In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea.
and saying,"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah."A voice of one calling in thed esert, Prpare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him."
John's clothes were made of camels' hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist , His food was locuts and wild honey.
People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and teh whole region of the Jordan.
Confessing their sinsm they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducess coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee,from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance,
And do not think you can say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our fathere. I tell you that out of these stones God can riase up children for Abraham.
The as is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
"I baptize you with water for repentance, But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not filt to carry, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
His winnowing fork is in his hand , and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up teh chaff with unquenchable fire,"
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
But John tried to deter him, saying," I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
Jesus replied,"Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness," Then John consented.
As soom as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him
And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased."
Matthew 4
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into thed esert to be tempted by the devil.
After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
The tempter came to him and said,"If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread,"
Jesus answered,"It is written; Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple
"If you are the Son of God,"he said, :throw yourself down , For it is written:"He will command his angels concerning you. and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not srtike your foot against a stone,"
Jesus answered him, "It is also written, Do not put the Lord your God to the test."
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
"All this I will give you,: he said,"if you will bow down and worship me,"
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only,"
Then the devil left him, and angels came anda ttended him.
When Jesus heard that Join had been put in prison,he returned to Galilee,
Leaving Nazareth, hew ent and lived in Capernaum,which was by the take in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali-
to fulfill waht was said through the propher Isaiah:
"Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali thew ay to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles-
the people living in the land of teh shadow of death a iight has dawned,"
From that time on jesus began to preach,"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother An drew. They were casting a net into the take. for they were fishermen.
"Come, follow me," Jesus said,"and I will make you fishers of men."
At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing tgheir nets, jesus called them,
and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching to their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those havingseizures, and teh paralyzed, and he healed them.
Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis Jerusalem, Judea and ther egion across the Jordan followed him.
Matthew 5
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.Hos disciples came to him.
and he began to tead them, saying;
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherut the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled,
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure to heart, for they will wee God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be gald, because great is your reqard in heaven, for in the same way theuy perseculted the prophets who were before you.
"You are the salt of the earth, But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
"You are the light of the world, A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl, Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light tp they put ir on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In thes ame way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise you Father in heaven.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
I tell you the truth, untill heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen. will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the mandments and teaches others to do the same will bec alled least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will bec alled grat in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of gthe Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven,
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, Do not mirder and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment,
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment, Again, anyone who says, to his brother, Raca, Is answerable to the Sanhedrin . But anyone who says, You fool! will be ib danger of the fire of hell.
"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you.
Leave your gift there in front of the altar, First go and be reconciled to your brother, then come and offer your fift,
"Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court, Do it while you are still with him on the way, or be may hand you over ti the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
"You have heard that it was said, "Do not commit adultery,
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
"It has been said. Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness causes her to become an adultereres, and anyone who marries the divorced women commits adultery.
"Again you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.
But I tell you, Do not swear at all either by heaven, for it is God's throne;
or by the earth, for it is his foolstood. or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great king
And do not swar by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.
Simply let your, Yes be Yes, and your :No: No, anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
"You have heard that it was said, Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.
But I tell you. Do not resist an evil person, If someone strikes you on the right cheek turn to him the other also.
And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
If someone forces you to go one mile,go with him two miles.
Give to the one who asks you and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
"You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I tell you; Love your enemies and pray for those who presecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.