Then Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them.

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth.

And he will go as forerunner before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.”

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.

because he has looked upon the humble state of his servant. For from now on all generations will call me blessed,

Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father.

And the child kept growing and becoming strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he was revealed to Israel.

At that moment, she came up to them and began to give thanks to God and to speak about the child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

But when the feast was over, as they were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it,

So John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Then Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and news about him spread throughout the surrounding countryside.

But the news about him spread even more, and large crowds were gathering together to hear him and to be healed of their illnesses.

Just then some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus.

Immediately he stood up before them, picked up the stretcher he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God.

Then Levi gave a great banquet in his house for Jesus, and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them.

But the Pharisees and their experts in the law complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus was going through the grain fields on a Sabbath, and his disciples picked some heads of wheat, rubbed them in their hands, and ate them.

Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry –

The experts in the law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a reason to accuse him.