Jacob the father of Joseph, and Joseph (to whom the virgin Mary was betrothed) the father of Jesus, who is called 'Christ.'

but he did not live with her as a husband till she bore a son, whom he called Jesus.

And you Bethlehem, in Judah's land, You are not least among the rulers of Judah: For a ruler will come from you, Who will shepherd Israel my people."

Then Herod saw the magicians had trifled with him, and he was furiously angry; he sent and slew all the male children in Bethlehem and in all the neighbourhood who were two years old or under, calculating by the time he had ascertained from the magicians.

saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead."

(This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah: The voice of one who cries in the desert, 'Make the way ready for the Lord, level the paths for him.')

But when he noticed a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who told you to flee from the coming Wrath?

I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier, and I am not fit even to carry his sandals; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire.

The people who sat in darkness saw a great light, yea light dawned on those who sat in the land and the shadow of death.

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;

The fame of him spread all through the surrounding country, and people brought him all their sick, those who suffered from all manner of disease and pain, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics; he healed them all.

"Blessed are those who feel poor in spirit! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

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

Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of goodness! the Realm of heaven is theirs.

But I tell you, any one who even looks with lust at a woman has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

But I tell you, anyone who divorces his wife for any reason except unchastity makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

give to the man who begs from you, and turn not away from him who wants to borrow.

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

For if you love only those who love you, what reward do you get for that? do not the very taxgatherers do as much?

so as to keep your alms secret; then your Father who sees what is secret will reward you openly.

When you pray, go into your room and shut the door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is secret will reward you.

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

for every one who asks receives, the seeker finds, the door is opened to anyone who knocks.

Well, if for all your evil you know to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?

But the road that leads to life is both narrow and close, and there are few who find it.

It is not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord!', who will get into the Realm of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Now, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts upon them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.

And everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act upon them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand.

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.

The crowds who saw it were awed and glorified God for giving such power to men.

When Jesus heard it he said, "Those who are strong have no need of a doctor, but those who are ill.

Now a woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel of his robe;

As Jesus passed along from there, he was followed by two blind men who shrieked, "Son of David, have pity on us!"

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

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedaeus and John his brother,

Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

and you will be hated by all men on account of my name; but he will be saved who holds out to the very end.

Have no fear of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul: rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

Everyone who will acknowledge me before men, I will acknowledge him before my Father in heaven;

He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me:

he who will not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

He who has found his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.

He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives Him who sent me.

He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet, will receive a prophet's reward; he who receives a good man because he is good, will receive a good man's reward.

And blessed is he who is repelled by nothing in me!"

This is he of whom it is written, Here I send my messenger before your face to prepare the way for you.

I tell you truly, no one has arisen among the sons of women who is greater than John the Baptist, and yet the least in the Realm of heaven is greater than he is.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied of it until John: ??14 if you care to believe it, he is the Elijah who is to come.

He who has an ear, let him listen to this.

But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace, who call to their playmates,

All has been handed over to me by my Father: and no one knows the Son except the Father ??nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Come to me, all who are labouring and burdened, and I will refresh you.

I tell you, One is here who is greater than the temple.

Besides, if you had known what this meant, I care for mercy not for sacrifice, you would not have condemned men who are not guilty.

He said to them, "Is there a man of you with one sheep, who will not catch hold of it and lift it out of a pit on the sabbath, if it falls in?

Here is my servant whom I have selected, my Beloved in whom my soul delights; I will invest him with my Spirit, and he will proclaim religion to the Gentiles.

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

He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.

But he replied to the man who told him this, "Who is my mother? and who are my brothers?"

He who has an ear, let him listen to this."

For he who has, to him shall more be given and richly given, but whoever has not, from him shall be taken even what he has.

When anyone hears the word of the Realm and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart; that is the man who is sown 'on the road.'

As for him who is sown 'on stony soil,' that is the man who hears the word and accepts it at once with enthusiasm;

As for him who is sown 'among thorns,' that is the man who listens to the word, but the worry of the world and the delight of being rich choke the word; so it proves unfruitful.

As for him who is sown 'on good soil,' that is the man who hears the word and understands it; he bears fruit, producing now a hundredfold, now sixty, and now thirtyfold."

He put another parable before them. "The Realm of heaven," he said, "is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,

So he replied, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man;

the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are angels.

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

Then the just will shine like the sun in the Realm of their Father. He who has an ear, let him listen to this.

The Realm of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field; the man who finds it hides it and in his delight goes and sells all he possesses and buys that field.

So he said to them, "Well then, every scribe who has become a disciple of the Realm of heaven is like a householder who produces what is new and what is old from his stores."

The men who ate numbered about five thousand, apart from the women and children.

The men of that place recognized him and sent all over the surrounding country, bringing him all who were ill

and begging him to let them touch the mere tassel of his robe ??and all who touched it got perfectly well.

God enjoined, Honour your father and mother, and, He who curses his father or mother is to suffer death.

The men who ate numbered four thousand, apart from the children and the women.

Now when Jesus came to the district of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of man is?"

He said to them, "And who do you say I am?"

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."

There appeared to them Moses and Elijah, who conversed with Jesus.

He said, "Yes." But when he went indoors Jesus spoke first; "Tell me, Simon," he said, "from whom do earthly kings collect customs or taxes? Is it from their own people or from aliens?"

At that hour the disciples came and asked Jesus, "Who is greatest in the Realm of heaven?"

But whoever is a hindrance to one of these little ones who believe in me, better for him to have a great mill-stone hung round his neck and be sunk in the deep sea.

Woe to the world for hindrances! Hindrances have to come, but ??woe to the man by whom the hindrance does come!

That is why the Realm of heaven may be compared to a king who resolved to settle accounts with his servants.

When he began the settlement, a debtor was brought in who owed him three million pounds;

But as that servant went away, he met one of his fellow-servants who owed him twenty pounds, and seizing him by the throat he said, 'Pay your debt!'

He replied, "Have you never read that He who created them male and female from the beginning

I tell you, whoever divorces his wife except for unchastity and marries another woman, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

He said to them, "True, but this truth is not practicable for everyone, it is only for those who have the gift.

There are eunuchs who have been eunuchs from their birth, there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Realm of heaven. Let anyone practice it for whom it is practicable."

When the disciples heard this they were utterly astounded; they said, "Who then can possibly be saved?"

Jesus said to them, "I tell you truly, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me shall also sit on twelve thrones to govern the twelve tribes of Israel.

Everyone who has left brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands or houses for my name's sake will get a hundred times as much and inherit life eternal.

Many who are first shall be last, and many who are last shall be first.

For the Realm of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard;

And when he went out at five o'clock he came upon some others who were standing; he said to them, 'Why have you stood doing nothing all the day?'

When those who had been hired about five o'clock came, they got a shilling each.

'These last,' they said, 'have only worked a single hour, and yet you have ranked them equal to us who have borne the brunt of the day's work and the heat!'