Genesis 29:31-35

31Now the Lord, seeing that Leah was not loved, gave her a child; while Rachel had no children.

32And Leah was with child, and gave birth to a son to whom she gave the name Reuben: for she said, The Lord has seen my sorrow; now my husband will have love for me.

33Then she became with child again, and gave birth to a son; and said, Because it has come to the Lord’s ears that I am not loved, he has given me this son in addition: and she gave him the name Simeon.

34And she was with child again, and gave birth to a son; and said, Now at last my husband will be united to me, because I have given him three sons: so he was named Levi.

35And she was with child again, and gave birth to a son: and she said, This time I will give praise to the Lord: so he was named Judah; after this she had no more children for a time.

Genesis 30

1Now Rachel, because she had no children, was full of envy of her sister; and she said to Jacob, If you do not give me children I will not go on living.

2But Jacob was angry with Rachel, and said, Am I in the place of God, who has kept your body from having fruit?

3Then she said, Here is my servant Bilhah, go in to her, so that she may have a child on my knees, and I may have a family by her.

4So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.

5And Bilhah became with child, and gave birth to a son.

6Then Rachel said, God has been my judge, and has given ear to my voice, and has given me a son; so he was named Dan.

7And again Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, was with child, and gave birth to a second son.

8And Rachel said, I have had a great fight with my sister, and I have overcome her: and she gave the child the name Naphtali.

9When it was clear to Leah that she would have no more children for a time, she gave Zilpah, her servant, to Jacob as a wife.

10And Zilpah, Leah’s servant, gave birth to a son.

11And Leah said, It has gone well for me: and she gave him the name Gad.

12And Zilpah, Leah’s servant, gave birth to a second son.

13And Leah said, Happy am I! and all women will give witness to my joy: and she gave him the name Asher.

14Now at the time of the grain-cutting, Reuben saw some love-fruits in the field, and took them to his mother Leah. And Rachel said to her, Let me have some of your son’s love-fruits.

15But Leah said to her, Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband from me? and now would you take my son’s love-fruits? Then Rachel said, You may have him tonight in exchange for your son’s love-fruits.

16In the evening, when Jacob came in from the field, Leah went out to him and said, Tonight you are to come to me, for I have given my son’s love-fruits as a price for you. And he went in to her that night.

17And God gave ear to her and she became with child, and gave Jacob a fifth son.

18Then Leah said, God has made payment to me for giving my servant-girl to my husband: so she gave her son the name Issachar.

19And again Leah became with child, and she gave Jacob a sixth son.

20And she said, God has given me a good bride-price; now at last will I have my husband living with me, for I have given him six sons: and she gave him the name Zebulun.

21After that she had a daughter, to whom she gave the name Dinah.

22Then God gave thought to Rachel, and hearing her prayer he made her fertile.

23And she was with child, and gave birth to a son: and she said, God has taken away my shame.

24And she gave him the name Joseph, saying, May the Lord give me another son.

25Now after the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Let me go away to my place and my country.

26Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have been your servant, and let me go: for you have knowledge of all the work I have done for you.

27And Laban said, If you will let me say so, do not go away; for I have seen by the signs that the Lord has been good to me because of you.

28Say then what your payment is to be and I will give it.

29Then Jacob said, You have seen what I have done for you, and how your cattle have done well under my care.

30For before I came you had little, and it has been greatly increased; and the Lord has given you a blessing in everything I have done; but when am I to do something for my family?

31And Laban said, What am I to give you? And Jacob said, Do not give me anything; but I will again take up the care of your flock if you will only do this for me:

32Let me go through all your flock today, taking out from among them all the sheep which are marked or coloured or black, and all the marked or coloured goats: these will be my payment.

33And so you will be able to put my honour to the test in time to come; if you see among my flocks any goats which are not marked or coloured, or any sheep which is not black, you may take me for a thief.

34And Laban said, Let it be as you say.

35So that day he took all the he-goats which were banded or coloured, and all the she-goats which were marked or coloured or had white marks, and all the black sheep, and gave them into the care of his sons;

36And sent them three days’ journey away: and Jacob took care of the rest of Laban’s flock.

37Then Jacob took young branches of trees, cutting off the skin so that the white wood was seen in bands.

38And he put the banded sticks in the drinking-places where the flock came to get water; and they became with young when they came to the water.

39And because of this, the flock gave birth to young which were marked with bands of colour.

40These lambs Jacob kept separate; and he put his flock in a place by themselves and not with Laban’s flock.

41And whenever the stronger ones of the flock became with young, Jacob put the sticks in front of them in the drinking-places, so that they might become with young when they saw the sticks.

42But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put the sticks before them; so that the feebler flocks were Laban’s and the stronger were Jacob’s.

43So Jacob’s wealth was greatly increased; he had great flocks and women-servants and men-servants and camels and asses.

Psalms 23

A Psalm. Of David.

1 The Lord takes care of me as his sheep; I will not be without any good thing.

2He makes a resting-place for me in the green fields: he is my guide by the quiet waters.

3He gives new life to my soul: he is my guide in the ways of righteousness because of his name.

4Yes, though I go through the valley of deep shade, I will have no fear of evil; for you are with me, your rod and your support are my comfort.

5You make ready a table for me in front of my haters: you put oil on my head; my cup is overflowing.

6Truly, blessing and mercy will be with me all the days of my life; and I will have a place in the house of the Lord all my days.

Luke 1

1As a number of attempts have been made to put together in order an account of those events which took place among us,

2As they were handed down to us by those who saw them from the first and were preachers of the word,

3It seemed good to me, having made observation, with great care, of the direction of events in their order, to put the facts in writing for you, most noble Theophilus;

4So that you might have certain knowledge of those things about which you were given teaching.

5In the days of Herod, king of Judaea, there was a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the order of Abijah; and he had a wife of the family of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

6They were upright in the eyes of God, keeping all the rules and orders of God, and doing no wrong.

7And they were without children, because Elisabeth had never given birth, and they were at that time very old.

8Now it came about that in his turn he was acting as priest before God,

9And as was the way of the priests, he had to go into the Temple to see to the burning of perfumes.

10And all the people were offering prayers outside, at the time of the burning of perfumes.

11And he saw an angel of the Lord in his place on the right side of the altar.

12And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear came on him.

13But the angel said, Have no fear, Zacharias, for your prayer has come to the ears of God, and your wife Elisabeth will have a son, and his name will be John.

14And you will be glad and have great delight; and numbers of people will have joy at his birth.

15For he will be great in the eyes of the Lord; he will not take wine or strong drink; and he will be full of the Spirit of God from his birth.

16And through him great numbers of the children of Israel will be turned to the Lord their God.

17And he will go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of fathers to their children, and wrongdoers to the way of righteousness; to make ready a people whose hearts have been turned to the Lord.

18And Zacharias said to the angel, How may I be certain of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is far on in years.

19And the angel, answering, said, I am Gabriel, whose place is before God; I have been sent to say these words to you and to give you this good news.

20Now, see, you will be without voice or language till the day when these things come about, because you had not faith in my words, which will have effect at the right time.

21And the people were waiting for Zacharias and were surprised because he was in the Temple for such a long time.

22And when he came out he was not able to say anything, and they saw that he had seen a vision in the Temple; and he was making signs to them without words.

23And when the days of his work in the Temple were ended, he went back to his house.

24After that time, Elisabeth, being certain that she was to become a mother, kept herself from men’s eyes for five months, saying,

25The Lord has done this to me, for his eyes were on me, to take away my shame in the eyes of men.

26Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town in Galilee, named Nazareth,

27To a virgin who was to be married to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the name of the virgin was Mary.

28And the angel came in to her and said, Peace be with you, to whom special grace has been given; the Lord is with you.

29But she was greatly troubled at his words, and said to herself, What may be the purpose of these words?

30And the angel said to her, Have no fear, Mary, for you have God’s approval.

31And see, you will give birth to a son, and his name will be Jesus.

32He will be great, and will be named the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his father:

33He will have rule over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

34And Mary said to the angel, How may this be, because I have had no knowledge of a man?

35And the angel in answer said to her, The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will come to rest on you, and so that which will come to birth will be named holy, Son of God.

36Even now Elisabeth, who is of your family, is to be a mother, though she is old: and this is the sixth month with her who was without children.

37For there is nothing which God is not able to do.

38And Mary said: I am the servant of the Lord; may it be to me as you say. And the angel went away.

39Then Mary got up and went quickly into the high lands, to a town of Judah;

40And went into the house of Zacharias and took Elisabeth in her arms.

41And when the voice of Mary came to the ears of Elisabeth, the baby made a sudden move inside her; then Elisabeth was full of the Holy Spirit,

42And she said with a loud voice: May blessing be on you among women, and a blessing on the child of your body.

43How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me?

44For, truly, when the sound of your voice came to my ears, the baby in my body made a sudden move for joy.

45Happy will she be who had faith that the things which the Lord has said to her will be done.

46And Mary said: My soul gives glory to God;

47My spirit is glad in God my Saviour.

48For he has had pity on his servant, though she is poor and lowly placed: and from this hour will all generations give witness to the blessing which has come to me.

49For he who is strong has done great things for me; and holy is his name.

50His mercy is for all generations in whom is the fear of him.

51With his arm he has done acts of power; he has put to flight those who have pride in their hearts.

52He has put down kings from their seats, lifting up on high the men of low degree.

53Those who had no food he made full of good things; the men of wealth he sent away with nothing in their hands;

54His help he has given to Israel, his servant, so that he might keep in mind his mercy to Abraham and his seed for ever,

55As he gave his word to our fathers.

56And Mary was with her for about three months and then went back to her house.

57Now it was time for Elisabeth to give birth, and she had a son.

58And it came to the ears of her neighbours and relations that the Lord had been very good to her, and they took part in her joy.

59And on the eighth day they came to see to the circumcision of the child, and they would have given him the name of Zacharias, his father’s name;

60But his mother made answer and said, No, his name is John.

61And they said, Not one of your relations has that name.

62And they made signs to his father, to say what name was to be given to him.

63And he sent for writing materials and put down: His name is John; and they were all surprised.

64And straight away his mouth was open and his tongue was free and he gave praise to God.

65And fear came on all those who were living round about them: and there was much talk about all these things in all the hill-country of Judaea.

66And all who had word of them kept them in their minds and said, What will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.

67And his father, Zacharias, was full of the Holy Spirit, and with the voice of a prophet said these words:

68Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people and made them free,

69Lifting up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,

70(As he said, by the mouth of his holy prophets, from the earliest times,)

71Salvation from those who are against us, and from the hands of those who have hate for us;

72To do acts of mercy to our fathers and to keep in mind his holy word,

73The oath which he made to Abraham, our father,

74That we, being made free from the fear of those who are against us, might give him worship,

75In righteousness and holy living before him all our days.

76And you, child, will be named the prophet of the Most High: you will go before the face of the Lord, to make ready his ways;

77To give knowledge of salvation to his people, through the forgiveness of sins,

78Because of the loving mercies of our God, by which the dawn from heaven has come to us,

79To give light to those in dark places, and in the shade of death, so that our feet may be guided into the way of peace.

80And the child became tall, and strong in spirit; and he was living in the waste land till the day when he came before the eyes of Israel.

Luke 2

1Now it came about in those days that an order went out from Caesar Augustus that there was to be a numbering of all the world.

2This was the first numbering, which was made when Quirinius was ruler of Syria.

3And all men went to be numbered, everyone to his town.

4And Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the town of Nazareth, into Judaea, to Beth-lehem, the town of David, because he was of the house and family of David,

5To be put on the list with Mary, his future wife, who was about to become a mother.

6And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

7And she had her first son; and folding him in linen, she put him to rest in the place where the cattle had their food, because there was no room for them in the house.

8And in the same country there were keepers of sheep in the fields, watching over their flock by night.

9And an angel of the Lord came to them, and the glory of the Lord was shining round about them: and fear came on them.

10And the angel said, Have no fear; for truly, I give you good news of great joy which will be for all the people:

11For on this day, in the town of David, a Saviour has come to birth, who is Christ the Lord.

12And this is the sign to you: you will see a young child folded in linen, in the place where the cattle have their food.

13And suddenly there was with the angel a great band of spirits from heaven, giving praise to God, and saying,

14Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth peace among men with whom he is well pleased.

15And when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the keepers of the sheep said to one another, Let us go now to Beth-lehem, and see this thing which has come about, which the Lord has made clear to us.

16And they came quickly, and saw Mary and Joseph, and the child in the place where the cattle had their food.

17And when they saw it, they gave them an account of the things which had been said to them about the child.

18And all those to whose ears it came were full of wonder at the things said by the keepers of the sheep.

19But Mary kept all these words in her heart, and gave much thought to them.

20Then the keepers of the sheep went back, giving glory and praise to God for all the things which had come to their ears and which they had seen, as it had been said to them.

21And when, after eight days, the time came for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name which the angel had given to him before his birth.

22And when the necessary days for making them clean by the law of Moses had come to an end, they took him to Jerusalem to give him to the Lord

23(As it says in the law of the Lord, Every mother’s first male child is to be holy to the Lord),

24And to make an offering, as it is ordered in the law of the Lord, of two doves or other young birds.

25And there was then in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon; and he was an upright man, fearing God and waiting for the comfort of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was on him.

26And he had knowledge, through the Holy Spirit, that he would not see death till he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

27And full of the Spirit he came into the Temple; and when the father and mother came in with the child Jesus, to do with him what was ordered by the law,

28Then he took him in his arms and gave praise to God and said,

29Now you are letting your servant go in peace, O Lord, as you have said;

30For my eyes have seen your salvation,

31Which you have made ready before the face of all nations;

32A light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.

33And his father and mother were full of wonder at the things which were said about him.

34And Simeon gave them his blessing and said to Mary, his mother, See, this child will be the cause of the downfall and the lifting up of great numbers of people in Israel, and he will be a sign against which hard words will be said;

35(And a sword will go through your heart;) so that the secret thoughts of men may come to light.

36And there was one, Anna, a woman prophet, the daughter of Phanuel, of the family of Asher (she was very old, and after seven years of married life

37She had been a widow for eighty-four years); she was in the Temple at all times, worshipping with prayers and going without food, night and day.

38And coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, talking of him to all those who were waiting for the freeing of Jerusalem.

39And when they had done all the things which were ordered by the law of the Lord, they went back to Galilee, to Nazareth, the town where they were living.

40And the child became tall and strong and full of wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

41And every year his father and mother went to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.

42And when he was twelve years old, they went up, as their way was, to the feast;

43And when the days of the feast came to an end and they were going back, the boy Jesus was still in Jerusalem, but they had no knowledge of it:

44And in the belief that he was with some of their number, they went a day’s journey; and after looking for him among their relations and friends,

45And seeing that he was not there, they went back to Jerusalem, to make search for him.

46And after three days they came across him in the Temple, seated among the wise men, giving ear to their words and putting questions to them.

47And all to whose ears it came were full of wonder at his knowledge and the answers which he gave.

48And when they saw him they were surprised, and his mother said to him, Son, why have you done this to us? see, your father and I have been looking for you with sorrow.

49And he said to them, Why were you looking for me? was it not clear to you that my right place was in my Father’s house?

50And his words seemed strange to them.

51And he went down with them and came to Nazareth; and did as he was ordered: and his mother kept all these words in her heart.

52And Jesus was increasing in wisdom and in years, and in grace before God and men.

Luke 3

1Now in the fifteenth year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being ruler of Judaea, and Herod being king of Galilee, his brother Philip king of the country of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias king of Abilene,

2When Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the waste land.

3And he came into all the country round about Jordan, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed.

4As it says in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the waste land, Make ready the way of the Lord, make his roads straight.

5Every valley will be lifted up, and all the mountains and hills made low, and the twisted will be made straight, and the rough ways smooth;

6And all flesh will see the salvation of God.

7So he said to the people who went out to him for baptism: You offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come?

8Make clear by your acts that your hearts have been changed; and do not say to yourselves, We have Abraham for our father: for I say to you that God is able from these stones to make children of Abraham.

9And even now the axe is put to the root of the trees; and every tree which does not have good fruit will be cut down and put into the fire.

10And the people put questions to him, saying, What have we to do?

11And he made answer and said to them, He who has two coats, let him give to him who has not even one; and he who has food, let him do the same.

12Then tax-farmers came to him for baptism and said to him, Master, what have we to do?

13And he said to them, Do not make an attempt to get more money than the right amount.

14And men of the army put questions to him, saying, And what have we to do? And he said to them, Do no violent acts to any man, and do not take anything without right, and let your payment be enough for you.

15And while the people were waiting, and all men were questioning in their hearts about John, if he was the Christ or not,

16John made answer, saying to them all, Truly, I give you baptism with water, but one is coming who is greater than I, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo: he will give you baptism with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:

17In whose hand is the instrument with which he will make clean his grain; he will put the good grain in his store, but the waste will be burned in the fire which will never be put out.

18And so comforting them with these and other words, he gave the good news to the people;

19But Herod the king, because John had made a protest on account of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and other evil things which Herod had done,

20Did this most evil thing of all, and had John shut up in prison.

21Now it came about that when all the people had been given baptism, Jesus, having had baptism with them, was in prayer, when, the heaven being open,

22The Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove, and a voice came from heaven, saying, You are my dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

23And Jesus at this time was about thirty years old, being the son (as it seemed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

24The son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

25The son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,

26The son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda,

27The son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

28The son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er,

29The son of Jesus, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

30The son of Symeon, the son of Judas, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim,

31The son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

32The son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,

33The son of Amminadab, the son of Arni, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

34The son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

35The son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

36The son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

37The son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,

38The son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

Luke 4

1And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, came back from the Jordan, and was guided by the Spirit in the waste land

2For forty days, being tested by the Evil One. And he had no food in those days; and when they came to an end, he was in need of food.

3And the Evil One said to him, If you are the Son of God, give orders to this stone to become bread.

4And Jesus made answer to him, It has been said in the Writings, Bread is not man’s only need.

5And he took him up and let him see all the kingdoms of the earth in a minute of time.

6And the Evil One said, I will give you authority over all these, and the glory of them, for it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone at my pleasure.

7If then you will give worship to me, it will all be yours.

8And Jesus in answer said to him, It has been said in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God, and be his servant only.

9And he took him to Jerusalem and put him on the highest point of the Temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, let yourself go down from here; for it is said in the Writings,

10He will give his angels orders to take care of you:

11And, In their hands they will keep you up, so that your foot may not be crushed against a stone.

12And Jesus made answer and said to him, It is said in the Writings, You may not put the Lord your God to the test.

13And when all these tests were ended the Evil One went away from him for a time.

14And Jesus came back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news of him went through all the country round about.

15And he was teaching in their Synagogues and all men gave him praise.

16And he came to Nazareth, where he had been as a child, and he went, as his way was, into the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and got up to give a reading.

17And the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and, opening the book, he came on the place where it is said,

18The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,

19To give knowledge that the year of the Lord’s good pleasure is come.

20And shutting the book he gave it back to the servant and took his seat: and the eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on him.

21Then he said to them, Today this word has come true in your hearing.

22And they were all giving witness, with wonder, to the words of grace which came from his mouth: and they said, Is not this the son of Joseph?

23And he said to them, Without doubt you will say to me, Let the medical man make himself well: the things which to our knowledge were done at Capernaum, do them here in your country.

24And he said to them, Truly I say to you, No prophet is honoured in his country.

25Truly I say to you, There were a number of widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months and there was no food in the land;

26But Elijah was not sent to one of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

27And there were a number of lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and not one of them was made clean, but only Naaman the Syrian.

28And all who were in the Synagogue were very angry when these things were said to them.

29And they got up and took him out of the town to the edge of the mountain on which their town was, so that they might send him down to his death.

30But he came through them and went on his way.

31And he came down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee; and he was giving them teaching on the Sabbath.

32And they were surprised at his teaching, for his word was with authority.

33And there was a man in the Synagogue who had an unclean spirit; and he gave a loud cry and said,

34Let us be! what have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? have you come to put an end to us? I have knowledge who you are, the Holy One of God.

35And Jesus said to him, Be quiet, and come out of him. And when the evil spirit had put him down on the earth in the middle of them, he came out of him, having done him no damage.

36And wonder came on them all and they said to one another, What are these words? for with authority and power he gives orders to the evil spirits and they come out.

37And there was much talk about him in all the places round about.

38And he got up and went out of the Synagogue and went into the house of Simon. And Simon’s wife’s mother was very ill with a burning heat; and in answer to their prayers for her

39He went near her, and with a sharp word he gave orders to the disease and it went away from her; and straight away she got up and took care of their needs.

40And at sundown all those who had anyone ill with any sort of disease, took them to him, and he put his hands on every one of them and made them well.

41And evil spirits came out of a number of them, crying out and saying, You are the Son of God. But he gave them sharp orders not to say a word, because they had knowledge that he was the Christ.

42And when it was day, he came out and went to a waste place; and great numbers of people came looking for him, and they came to him and would have kept him from going away.

43But he said to them, I have to give the good news of the kingdom of God in other towns, because that is why I was sent.

44And he was teaching in the Synagogues of Galilee.

Luke 5

1Now it came about that while the people came pushing to be near him, and to have knowledge of the word of God, he was by a wide stretch of water named Gennesaret;

2And he saw two boats by the edge of the water, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.

3And he got into one of the boats, the property of Simon, and made a request to him to go a little way out from the land. And being seated he gave the people teaching from the boat.

4And when his talk was ended, he said to Simon, Go out into deep water, and let down your nets for fish.

5And Simon, answering, said, Master, we were working all night and we took nothing: but at your word I will let down the nets.

6And when they had done this, they got such a great number of fish that it seemed as if their nets would be broken;

7And they made signs to their friends in the other boat to come to their help. And they came, and the two boats were so full that they were going down.

8But Simon, when he saw it, went down at the knees of Jesus and said, Go away from me, O Lord, for I am a sinner.

9For he was full of wonder and so were all those who were with him, at the number of fish which they had taken;

10And so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were working with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Have no fear; from this time forward you will be a fisher of men.

11And when they had got their boats to the land, they gave up everything and went after him.

12And it came about that while he was in one of the towns, there was a leper there: and when he saw Jesus he went down on his face in prayer to him, saying, Lord, if it is your pleasure, you have power to make me clean.

13And he put out his hand to him and said, It is my pleasure; be clean. And straight away his disease went from him.

14And he gave him orders: Say nothing to any man, but let the priest see you and give an offering so that you may be made clean, as the law of Moses says, and for a witness to them.

15But news of him went out all the more, in every direction, and great numbers of people came together to give hearing to his words and to be made well from their diseases.

16But he went away by himself to a waste place for prayer.

17And it came about that on one of these days he was teaching; and some Pharisees and teachers of the law were seated there, who had come from every town of Galilee and Judaea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was with him, to make those who were ill free from their diseases.

18And some men had with them, on a bed, a man who was ill, without power of moving; and they made attempts to get him in and put him before Jesus.

19And because of the mass of people, there was no way to get him in; so they went up on the top of the house and let him down through the roof, on his bed, into the middle in front of Jesus.

20And seeing their faith he said, Man, you have forgiveness for your sins.

21And the scribes and Pharisees were having an argument, saying, Who is this, who has no respect for God? who is able to give forgiveness for sins, but God only?

22But Jesus, who had knowledge of their thoughts, said to them, Why are you reasoning in your hearts?

23Which is the simpler: to say, You have forgiveness for your sins; or to say, Get up and go?

24But so that you may see that on earth the Son of man has authority for the forgiveness of sins, (he said to the man who was ill,) I say to you, Get up, and take up your bed, and go into your house.

25And straight away he got up before them, and took up his bed and went away to his house giving praise to God.

26And wonder overcame them all, and they gave glory to God; and they were full of fear, saying, We have seen strange things today.

27And after these things he went out, and saw Levi, a tax-farmer, seated at the place where taxes were taken, and said to him, Come after me.

28And giving up his business, he got up and went after him.

29And Levi made a great feast for him in his house: and a great number of tax-farmers and others were seated at table with them.

30And the Pharisees and their scribes made protests against his disciples, saying, Why do you take food and drink with tax-farmers and sinners?

31And Jesus, answering, said to them, Those who are well have no need of a medical man, but those who are ill.

32I have come, not to get the upright, but sinners, so that they may be turned from their sins.

33And they said to him, The disciples of John frequently go without food, and make prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees; but your disciples take food and drink.

34And Jesus said, Are you able to make the friends of the newly-married man go without food when he is with them?

35But the days will come when he will be taken away from them, and then they will go without food.

36And he said to them, in a story, No man takes a bit of cloth from a new coat and puts it on to an old coat, for so the new coat would be damaged and the bit from the new would not go well with the old.

37And no man puts new wine into old wine-skins, for fear that the skins will be burst by the new wine, and the wine be let out, and the skins come to destruction.

38But new wine has to be put into new wine-skins.

39And no man, having had old wine, has any desire for new, for he says, The old is better.

Luke 6

1Now it came about that on the Sabbath he was going through the fields of grain, and his disciples took the heads of the grain for food, crushing them in their hands.

2But some of the Pharisees said, Why do you do what it is not right to do on the Sabbath?

3And Jesus said, Have you not seen in the Writings what David did when he was in need of food, he, and those who were with him;

4How he went into the house of God and took for food the holy bread, which only the priests may take, and gave it to those who were with him?

5And he said, The Son of man is lord even of the Sabbath.

6And it came about, on another Sabbath, that he went into the Synagogue and was teaching there. And a man was there whose right hand was dead.

7And the scribes and Pharisees were watching him to see if he would make him well on the Sabbath, so that they might be able to say something against him.

8But he had knowledge of their thoughts; and he said to the man whose hand was dead, Get up and come into the middle. And he got up and came forward.

9And Jesus said, I put the question to you, Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? to give life or to take it away?

10And looking round on all of them, he said to him, Put out your hand. And he did so: and his hand was made well.

11But they were full of wrath, and were talking together about what they might do to Jesus.

12And it came about in those days that he went out to the mountain for prayer; and he was all night in prayer to God.

13And the day came and, turning to his disciples, he made a selection from among them of twelve, to whom he gave the name of Apostles;

14Simon, to whom he gave the name of Peter, and Andrew, his brother, and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew

15And Matthew and Thomas and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was named the Zealot,

16And Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, he who was false to him.

17And he came down with them to a level place, and a great band of his disciples, and a very great number of people from all Judaea and Jerusalem and from the parts of Tyre and Sidon by the sea, came to give hearing to him, and to be made well from their diseases;

18And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were made well.

19And all the people were desiring to be touched by him, for power came from him and made them all well.

20And turning his eyes to his disciples he said, Happy are you who are poor: for the kingdom of God is yours.

21Happy are you who are in need of food now: for you will be made full. Happy are you who are weeping now; for you will be glad.

22Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man.

23Be glad in that day, and be lifted up for joy, for your reward in heaven will be great: for their fathers did these same things to the prophets.

24But unhappy are you who have wealth: for you have been comforted now.

25Unhappy are you who are full of food now: for you will be in need. Unhappy are you who are laughing now: for you will be crying in sorrow.

26Unhappy are you when all men give you their approval: for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

27But I say to you who give ear to me, Have love for those who are against you, do good to those who have hate for you,

28Give blessing to those who give you curses, say prayers for those who are cruel to you.

29If a man gives you a blow on one side of your face, then let the other side be turned to him; from him who takes away your coat, do not keep back your robe.

30Give to everyone who comes with a request, and if a man takes away your property, make no attempt to get it back again.

31Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32If you have love for those who have love for you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners have love for those who have love for them.

33And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is it to you? for even sinners do the same.

34And if you let those have the use of your money, from whom you are hoping to get it back, what credit is it to you? even sinners do so to sinners, hoping to get back as much as they gave.

35But be loving to those who are against you and do them good, and give them your money, not giving up hope, and your reward will be great and you will be the sons of the Most High: for he is kind to evil men, and to those who have hard hearts.

36Be full of pity, even as your Father is full of pity.

37Be not judges of others, and you will not be judged: do not give punishment to others, and you will not get punishment yourselves: make others free, and you will be made free:

38Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, crushed down, full and running over, they will give to you. For in the same measure as you give, it will be given to you again.

39And he gave them teaching in the form of a story, saying, Is it possible for one blind man to be guide to another? will they not go falling together into a hole?

40The disciple is not greater than his master, but everyone whose learning is complete will be like his master.

41And why do you take note of the grain of dust in your brother’s eye, but take no note of the bit of wood which is in your eye?

42How will you say to your brother, Brother, let me take the grain of dust out of your eye, when you yourself do not see the bit of wood in your eye? O false one! first take the wood out of your eye and then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your brother’s eye.

43For no good tree gives bad fruit, and no bad tree gives good fruit.

44For every tree is judged by its fruit. Men do not get figs from thorns, or grapes from blackberry plants.

45The good man, out of the good store of his heart, gives good things; and the evil man, out of his evil store, gives evil: for out of the full store of the heart come the words of the mouth.

46Why do you say to me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

47Everyone who comes to me and gives ear to my words and does them, I will make clear to you what he is like:

48He is like a man building a house, who went deep and put the base of it on a rock; and when the water came up and the river was driving against that house, it was not moved, because the building was good.

49But he who gives hearing, without doing, is like a man building a house on the earth without a base for it; and when the force of the river came against it, straight away it came down; and the destruction of that house was great.

Luke 7

1After he had come to the end of all his words in the hearing of the people, he went into Capernaum.

2And a certain captain had a servant who was very dear to him; this servant was ill and near to death.

3And when news of Jesus came to his ears, he sent to him rulers of the Jews, requesting that he would come and make his servant well.

4And they, when they came to Jesus, made their request warmly, saying,

5It is right for you to do this for him, because he is a friend to our nation, and himself has put up a Synagogue for us.

6And Jesus went with them. And when he was not far from the house, the man sent friends to him, saying, Lord, do not give yourself trouble: for I am not important enough for you to come into my house:

7And I had the feeling that I was not even good enough to come to you: but say the word only, and my servant will be well.

8For I, myself, am a man under authority, having men under me; and I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.

9And when these things were said to Jesus, he was surprised, and, turning to the mass of people coming after him, said, I have not seen such great faith, no, not in Israel.

10And when those who were sent came back to the house they saw that the servant was well.

11And it came about, after a little time, that he went to a town named Nain; and his disciples went with him, and a great number of people.

12Now when he came near the door of the town, a dead man was being taken out, the only son of his mother, who was a widow: and a great number of people from the town were with her.

13And when the Lord saw her, he had pity on her and said to her, Be not sad.

14And he came near, and put his hand on the stretcher where the dead man was: and those who were moving it came to a stop. And he said, Young man, I say to you, Get up.

15And the dead man got up, and words came from his lips. And he gave him to his mother.

16And fear came on all, and they gave praise to God, saying, A great prophet is among us: and, God has given thought to his people.

17And this story about him went through all Judaea and the places round about.

18And the disciples of John gave him an account of all these things.

19Then John sent two of his disciples to the Lord, saying, Are you he who is to come, or are we waiting for another?

20And when the men came to him they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, Are you he who is to come, or are we waiting for another?

21At that time, he made a number of people free from their diseases and their pains, and from evil spirits; and to others who were blind he gave back the use of their eyes.

22And answering them he said, Go back and give news to John of what you have seen, and the things which have come to your ears; the blind now see, those who had no power in their legs are walking, lepers are made clean, those who had no hearing now have their ears open, dead men come to life again, and the poor have the good news given to them.

23And a blessing will be on him who has no doubts about me.

24And when the men who were sent by John had gone away, he said to the people, about John, What did you go out into the waste land to see? a tall stem moving in the wind?

25But what did you go out to see? a man in soft clothing? See now, those who have beautiful clothing and delicate food are in kings’ houses.

26But what did you go out to see? a prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

27This is he of whom it has been said, See, I send my servant before your face, who will make ready your way before you.

28I say to you, Among all the sons of women, not one is greater than John: but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

29(And all the people, and the tax-farmers, to whom John had given baptism, when they had knowledge of these things, gave glory to God.

30But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were against the purpose of God for themselves, not having had his baptism.)

31What comparison am I to make of the men of this generation? what are they like?

32They are like children who are seated in the market-place, crying out to one another, and saying, We made music for you, but you did not take part in the dance; we gave cries of sorrow, but you were not sad.

33For John the Baptist came, taking no food or drink, and you say, He has an evil spirit.

34The Son of man came feasting, and you say, Here is a lover of food and wine, a friend of tax-farmers and sinners.

35But wisdom is judged to be right by all her children.

36And one of the Pharisees made a request that he would take a meal with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his seat at the table.

37And there was a woman in the town who was a sinner; and when she had news that he was a guest in the Pharisee’s house, she took a bottle of perfume,

38And went in and took her place at the back of him, near his feet, weeping, so that his feet were washed with the drops from her eyes, and with her hair she made them dry, and kissing his feet she put the perfume on them.

39Now when the Pharisee in whose house he was saw it, he said to himself, This man, if he was a prophet, would be conscious what sort of woman this is who has put her hands on him, that she is a sinner.

40And Jesus, answering, said, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he said, Master, say on.

41And he said, Two men were in debt to a certain man of business: one had a debt of five hundred pence, and the other of fifty.

42When they were unable to make payment, he made the two of them free of their debts. Which of them, now, will have the greater love for him?

43Simon, in answer, said, It seems he whose debt was greater. And he said, Your decision is right.

44And turning to the woman he said to Simon, You see this woman? I came into your house; you did not give me water for my feet: but she has been washing my feet with the drops from her eyes, and drying them with her hair.

45You did not give me a kiss: but she, from the time when I came in, has gone on kissing my feet.

46You put no oil on my head: but she has put perfume on my feet.

47And so I say to you, She will have forgiveness for her sins which are great in number, because of her great love: but he who has small need of forgiveness gives little love.

48And he said to her, You have forgiveness for your sins.

49And those who were seated at table with him said to themselves, Who is this who even gives forgiveness of sins?

50And he said to the woman, By your faith you have salvation; go in peace.

Luke 8

1And it came about, after a short time, that he went through town and country giving the good news of the kingdom of God, and with him were the twelve,

2And certain women who had been made free from evil spirits and diseases, Mary named Magdalene, from whom seven evil spirits had gone out,

3And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s chief house-servant, and Susanna and a number of others, who gave him of their wealth for his needs.

4And when a great number of people came together, and men from every town went out to him, he gave them teaching in the form of a story:

5A man went out to put in seed, and while he was doing it, some was dropped by the wayside and it was crushed under foot, and was taken by the birds of heaven.

6And some went on the rock, and when it came up it became dry and dead because it had no water.

7And some went among thorns, and the thorns came up with it and it had no room for growth.

8And some falling on good earth, came up and gave fruit a hundred times as much. And with these words he said in a loud voice, He who has ears, let him give ear.

9And his disciples put questions to him about the point of the story.

10And he said, To you is given knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to the others, they are given in stories, so that seeing, they may not see, and though they give hearing, the sense will not be clear to them.

11Now this is the point of the story: The seed is the word of God.

12Those by the side of the road are those who have given hearing; then the Evil One comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not have faith and get salvation.

13And those on the rock are those who with joy give hearing to the word; but having no root, they have faith for a time, and when the test comes they give up.

14And those which went among thorns are those who have given hearing, and go on their way, but they are overcome by cares and wealth and the pleasures of life, and they give no fruit.

15And those in the good earth are those who, having given ear to the word, keep it with a good and true heart, and in quiet strength give fruit.

16No man, when the light is lighted, puts a cover over it, or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on its table, so that those who come in may see the light.

17For nothing is put out of view which will not be made clear, and nothing is secret of which the knowledge will not come to light.

18So take care how you give hearing, for to him who has will be given, and from him who has not will be taken even what he seems to have.

19And his mother and his brothers came to him, and they were not able to get near him because of the great number of people.

20And someone said to him, Your mother and your brothers are outside desiring to see you.

21But he said to them in answer, My mother and my brothers are those who have knowledge of the word of God and do it.

22Now it came about on one of those days that he got into a boat with his disciples; and he said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the water: and they put out the boat.

23But while they were sailing he went to sleep: and a storm of wind came down on the sea, and the boat became full of water and they were in danger.

24Then they came to him and, awaking him out of his sleep, said, Master, Master, destruction is near. And he, when he was awake, gave orders to the wind and the rolling waves, and the storm came to an end, and all was calm.

25And he said to them, Where is your faith? And fear and wonder overcame them, and they said to one another, Who then is this, who gives orders even to the winds and the water and they do what he says?

26And they came to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

27And when he had come to the land, there came to him a certain man from the town who had evil spirits; and for a long time he had had no clothing on, and was not living in a house but in the place of the dead.

28And when he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry and went down on the earth before him and in a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Do not be cruel to me.

29For he gave an order to the evil spirit to come out of the man. For frequently it would take a grip of him: and he was kept under control, and prisoned with chains; but parting the chains in two, he would be sent by the driving of the evil spirit into waste places.

30And Jesus said to him, What is your name? And he said, Legion; for a number of spirits had gone into him.

31And they made a request to him that he would not give them an order to go away into the deep.

32Now there was a great herd of pigs in that place, getting food on the mountain: and the evil spirits made a request to him that he would let them go into the pigs, and he let them.

33And the evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs: and the herd went rushing down a sharp slope into the water and came to destruction.

34And when the men who took care of them saw what had come about, they went quickly and gave news of it in the town and the country.

35And they went out to see what had taken place, and they came to Jesus and saw the man out of whom the evil spirits had gone, seated, clothed and with full use of his senses, at the feet of Jesus; and fear came on them.

36And those who had seen it gave them an account of how the man who had the evil spirits was made well.

37And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes made a request to him to go away from them; for they were in great fear: and he got into a boat and went back.

38But the man from whom the evil spirits had gone out had a great desire to be with him, but he sent him away, saying,

39Go back to your house and let them have news of all the great things which God has done for you. And he went away, giving word through all the town of the great things which Jesus had done for him.

40And when Jesus went back, the people were glad to see him, for they were all waiting for him.

41Then there came a man named Jairus, who was a ruler in the Synagogue: and he went down at the feet of Jesus, desiring him to come to his house;

42For he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was near to death. But while he was on his way, the people were pushing to be near him.

43And a woman, who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had given all her money to medical men, and not one of them was able to make her well,

44Came after him and put her hand on the edge of his robe, and straight away the flowing of her blood was stopped.

45And Jesus said, Who was touching me? And when they all said, It is not I, Peter and those who were with him said, Master, the people are pushing round you on every side.

46But Jesus said, Someone was touching me, for I had the feeling that power had gone out from me.

47And when the woman saw that she was not able to keep it secret, she came, shaking with fear, and falling down before him she made clear before all the people the reason for her touching him, and how she was made well straight away.

48And he said to her, Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.

49While he was still talking, someone came from the house of the ruler of the Synagogue, saying, Your daughter is dead; do not go on troubling the Master.

50But Jesus at these words said to him, Have no fear, only have faith, and she will be made well.

51And when he came to the house he did not let any man go in with him, but only Peter and John and James, and the father of the girl and her mother.

52And all the people were weeping and crying for her; but he said, Do not be sad, for she is not dead, but sleeping.

53And they were laughing at him, being certain that she was dead.

54But he, taking her hand, said to her, My child, get up.

55And her spirit came back to her and she got up straight away: and he gave orders that food was to be given to her.

56And her father and mother were full of wonder, but he gave orders to them to say nothing about it to anyone.

Luke 9:1-38

1And getting the twelve together, he gave them power and authority over all evil spirits and over diseases, to make them well.

2And he sent them out to be preachers of the kingdom of God, and to make well those who were ill.

3And he said to them, Take nothing for your journey, no stick or bag or bread or money, and do not take two coats.

4And if you go into a house, let that house be your resting-place till you go away.

5And if any people will not take you in, when you go away from that town, put off its dust from your feet for a witness against them.

6And they went away, journeying through all the towns, preaching the good news and making people free from diseases in all places.