that you may better know the certainty of those things that you have been taught.

Then Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is far advanced in years."

But when he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. Meanwhile he kept on making signs to them, and remained dumb.

He has done mighty deeds with His arm. He has scattered those that are proud in the purpose of their hearts.

And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and so they were rejoicing with her.

Then they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives that bears that name."

to grant us deliverance from the dreaded hand of our foes, so that we could serve Him

Now in those days an edict was issued by the Emperor Augustus that a census of the whole world should be taken.

Then an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, so that they were fearfully frightened.

Then when the angel left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has told us."

When they saw this, they informed them of the story that had been told about this child.

Then the shepherds went back continuing to give glory and praise to God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.

It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not die without seeing the Lord's Messiah.

yea, a sword will pierce your heart -- so that the secret purposes of many hearts will be revealed."

Just at that time she came up and began to give thanks to God and to speak about the child to all who were expecting the deliverance of Jerusalem.

Now when they had completed everything that was in accordance with the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.

They supposed that He was somewhere in the caravan, and so they traveled a whole day before they began to make an anxious search for Him among His relatives and acquaintances.

Then He said to them, "Why is it that you were searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

So he used to say to the crowds that continued to come out there to be baptized by him: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to escape from the wrath that is coming?

Produce, then, fruit that is consistent with the repentance that you profess, and do not even begin to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather,' for I tell you, God can raise up descendants for Abraham even out of these stones.

Now the axe is already lying at the roots of the trees. Every tree, then, that fails to bear good fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire."

But Herod the governor, because he was repeatedly reproved by him for Herodias his brother's wife, and for all the wicked deeds that Herod had done,

added this on top of it all, that he put John in prison.

while He was being tempted by the devil. During that time He ate nothing, and so at the end of it He felt hungry.

and, 'They will bear you up on their hands, so that you will never strike your foot against a stone.'"

So they all began to speak well of Him and to wonder at the gracious words that fell from His lips, and yet they continued to say, "Is He not Joseph's son?"

He said to them, "Doubtless you will quote this proverb to me, 'Doctor, cure yourself! Do the things here in your hometown that we hear you did in Capernaum.'"

Even demons came out of many people, shrieking and saying, "You are the Son of God!" But He reproved them and would not let them speak, because they knew that He was the Christ.

But He said to them, "To other towns also I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God, for that is what I was sent to do."

They did so and caught so vast a shoal of fish that their nets began to break.

So they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

For at the haul of fish that they had made, bewildering amazement had seized him and all his men,

Jesus saw that they were arguing, and answered them: "Why are you arguing so in your hearts?

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

It is not upright but sinful people that I have come to invite to repentance."

After that they said to Him, "John's disciples rigidly practice fasting and offering up prayers; so do the Pharisees, but your disciples keep right on eating and drinking."

But a time will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them; at that time they will fast."

Now it was in those days that He went up on the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

Burst into joy on that day and leap for ecstasy, for your reward will be rich in heaven; for this is the way your forefathers used to treat the prophets.

Now if you practice loving only those who love you, what credit do you get for that? Why, even notorious sinners practice loving those who love them.

And if you practice doing good only to those who do good to you, what credit do you get for that? Even notorious sinners practice the same.

And if you ever lend to people expecting to get it back, what credit do you get for that? Even notorious sinners practice lending to one another, expecting to get it back in full.

But you must practice loving your enemies, doing good to them, and lending to them, despairing of nothing; so that your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me get that tiny speck out of your eye,' when you cannot see the girder in your own eye? You hypocrite! First get the girder out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to get out the tiny speck in your brother's eye.

"For there never is a healthy tree that bears poor fruit, nor a sickly tree that bears good fruit.

The good man, out of his good inner storehouse, brings forth what is good, the bad man, out of his bad one, what is bad. For a man's mouth usually speaks the things that fill his heart.

He is like a man who was building a house, who dug deep, and laid its foundation upon the rock; and when a flood came, the torrent burst upon that house but it could not shake it, because it was well built.

But the man who merely hears them and does not practice them is like a man who built a house upon the ground without a foundation. The torrent burst upon it, and at once it collapsed, and the wreck of that house was complete."

There was a Roman captain who had a slave that was very dear to him, and he was sick and at the point of death,

So they went to Jesus and continued to urge Him earnestly, saying, "He deserves that you do this for him,

When Jesus heard this, He was astounded at him, and turning to the crowd that was following Him He said, "I tell you, I have not found, in a single case among the Jews, so great faith as this!"

At that very hour He cured many people of diseases and scourges and evil spirits, and graciously granted sight to many blind persons.

But when John's messengers had gone, He began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the desert to gaze at? A reed that is tossed to and fro by the wind?

There was a woman in the town who was a social outcast, and when she learned that He was taking dinner at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster bottle of perfume

So when the Pharisee who invited Him saw it, he said to himself, "If He were really a prophet, He would know who and of what character the woman is who is clinging to Him -- that she is a social outcast."

But He said to the woman, "It is your faith that has saved you; go on in peace."

So He said, "You are granted the privilege of knowing the secrets of the kingdom of God, but to others they are told in stories, so that they may look and not see, may hear and not understand.

Those along the path illustrate those who hear it, but then the devil comes and carries off the message from their hearts, so that they may not believe it and be saved.

"Nobody lights a lamp and then covers it with a pot or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light.

Then Jesus said, "Who was it that touched me?" But as all were denying that they had done so, Peter said, "Master, the crowds are jamming you and jostling you."

When the woman saw that she had not escaped His notice, she came forward trembling, and falling down before Him she told in the presence of all the people why she had touched Him and how she had been cured at once.

So He said to her, "My daughter, it is your faith that has cured you; go on in peace."

Then they began to laugh in His face, for they knew that she was dead.

So her spirit returned and she got up at once, and He directed that something be given her to eat.

And when you leave that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a protest against all the people who do not welcome you."

Now Herod the governor heard of all that was taking place, and he continued to be puzzled over the reports -- by some that John had risen from the dead,

by others that Elijah had appeared, and by still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life.

Now the apostles returned and told Jesus all that they had done. Then He took them and privately retired to a town called Bethsaida.

One day while He was praying in solitude, His disciples were nearby, and He asked them, "Who do people say that I am?"

They answered, "John the Baptist; though others say Elijah, and still others that one of the ancient prophets has come back to life."

So He said to them, "But who do you, yourselves, say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God!"

When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found to be alone. And they kept silence and told no one anything that they had seen at that time.

So they all continued to be utterly astounded at the greatness of God. Now while everybody was wondering at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples,

But they remained ignorant of what this meant; indeed, it had been hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

But Jesus, as He knew that the controversy was going on in their hearts, took a little child and had it stand by His side.

'We are wiping off against you the very dust from your town that has stuck to our feet. But understand this, the kingdom of God is close by.'

I tell you, on that day the punishment will be lighter for Sodom than for that town.

However, you must stop rejoicing over the fact that the spirits are submitting to you, but continue to rejoice that your names are enrolled in heaven."

At that very moment, by the power of the Holy Spirit, He exulted and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for concealing these matters from wise and learned men, and for revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, I thank you that your good pleasure made it so.

Then He turned to His disciples when they were alone, and said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you are seeing.

Now a priest happened to be going that way, but when he saw him, he went by on the other side of the road.

But Martha was getting worried about having to wait on them so much, so she came up suddenly and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the housework alone? Then tell her to take hold and help me."

But some of them said, "It is with the help of Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that He is driving the demons out."

But He knew what they were thinking, and so said to them, "Any kingdom that is not united is in the process of destruction, and one house falls after another.

And if Satan is really disunited, how can his kingdom last? Yet you say that I am driving the demons out with Beelzebub's help.

Then it goes and gets seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there, and so the end of that man is worse than the beginning."

No one lights a lamp and puts it in a cellar or under a peck-measure, but he puts it on the lampstand, that the people who come in may enjoy the light.

So be on your guard that the very source of light in you is not darkness.

The Pharisee noticed that He did not first wash before lunch, and was surprised.

so that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the creation of the world may be charged against the men of this age --

plotting, as if in ambush, to entrap Him in something that might fall from His lips.

Meanwhile as the people had gathered in tens of thousands, so that they were trampling upon one another, He began to say, first of all, to His disciples: "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, hypocrisy.

There is nothing covered up that will not be uncovered, nor secret that will not be made known;

So I tell you, my friends, never be afraid of those who kill the body but after that have nothing more that they can do.

for at that very moment the Holy Spirit will teach you what you ought to say."

But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is to be demanded of you. Then who will have all that you have prepared?'

For all these are the very things the nations of the world are greedily trying to get, and surely your Father well knows that you need them.

Sell your property and give to charity. Provide for yourselves purses that will never wear out, riches that never fail in heaven, where a thief cannot come near nor a moth destroy,

and be like men waiting for their master when he comes home from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks, they at once may open the door for him.

But be sure of this, that if the master of the house had known what time the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.