down in front of him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

The man replied to him, "Teacher, I have obeyed all of these since I was a young man."

Once again, Jesus took the Twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. "Pay attention! We're going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and the scribes, and they'll condemn him to death. Then they'll hand him over to the unbelievers,

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus, his disciples, and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus (that is, the son of Timaeus) was sitting by the road.

When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Then Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the Temple and looked around at everything. Since it was already late, he went out with the Twelve to Bethany.

Seeing in the distance a fig tree covered with leaves, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing except leaves because it wasn't the season for figs.

When the high priests and elders heard this, they began to look for a way to kill him, because they were afraid of him, since the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

Then they went into Jerusalem again. While Jesus was walking in the Temple, the high priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him

Was John's authority to baptize from heaven or from humans? Answer me."

But if we say, "From humans'"?" They were afraid of the crowd, because everyone really thought John was a prophet.

Then the man sent another, and that one they killed. So it was with many other servants. Some of these they beat, and others they killed.

This was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'?"

While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he asked, "How can the scribes say that the Messiah is David's son?

As Jesus sat facing the offering box, he watched how the crowd was dropping their money into it. Many rich people were dropping in large amounts.

As Jesus was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples told him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what beautiful buildings!"

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives facing the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew were asking him privately,

Now it was two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The high priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus secretly and to have him put to death,

While Jesus was in Bethany sitting at the table in the home of Simon the leper, a woman arrived with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Irritated, some who were there asked one another, "Why was the perfume wasted like this?

Just then, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. A crowd armed with swords and clubs was with him. They were from the high priests, the scribes, and the elders.

Day after day I was with you in the Temple teaching, yet you didn't arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."

A certain young man, who was wearing nothing but a linen sheet, was following Jesus. When the men grabbed him,

Peter followed Jesus at a distance as far as the high priest's courtyard. He was sitting with the servants and warming himself at the fire.

While Peter was down in the courtyard, one of the high priest's servant girls came by.

As soon as it was morning, the high priests convened a meeting with the elders and scribes and the whole Council. They bound Jesus with chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

But since Jesus no longer answered, Pilate was astonished.

Now there was a man in prison named Barabbas. He had been with the insurgents who had committed murder during the rebellion.

It was nine in the morning when they crucified him.

The curtain in the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom.

When the centurion who stood facing Jesus saw how he had cried out and breathed his last, he said, "This man certainly was the Son of God!"

They used to accompany him and care for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come up to Jerusalem with him were there, too.

It was the Day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath. Since it was already evening,

Joseph of Arimathea, a highly respected member of the Council, who was waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

Pilate was amazed to hear that Jesus had already died, so he summoned the centurion to ask him if he was in fact dead.

When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he let Joseph have the corpse.

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices to go and anoint Jesus.

Then they looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled away. (It was a very large stone.)

But he told them, "Stop being astonished! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He is not here. Look at the place where they laid him.

When they heard that he was alive and that he had been seen by her, they refused to believe Mary.

So the Lord Jesus, after talking with his disciples, was taken up to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

During the reign of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

They had no children because Elizabeth was barren and because both of them were getting old.

When Zechariah was serving with his division of priests in God's presence,

he was chosen by lot to go into the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense, according to the custom of the priests.

And the entire congregation of people was praying outside at the time when the incense was burned.

When Zechariah saw him, he was startled, and fear overwhelmed him.

But when he did come out, he was unable to speak to them. Then they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them but remained unable to speak.

Now in the sixth month of her pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,

to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.

And listen! Elizabeth, your relative, has herself conceived a son in her old age, this woman who was rumored to be barren is in her sixth month.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby jumped in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit

How blessed is this woman for believing that what was spoken to her by the Lord would be fulfilled!"

He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, "His name is John." And everyone was amazed.

Suddenly, Zechariah could open his mouth, his tongue was set free, and he began to speak and to praise God.

Everyone who heard about it kept thinking what had happened and asked, "What will this child become?" because it was obvious that the hand of the Lord was with him.

Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

Now in those days an order was published by Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be registered.

This was the first registration taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

Joseph, too, went up from the city of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the City of David (called Bethlehem), because he was a descendant of the household and family of David.

He went there to be registered with Mary, who had been promised to him in marriage and was pregnant.

and she gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no place for them in the guest quarters.

Today your Savior, the Lord Messiah, was born in the City of David.

So they went quickly and found Mary and Joseph with the baby, who was lying in the feeding trough.

After eight days had passed, the infant was circumcised and named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Now a man named Simeon was in Jerusalem. This man was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the one who would comfort Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

Led by the Spirit, he went into the Temple. When the parents brought the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the Law,

Now Anna, a prophetess, was also there. She was a descendant of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was very old, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage,

Just then she came forward and began to thank God and to speak about Jesus to everyone who was waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the child continued to grow and to become strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God's favor rested upon him.

When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up to the festival as usual.

They thought that he was in their group of travelers. After traveling for a day, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Caesar Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

Now the people were filled with expectation, and all of them were wondering if John was perhaps the Messiah.

When all the people had been baptized, Jesus, too, was baptized. While he was praying, heaven opened,