In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him 'Immanuel.'

(SEE 1:12)

While he was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife. For it is by the Holy Spirit that she has conceived.

Now all this happened in order to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet,

You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.

and he will be the king of the descendants of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end!"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God's power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God.

She gave birth to her first son, wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger---there was no room for them to stay in the inn.

This very day in David's town your Savior was born---Christ the Lord!

It is about his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: as to his humanity, he was born a descendant of David;

as to his divine holiness, he was shown with great power to be the Son of God by being raised from death.

they are descended from the famous Hebrew ancestors; and Christ, as a human being, belongs to their race. May God, who rules over all, be praised forever! Amen.

The first Adam, made of earth, came from the earth; the second Adam came from heaven.

But when the right time finally came, God sent his own Son. He came as the son of a human mother and lived under the Jewish Law,

He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God.

He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death--- his death on the cross.

No one can deny how great is the secret of our religion: He appeared in human form, was shown to be right by the Spirit, and was seen by angels. He was preached among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, and was taken up to heaven.

He purifies people from their sins, and both he and those who are made pure all have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his family.

Since the children, as he calls them, are people of flesh and blood, Jesus himself became like them and shared their human nature. He did this so that through his death he might destroy the Devil, who has the power over death,

For it is clear that it is not the angels that he helps. Instead, he helps the descendants of Abraham.

For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the world, he said to God: "You do not want sacrifices and offerings, but you have prepared a body for me.

This is how you will be able to know whether it is God's Spirit: anyone who acknowledges that Jesus Christ came as a human being has the Spirit who comes from God.

But anyone who denies this about Jesus does not have the Spirit from God. The spirit that he has is from the Enemy of Christ; you heard that it would come, and now it is here in the world already.

Many deceivers have gone out over the world, people who do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ came as a human being. Such a person is a deceiver and the Enemy of Christ.

Jesus performed this first miracle in Cana in Galilee; there he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.

Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believed?"

"God has blinded their eyes and closed their minds, so that their eyes would not see, and their minds would not understand, and they would not turn to me, says God, for me to heal them."

Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.

Jesus answered, "For a long time I have been with you all; yet you do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Why, then, do you say, 'Show us the Father'?

Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it. The LORD himself has promised this."

It was the will of the LORD that his servant grow like a plant taking root in dry ground. He had no dignity or beauty to make us take notice of him. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing that would draw us to him.

Arise, Jerusalem, and shine like the sun; The glory of the LORD is shining on you!

Other nations will be covered by darkness, But on you the light of the LORD will shine; The brightness of his presence will be with you.

Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone.

Then the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.

While he was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased---listen to him!"

They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

The God who said, "Out of darkness the light shall shine!" is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts, to bring us the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Christ.

He reflects the brightness of God's glory and is the exact likeness of God's own being, sustaining the universe with his powerful word. After achieving forgiveness for the sins of all human beings, he sat down in heaven at the right side of God, the Supreme Power.

Come to the Lord, the living stone rejected by people as worthless but chosen by God as valuable.

For the scripture says, "I chose a valuable stone, which I am placing as the cornerstone in Zion; and whoever believes in him will never be disappointed."

We were there when he was given honor and glory by God the Father, when the voice came to him from the Supreme Glory, saying, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased!"

We write to you about the Word of life, which has existed from the very beginning. We have heard it, and we have seen it with our eyes; yes, we have seen it, and our hands have touched it.

When this life became visible, we saw it; so we speak of it and tell you about the eternal life which was with the Father and was made known to us.

No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is the same as God and is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

Those who believe in the Son are not judged; but those who do not believe have already been judged, because they have not believed in God's only Son.

"I will announce," says the king, "what the LORD has declared. He said to me: 'You are my son; today I have become your father.

(SEE 13:32)

For God never said to any of his angels, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." Nor did God say about any angel, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son."

In the same way, Christ did not take upon himself the honor of being a high priest. Instead, God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father."

And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him.

Out of the fullness of his grace he has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after another.

God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

You are the most handsome of men; you are an eloquent speaker. God has always blessed you.

But his answer was: "My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak." I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ's power over me.

I am less than the least of all God's people; yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the Good News about the infinite riches of Christ,

so that you, together with all God's people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ's love.

Yes, may you come to know his love---although it can never be fully known---and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.

For it was by God's own decision that the Son has in himself the full nature of God.

He is the key that opens all the hidden treasures of God's wisdom and knowledge.

For the full content of divine nature lives in Christ, in his humanity,

And our Lord poured out his abundant grace on me and gave me the faith and love which are ours in union with Christ Jesus.

but God was merciful to me in order that Christ Jesus might show his full patience in dealing with me, the worst of sinners, as an example for all those who would later believe in him and receive eternal life.