Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, Achim the father of Eliud,

Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,

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.

This John had his clothes made of camel's hair, with a leather girdle round his loins; his food was locusts and wild honey.

You have heard how the men of old were told, 'Murder not: whoever murders must come up for sentence,

Once again, you have heard how the men of old were told, 'You must not forswear yourself but discharge your vows to the Lord'.

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?

Well then, whatever you would like men to do to you, do just the same to them; that is the meaning of the Law and the prophets.

Jesus said to him, "The foxes have their holes, the wild birds have their nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head."

No one sews a piece of undressed cloth on an old coat, for the patch breaks away from it, and the tear is made worse:

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."

nor a wallet for the road, nor two shirts, nor sandals, nor stick ??the workman deserves his rations.

'We piped to you and you would not dance, we lamented and you would not beat your breasts.'

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.

And you, O Capharnahum! Exalted to heaven? No, you will sink to Hades! ??for if the miracles performed in you had been performed in Sodom, Sodom would have lasted to this day.

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.

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, "Teacher, we would like to have some Sign from you."

He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Then would you like us to go and gather them?'

It is less than any seed on earth, but when it grows up it is larger than any plant, it becomes a tree, so large that the wild birds come and roost in its branches."

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."

He said to them, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you truly, if you had faith the size of a grain of mustard-seed, you could say to this hill, 'Move from here to there,' and remove it would; nothing would be impossible for you."

So when the first labourers came up, they supposed they would get more; but they too got each their shilling.

For John showed you the way to be good and you would not believe him; the taxgatherers and harlots believed him, and even though you saw that, you would not change your mind afterwards and believe him.

He sent his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they would not come.

and you say 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not have it!

Had not those days been cut short, not a soul would be saved alive; however, for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

Immediately after the misery of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not yield her light, the stars will drop from heaven and the orbs of the heavens will be shaken.

But be sure of this, that if the householder had known at what watch in the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

Well then, you should have handed my money to the bankers and I would have got my capital with interest when I came back.

Then he went forward a little and fell on his face praying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me. Yet, not what I will but what thou wilt."

The high priests took the money and said, "It would be wrong to put this into the treasury, for it is the price of blood."

But, to Pilate's great astonishment, he would not answer him a single word.

they gave him a drink of wine mixed with bitters; but when he tasted it he would not drink it.

He is not here, he has risen, as he told you he would. See, here is the place where he [the Lord] lay.

John was dressed in camel's hair, with a leather girdle round his loins, and he ate locusts and wild honey.

and in the desert he remained for forty days, while Satan tempted him; he was in the company of wild beasts, but angels ministered to him.

Now when evening came, when the sun set, they brought him all who were ill or possessed by daemons ??33 indeed the whole town was gathered at the door ??34 and he cured many who were ill with various diseases and cast out many daemons; but as the daemons knew him he would not let them say anything.

But he went off and proceeded to proclaim it aloud and spread news of the affair both far and wide. The result was that Jesus could no longer enter any town openly; he stayed outside in lonely places, and people came to him from every quarter.

No one stitches a piece of undressed cloth on an old coat, otherwise the patch breaks away, the new from the old, and the tear is made worse:

no one pours fresh wine into old wineskins, otherwise the wine will burst the wineskins, and both wine and wineskins are ruined."

and they watched to see if he would heal him on the sabbath, so as to get a charge against him.

but once sown it springs up to be larger than any plant, throwing out such big branches that the wild birds can roost under its shadow."

shrieking aloud, "Jesus, son of God most High, what business have you with me? By God, I adjure you, do not torture me."

He would not allow anyone to accompany him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

The girl got up at once and began to walk (she was twelve years old); and at once they were lost in utter amazement.

and ordered them to take nothing but a stick for the journey, no bread, no wallet, no coppers in their girdle;

others said, "It is Elijah," others again, "It is a prophet, like one of the old prophets."

but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost and shrieked aloud ??50 for they all saw him and were terrified. Then he spoke to them at once; "Courage," he said, "it is I, have no fear."

whatever village or town or hamlet he went to, they would lay their invalids in the marketplace, begging him to let them touch even the tassel of his robe ??and all who touched him recovered.

And a deaf man who stammered was brought to him, with the request that he would lay his hand on him.

Then they reached Bethsaida. A blind man was brought to him with the request that he would touch him.

And it did come out, after shrieking aloud and convulsing him violently. The child turned like a corpse, so that most people said, "he is dead";

for he was teaching his disciples, telling them that the Son of man would be betrayed into the hands of men, that they would kill him, and that when he was killed he would rise again after three days.

and would not allow anyone to carry a vessel through the temple;

Had not the Lord cut short those days, not a soul would be saved alive; but he has cut them short for the sake of the elect whom he has chosen.

But when that misery is past, in those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not yield her light,

"Only," they said, "it must not be during the festival; that would mean a popular riot."

"Abba, Father," he said, "thou canst do anything. Take this cup away from me. Yet, not what I will but what thou wilt."

Pilate replied, "Would you like me to release the king of the Jews for you?"

They offered him wine flavoured with myrrh, but he would not take it.

but although they heard he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

They too went and reported it to the rest, but they would not believe them either.

Zechariah said to the angel, "But how am I to be sure of this? I am an old man myself, and my wife is advanced in years."

Look, there is your kinswoman Elizabeth! Even she has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month;

And blessed is she who believed that the Lord's words to her would be fulfilled."

as he promised of old by the lips of his prophets

Then the shepherds went away back, glorifying and extolling God for all they had heard and seen as they had been told they would.

and when he was twelve years old they went up as usual to the festival.

Now in the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean daemon, who shrieked aloud,

From many people daemons were also driven out, clamouring aloud, "You are God's son!" But he checked them and refused to let them say anything, as they knew he was the Christ.

He also told them a parable: "No one tears a piece from a new cloak and sews it on an old cloak; otherwise he will tear the new cloak, and the new piece will not match with the old.

No one pours fresh wine into old wineskins; otherwise the fresh wine will burst the wineskins, the wine will be spilt and the wineskins ruined.

Besides, no one wants new wine [immediately] after drinking old; 'The old,' he says, 'is better.'"

and the scribes and Pharisees watched to see if he would heal on the sabbath, so as to discover some charge against him.

As you would like men to do to you, so do to them.

Like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, 'We piped to you and you would not dance, we lamented and you would not weep.'

When his host the Pharisee noticed this, he said to himself, "If he was a prophet he would know what sort of a woman this is who is touching him; for she is a sinner."

"A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the road and was trampled down, and the wild birds ate it up;

On catching sight of Jesus he shrieked aloud and prayed him with a loud cry, "Jesus, son of God most High, what business have you with me? Do not torture me, I beg of you."

(For he had charged the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many a time when it had seized hold of him, he had been fastened secure in fetters and chains, but he would snap his bonds and be driven by the daemon into the desert.)

for he had an only daughter about twelve years old and she was dying. As Jesus went the crowds kept crushing him,

When he reached the house he would not allow anyone to come in with him except Peter and James and John, and the child's father and mother.

And he told them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither stick nor wallet nor bread nor silver, and do not carry two shirts.

but the people would not receive him because his face was turned in the direction of Jerusalem.

Jesus said to him, "The foxes have their holes, the wild birds have their nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head."

Carry no purse, no wallet, no sandals. Do not stop to salute anybody on the road.

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

Be sure that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.

I have come to throw fire on earth. Would it were kindled already!

It is like a grain of mustard-seed which a man took and put into his orchard, where it grew up and became a tree, and the wild birds roosted in its branches."

But I must journey on, to-day, to-morrow, and the next day; it would never do for a prophet to perish except in Jerusalem!

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, slaying the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to you! How often I would fain have gathered your children as a fowl gathers her brood under her wings! But you would not have it!

This angered him, and he would not go in. His father came out and tried to appease him,

it would be well for him to have a millstone hung round his neck and be flung into the sea, rather than prove a hindrance to one of these little ones!

The Lord said, "If you had faith the size of a grain of mustard-seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

For a while he would not, but afterwards he said to himself, 'Though I have no reverence for God and no respect even for man,

But the taxgatherer stood far away and would not lift even his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'O God, have mercy on me for my sins!'

He went on to tell a parable in their hearing, as he was approaching Jerusalem and as they imagined God's Reign would instantly come into view.