And while he was having this in mind, behold! an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying.

"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."

Now when Joseph awoke from his sleep he did as the angel of the Lord had directed him, and took his wife home,

"Where is the new-born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him."

When King Herod heard this he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

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

Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and make careful inquiry about the child, and as soon as you have found him bring me word, that I, too, may go and worship him."

When they had entered the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and opening their treasure-chests they gave him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

When they were gone an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying; "Rise! Take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and there remain until I bring you word; for Herod intends to make a search for the child, in order to put him to death."

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 were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

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?"

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,

So the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, bid these stones to become bread."

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

Then the devil took him up into the Holy City and stood him on the parapet of the temple,

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."

and said to him, "All these will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me."

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

Then the devil left him, and behold! angels came and began ministering to him.

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

They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.

And his fame spread throughout all Syria. They brought all the sick to him, those who were suffering from various diseases and troubles??emoniacs, epileptics, paralytics??nd he healed them.

Great crowds followed him from Galilee, from the ten towns, from Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond Jordan.

When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and when he had seated himself, his disciples came to him,

"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.

"But I tell you not to retaliate the injury; but whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also;

"and if any one wants to go to law with you and takes away your coat, let him take your cloak also.

"Whoever impresses you to go one mile, go two miles with him.

"Give to him who asks, and from him who wants to borrow from you, do not turn away.

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

"But when one of you fasts, let him anoint his head and wash his face,

"so that he may not appear to men to be fasting, but to his Father who is in secret; and his Father who sees in secret will reward him.

"For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door is opened.

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

"or if his son asks for a fish, will offer him a snake?

"If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him?

As he went down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.

And behold! a leper came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord if you choose, you can make me clean."

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

Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded, as an evidence to them."

When he entered Capernaum, an army captain came, and entered him,

"I will come and heal him," said Jesus.

As Jesus listened to this reply he was astonished, and said to those who followed him. "In solemn truth I tell you that I have found faith like this in any Israelite.

He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose and waited upon him.

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

When Jesus saw the great crowds about him, he had given directions to cross to the other side,

when a Scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go!"

Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father,"

"Follow me," Jesus said to him, "and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

Then he went in board a fishing-boat, his disciples accompanying him;

But he was asleep. And they came and woke him, saying. "Lord save us! We are drowning!"

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

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

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.

And here they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Courage, son, your sins are forgiven."

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.

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

As he was saying these words to them, a ruler came up and knelt before him, saying. "My daughter has just died; but come, put your hand upon her, and she will live."

And Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples.

But a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him, and touched the tassel of his cloak.

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

And when he had gone indoors, they came to him. "Do you believe that I can do this?" asked Jesus. "Yes, Lord," they answered.

And as they were departing a dumb demoniac was brought to him,

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.

Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

"Into whatever city or town you enter, inquire for some worthy person there, and stay with him until you leave.

"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but fear rather him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

"Whoever receives you is receiving me, and he who receives me is receiving Him who sent me.

But when John heard, in the prison, what the Christ was doing, he sent by some of his disciples to ask him,

"Everything has been handed over to me by my Father; neither does any one know the Son, except the Father, nor any one know the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

But the Pharisees, when they perceived it, said to him. "Look! Your disciples are doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"

And in order to get a charge against him they asked him, "Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?" (So that they might have something to accuse him.)

The man stretched it out, and it had become sound like the other. But when the Pharisees came out, they consulted together how they might destroy him.

So when Jesus knew it, he withdrew from that place, and numbers of people followed him.

Behold my servant whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom my soul delights; I will breathe my spirit upon him, and he shall announce justice to the Gentiles.

Then they brought to him a blind and deaf demoniac; and he healed him, so that the dumb both spoke and saw.

"And if any man say a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in that which is to come.

Then some of the Scribes and Pharisees accosted him. "Teacher," they said, "we want to see some sign from you."

While he was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers were standing outside, desiring to speak to him.

So some one told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, and wanting to speak to you."

But he answered the man who told him, "Who is my mother and who are my brothers?"

and such a great crowd gathered about him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the crowd stood on the beach.

He who has ears, let him hear!"

Now when his disciples came up to him, they said,

"For whoever holds, to him shall more be given, and he shall have abundance; but whoever does not hold, from him shall be taken away even what he holds.

"The slaves of the owner went to him and said: "'Was it not good seed, sir, that you sowed in your field? From whence then, do you get tares?'

"'It is an enemy who has done this,' he answered. "The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us to go and collect them?'

After he had sent the people away and gone into the house, his disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable about the weeds in the field."

"And then shall the just shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears to hear, listen!

"Have you understood all this?" he asked. "We have," they answered him.

This kept them from believing in him. Wherefore Jesus said, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and among his own family."

"This man is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead. That is why miraculous powers are working through him."

For Herod had apprehended John, shackled him, and thrust him into prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,

because John kept telling him, "It is not right for you to have her."

When Jesus heard it he went away privately by boat to a lonely spot; but the crowds heard about it, and followed him on foot from the cities.

As twilight fell, his disciples came to him and said: "This is a lonely spot, and the day is far spent; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food."