The circumstances of the birth of Jesus Christ were these. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they were united in marriage, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

But while he was contemplating this step, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to bring home your wife Mary, for she is with child through the Holy Spirit.

I indeed am baptizing you in water on a profession of repentance; but He who is coming after me is mightier than I: His sandals I am not worthy to carry for a moment; He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire.

and Jesus was baptized, and immediately went up from the water. At that moment the heavens opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him,

At that time Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the Desert in order to be tempted by the Devil.

Thus His fame spread through all Syria; and they brought all the sick to Him, the people who were suffering from various diseases and pains--demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He cured them.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for to them belongs the Kingdom of the Heavens.

And the report of this spread throughout all that district.

for it is not you who will speak: it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

"This is My servant whom I have chosen, My dearly loved One in whom My soul takes pleasure. I will put My spirit upon Him, and He will announce justice to the nations.

But if it is by the power of the Spirit of God that I expel the demons, it is evident that the Kingdom of God has come upon you.

This is why I tell you that men may find forgiveness for every other sin and impious word, but that for impious speaking against the Holy Spirit they shall find no forgiveness.

And whoever shall speak against the Son of Man may obtain forgiveness; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, neither in this nor in the coming age shall he obtain forgiveness."

"No sooner however has the foul spirit gone out of the man, then he roams about in places where there is no water, seeking rest but finding none.

When the disciples saw Him walking on the waves, they were greatly alarmed. "It is a spirit," they exclaimed, and they cried out with terror.

He was still speaking when a luminous cloud spread over them; and a voice was heard from within the cloud, which said, "This is My Son dearly beloved, in whom is My delight. Listen to Him."

But an evil spirit of this kind is only driven out by prayer and fasting."

and hand Him over to the Gentiles to be made sport of and scourged and crucified; and on the third day He will be raised to life."

"How then," He asked, "does David, taught by the Spirit, call Him Lord, when he says,

Keep awake, and pray that you may not enter into temptation: the spirit is right willing, but the body is frail."

Then the Governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and called together the whole battalion to make sport of Him.

At last, having finished their sport, they took off the cloak, clothed Him again in His own garments, and led Him away for crucifixion.

But Jesus uttered another loud cry and then yielded up His spirit.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations; baptize them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit;

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

and immediately on His coming up out of the water He saw an opening in the sky, and the Spirit like a dove coming down to Him;

At once the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the Desert,

when all at once, there in their synagogue, a man under the power of a foul spirit screamed out:

So the foul spirit, after throwing the man into convulsions, came out of him with a loud cry.

And His fame spread at once everywhere in all that part of Galilee.

At once perceiving by His spirit that they were reasoning within themselves, Jesus asked them, "Why do you thus argue in your minds?

but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, he remains for ever unabsolved: he is guilty of a sin of the Ages."

This was because they said, "He is possessed by a foul spirit."

At once, on His landing, there came from the tombs to meet Him a man possessed by a foul spirit.

For He had said to him, "Foul spirit, come out of the man."

The swineherds fled, and spread the news in town and country. So the people came to see what it was that had happened;

They saw Him walking on the water, and thinking that it was a spirit they cried out;

Forthwith a woman whose little daughter was possessed by a foul spirit heard of Him, and came and flung herself at His feet.

Then Jesus charged them to tell no one; but the more He charged them, all the more did they spread the news far and wide.

"Rabbi," answered one of the crowd, "I have brought you my son. He has a dumb spirit in him;

So they brought him to Jesus. And the spirit, when he saw Jesus, immediately threw the youth into convulsions, so that he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.

Then Jesus, seeing that an increasing crowd was running towards Him, rebuked the foul spirit, and said to it, "Dumb and deaf spirit, *I* command you, come out of him and never enter into him again."

After the return of Jesus to the house His disciples asked Him privately, "How is it that we could not expel the spirit?"

"An evil spirit of this kind," He answered, "can only be driven out by prayer."

they will insult Him in cruel sport, spit on Him, scourge Him, and put Him to death; but on the third day He will rise to life again."

Then many spread their outer garments to carpet the road, and others leafy branches which they had cut down in the fields;

David himself said, taught by the Holy Spirit, "'The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I have made thy foes a footstool under thy feet.'

When however they are marching you along under arrest, do not be anxious beforehand about what you are to say, but speak what is given you when the time comes; for it will not be you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

Be wakeful, all of you, and keep on praying, that you may not come into temptation: the spirit is right willing, but the body is frail."

At last, having finished their sport, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

But Jesus uttered a loud cry and yielded up His spirit.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; no wine or fermented drink shall he ever drink; but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the very hour of his birth.

and he will be His forerunner in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn fathers' hearts to the children, and cause the rebellious to walk in the wisdom of the upright, to make a people perfectly ready for the lord."

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for this reason your holy offspring will be called 'the Son of God.'

and as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the babe leapt within her. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,

And my spirit triumphs in God my Saviour;

And all who lived round about them were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judaea reports of all these things were spread abroad.

And Zechariah his father was filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke in a rapture of praise.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem of the name of Symeon, an upright and God-fearing man, who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

To him it had been revealed by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord's Anointed One.

Led by the Spirit he came to the Temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do with regard to Him according to the custom of the Law,

he answered the question by saying to them all, "As for me, I am baptizing you with water, but One mightier than I is coming, whose very sandal-strap I am not worthy to unfasten: He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and with fire.

and the Holy Spirit came down in bodily shape, like a dove, upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven, which said, "Thou art My Son, dearly loved: in Thee is My delight."

Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led about by the Spirit in the Desert for forty days,

Then Jesus returned in the Spirit's power to Galilee; and His fame spread through all the adjacent districts.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim Good News to the poor; He has sent me to announce release to the prisoners of war and recovery of sight to the blind: to send away free those whom tyranny has crushed,

But in the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of a foul demon. In a loud voice he cried out,

And the talk about Him spread into every part of the neighbouring country.

But all the more the report about Him spread abroad, and great multitudes crowded to hear Him and to be cured of their diseases;

And the report of what Jesus had done spread through the whole of Judaea and in all the surrounding districts.

and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many other women, all of whom contributed to the support of Jesus and His Apostles.

But as for that in the good ground, it means those who, having listened to the Message with open minds and in a right spirit, hold it fast, and patiently yield a return.

For already He had been commanding the foul spirit to come out of the man. For many a time it had seized and held him, and they had repeatedly put him in chains and fetters and kept guard over him, but he used to break the chains to pieces, and, impelled by the demon, to escape into the Desert.

And her spirit returned, and instantly she stood up; and He directed them to give her some food.

But while he was thus speaking, there came a cloud which spread over them; and they were awe-struck when they had entered into the cloud.

At times a spirit seizes him and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him, and makes him foam at the mouth, and does not leave him till it has well-nigh covered him with bruises.

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

Now while the youth was coming, the spirit dashed him to the ground and cruelly convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the foul spirit, and cured the youth and gave him back to his father.

On that same occasion Jesus was filled by the Holy Spirit with rapturous joy. "I give Thee fervent thanks," He exclaimed, "O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from sages and men of understanding, and hast revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for such has been Thy gracious will.

If you then, with all your human frailty, know how to give your children gifts that are good for them, how much more certainly will your Father who is in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

"When a foul spirit has left a man, it roams about in the Desert, seeking a resting-place; but, unable to find any, it says, 'I will return to the house I have left;"

"Moreover every one who shall speak against the Son of Man, may obtain forgiveness; but he who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never obtain forgiveness.

for the Holy Spirit shall teach you at that very moment what you must say."

Meanwhile the men who held Jesus in custody repeatedly beat Him in cruel sport,

And the soldiers also made sport of Him, coming and offering Him sour wine and saying,

and Jesus cried out in a loud voice, and said, "Father, to Thy hands I entrust my spirit." And after uttering these words He yielded up His spirit.

Startled, and in the utmost alarm, they thought they were looking at a spirit;

See my hands and my feet--it is my very self. Feel me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see I have."

John also gave testimony by stating: "I have seen the Spirit coming down like a dove out of Heaven; and it remained upon Him.

I did not yet know Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, "'The One on whom you see the Spirit coming down, and remaining, He it is who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.'

"In most solemn truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

Whatever has been born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever has been born of the Spirit is spirit.

The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So is it with every one who has been born of the Spirit."

For He whom God has sent speaks God's words; for God does not give the Spirit with limitations."

God is Spirit; and those who worship Him must bring Him true spiritual worship."

It is the spirit which gives Life. The flesh confers no benefit whatever. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and are Life.

He referred to the Spirit which those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not bestowed as yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Seeing her weeping aloud, and the Jews in like manner weeping who had come with her, Jesus, curbing the strong emotion of His spirit,

After speaking thus Jesus was troubled in spirit and said with deep earnestness, "In most solemn truth I tell you that one of you will betray me."

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be for ever with you--the Spirit of truth.