The birth of Jesus Christ took place as follows:--His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but, before the marriage took place, she found herself to be with child by the power of the Holy Spirit.

He had been dwelling upon this, when an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. "Joseph, son of David," the angel said, "do not be afraid to take Mary for your wife, for her child has been conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I, indeed, baptize you with water to teach repentance; but He who is Coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not fit even to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

After the baptism of Jesus, and just as he came up from the water, the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending, like a dove, and alighting upon him,

Then Jesus was led up into the Wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the Devil.

And his fame spread all through Syria. They brought to him all who were ill with any form of disease, or who were suffering pain--any who were either possessed by demons, or were lunatic, or paralyzed; and he cured them.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

The report of this spread through all that part of the country.

But the men went out, and spread the news about him through all that part of the country.

For it will not be you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaks within you.

'Behold! the Servant of my Choice, My Beloved, in whom my heart delights! I will breathe my spirit upon him, And he shall announce a time of judgment to the Gentiles.

But, if it is by the help of the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God must already be upon you.

Therefore, I tell you, men will be forgiven every sin and slander; but slander against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

Whoever speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in the present age, or in the age to come.

No sooner does a foul spirit leave a man, than it passes through places where there is no water, in search of rest, and does not find it.

The immense crowd of people spread their cloaks in the road, while some cut branches off the trees, and spread them on the road.

Watch and pray, that you may not fall into temptation. True, the spirit is eager, but human nature is weak."

But Jesus, uttering another loud cry, gave up his spirit.

Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the Faith of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens rent apart, and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him,

Immediately afterwards the Spirit drove Jesus out into the Wilderness;

Now there was in their Synagogue at the time a man under the power of a foul spirit, who called out:

But Jesus rebuked the spirit: "Be silent! Come out from him."

The foul spirit threw the man into a fit, and with a loud cry came out from him.

And the fame of Jesus spread at once in all directions, through the whole neighborhood of Galilee.

The man, however, went away, and began to speak about it publicly, and to spread the story so widely, that Jesus could no longer go openly into a town, but stayed outside in lonely places; and people came to him from every direction.

Some days later, when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the news spread that he was in a house there;

but whoever slanders the Holy Spirit remains unforgiven to the end; he has to answer for an enduring sin."

This was said in reply to the charge that he had a foul spirit in him.

And, as soon as Jesus had got out of the boat, he met a man coming out of the tombs, who was under the power of a foul spirit,

For Jesus had said: "Come out from the man, you foul spirit."

For a woman, whose little daughter had a foul spirit in her, heard of him immediately, and came and threw herself at his feet--

"Teacher," answered a man in the crowd, "I brought my son to see you, as he has a dumb spirit in him;

And, wherever it seizes him, it dashes him down; he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth, and he is pining away. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they failed."

They brought him to Jesus; but no sooner did the boy see him than the spirit threw him into convulsions; and he fell on the ground, and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.

But, when Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly collecting, he rebuked the foul spirit: "Deaf and dumb spirit, it is I who command you. Come out from him and never enter him again."

With a loud cry the spirit threw the boy into repeated convulsions, and then came out from him. The boy looked like a corpse, so that most of them said that he was dead.

"A spirit of this kind," he said, "can be driven out only by prayer."

Many of the people spread their cloaks on the road, while some strewed boughs which they had cut from the fields;

David said himself, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit-- 'The Lord said to my lord: "Sit at my right hand, Until I put thy enemies beneath thy feet.'"

Whenever they betray you and hand you over for trial, do not be anxious beforehand as to what you shall say, but say whatever is given you at the moment; for it will not be you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

Watch and pray," he said to them all, "that you may not fall into temptation. True, the spirit is eager, but human nature is weak."

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord; he shall not drink any wine or strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit from the very hour of his birth,

He shall go before him in the spirit and with the power of Elijah, 'to reconcile fathers to their children' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, and so make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him."

"The Holy Spirit shall descend upon you," answered the angel, "and the Power of the Most High shall overshadow you; and therefore the child will be called 'holy,' and 'Son of God.'

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child moved within her, and Elizabeth herself was filled with the Holy Spirit,

My spirit delights in God my Savior;

Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and, speaking under inspiration, said:

The child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the Wilds till the time came for his appearance before Israel.

There was at that time in Jerusalem a man named Simeon, a righteous and devout man, who lived in constant expectation of the Consolation of Israel, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ.

Moved by the Spirit, Simeon came into the Temple Courts, and, when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the Law,

John, addressing them all, said: "I, indeed, baptize you with water; but there is coming one more powerful than I, and I am not fit even to unfasten his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

And the Holy Spirit descended, in a visible form, like a dove, upon him, and from the heavens came a voice--"Thou art my Son, the Beloved; in thee I delight."

On returning from the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led by the power of the Spirit through the Wilderness for forty days, tempted by the Devil.

Moved by the power of the Spirit, Jesus returned to Galilee. Reports about him spread through all that neighborhood;

'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, For he has consecrated me to bring Good News to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim release to captives and restoration of sight to the blind, To set the oppressed at liberty,

In the Synagogue there was a man with the spirit of a foul demon in him, who called out loudly:

However, the story about Jesus spread all the more, and great crowds came together to listen to him, and to be cured of their illnesses;

And this story about Jesus spread all through Judea, and in the neighboring countries as well.

For Jesus was commanding the foul spirit to come out from the man. On many occasions it had seized him, and, even when secured with chains and fetters, and watched, he would break through anything that bound him, and be driven by the demon into the Wilds.

The child's spirit returned to her, and she instantly stood up; and Jesus ordered them to give her something to eat.

All at once a spirit will seize him, suddenly shriek out, and throw him into convulsions till he foams, and will leave him only when he is utterly exhausted.

I entreated your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not."

While the boy was coming up to Jesus, the demon dashed him down and threw him into convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the foul spirit, and cured the boy, and gave him back to his father.

At that same time, moved to exultation by the Holy Spirit, Jesus said: "I thank thee, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that, though thou hast hidden these things from the wise and learned, thou hast revealed them to the childlike! Yes, Father, I thank thee that this has seemed good to thee.

If you, then, naturally wicked though you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him!"

No sooner does a foul spirit leave a man, than it passes through places where there is no water, in search of rest; and finding none, it says 'I will go back to the home which I left';

Every one who shall say anything against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but for him who slanders the Holy Spirit there will be no forgiveness.

For the Holy Spirit will show you at the moment what you ought to say."

And he saw before him a woman who for eighteen years had suffered from weakness owing to her having an evil spirit in her. She was bent double, and was wholly unable to raise herself.

The men that held Jesus kept making sport of him and beating him.

Then Jesus, with a loud cry, said: "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit." And with these words he expired.

In their terror and alarm they thought they saw a spirit,

Look at my hands and my feet, and you will know that it is I. Feel me, and look at me, for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see that I have."

John also made this statement--"I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of the heavens, and it remained upon him.

I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water, he said to me 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him--he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'

"In truth I tell you," answered Jesus, "unless a man owes his birth to Water and Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

All that owes its birth to human nature is human, and all that owes its birth to the Spirit is spiritual.

The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes, or where it goes; it is the same with every one that owes his birth to the Spirit."

For he whom God sent as his Messenger gives us God's own teaching, for God does not limit the gift of the Spirit.

God is Spirit; and those who worship him must worship spiritually and truly."

It is the Spirit that gives Life; mere flesh is of no avail. In the teaching that I have been giving you there is Spirit and there is Life.

(By this he meant the Spirit, which those who had believed in him were to receive; for the Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been exalted.)

Now this world is on its trial. Now the Spirit that is ruling this world shall be driven out;

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you always--the Spirit of Truth.

The world cannot receive this Spirit, because it does not see him or recognize him, but you recognize him, because he is always with you, and is within you.

But the Helper--the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my Name--he will teach you all things, and will recall to your minds all that I have said to you.

I shall not talk with you much more, for the Spirit that is ruling the world is coming. He has nothing in common with me;

But, when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father--the Spirit of Truth, who comes from the Father--he will bear testimony to me;

As to Judgment, for the Spirit that is ruling this world has been condemned.

Yet when he--The Spirit of Truth--comes, he will guide you into all Truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of all that he hears; and he will tell you of the things that are to come.

When Jesus had received the wine, he exclaimed: "All is finished!" Then, bowing his head, he resigned his spirit to God.

After saying this, he breathed on them, and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit;

So the report spread among the Brethren that that disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say that he was not to die, but said "If it is my will that he should wait till I come, what has that to do with you?"

Down to that day on which he was taken up to Heaven, after he had, by the help of the Holy Spirit, given instructions to the Apostles whom he had chosen.

For, while John baptized with water, you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit before many days have passed."

But you shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit shall have descended upon you, and shall be witnesses for me not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

"Brothers," he said, "it was necessary that the prediction of Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit made by the lips of David about Judas, who acted as guide to the men that arrested Jesus,