But while he was thinking of doing this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not fear to take Mary, your wife, to your home, for it is through the influence of the holy Spirit that she is to become a mother.

All this happened in fulfilment of what the Lord said through the prophet,

When King Herod heard of this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

They said, "At Bethlehem in Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote:

But Jesus answered, "Let it be so this time, for it is right for us to do everything that God requires." Then John consented.

and a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, my Beloved! This is my Chosen."

and said to him, "I will give all this to you, if you will fall on your knees and do homage to me."

This, therefore, is the way you are to pray: 'Our Father in heaven, Your name be revered!

For these are all things the heathen are in pursuit of, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need all this.

Therefore, you must always treat other people as you would like to have them treat you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

"Everyone, therefore, who listens to this teaching of mine and acts upon it, will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.

And anyone who listens to this teaching of mine and does not act upon it, will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

When Jesus had finished this discourse, the crowds were astounded at his teaching,

When Jesus heard this he was astonished, and said to his followers, "I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such faith as this.

And the men were amazed and said, "What kind of man is this? For the very winds and sea obey him!"

Some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is talking blasphemy!"

Just as he said this to them, an official came up and bowing low before him said to him, "My daughter has just died. But come! Lay your hand on her and she will come to life!"

And the news of this spread all over that part of the country.

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

and as soon as the demon was driven out, the dumb man was able to speak. And the crowds were amazed, and said, "Nothing like this was ever seen in Israel!"

This is the man of whom the Scripture says, " 'Here I send my messenger on before you; He will prepare the road ahead of you.'

But to what can I compare this present age? It is like children sitting about in the bazaars and calling out to their playmates,

At that same time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding all this from the learned and intelligent and revealing it to children.

But Jesus knew of this, and he left that place. And numbers of people followed him about, and he cured them all,

And all the crowds of people were astounded, and said, "Can this be the Son of David?"

But when the Pharisees heard of it they said, "This man cannot drive out demons except by the aid of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons."

And whoever speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven for it, but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit cannot be forgiven for it, either in this world or in the world to come.

Men of Nineveh will rise with this age at the judgment and condemn it, for when Jonah preached they repented, and there is more than Jonah here!

The queen of the south will rise with this age at the judgment and condemn it, for she came from the very ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and there is more than Solomon here!

Then it goes and gets seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there, and in the end the man is worse off than he was before. That is the way it will be with this present wicked age."

This is why I speak to them in figures, because though they look they do not see, and though they listen they do not hear or understand.

For this nation's mind has grown dull, And they hear faintly with their ears, And they have shut their eyes, So as never to see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their minds, and turn back, And let me cure them!'

Another figure which he used in speaking to them was this: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,

He said to them, 'This is some enemy's doing.' And they said to him, 'Do you want us to go and gather them up?'

Another figure which he used in speaking to them was this: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field.

Another figure which he used with them was this: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and buried in a bushel of flour until it had all risen."

Jesus said all this to the crowds in figures, and told them nothing except in figures,

So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned, this is what will happen at the close of the age;

"Do you understand all this?" They said to him, "Yes."

and went to his own part of the country. And he taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished, and said, "Where did he get this wisdom, and the power to do these wonders?

And do not all his sisters live here among us? Then where did he get all this?"

and he said to his attendants, "This man must be John the Baptist. He has risen from the dead, and that is why wonderful powers are working through him."

And when it was evening, the disciples came up to him and said, "This is a lonely place and the day is over. Send the crowds off to the villages to buy themselves food."

but the boat was by this time a long way from shore, struggling with the waves, for the wind was against them.

" 'This people honor me with their lips, Yet their hearts are far away from me.

"Listen to this, and grasp it! It is not what goes into a man's mouth that pollutes him; it is what comes out of his mouth that pollutes a man."

The disciples said to him, "Where can we get bread enough in this solitude to feed such a crowd?"

Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for human nature has not disclosed this to you, but my Father in heaven!

But I tell you, your name is Peter, a rock, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not subdue it.

Six days after this, Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John, and led them up on a high mountain, by themselves.

As he spoke a bright cloud overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved. He is my Chosen. Listen to him!"

He said to them, "Because you have so little faith. For I tell you, if you have faith the size of a grain of mustard, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here over to there!' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."

Anyone, therefore, who is as unassuming as this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven,

and anyone who welcomes one child like this on my account welcomes me.

For this reason the Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king, who resolved to settle accounts with his slaves.

When Jesus had finished this discourse, he left Galilee and went to the part of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan.

and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two of them shall become one'? So they are no longer two but one.

But when the disciples heard this, they were completely astounded and said, "Then who can be saved?"

When the other ten heard of this, they were very indignant at the two brothers.

Now this happened in fulfilment of what was said by the prophet,

Jesus answered, "I tell you, if you have faith and have no doubt, you will not only do what I have done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Get up and throw yourself into the sea,' it will be done.

When he had entered the Temple, and was teaching, the high priests and the elders of the people came up to him, and said, "What authority have you for doing as you do, and who gave you this authority?"

But when the tenants saw his son, they said to one another. 'This is his heir! Come on, let us kill him, and get his inheritance!'

Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, " 'That stone which the builders rejected Has become the cornerstone; This came from the Lord, And seems marvelous to us'?

This made the king angry, and he sent his troops and put those murderers to death and burned their city.

And he said to them, "Whose head and title is this?"

On the same day some Sadducees came up to him, claiming that there is no resurrection, and they asked him this question:

When the crowd heard this, they were astounded at his teaching.

This is why I am going to send you prophets, wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and hunt from one town to another;

I tell you, all this will come upon this age!

But he answered, "Do you see all this? I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another but shall be torn down."

As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to him by themselves, and said to him, "Tell us when this is to happen, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the close of the age."

Jesus answered, "Take care that no one misleads you about this.

All this is only the beginning of the sufferings.

And this good news of the kingdom will be preached all over the world, to testify to all the heathen, and then the end will come.

"So when you see the dreadful desecration, of which the prophet Daniel spoke, set up in the Holy Place"??he reader must take note of this??16 "then those who are in Judea must fly to the hills;

But you may be sure of this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the watch, and would not have let his house be broken into.

When Jesus had finished this discourse he said to his disciples,

But Jesus observed this and said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? It is a fine thing that she has done to me.

In pouring this perfume on me she has done something to prepare me for burial.

I tell you, wherever this good news is preached all over the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

As they were eating Jesus took a loaf and blessed it, and he broke it in pieces and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take this and eat it. It is my body!"

"You must all drink from it, for this is my blood which ratifies the agreement, and is to be poured out for many people, for the forgiveness of their sins.

And I tell you I will never drink this product of the vine again till the day when I shall drink the new wine with you in my Father's kingdom!"

And he went on a little way, and threw himself on his face, and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass by me. Yet not as I please but as you do!"

But then how are the Scriptures to be fulfilled, which say that this must happen?"

But this has all taken place in fulfilment of the writings of the prophets." Then all the disciples left him and made their escape.

and said, "This man said, 'I can tear down the sanctuary of God, and build it up in three days.' "

And he went out into the gateway, and another maid saw him, and said to the men there, "This fellow was with Jesus the Nazarene!"

The high priests gathered up the money, and they said, "It is not legal to put this into the Temple treasury, for it is blood money."

For this reason that piece of ground has ever since been called the Field of Blood.

and at this time there was a notorious prisoner named Barabbas.

So when they gathered to ask this, Pilate said to them, "Which one do you want me to release for you, Barabbas, or Jesus, the so-called Christ?"

When Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing but that a riot was beginning instead, he took some water and washed his hands in the presence of the crowd, saying, "I am not responsible for this man's death; you must see to it yourselves."

They put above his head the charge against him, which read, "This is Jesus, the king of the Jews."

and said, "Sir, we remember that when this impostor was alive he said, 'After three days I will rise again!'

So they took the money and did as they were told. And this story has been current among the Jews ever since.

And this was his message: "After me there is coming one stronger than I am, one whose shoes I am not fit to stoop down and untie.

saying, "The time has come and the reign of God is near; repent, and believe this good news."

And they were all so amazed that they discussed it with one another, and said, "What does this mean? It is a new teaching! He gives orders with authority even to the foul spirits, and they obey him!"