The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. After his mother, Mary, had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

Behold! the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son; and they shall call his name Immanuel, a word which means "God with us."

And they told him. "At Bethlehem in Judea, as it is written in the prophet.

The Magi listened to the king, and went on their way, and lo! the star which they had seen in the east led them until it came and stood over the place where the young child was.

And when they saw the star, they rejoiced with great gladness.

When they had entered the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, and opening their treasure-chests they gave him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

But because they were forbidden by God in a dream to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

When they were gone an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying; "Rise! Take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt, and there remain until I bring you word; for Herod intends to make a search for the child, in order to put him to death."

A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and lamentation??achel weeping for her children, Inconsolable, because they were no more!

and said to him. "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, "He will give his angels charge over thee; Upon their hands they will bear thee up, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone."

And as he was walking by the see of Galilee, he saw two brothers??imon who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother??asting their net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

And they dropped their nets at once, and followed him.

They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.

And his fame spread throughout all Syria. They brought all the sick to him, those who were suffering from various diseases and troubles??emoniacs, epileptics, paralytics??nd he healed them.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

"Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth."

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the righteousness, for they shall be completely satisfied.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

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

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

"Blessed are you when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my name's sake.

"Rejoice and exult in it, because your reward was great in the heavens; for so did they persecute the prophets before you.

"So let your light shine before men that they may see good you do, and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

"Even the tax-gatherers do that, do they not? And if you show courtesy to your brother only, what are you doing more than others? Even the Gentiles do that, do they not?

"And whatever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and streets, in order that men may praise them. In solemn truth I tell you they already have their reward in full.

"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the avenues, in order that men may see them. In solemn truth I tell you that they have their reward in full.

"While praying do not say the same words over and over again, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that by their much speaking they will gain attention.

"When you fast, do not look downcast like the hypocrites; for they disfigure their faces so that it may be apparent to men that they are fasting. In solemn truth I tell you, they already have received their reward.

"Behold! the birds in the sky! They neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them; and are not you worth more than they?

"Why be anxious then about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin.

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine; lest in turn they trample them under their feet, and then turn and attack you.

"Enter by the narrow gate; for broad is the gate and wide the road that leads to destruction, and many are they who go in by it;

"but the gate is narrow and the road is steep, which leads to life, and they are few who find it.

"Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but within they are ravening wolves.

At evening-time they brought to him many demoniacs. He cast out the demons with a word, and healed all who were ill,

But he was asleep. And they came and woke him, saying. "Lord save us! We are drowning!"

When he arrived on the other side, in the country of the Gadarenes, he was met by two demoniacs who were coming out of the tombs. They were so violently fierce that no one dared pass along that road.

"You Son of God," they shouted, "what have you to do with us? Are you come to torment us before the time?"

and the demons began entreating him. "If you are driving us out," they said, "send us into the herd of swine."

He answered, "Go!" So they came out of the men, and went into the swine, and behold! the entire herd rushed headlong down from the cliff into the sea, and perished in the water.

The swineherds fled. They went away into the city and told all about it, and what had befallen the demoniacs.

At once all the citizens came out to meet Jesus; and when they had seen him, they begged him to move away from their country.

And here they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, "Courage, son, your sins are forgiven."

And he rose and followed him. And while he was at table in Matthew's house, there came many tax-gatherers and sinners, and they dined with Jesus and his disciples.

When the Pharisees saw it, they kept saying to his disciples, "Why does your Teacher eat with the tax-gatherers and sinners?"

"Can the friends fast at a wedding-feast," said Jesus, "so long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom has been taken from them, and then they will fast.

"No one ever sews a piece of undressed cloth on an old cloak. If they did, the patch put on to fill it up would tear away from the cloak, and the rent be made worse.

"Nor do they put new wine into old wine-skins; if they did, the wine-skins would split, the wine would run out, and the skins be ruined. Instead, they put new wine into fresh wine-skins and both are preserved."

"Leave the room, for the little girl is not dead, she is sleeping." And they began laughing at him.

And when he had gone indoors, they came to him. "Do you believe that I can do this?" asked Jesus. "Yes, Lord," they answered.

But they went and published his fame in that whole region.

And as they were departing a dumb demoniac was brought to him,

And when he saw the crowds he had compassion on them because they were distressed and fainting, like sheep without a shepherd.

"But beware of men! For they will give you up to the Sanhedrin, and flog you in their synagogues.

"But whenever they apprehend you, do not be anxious about how you shall speak or what you shall say; for it will be given you in that very hour what to say.

"But when they persecute you in one city, flee to the next. In solemn truth I tell you that you shall not have completed the cities of Israel, before the Son of man comes.

"It is enough for the pupil to fare like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more, the members of his household.

"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, 'He has a demon';

and the Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Lo, a glutton and a wine-drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!' Nevertheless, Wisdom is justified by her deeds."

Then he began to upbraid the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they had not repented.

"Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! Because if the mighty works which have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented, long ago, in sackcloth and ashes.

But the Pharisees, when they perceived it, said to him. "Look! Your disciples are doing what it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!"

"How he went into the House of God, and there they ate the loaves of the Presence, which neither he nor his men were permitted to eat, but the priests only?

And in order to get a charge against him they asked him, "Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?" (So that they might have something to accuse him.)

The man stretched it out, and it had become sound like the other. But when the Pharisees came out, they consulted together how they might destroy him.

Then they brought to him a blind and deaf demoniac; and he healed him, so that the dumb both spoke and saw.

When the Pharisees heard it they said, "It is only by the aid of Beelzebub, the Prince of the demons, that this fellow is driving out demons."

"And if I am casting out demons in the power of Beelzebub, in whose power do your sons cast them out? So they themselves shall be your judges.

"I tell you that for every careless word that men speak they shall give account on the day of judgment.

Then some of the Scribes and Pharisees accosted him. "Teacher," they said, "we want to see some sign from you."

"The men of Nineveh will stand up in the Judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented under the preaching of Jonah, and lo! a greater than Jonah is here!

"Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits worse than itself; and they enter in and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it be with this wicked generation."

Now when his disciples came up to him, they said,

"This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

For the heart of his people is made fat, Their ears are dull of hearing; Their eyes, too, have they closed, Lest some day their eyes should perceive, And their ears should hear, And their heart should understand and turn, And I should heal them.

"But happy are your eyes, because they see, and your ears because they hear.

"The son of man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all hindrances, and whoever practices iniquity,

"When it was full they hauled it upon the beach, and sat down and sorted the good fish into baskets, but threw the worthless fish away.

"Have you understood all this?" he asked. "We have," they answered him.

and came into his own country, where he continued teaching the people in their synagogues, until they were amazed. "Where did he get such wisdom?" they said, "and such wondrous powers?

And although he wished to kill John, he feared the people, for they considered John a prophet.

As twilight fell, his disciples came to him and said: "This is a lonely spot, and the day is far spent; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food."

"They need not go away," said Jesus, "do you, yourselves, give them something to eat."

"We have nothing here," they replied, "except five loaves and two fishes."

And they all ate and were fully satisfied, and they took up of the fragments that remained, twelve basketfuls.

but when the disciples saw him walking upon the sea, they were terrified. "It is a phantom," they said, and cried out for fear.

Then as they climbed into the boat the wind grew weary,

Then they crossed over and came to land at Gennesaret;

and when the men of that country recognized him, they sent into all the country round about, and brought to him all the sick,

In vain do they worship me, While they teach doctrines that are the commands of men."

Then his disciples came to him and said, "Do you know that the Pharisees were scandalized when they heard that saying?" He replied.

"Let them alone. They are blind men leading the blind; and if one blind man leads another, both of them will fall into a ditch."

But he answered her not a word. Then the disciples came up and kept beseeching him. "Send her away," they said, "because she wails after us."

Great crowds came to him, bringing the crippled, the blind, the maimed, the dumb, and many others. They laid them at his feet and he healed them;

so that the crowd wondered when they saw the dumb speaking, the cripples walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

But Jesus called his disciples to him and said: "My heart yearns over the crowd, for they have been with me now three days, and they have nothing to eat. I am not willing to send them away hungry, for fear they faint on the road."

"How many loaves have you?" answered Jesus. They replied, "Seven, and a few small fish.

And all ate and were satisfied, and of the fragments that remained they gathered seven large basketfuls.

When his disciples reached the other side of the lake, they had forgotten to bring bread.

And they began discussing it among themselves, saying, "It is because we did not bring any bread."