Jesus

18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was promised in marriage to Joseph. Before they lived together as husband and wife, she was found to be expecting a child by the Holy Spirit.

19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.

Joseph, the man she was promised to, was a good and fair man. He did not want to shame her in front of everyone, so he planned to end the marriage quietly.

20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

But while he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. The child inside her is from the Holy Spirit.

21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will save his people from their sins."

22Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

All of this happened so that what the Lord had said through the prophet would come true. The prophet had said:

23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

"Look, a virgin will be expecting a child and will give birth to a son. People will call his name Emmanuel." That name means "God with us."

24Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

When Joseph woke up from his sleep, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do. He took Mary home as his wife.

25And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

But he did not sleep with her until she had given birth to her first son. And he named him Jesus.

1Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a town in the region of Judea, while Herod was king. After that, wise men came from lands to the east and arrived in Jerusalem.

2Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

They asked, "Where is the child who has been born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star rise in the east, and we came to worship him."

3When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

When King Herod heard this, it upset him, and it upset everyone in Jerusalem too.

4And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.

So he called together all the chief priests and the teachers of the law. He asked them where the Christ was to be born.

5And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

They told him, "In Bethlehem, in Judea. This is what the prophet wrote:

6And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are certainly not the smallest of Judah's ruling towns. A leader will come from you who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

7Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

Then Herod called the wise men to a private meeting. He asked them carefully to tell him exactly when the star had appeared.

8And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, tell me, so I can go and worship him too."

9When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

After they heard the king, they left. The star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

10When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

When they saw the star, they were filled with joy.

11And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

They went into the house and saw the child with his mother Mary. They knelt down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they returned to their own country by a different road.

13Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River, to John, so that John would baptize him.

14But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

But John tried to stop him. He said, "I am the one who needs to be baptized by you. Why are you coming to me?"

15And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

Jesus answered, "Allow it for now. This is how we do everything God asks of us." So John agreed.

16And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. Right then the sky opened. He saw God's Spirit coming down like a dove and settling on him.

17And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love. I am very pleased with him."

1Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Then the Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness, where the devil would test him.

2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

Jesus went without food for forty days and forty nights. After that he was hungry.

3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

The tester came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to turn into bread."

4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Jesus answered, "The Scriptures say, 'People do not live on bread alone. They live on every word that God speaks.'"

5Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, the holy city, and set him on the highest point of the temple.

6And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

He said, "If you are the Son of God, jump down. The Scriptures say, 'God will order his angels to care for you. They will catch you in their hands, so you will not even hurt your foot on a stone.'"

7Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Jesus said to him, "The Scriptures also say, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

8Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

Next the devil took him to a very high mountain. He showed him all the kingdoms of the world and how grand they were.

9And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

He said to him, "I will give you all of this, if you will bow down and worship me."

10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Then Jesus said to him, "Go away, Satan. The Scriptures say, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

11Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Then the devil left him. Angels came and took care of him.

12Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;

When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he went away to Galilee.

13And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:

He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum. That town is beside the lake, in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali.

14That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

This happened so that the words of the prophet Isaiah would come true. Isaiah had said:

15The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;

"Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, along the road to the sea, on the far side of the Jordan River, Galilee where non-Jews live:

16The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

The people who were living in darkness have seen a great light. A light has risen on those who live in the land where death casts its shadow."

17From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

From that time on, Jesus began to preach. He said, "Turn away from your sins, because God's kingdom is near."

18And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (also called Peter) and Andrew. They were throwing a net into the water, because they were fishermen.

19And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

He said to them, "Come with me, and I will make you fishers of people."

20And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

Right away they left their nets and went with him.

21And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat with their father, fixing their nets. Jesus called them,

22And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

and right away they left the boat and their father and went with him.

23And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Jesus traveled all over Galilee. He taught in the synagogues, told the good news about God's kingdom, and healed every kind of sickness and disease among the people.

24And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

News about him spread through all of Syria. People brought him everyone who was sick: those with all kinds of diseases, those in great pain, those controlled by demons, those who had seizures, and those who could not move their bodies. He healed them.

25And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

Large crowds followed him. They came from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and the land east of the Jordan River.

24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

So everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.

25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

The rain poured down, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house. It did not fall, because it was built on rock.

26And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

The rain poured down, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house. It fell, and it came down with a crash.

28And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

When Jesus had finished saying all this, the crowds were amazed at his teaching.

29For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

He taught them like someone with real authority, not like their scribes.

1When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

When Jesus came down from the mountain, big crowds followed him.

2And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

A man with leprosy came and knelt down in front of him. He said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

3And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. He said, "I am willing. Be clean." Right away the man's leprosy was gone.

4And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

Jesus told him, "Don't tell anyone. Go show yourself to the priest. Offer the gift Moses commanded, as proof to them."

28And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.

Jesus reached the other side, in the country of the Gergesenes. Two men with demons in them came out from the graves to meet him. They were so wild that no one could go down that road.

29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

They shouted, "What do you want with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the right time?"

30And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.

Some distance away, a big herd of pigs was feeding.

31So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.

The demons begged him, "If you drive us out, let us go into that herd of pigs."

32And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.

He said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

33And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.

The men who took care of the pigs ran away. They went into the town and told everyone what had happened, including what happened to the two men.

34And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.

Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their part of the country.