Jesus Comforts His Disciples

1“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4And you know the way where I am going.” 5Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” 6Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Oneness with the Father

7If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

8Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. 11Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. 12Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. 13Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

15“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Role of the Spirit

16I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

18“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. 20In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

68“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,

69And has raised up a horn of salvation for us

In the house of David His servant—

70As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—

71Salvation from our enemies,

And from the hand of all who hate us;

72To show mercy toward our fathers,

And to remember His holy covenant,

73The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,

74To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,

Might serve Him without fear,

75In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

76And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways;

77To give to His people the knowledge of salvation

By the forgiveness of their sins,

78Because of the tender mercy of our God,

With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,

79To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,

To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

80And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

26But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” 30Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

“He was led as a sheep to slaughter;

And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

So He does not open His mouth.

33In humiliation His judgment was taken away;

Who will relate His generation?

For His life is removed from the earth.”

34The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 37[And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] 38And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

8In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14“Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

15When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” 16So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. 17When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. 19But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem

1Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. 2This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. 4Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

14Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,

“I will dwell in them and walk among them;

And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

17Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.

“And do not touch what is unclean;

And I will welcome you.

18And I will be a father to you,

And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”

Says the Lord Almighty.

Paul Reveals His Heart

1Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

BOOK 1

PSALM 1

The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.

1How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor stand in the path of sinners,

Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

2But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,

Which yields its fruit in its season

And its leaf does not wither;

And in whatever he does, he prospers.

4The wicked are not so,

But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.

5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the wicked will perish.

27“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

Zacharias’s Prophecy

67And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:

68“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,

69And has raised up a horn of salvation for us

In the house of David His servant—

70As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—

71Salvation from our enemies,

And from the hand of all who hate us;

72To show mercy toward our fathers,

And to remember His holy covenant,

73The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,

74To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,

Might serve Him without fear,

75In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

Zacharias’s Prophecy

67And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:

68“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,

69And has raised up a horn of salvation for us

In the house of David His servant—

70As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—

71Salvation from our enemies,

And from the hand of all who hate us;

72To show mercy toward our fathers,

And to remember His holy covenant,

73The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,

74To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,

Might serve Him without fear,

75In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

John Is Born

57Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.

59And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father. 60But his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.” 61And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by that name.” 62And they made signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “His name is John.” And they were all astonished. 64And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. 65Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. 66All who heard them kept them in mind, saying, “What then will this child turn out to be?” For the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.

The Magnificat

46And Mary said:

“My soul exalts the Lord,

47And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

48For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;

For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.

49For the Mighty One has done great things for me;

And holy is His name.

50And His mercy is upon generation after generation

Toward those who fear Him.

51He has done mighty deeds with His arm;

He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.

52He has brought down rulers from their thrones,

And has exalted those who were humble.

53He has filled the hungry with good things;

And sent away the rich empty-handed.

54He has given help to Israel His servant,

In remembrance of His mercy,

55As He spoke to our fathers,

To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

56And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.