But before all this, ¹  they will seize ²  you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues ³  and prisons. You ⁴  will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.

Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, ¹  and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” ² 

So ¹  Mary said, “Yes, ²  I am a servant ³  of the Lord; let this happen to me ⁴  according to your word.” ⁵  Then ⁶  the angel departed from her.

For this is certain: ¹  The days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’ ² 

But ¹  other seed fell on good soil and grew, ²  and it produced a hundred times as much grain.” ³  As he said this, ⁴  he called out, “The one who has ears to hear had better listen!” ⁵ 

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have ¹  and give the money ²  to the poor, ³  and you will have treasure ⁴  in heaven. Then ⁵  come, follow me.”

So ¹  he said to the worker who tended the vineyard, ‘For ²  three years ³  now, I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and each time I inspect it ⁴  I find none. Cut ⁵  it down! Why ⁶  should it continue to deplete ⁷  the soil?’

Then, ¹  turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, ²  but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

The queen of the South ¹  will rise up at the judgment ²  with the people ³  of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon – and now, ⁴  something greater ⁵  than Solomon is here!

As ¹  Jesus ²  stepped ashore, ³  a certain man from the town ⁴  met him who was possessed by demons. ⁵  For a long time this man ⁶  had worn no clothes and had not lived in a house, but among ⁷  the tombs.

The ¹  next day he took out two silver coins ²  and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.’ ³ 

And if ¹  this is how God clothes the wild grass, ²  which is here ³  today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, ⁴  how much more ⁵  will he clothe you, you people of little faith!

On that same occasion ¹  Jesus ²  rejoiced ³  in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise ⁴  you, Father, Lord ⁵  of heaven and earth, because ⁶  you have hidden these things from the wise ⁷  and intelligent, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your gracious will. ⁸ 

So ¹  the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furious ²  and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly ³  to the streets and alleys of the city, ⁴  and bring in the poor, ⁵  the crippled, ⁶  the blind, and the lame.’

He went to Pilate and asked for the body ¹  of Jesus.

But they persisted ¹  in saying, “He incites ²  the people by teaching throughout all Judea. It started in Galilee and ended up here!” ³ 

They ¹  were all amazed and began to say ²  to one another, “What’s happening here? ³  For with authority and power ⁴  he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!”

It was appropriate ¹  to celebrate and be glad, for your brother ²  was dead, and is alive; he was lost and is found.’” ³ 

And who am I ¹  that the mother of my Lord should come and visit me?

Today ¹  your Savior is born in the city ²  of David. ³  He is Christ ⁴  the Lord.