<t /><p class="bodytext">Now<n id="1" /> there were shepherds<n id="2" /> nearby<n id="3" /> living out in the field, keeping guard<n id="4" /> over their flock at night.

So<n id="1" /> the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising<n id="2" /> God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="otpoetry">&#8220;<b><i>The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,i>b>p> <p class="otpoetry"><b><i>because he has anointedi>b><n id="1" /> <b><i>me to proclaim good newsi>b><n id="2" /> <i><b>to the poorb>.i><n id="3" />p> <p class="otpoetry"><b><i>He has sent mei>b><n id="4" /> <b><i>to proclaim releasei>b><n id="5" /> <b><i>to the captivesi>b>p> <p class="otpoetry"><b><i>and the regaining of sighti>b><n id="6" /> <b><i>to the blind,i>b>p> <p class="otpoetry"><b><i>to set freei>b><n id="7" /> <b><i>those who are oppressed,i>b><n id="8" />p>

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha,<n id="1" /> yet<n id="2" /> none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.&#8221;<n id="3" />

But Jesus<n id="1" /> said to them, &#8220;I must<n id="2" /> proclaim the good news of the kingdom<n id="3" /> of God to the other towns<n id="4" /> too, for that is what I was sent<n id="5" /> to do.&#8221;<n id="6" />

Simon<n id="1" /> answered,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Master,<n id="3" /> we worked hard all night and caught nothing! But at your word<n id="4" /> I will lower<n id="5" /> the nets.&#8221;

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" />

Immediately<n id="1" /> he stood up before them, picked<n id="2" /> up the stretcher<n id="3" /> he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying<n id="4" /> God.

<t /><p class="bodytext">After<n id="1" /> this, Jesus<n id="2" /> went out and saw a tax collector<n id="3" /> named Levi<n id="4" /> sitting at the tax booth.<n id="5" /> &#8220;Follow me,&#8221;<n id="6" /> he said to him.

To the person who strikes you on the cheek,<n id="1" /> offer the other as well,<n id="2" /> and from the person who takes away your coat,<n id="3" /> do not withhold your tunic<n id="4" /> either.<n id="5" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;No one lights<n id="1" /> a lamp<n id="2" /> and then covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in can see the light.<n id="3" />

Wherever<n id="1" /> they do not receive you,<n id="2" /> as you leave that town,<n id="3" /> shake the dust off<n id="4" /> your feet as a testimony against them.&#8221;

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!

So<n id="1" /> if<n id="2" /> Satan too is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? I ask you this because<n id="3" /> you claim that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.

But<n id="1" /> when a stronger man<n id="2" /> attacks<n id="3" /> and conquers him, he takes away the first man&#8217;s<n id="4" /> armor on which the man relied<n id="5" /> and divides up<n id="6" /> his plunder.<n id="7" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">&#8220;No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a hidden place<n id="1" /> or under a basket,<n id="2" /> but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light.

But when they bring you before the synagogues,<n id="1" /> the<n id="2" /> rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you should make your defense<n id="3" /> or what you should say,

<t /><p class="bodytext">Jesus<n id="1" /> also said to the crowds, &#8220;When you see a cloud rising in the west,<n id="2" /> you say at once, &#8216;A rainstorm<n id="3" /> is coming,&#8217; and it does.

I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.<n id="1" />

For<n id="1" /> a while he refused, but later on<n id="2" /> he said to himself, &#8216;Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people,<n id="3" />