The birth of [Jesus] Christ came about thus. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they came together she was discovered to be pregnant by the holy Spirit.

They told him, "In Bethlehem belonging to Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet:

The magicians listened to the king and then went their way. And the star they had seen rise went in front of them till it stopped over the place where the child was.

When they caught sight of the star, they were intensely glad;

on reaching the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, they fell down to worship him, and opening their caskets they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Then, as they had been divinely warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by a different road.

After they had gone, there appeared an angel of the Lord to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt; stay there till I tell you. For Herod is going to search for the child and destroy him."

A cry was heard in Rama, weeping and sore lamentation ??Rachel weeping for her children, and inconsolable because they are no more.

said to him, "If you are God's son, throw yourself down; for it is written, He will give his angels charge of you; they will bear you on their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone."

As he was walking along the sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew, casting a net in the sea ??for they were fishermen;

And they dropped their nets at once and followed him.

and they left the boat and their father at once, and went after him.

Blessed are the mourners! they will be consoled.

Blessed are the humble! they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for goodness! they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful! they will find mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart! they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers! they will be ranked sons of God.

rejoice and exult in it, for your reward is rich in heaven; that is how they persecuted the prophets before you.

Nor do men light a lamp to put it under a bowl; they put it on a stand and it shines for all in the house.

So your light is to shine before men, that they may see the good you do and glorify your Father in heaven.

When you give alms, make no flourish of trumpets like the hypocrites in the synagogues and the streets, so as to win applause from men; I tell you truly, they do get their reward.

Also, when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they like to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street-corners, so as to be seen by men; I tell you truly, they do get their reward.

Do not pray by idle rote like pagans, for they suppose they will be heard the more they say;

When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they look woebegone to let men see they are fasting; I tell you truly, they do get their reward.

Look at the wild birds; they sow not, they reap not, they gather nothing in granaries, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than birds?

And why should you trouble over clothing? Look how the lilies of the field grow; they neither toil nor spin,

Do not give dogs what is sacred and do not throw pearls before swine, in case they trample them under foot and turn to gore you.

Beware of false prophets; they come to you with the garb of sheep but at heart they are ravenous wolves.

Now when evening came they brought him many demoniacs, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all the invalids ??17 that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled, He took away our sicknesses and he removed our diseases.

Men marvelled at this; they said, "What sort of man is this? the very winds and sea obey him!"

When he reached the opposite side, the country of the Gadarenes, he was met by two demoniacs who ran out of the tombs; they were so violent that nobody could pass along the road there.

They shrieked, "Son of God, what business have you with us? Have you come here to torture us before it is time?"

He said to them, "Begone!" So out they came and went to the swine, and the entire drove rushed down the steep slope into the sea and perished in the water.

The herdsmen fled; they went off to the town and reported the whole affair of the demoniacs.

Then all the town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to move out of their district.

Jesus saw what they were thinking and said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?

So when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with taxgatherers and sinners?"

Jesus said to them, "Can friends at a wedding mourn so long as the bride groom is beside them? A time will come when the bridegroom is taken from them, and then they will fast.

nor do men pour fresh wine into old wineskins, otherwise the wineskins burst, and the wine is spilt, the wineskins are ruined. They put fresh wine into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."

he said, "Be off with you; the girl is not dead but asleep." They laughed at him.

When he went indoors the blind men came up to him, and Jesus asked them, "Do you believe I can do this?" They said, "Yes, sir."

But they went out and spread the news of him all over that country.

As they went out, a dumb man was brought to him, who was possessed by a daemon,

and when the daemon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke. Then the crowd marvelled; they said, "Such a thing has never been seen in Israel!"

As he saw the crowds he was moved with pity for them; they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.

Beware of men, they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues,

Now, when they bring you up for trial, do not trouble yourselves about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will come to you at the moment,

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; truly I tell you, you will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of man arrives.

enough for the scholar to fare like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If men have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they miscall his servants!

Then he proceeded to upbraid the towns where his many miracles had been performed, because they would not repent.

"Woe to you, Khorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! Had the miracles performed in you been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

At that time Jesus walked one sabbath through the cornfields, and as his disciples were hungry they started to pull some ears of corn and eat them.

When the Pharisees noticed it, they said to him, "Look at your disciples, they are doing what is not allowed 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 allowed to eat, but only the priests?

Have you not read in the Law that the priests in the temple are not guilty when they desecrate the sabbath?

Now a man with a withered hand was there; so in order to get a charge against him they asked him, "Is it right to heal on the sabbath?"

And all the crowds were amazed; they said, "Can this be the Son of David?"

But when the Pharisees heard of it they said, "This fellow only casts out daemons by Beelzebul the prince of daemons."

As Jesus knew what they were thinking, he said to them, "Any realm divided against itself comes to ruin, any city or house divided against itself will never stand;

Besides, if I cast out daemons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Thus they will be your judges.

I tell you therefore, men will be forgiven any sin and blasphemy, but they will not be forgiven for blaspheming the Spirit.

I tell you, men will have to account on the day of judgment for every light word they utter;

The men of Ninive will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for when Jonah preached they did repent, and here is One greater than Jonah.

Then it goes off to fetch seven other spirits worse than itself; they go in and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. This is how it will be with the present evil generation."

He was still speaking to the crowds when his mother and brothers came and stood outside; they wanted to speak to him.

Some other seeds fell on stony soil where they had not much earth, and shot up at once because they had no depth of soil;

but when the sun rose they got scorched and withered away because they had no root.

This is why I speak to them in parables, because for all their seeing they do not see and for all their hearing they do not hear or understand.

For the heart of this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy of hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them.

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears, for they hear!

I tell you truly, many prophets and good men have longed to see what you see, but they have not seen it; and to hear what you hear, but they have not heard it.

the Son of man will despatch his angels, and they will gather out of his Realm all who are hindrances and who practise iniquity,

When it was full, they dragged it to the beach and sitting down they gathered the good fish into vessels but flung away the bad.

Have you understood all this?" They said to him, "Yes."

and went to his native place, where he taught the people in the synagogue till they were astounded. They said, "Where did he get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?

So they were repelled by him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet never goes without honour except in his native place and in his home."

He was anxious to kill him but he was afraid of the people, for they held John to be a prophet.

His disciples came and removed the corpse and buried him; then they went and reported it to Jesus.

Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away; give them some food yourselves."

They said, "We have only five loaves with us and two fish."

They all ate and had enough; besides, they picked up the fragments left over and filled twelve baskets with them.

but when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified; "It is a ghost," they said and shrieked for fear.

When they got into the boat the wind dropped,

On crossing over they came to land at Gennesaret.

"Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands when they take their food."

vain is their worship of me, for the doctrines they teach are but human precepts."

Then the disciples came up and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees have taken offence at what they hear you say?"

Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind, and if one blind man leads another, both of them will fall into a pit."

And large crowds came to him bringing the lame, and the blind, the dumb, the maimed, and many others; they laid them at his feet, and he healed them.

Then Jesus called his disciples and said, "I am sorry for the crowd; they have been three days with me now, and they have nothing to eat. I will not send them away starving, in case they faint on the road."

Jesus said to them, "How many loaves have you got?" They said, "Seven, and some little fish."

So the people all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over and filled seven large baskets with them.

When the disciples reached the opposite side, they found they had forgotten to bring any bread.

They argued among themselves, "But we have not brought any bread!"

Then they realized that what he told them to beware of was not leaven but the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

They told him, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

I tell you truly, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death till they see the Son of man coming himself to reign."

When the disciples heard the voice they fell on their faces in terror;

And on raising their eyes they saw no one except Jesus all alone.