<p class="bodytext">Zechariah<n id="1" /> said to the angel, &#8220;How can I be sure of this?<n id="2" /> For I am an old man, and my wife is old as well.&#8221;<n id="3" />

The<n id="1" /> angel answered him, &#8220;I am Gabriel, who stands<n id="2" /> in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring<n id="3" /> you this good news.

And now,<n id="1" /> because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time,<n id="2" /> you will be silent, unable to speak,<n id="3" /> until the day these things take place.&#8221;p>

All<n id="1" /> who heard these things<n id="2" /> kept them in their hearts,<n id="3" /> saying, &#8220;What then will this child be?&#8221;<n id="4" /> For the Lord&#8217;s hand<n id="5" /> was indeed with him.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now<n id="1" /> there was a man in Jerusalem<n id="2" /> named Simeon who was righteous<n id="3" /> and devout, looking for the restoration<n id="4" /> of Israel, and the Holy Spirit<n id="5" /> was upon him.

Then<n id="1" /> Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, &#8220;Listen carefully:<n id="2" /> This child<n id="3" /> is destined to be the cause of the falling and rising<n id="4" /> of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be rejected.<n id="5" />

Therefore produce<n id="1" /> fruit<n id="2" /> that proves your repentance, and don&#8217;t begin to say<n id="3" /> to yourselves, &#8216;We have Abraham as our father.&#8217;<n id="4" /> For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!<n id="5" />

And he<n id="1" /> said to him, &#8220;To you<n id="2" /> I will grant this whole realm<n id="3" /> &#8211; and the glory that goes along with it,<n id="4" /> for it has been relinquished<n id="5" /> to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish.

All<n id="1" /> were speaking well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words coming out of his mouth. They<n id="2" /> said, &#8220;Isn&#8217;t this<n id="3" /> Joseph&#8217;s son?&#8221;

Jesus<n id="1" /> said to them, &#8220;No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, &#8216;Physician, heal yourself!&#8217;<n id="2" /> and say, &#8216;What we have heard that you did in Capernaum,<n id="3" /> do here in your hometown too.&#8217;&#8221;

They<n id="1" /> were all amazed and began to say<n id="2" /> to one another, &#8220;What&#8217;s happening here?<n id="3" /> For with authority and power<n id="4" /> he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!&#8221;

Then<n id="1" /> the experts in the law<n id="2" /> and the Pharisees began to think<n id="3" /> to themselves,<n id="4" /> &#8220;Who is this man<n id="5" /> who is uttering blasphemies?<n id="6" /> Who can forgive sins but God alone?&#8221;

Rejoice in that day, and jump for joy, because<n id="1" /> your reward is great in heaven. For their ancestors<n id="2" /> did the same things to the prophets.<n id="3" />p>

But the person who hears and does not put my words into practice<n id="1" /> is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When<n id="2" /> the river burst against that house,<n id="3" /> it collapsed immediately, and was utterly destroyed!&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this,<n id="1" /> he said to himself, &#8220;If this man were a prophet,<n id="2" /> he would know who and what kind of woman<n id="3" /> this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.&#8221;

But<n id="1" /> other seed fell on good soil and grew,<n id="2" /> and it produced a hundred times as much grain.&#8221;<n id="3" /> As he said this,<n id="4" /> he called out, &#8220;The one who has ears to hear had better listen!&#8221;<n id="5" />p>

Those<n id="1" /> on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while,<n id="2" /> but<n id="3" /> in a time of testing<n id="4" /> fall away.<n id="5" />

As for the seed that<n id="1" /> fell among thorns, these are the ones who hear, but<n id="2" /> as they go on their way they are choked<n id="3" /> by the worries and riches and pleasures of life,<n id="4" /> and their fruit does not mature.<n id="5" />

Then<n id="1" /> he said to them, &#8220;Where is your faith?&#8221;<n id="2" /> But they were afraid and amazed,<n id="3" /> saying to one another, &#8220;Who then is this? He commands even the winds and the water,<n id="4" /> and they obey him!&#8221;p>

Then<n id="1" /> a man named Jairus, who was a ruler<n id="2" /> of the synagogue,<n id="3" /> came up. Falling<n id="4" /> at Jesus&#8217; feet, he pleaded<n id="5" /> with him to come to his house,