The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),

And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed—

and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.

and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it,

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

And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.

Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.

Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.”

Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ,

John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,

And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

for it is written,
‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You,’

And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,

And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’”

And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;

“Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.”

Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

And He ordered him to tell no one, “But go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?”

Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.

And Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the attendants of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you?

But the days will come; and when the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast in those days.”

And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”

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

how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?”

And He was saying to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.

And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?”

And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:

And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.

Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.

Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.

For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like:

he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him;

for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.

Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”

When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’”

Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet.

This is the one about whom it is written,
‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’

I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”

For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”

“The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up.

Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant.

And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.

The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.

Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they launched out.

But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger.

And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”

Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him.

And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.

for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.

And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.”

Now they were all weeping and lamenting for her; but He said, “Stop weeping, for she has not died, but is asleep.”

And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

Herod said, “I myself had John beheaded; but who is this man about whom I hear such things?” And he kept trying to see Him.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

And as these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying.

While he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”