But just as this thought occurred to him, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for it is through the influence of the Holy Spirit that she has become an expectant mother.

And she will have a son, and you must name Him Jesus, for it is He who is to save His people from their sins."

"The virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and they will call Him Immanuel" -- which means "God with us."

So when Joseph awoke from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord directed him, and took her as his wife;

but he did not live with her as a husband until she had had a son; and he named Him Jesus.

and asked, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him."

Now when King Herod heard of it, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

They told him, "At Bethlehem in Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:

So he sent them to Bethlehem with this order, "Go and carefully search for the child, and when you find Him, bring back word to me, and I too may come and do Him homage."

and went into the house and saw the child with His mother, Mary; and they fell at His feet and worshiped Him. They opened up their treasure sacks and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Wake up! Tenderly take the child and His mother, and escape to Egypt; stay there until I further direct you, for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy Him."

Then Herod, because he saw that a trick had been played on him by the stargazers, was very angry, and sent and slaughtered all the boy babies in Bethlehem and in all that neighborhood, from two years down, in accordance with the time which he had found out from the stargazers.

This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, when he said: "Here is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; Make the paths straight for him.'"

Then Jerusalem and all Judea, even the whole Jordan district, continued to go out to him

and were baptized by him in the Jordan River, as one by one they continued to confess their sins.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him.

But John tried to prevent Him, by saying, "I have need to be baptized by you, and you come to me!"

But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for this is the fitting way for both of us to do our full duty to God." Then he yielded to Him.

And as soon as Jesus was baptized, He at once went up out of the water, and look! the heavens opened, and John saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove upon Him,

And the tempter came up and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, order these stones to turn to bread."

Then the devil took Him into the holy city, and had Him stand on the tip-top turret of the temple,

and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the Scripture says: "'He will give His angels directions about you, And they will bear you up on their hands, so you will never strike your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus said to him, "Again the Scripture says, 'You must not try the Lord your God.'"

Again the devil took him up on a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their splendor,

and said to Him, "Every bit of this I will give to you, if you will fall on your knees and worship me."

Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For the Scripture says, 'You must worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone.'"

Then the devil left Him, and angels came and continued to wait upon Him.

And at once they left the nets and followed Him.

And at once they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

So the news about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were sick with various diseases, especially those who were suffering with torturing diseases; and he cured them.

So great crowds followed Him, from Galilee and Decapolis, from Jerusalem and Judea, and from the other side of Jordan.

When He saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain. After He had taken His seat, His disciples came up to Him.

Be quick to come to terms with your opponent while you are on the road to court with him, so that he may not turn you over to the judge and the judge turn you over to the officer, and you be put in prison.

But I tell you not to resist the one who injures you, but if anyone slaps you on one cheek, turn him the other, too;

and if anyone wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat, too.

And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.

If anyone, whoever he may be, keeps on begging you, give to him; if anyone wants to borrow from you, do not turn him away.

So then you must not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

What human father among you, when his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?

Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake?

So if you, in spite of your being bad, know how to give your children what is good, how much more surely will your heavenly Father give what is good to those who keep on asking Him?

When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed Him.

And a leper came up to Him, and prostrated himself before Him, and said, "Lord, if you choose to, you can cure me."

Then He put out His hand and touched him, and said, "I do choose to; be cured." And at once his leprosy was cured.

Then Jesus said to him, "See that you tell nobody, but go, show yourself to the priest, and, to testify to the people, make the offering that Moses prescribed."

When He got back to Capernaum, a Roman military captain came up to Him and kept begging Him,

He said to him, "I will come and cure him."

He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on Him.

When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons, and at a mere word He drove the spirits out, and cured all who were sick,

Now Jesus, because He saw a crowd about Him, gave orders to cross to the other side.

And a scribe came up and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you may go."

And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, even wild birds have roosts, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

Another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go back and bury my father."

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

And He got into a boat, and His disciples went with Him.

So they went to Him and woke Him up, and said, "Lord, save us; we are going down!"

And the men were dumbfounded, and said, "What sort of man is this, for even the winds and the sea obey Him!"

When He reached the other side, in the district of Gadara, there faced Him two men, who were under the power of demons, who were just coming out from the tombs. They were such terrors that nobody could pass that way.

And the demons kept begging Him and saying, "If you are going to drive us out, send us into the drove of hogs."

And suddenly all the town turned out to meet Jesus, and as soon as they saw Him, they begged Him to move on and leave their neighborhood.

And all at once some men were bringing to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a couch. And because He saw their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "Cheer up, my child, your sins are forgiven."

But to show you that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth" -- turning to the paralyzed man, He said to Him -- "Get up, pick up your bed, and go home."

And as He was passing along from there, He saw a man named Matthew in his seat at the tax-collector's desk, and He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed Him.

Then John's disciples went up to Him, and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees practice fasting, but your disciples do not?"

And just as He was saying these things to them, an official came up and fell on his knees before Him, and said, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand upon her and she will come to life."

And Jesus got up and followed him; and His disciples, too.

As Jesus was passing along from there, two blind men followed Him, shouting, "Do pity us, O Son of David!"

After He had gone into the house, and the blind men had gone up to Him, Jesus said to them, "Do you really believe that I can do this?" They said to Him, "Yes, Lord."

But they went out and spread the news about Him all over that country.

But at the very time they were going out, some people brought to Him a dumb man, who was under the power of a demon,

Then He called His twelve disciples to Him, and gave them authority over foul spirits, so that they could drive them out, and so that they could cure any disease or ailment.

Simon the zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who afterward betrayed Him.

You must never be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. But rather you must keep on fearing Him who can destroy both soul and body in the pit.

"Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes Him who sent me.

Let him who has ears listen!

The Son of Man came eating and drinking with others, and they say, 'Just look at Him! A glutton and a wine-drinker, a chum of tax-collectors and notorious sinners!' And yet wisdom is vindicated by her doings!"

All things have been entrusted to me by my Father, and no one but the Father perfectly knows the Son, and no one but the Son perfectly knows the Father, and the one to whom the Son chooses to make Him known.

And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Just look! Your disciples are doing something that it is against the law to do on the sabbath!"

How he went into the house of God, and they ate the sacred loaves, which it was against the law for him or his soldiers to eat, or for anyone except the priests?

Now there was a man there with one hand withered. And, to get a charge against Him, they asked Him, "Is it right to cure people on the sabbath?"

But the Pharisees went out and held a consultation against Him, to put Him to death.

But because Jesus knew it, He left there. And many people followed Him, and He cured them all,

and charged them not to publish Him,

"Here is my Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in whom my soul delights itself. I will endow Him with my Spirit, and He will announce a judgment to the heathen.

At that time some people brought to Him a man under the power of demons, who was blind and dumb, and He cured him, so that the dumb man could talk and see.

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered Him as follows: "Teacher, we would like to see a spectacular sign given by you."

While He was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and His brothers had taken their stand outside, trying hard to get to speak to Him.

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

And the crowds that gathered about Him were so great that He got into a boat and remained sitting in it, while all the crowd stood on the seashore.

Let him who has ears listen."

Then His disciples came up to Him and asked, "Why do you speak to them in stories?"

but it takes no real root in him, and he lasts only a little while, and just as soon as suffering and persecution come for the truth's sake, he at once yields and falls.

And the farmer's slaves came up to him and said, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where did the wild wheat plants come from?'

He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' Then they said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them?'

Then He left the crowds and went into His house. And His disciples came up to Him and said, "Explain to us the story of the wild wheat in the field."

Then the upright will shine out like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let him who has ears listen!

"Do you understand all these stories?" They answered Him, "Yes."

And so they found a cause for stumbling over Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet never fails to be honored except in his native neighborhood and in his own home." And so

and said to his attendants, "This is John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, and that is why the powers are at work through him."

For Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him out of the way by putting him in prison, just to please Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,