New Testament Plan

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 all the people were on their way to register for the census, each to his own city.

⁴Now Joseph 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 betrothed to him, and was pregnant.

⁶While they were there, the time came 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.

⁸In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night.

⁹And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

¹⁰And so 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.

¹²And this 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 army of angels praising God and saying,

¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among people with whom He is pleased.”

¹⁵When the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem, then, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

¹⁶And 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 Him, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.

¹⁸And all who heard it were amazed about the things which were told them by the shepherds.

¹⁹But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

²⁰And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

²¹And when eight days were completed so that it was time for His circumcision, He was also named Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

²²And when the days for their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

²³(as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “EVERY firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”),

²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the Lord: “A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG DOVES.”

²⁵And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

²⁶And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

²⁷And he came by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,

²⁸then he took Him in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

²⁹“Now, Lord, You are letting Your bond-servant depart in peace, According to Your word;

³⁰For my eyes have seen Your salvation,

³¹Which You have prepared in the presence of all the peoples:

³²A light for revelation for the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

³³And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.

³⁴And Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and as a sign to be opposed—

³⁵and a sword will pierce your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage,

³⁷and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the temple grounds, serving night and day with fasts and prayers.

³⁸And at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak about Him to all those who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

³⁹And when His parents had completed everything in accordance with the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.

⁴⁰Now the Child continued to grow and to become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him.

⁴¹His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

⁴²And when He was twelve years old, they went up there according to the custom of the feast;

⁴³and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days required, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware of it.

⁴⁴Instead, they thought that He was somewhere in the caravan, and they went a day’s journey; and then they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.

⁴⁵And when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for Him.

⁴⁶Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

⁴⁷And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

⁴⁸When Joseph and Mary saw Him, they were bewildered; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You!”

⁴⁹And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’shouse?”

⁵⁰And yet they on their part did not understand the statement which He had made to them.

⁵¹And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued to be subject to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

⁵²And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and people.

¹Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,

²in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness.

³And he came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;

⁴as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “THE VOICE OF ONE CALLING OUT IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!

⁵EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE LOWERED; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH;

⁶AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD!’ ”

⁷So he was saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

⁸Therefore produce fruits that are consistent with repentance, and do not start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children for Abraham.

⁹But indeed the axe is already being laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what are we to do?”

¹¹And he would answer and say to them, “The one who has two tunics is to share with the one who has none; and the one who has food is to do likewise.”

¹²Now even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what are we to do?”

¹³And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”

¹⁴And soldiers also were questioning him, saying, “What are we to do, we as well?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone, nor harass anyone, and be content with your wages.”

¹⁵Now while the people were in a state of expectation and they all were thinking carefully in their hearts about John, whether he himself perhaps was the Christ,

¹⁶John responded to them all, saying, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but He is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the straps of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

¹⁷His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.

¹⁹But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him regarding Herodias, his brother’s wife, and regarding all the evil things which Herod had done,

²⁰Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.

²¹Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,

²²and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well pleased.”

²³When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years old, being, as was commonly held, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,

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 Hesli, 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 Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

³⁰the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, 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 Admin, the son of Ram, 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 Heber, 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 Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

¹Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness

²for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.

³And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴And Jesus answered him, “It is written: ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.’ ”

⁵And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

⁶And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory, for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want.

⁷Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”

⁸Jesus replied to him, “It is written: ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’ ”

⁹And he brought Him into Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here;

¹⁰for it is written: ‘HE WILL GIVE HIS ANGELS ORDERS CONCERNING YOU, TO PROTECT YOU,’

¹¹and, ‘ON their hands they will lift YOU UP, SO THAT YOU DO NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’ ”

¹²And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been stated, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’ ”

¹³And so when the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

¹⁴And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding region.

¹⁵And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

¹⁶And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

¹⁷And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

¹⁸“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO BRING GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

¹⁹TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

²⁰And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him.

²¹Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in yourhearing.”

²²And all the people were speaking well of Him, and admiring the gracious words which were coming from His lips; and yet they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

²³And He said to them, “No doubt you willquote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! All the miracles that we heard were done in Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’ ”

²⁴But He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

²⁵But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when asevere famine came over all the land;

²⁶and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only toZarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

²⁷And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them wascleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

²⁸And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;

²⁹and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and brought Him to the crest of the hill on which their city had been built, so that they could throw Him down from the cliff.

³⁰But He passed through their midst and went on His way.

³¹And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee; and He was teaching them on the Sabbath;

³²and they were amazed at His teaching, because His message was delivered with authority.

³³In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

³⁴“Leave us alone! What business do You have with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

³⁵But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, it came out of him without doing him any harm.

³⁶And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another, saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

³⁷And the news about Him was spreading into every locality of the surrounding region.

³⁸Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her.

³⁹And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and served them.

⁴⁰Now while the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He was laying His hands on each one of them and healing them.

⁴¹Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” And yet He was rebuking them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that He was the Christ.

⁴²Now when day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and they came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them.

⁴³But He said to them, “I must also preach the kingdom of God to the other cities, because I was sent for this purpose.”

⁴⁴So He kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.