Just then<n id="1" /> some men showed up, carrying a paralyzed man<n id="2" /> on a stretcher.<n id="3" /> They<n id="4" /> were trying to bring him in and place him before Jesus.<n id="5" />

What<n id="1" /> did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy<n id="2" /> clothes?<n id="3" /> Look, those who wear fancy clothes and live in luxury<n id="4" /> are in kings&#8217; courts!<n id="5" />

This is the one about whom it is written, &#8216;<b><i>Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,i>b><n id="1" /> <b><i>who will prepare your way before youi>b>.&#8217;<n id="2" />

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, &#8216;Look at him,<n id="1" /> a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!&#8217;<n id="2" />

Then<n id="1" /> when a woman of that town, who was a sinner, learned that Jesus<n id="2" /> was dining<n id="3" /> at the Pharisee&#8217;s house, she brought an alabaster jar<n id="4" /> of perfumed oil.<n id="5" />

Then<n id="1" /> a man from the crowd cried out,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Teacher, I beg you to look at<n id="3" /> my son &#8211; he is my only child!

A<n id="1" /> spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams;<n id="2" /> it throws him into convulsions<n id="3" /> and causes him to foam at the mouth. It hardly ever leaves him alone, torturing<n id="4" /> him severely.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now<n id="1" /> an expert in religious law<n id="2" /> stood up to test Jesus,<n id="3" /> saying, &#8220;Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?&#8221;<n id="4" />

and a woman was there<n id="1" /> who had been disabled by a spirit<n id="2" /> for eighteen years. She<n id="3" /> was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely.<n id="4" />

But<n id="1" /> he said to them, &#8220;Go<n id="2" /> and tell that fox,<n id="3" /> &#8216;Look, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day<n id="4" /> I will complete my work.<n id="5" />

Then another<n id="1" /> slave<n id="2" /> came and said, &#8216;Sir, here is<n id="3" /> your mina that I put away for safekeeping<n id="4" /> in a piece of cloth.<n id="5" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd appeared,<n id="1" /> and the man named Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He walked up<n id="2" /> to Jesus to kiss him.<n id="3" />

For this is certain:<n id="1" /> The days are coming when they will say, &#8216;Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!&#8217;<n id="2" />

While<n id="1" /> they were perplexed<n id="2" /> about this, suddenly<n id="3" /> two men stood beside them in dazzling<n id="4" /> attire.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now<n id="1" /> that very day two of them<n id="2" /> were on their way to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles<n id="3" /> from Jerusalem.<n id="4" />

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>

<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" />

When<n id="1" /> his parents<n id="2" /> saw him, they were overwhelmed. His<n id="3" /> mother said to him, &#8220;Child,<n id="4" /> why have you treated<n id="5" /> us like this? Look, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.&#8221;<n id="6" />

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>