But the angel told him, "Stop being afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John.

The angel came to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you!"

Listen! You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus.

and she loudly exclaimed, "How blessed are you among women, and how blessed is the infant in your womb!

"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace according to your promise,

He told them, "Stop collecting more money than the amount you are told to collect."

and the Holy Spirit descended on him, appearing in the form of a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "You are my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with you!"

The Devil told him, "Since you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread."

The Devil also took him into Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the Temple. He told Jesus, "Since you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

"Oh, no! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are the Holy One of God!"

Even demons came out of many people, screaming, "You are the Son of God!" But Jesus rebuked them and ordered them not to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.

When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Mister, your sins are forgiven."

Because Jesus knew that they were arguing, he asked them, "Why are you arguing about this among yourselves?

Which is easier: to say, "Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, "Get up and walk'?

Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what isn't lawful on Sabbath days?"

Then Jesus looked at his disciples and said, "How blessed are you who are destitute, because the kingdom of God is yours!

How blessed are you who are hungry now, because you will be satisfied! How blessed are you who are crying now, because you will laugh!

"How blessed are you whenever people hate you, avoid you, insult you, and slander you because of the Son of Man!

"But how terrible it will be for you who are rich, because you have had your comfort!

How terrible it will be for you who are full now, because you will be hungry! How terrible it will be for you who are laughing now, because you will mourn and cry!

"But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.

They are like a person building a house, who dug a deep hole to lay the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the floodwaters pushed against that house but couldn't shake it, because it had been founded on the rock.

and sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the Coming One, or should we wait for someone else?"

When the men had come to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, "Are you the Coming One, or should we wait for someone else?'"

So he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have observed and heard: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear again, the dead are raised, and the destitute hear the good news.

Really, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy clothes? Look! Those who wear fine clothes and live in luxury are in royal palaces.

So I'm telling you that her sins, as many as they are, have been forgiven, and that's why she has shown such great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little."

Then Jesus told her, "Your sins are forgiven!"

So he said, "You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom of God. But to others they are given in parables, so that "they might look but not see, and they might listen but not understand.'"

The ones on the path are the people who listen, but then the Devil comes and takes the word away from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.

The ones on the stony ground are the people who joyfully welcome the word when they hear it. But since they don't have any roots, they believe for a while, but in a time of testing they fall away.

The ones that fell among the thorn bushes are the people who listen, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries, wealth, and pleasures of life, and their fruit doesn't mature.

But the ones on the good soil are the people who hear the word but also hold on to it with good and honest hearts, producing a crop through endurance."

Jesus was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and want to see you."

But he answered those people, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear a message from God and heed it."

Jesus asked, "Who touched me?" While everyone was denying it, Peter and those who were with him said, "Master, the crowds are surrounding you and pressing in on you."

As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away to the neighboring villages and farms so they can rest and get some food, because we are here in a deserted place."

I tell you with certainty, some people who are standing here won't experience death until they see the kingdom of God."

So he instructed them, "The harvest is vast, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into his harvest.

heal the sick that are there, and tell them, "The kingdom of God is near you!'

The 70 disciples came back and joyously reported, "Lord, even the demons are submitting to us in your name!"

However, stop rejoicing because the spirits are submitting to you. Instead, rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

Then turning to his disciples in private, he told them, "How blessed are the eyes that see what you see!

So he told them, "Whenever you pray you are to say, "Father, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come.

Suppose he answers from inside, "Stop bothering me! The door is already locked, and my children are here with us in the bedroom. I can't get up and give you anything!'

So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who keep asking him!"

But he said, "Instead, how blessed are those who hear God's word and obey it!"

Now as the crowds continued to throng around Jesus, he went on to say, "This people living today are an evil generation. It craves a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah,

But the Lord told him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but on the inside you are full of greed and evil.

"How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give a tenth of your mint, spices, and every kind of herb, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others.

How terrible it will be for you! You are like unmarked graves people walk on them without realizing it."

Jesus said, "How terrible it will be for you experts in the Law, too! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, yet you don't even lift a finger to ease those burdens.

So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors, because they killed those for whom you are building monuments.

"Five sparrows are sold for two pennies, aren't they? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.

Why, even all the hairs on your head have been counted! Stop being afraid. You are worth more than a bunch of sparrows."

because at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you are to say."

Consider the crows. They don't plant or harvest, they don't even have a storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!

because it is the unbelievers who are concerned about all these things. Surely your Father knows that you need them!

Be like people who are waiting for their master to return from a wedding. As soon as he arrives and knocks, they will open the door for him.

How blessed are those servants whom the master finds watching for him when he comes! I tell all of you with certainty, he himself will put on an apron, make them sit down at the table, and go around and serve them.

Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable just for us or for everyone?"

When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, "Woman, you are free from your illness."

But the synagogue leader, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, told the crowd, "There are six days when work is to be done. So come on those days to be healed, and not on the Sabbath day."

Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"

You see, some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.

"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don't sit down at the place of honor in case someone more important than you was invited by the host.

But when you are invited, go and sit down at the place of least honor. Then, when your host comes, he will tell you, "Friend, move up higher,' and you will be honored in the presence of everyone who eats with you.

Then you will be blessed because they can't repay you. And you will be repaid when the righteous are resurrected."

"His father told him, "My child, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

The master praised the dishonest servant manager for being so clever, because worldly people are more clever than enlightened people in dealing with their own.

That's the way it is with you. When you have done everything you were ordered to do, say, "We are worthless servants. We have done only what we ought to have done.'"

Jesus asked, "Ten men were made clean, weren't they? Where are the other nine?

Jesus replied, "The things that are impossible for people are possible for God."

because I was afraid of you. You are a hard man. You withdraw what you didn't deposit and harvest what you didn't plant.'

If anyone asks you why you are untying it, say this: "The Lord needs it.'"

While they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?"

and asked him, "Tell us: By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

But if we say, "From humans,' all the people will stone us to death, because they are convinced that John was a prophet."

So he told them, "Then give back to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

Jesus told them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are married,

but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.

Nor can they die anymore, because they are like the angels and, since they share in the resurrection, are God's children.

Even Moses demonstrated in the story about the bush that the dead are raised, when he calls the Lord, "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'

Then they asked him, "Teacher, when will these things take place, and what will be the sign that these things are about to take place?"

He said, "Be careful that you are not deceived, because many will come in my name and say, "I AM' and, "The time has come.' Don't follow them.

because these are the days of vengeance when all that is written will be fulfilled.

"How terrible it will be for those women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days! because there will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people.

They will fall by the edge of the sword and be carried off as captives among all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the unbelievers until the times of the unbelievers are fulfilled."

"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and there will be distress on earth among the nations that are confused by the roaring of the sea and its waves.

People will faint from fear and apprehension because of the things that are to come on the inhabited world, because the powers of heaven will be shaken.

So be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to take your stand in the presence of the Son of Man."

But he told them, "The kings of the unbelievers lord it over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called benefactors.

But you are not to do so. On the contrary, the greatest among you should become like the youngest, and the one who leads should become like the one who serves.

"You are the ones who have always stood by me in my trials.

So they said, "Lord, look! Here are two swords." He answered them, "Enough of that!"

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Yet not my will but yours be done."

He asked them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and keep on praying that you may not be tempted."

But Jesus asked him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?"

A little later, a man looked at him and said, "You are one of them, too." But Peter said, "Mister, I am not!"

They said, "If you are the Messiah, tell us."