Jesse the father of King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife;

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen, from David to the Babylonian Exile fourteen, from the Babylonian Exile to Christ fourteen.

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

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."

So he called together all the high priests and scribes of the people, and anxiously asked them where the Christ was to be born.

'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are not at all the least among the leading places of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

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."

When they saw the star, they were thrilled with ecstatic joy,

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.

he stayed there until Herod's death, so as to fulfill what the Lord had said by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my Son."

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.

and said, "Wake up, tenderly take the child and His mother, and make the trip to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."

He went to a town called Nazareth and made his home there, so that the saying of the prophet was fulfilled: "He shall be called a Nazarene."

This very John had his clothing made of camel's hair, and wore a leather belt around his waist; his food was dried locusts and wild honey.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to escape from the wrath that is coming?

and do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather? For I tell you, God can raise up descendants for Abraham even out of these stones.

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."

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.'"

But He left Nazareth and made His home in Capernaum, by the sea, in the district of Zebulon and Naphtali,

"Land of Zebulon and land of Naphtali, on the road to the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the nations;

From that time Jesus continued to preach and say, "Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near."

As He was walking by the shore of the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was summed Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

And as He was going on from that point, He saw two others, brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, getting their nets in order; and He called them.

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.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called God's sons.

Let your light shine before people in such a way that they may see your good deeds, and praise your Father in heaven.

I have not come to set them aside but to fill them up to the brim. For I solemnly say to you, heaven and earth would sooner pass away than the dotting of an 'i' or the crossing of a 't' from the law, until it all becomes in force.

Whoever, therefore, breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others so to do, will be ranked as least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices them and teaches others so to do, will be ranked as great in the kingdom of heaven.

But I say to you: "Everyone who harbors malice against his brother, will have to answer to the court, and whoever speaks contemptuously to his brother, will have to answer to the supreme court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You cursed fool? will have to pay the penalty in the pit of torture.

So if, in the very act of presenting your gift at the altar, you remember that your brother has something against you,

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.

I solemnly say to you, you will never get out at all until you have paid the last penny.

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman so as to have an evil desire for her at once has already committed adultery with her in his heart,

So if your right eye causes you to do wrong, pluck it out of your way; for it is better to have one part of your body suffer loss than to have your whole body go down to the pit.

But I tell you not to swear at all, either by heaven, for it is God's throne,

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

And if you say 'Good morning' to your brothers only, what more than others are you doing?

So you, my followers, ought to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is."

So whenever you do your deeds of charity, never blow your own horn in public, as the hypocrites are in the habit of doing in the synagogues and on the street corners, to be praised by the people. I solemnly say to you, they already have their reward.

so that your deed of charity may be secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

"Also, whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners, to attract the attention of people. I solemnly say to you, they already have their reward.

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

So this is the way you must pray: Our Father in heaven, Your name be revered.

"Also whenever you fast, you must not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they put on a gloomy countenance, to let people see them fasting. I solemnly say to you, they already have their reward.

so that your fasting may be seen, not by men but by your Father who is unseen, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

So I tell you, stop worrying about your life, as to what you will have to eat or drink, or about your body, as to what you will have to wear. Is not life worth more than food and the body worth more than clothes?

Take a good look at the wild birds, for they do not sow or reap, or store up food in barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps on feeding them. Are you not worth more than they?

Now if God so gorgeously dresses the wild grass which today is green but tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you with little faith?

So never worry and say, 'What are we going to have to eat? What are we going to have to drink? What are we going to have to wear?'

So never worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries of its own. Each day has evil enough of its own."

"Stop criticizing others, so that you may not be criticized yourselves.

Why do you keep watching the tiny speck in your brother's eye, but pay no attention to the girder in your own?

How can you say to your brother, 'Let me get that tiny speck out of your eye,' while all the time there is a girder in your own?

You hypocrite, first get the girder out of your own eye, and then you can see well enough to get the tiny speck out of your brother's eye.

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?

So any healthy tree bears good fruit and a sickly tree bears poor fruit.

So you must recognize them by their fruits.

Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, was it not in your name that we prophesied, and in your name that we drove out demons, and in your name that we did many wonder-works?'

And then I will say to them openly, 'I never knew you at all. Go away from me, you who practiced doing wrong.'

"So everyone who listens to my words and practices their teaching, will be like a prudent man who built his house on a rocky foundation.

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 Jesus heard it, He was astounded, and said to His followers, "I solemnly say to you, I have not found, in a single case among the Jews, so great faith as this.

When He went into Peter's house, He saw his mother-in-law lying in bed sick with fever.

and so fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, "He took our sicknesses and bore away our diseases."

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

And suddenly a furious storm came up, so that the boat was being covered over by the bursting billows, but He kept on sleeping.

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

And He said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you with little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

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

And He said to them, "Be gone!" And they went out of the men and got into the hogs, and suddenly the whole drove, in a stampede, rushed over the cliff into the sea, and died in the water.

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."

For which is easier, to say 'Your sins are forgiven,' or, to say 'Get up and go to walking'?

And the crowds saw it, and were stricken with awe, and gave praise to God for giving such power to men.

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.

And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with tax-collectors and notorious sinners?"

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

Nobody pours new wine into old wine-bottles; or, if they do, the bottles burst, the wine runs out, and the bottles are ruined. But people pour new wine into new wine-bottles, and so both are preserved."

And their eyes received strength to see. Then Jesus sternly charged them, "See that nobody knows it."

and after the demon had been driven out, the dumb man could talk. So the crowds were dumbfounded, saying, "Never before among the Jews was anything like this?

When He saw the crowds, His heart was moved with pity for them, because they were tired and scattered like sheep without a shepherd.

So pray the Lord of the harvest to send out reapers to His harvest field."

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.

but rather to the lost sheep of Israel's house.

"Listen! I am sending you out as sheep surrounded by wolves. So you must be sensible like serpents and guileless like doves.

But whenever they persecute you in one town, flee to a different one. For I solemnly say to you, you will not cover all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man returns.

So you must never be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, nor a secret that will not be known.

Do not sparrows sell for a cent apiece? And yet not one of them can fall to the ground without your Father's notice.

So stop being afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

and a man's enemies will be members of his own family.

And I solemnly say to you, no one who gives a cup of cold water to one of the least of my disciples, because he is a disciple, will ever fail to get his reward."

And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see:

If not, what did you go out there to see? A man dressed in silks and satins? No, people who dress in that way are found in the palaces of kings.

If not, why did you go out there? To see a prophet?

"I solemnly say to you, of all men born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has ever appeared; and yet the one who is least important in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.