When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

Simeon took Him up in his arms, praised God, and said:

His father and mother were amazed at what was being said about Him.

When His parents saw Him, they were astonished, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”

But they did not understand what He said to them.

He then said to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Some soldiers also questioned him: “What should we do?”

He said to them, “Don’t take money from anyone by force or false accusation; be satisfied with your wages.”

The Devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

The Devil said to Him, “I will give You their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me, and I can give it to anyone I want.

So he took Him to Jerusalem, had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.

And Jesus answered him, “It is said: Do not test the Lord your God.”

The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
because He has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me
to proclaim freedom to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed,

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

They were all speaking well of Him and were amazed by the gracious words that came from His mouth, yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

Then He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. So all we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in Your hometown also.’”

He also said, “I assure you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown.

But Jesus rebuked him and said, “Be quiet and come out of him!”

And throwing him down before them, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all.

But He said to them, “I must proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.”

He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then He sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”

Just then some men came, carrying on a mat a man who was paralyzed. They tried to bring him in and set him down before Him.

Seeing their faith He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.”

Then everyone was astounded, and they were giving glory to God. And they were filled with awe and said, “We have seen incredible things today!”

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!”

Then they said to Him, “John’s disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but Yours eat and drink.”

Jesus said to them, “You can’t make the wedding guests fast while the groom is with them, can you?

But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do what is good or to do what is evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

Then looking up at His disciples, He said:

You who are poor are blessed,
because the kingdom of God is yours.

Jesus heard this and was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, “I tell you, I have not found so great a faith even in Israel!”

When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Don’t cry.”

Then He came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And He said, “Young man, I tell you, get up!”

The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

When the men reached Him, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask You, ‘Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?’”

At that time Jesus healed many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and He granted sight to many blind people.

He replied to them, “Go and report to John the things you have seen and heard: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news.

When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him—she’s a sinner!”

Jesus replied to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

“Teacher,” he said, “say it.”

Turning to the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she, with her tears, has washed My feet and wiped them with her hair.

Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

As a large crowd was gathering, and people were flocking to Him from every town, He said in a parable:

“A sower went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky ate it up.

Other seed fell on the rock; when it sprang up, it withered, since it lacked moisture.

Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.

Still other seed fell on good ground; when it sprang up, it produced a crop: 100 times what was sown.” As He said this, He called out, “Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!”

So He said, “The secrets of the kingdom of God have been given for you to know, but to the rest it is in parables, so that

Looking they may not see,
and hearing they may not understand.

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.

As for the seed that fell among thorns, these are the ones who, when they have heard, go on their way and are choked with worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and produce no mature fruit.

But the seed in the good ground—these are the ones who, having heard the word with an honest and good heart, hold on to it and by enduring, bear fruit.

One day He and His disciples got into a boat, and He told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they set out,

He said to them, “Where is your faith?”

They were fearful and amazed, asking one another, “Who can this be? He commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey Him!”

When He got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met Him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs.

When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What do You have to do with me, Jesus, You Son of the Most High God? I beg You, don’t torment me!”

“What is your name?” Jesus asked him.

“Legion,” he said—because many demons had entered him.

The man from whom the demons had departed kept begging Him to be with Him. But He sent him away and said,

“Who touched Me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are hemming You in and pressing against You.”

“Someone did touch Me,” said Jesus. “I know that power has gone out from Me.”

“Daughter,” He said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

Everyone was crying and mourning for her. But He said, “Stop crying, for she is not dead but asleep.”

Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.

Herod the tetrarch heard about everything that was going on. He was perplexed, because some said that John had been raised from the dead,

“I beheaded John,” Herod said, “but who is this I hear such things about?” And he wanted to see Him.

Late in the day, the Twelve approached and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, so they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a deserted place here.”

“You give them something to eat,” He told them.

“We have no more than five loaves and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.”

(For about 5,000 men were there.)

Then He told His disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each.”

They did so, and had them all sit down.

Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them. He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

As the two men were departing from Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it’s good for us to be here! Let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”

As they were traveling on the road someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go!”

Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

“Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.”

Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.”

But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

When you enter any town, and they welcome you, eat the things set before you.

He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a lightning flash.

In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure.

Then turning to His disciples He said privately, “The eyes that see the things you see are blessed!

Jesus took up the question and said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead.

A priest happened to be going down that road. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him. When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’

“The one who showed mercy to him,” he said.

Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.”

She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said.

He was praying in a certain place, and when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say:

Father,
Your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.

He also said to them: “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!”

As He was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “The womb that bore You and the one who nursed You are blessed!”

He said, “Even more, those who hear the word of God and keep it are blessed!”

But the Lord said to him: “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil.

“Woe to you Pharisees! You love the front seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.

Then He said: “Woe also to you experts in the law! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, yet you yourselves don’t touch these burdens with one of your fingers.

Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’

they were lying in wait for Him to trap Him in something He said.

Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight.